Practical considerations for low pressure solar water heaters in South Africa

This paper presents the results of the design parameters that affect natural convection of Low Pressure (LP) Solar Water Heaters (SWH) in South Africa. Fluid flow plays an important role in the heat transfer process associated with natural convection. Three partial differential governing equations were considered. These equations are non-dimensionalized and a similarity solution was applied to obtain two coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations which are solved in MATLAB. Two scenarios were considered for the simulation, a vertical wall with a constant wall temperature and a vertical wall with a constant heat flux. The temperature and velocity profiles were obtained for both scenarios and compared. The effect of the length, diameter and tilt angle of the tube in relation to the amount of heat transferred to the water was investigated specifically for Cape Town. These results are used to discuss design and installation considerations for LP SWHs and are presented in the paper.