See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/262360246
TRNSYS simulation of solar water heating system in Iraq
Conference Paper · July 2011
DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1979.8724
CITATIONS READS
13 4,377
9 authors, including:
Mohammed N. Abdulrazaq Alshekhly Mohammad Alghoul
Gulf University King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
244 PUBLICATIONS 2,691 CITATIONS 200 PUBLICATIONS 8,406 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
Alshrif MOHAMED Mustafa Khalil Glaisa
Sirte Oil Company Queen's University
3 PUBLICATIONS 28 CITATIONS 4 PUBLICATIONS 48 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Mohammed N. Abdulrazaq Alshekhly on 02 October 2014.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
TRNSYS Simulation of Solar Water Heating
System in Iraq
M.N.Mohammed, M.A. Alghoul, Kh.Abulqasem, Alshrif.Mustafa, Kh.Glaisa, P.Ooshaksaraei,
M.Yahya, A.Zaharim and K.Sopian
water load on the performance of SWH by using TRNSYS
Abstract— The objective of this work is to model and verify a [10]. In 2002, a new SHW had been modeled using TRNSYS
direct solar water heating system in Baghdad, Iraq using TRNSYS by Carrilo Andres and Cejudo Lopez [11]. In 1999 Shariah
software to meet the demand of hot water for 25 persons. This is made an investigation on the absorber plate thermal
achieved by using 10 m2 of a flat plate collector and 600 liters storage conductivity and its effect on the performance of SHW by
tank. This system is analyzed with an auxiliary electric heater. using TRNSYS software [12]. In 2002 Jim Salasovich et.al
Performance is simulated by TRNSYS with the weather data of TMY used TRNSYS and weather data for 30 years in the USA for
file for Baghdad, Iraq. The annual solar fraction obtained was 69%
and the system cover the hot water needs during the cold months with
SDWH system to make a pipe-freeze model [13]. In this
the help of auxiliary electric heater. The maximum auxiliary energy research, the process of hot water in the cold winter days by
was needed during the months of December (about 1025 MJ/month) using solar energy in Baghdad is going to be studied using
and February (about 1000 MJ/month). TRNSYS software to overcome some techno-economic issues
for possible promoting of this idea in Iraq.
Keywords— Solar, water heating, TRNSYS, Baghdad-Iraq The study area is on the country capital of Iraq, Baghdad
situated at an elevation point of 40 meters from the sea level.
I. INTRODUCTION The city is located at 33° 20’ 19" North latitude and 44° 23’
38" East longitude. According to the weather of Baghdad in
T HE history of solar energy begins with “hot box” which is
the first solar energy collector in the world invented In
1767 by Swiss scientist Horace de Saussure [1]. In the late
winter, the water is cold and cannot be used without heater.
The objective of this work is to model a solar water heating
system with intends to verify the solar water heating system in
1830s, Edmond Becquerel wrote a research on how to convert
Iraq by using TRNSYS software:
light to energy [2]. At the same time John Herschel who is a
Variations of incident solar radiation and water flow with
British astronomer used a hot box to cook food [2]. In
time
1891Clarence Kemp made a new invention when he used
metal tanks as a hot box to collect and retain the heat [1]. In • Predicted monthly and yearly solar contribution of the
1968 Gupta and Garg developed a solar hot water with a solar water heater. Predicted monthly auxiliary energy needed
natural circulation and without load [3]. At 1976 Ong made a by the system. Variations of the temperature coming out of
first thermosyphon system [4]. At 1985 Kudish made a directly collector and temperature coming out of storage tank.
measurement of the flow rate of thermosyphon system [5]. In The direct solar hot water system is as shown in Fig 1.
1997 Shariah and Shalabi used TRNSYS for optimizing the
SWH in Jordan [6]. In 1986 Swartman studied the effect of the
height of the tank and raised the performance of thermosyphon
system by using TRNSYS when he determined the flow rate of
the collector [7]. In 1996 Shariah and Lof made investigation
on the relation between tank height and the solar fraction and
after one year made another investigation on the effect of
auxiliary heater on performance of SWH [8-9]. In 1995
Shariah and Ecevit studied the effect of the temperature of hot
Manuscript received May 19, 2011: Revised version received xxx. Fig.1 Direct solar hot water system
M.N.Mohammed, Kh.Abulqasem, Alshrif.Mustafa, Kh.Glaisa,
P.Ooshaksaraei is with Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan II. TRNSYS SIMULATION
Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, MALAYSIA.
TRNSYS is a transient system simulation program which is
M.A. Alghoul, M.Yahya, A.Zaharim and K.Sopian is with the Solar
Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi used to simulate the performance and the behavior of systems
Selangor, MALAYSIA. (E-mail: [email protected], as a function of time. To do the simulation need to identify
[email protected], [email protected])
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 153
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
components whose collective performance describes the
performance of the system. The mathematical models of the
components which used in the system are formulated as
equations by using the FORTRAN code to determine the
performance of the system and to describe its physical
behavior. A more attractive feature of the TRNSYS program is
the possibility to create a user-friendly input file called a
TRNSED file. This is the case if outside conditions that
influence the system behavior change, such as weather
conditions, or if the system components themselves go through
conditions that vary with time. In developing countries such as
Iraq, due to absence or malfunction of measuring instruments, Fig.3 Solar radiation on horizontal surface
reliable solar radiation data is not available. Global solar
radiation data on horizontal surface is recorded at Baghdad, The results from TRNSYS and the weather data of Baghdad
Basra and Mosul only [14-16]. is assumed at 1st of January and are shown in Fig’s (4-6)
The TMY2 Reader (Type109) used to provide reading of below. Fig.4 shows the daily hot water consumption profile
weather data of the given region such as to determine the based on human needs during 24 hours of a day.
temperature of the cold water source which gives the mains
water temperature model. The forcing function (Type 14)
which gives the pattern of the forcing function and prescribe
the hot water draw profile. The Divider (Type11) pipe or duct
tee-pieces, mixers, and diverters which are subject to external
control are often necessary in thermal systems. The Equation
component in TRNSYS has the ability to define equations
within the input file which are not in a component and can be
function for output file like: solar fraction and daily load. The
instance of the (Type2) controller is used for controlling the
value of signal which is chosen as a function of the difference
between upper and lower temperatures. The pump of fluid
(Type3) is used for simulating the circulation pumps of the
SDHW systems which compute a mass flow rate using a
variable control function. The (Type1) flat-plate solar collector Fig.4 Daily hot water consumption profile (600 l/day).
which modeled as the thermal performance and the
coefficients of the function are supplied by an ASHRAE or The trend of water flow rate and incident solar radiation as a
equivalent test. The Integrator (Type24) used to prescribe the function of time is shown in Fig.4. It can be seen that the water
integrated series of quantities over a period of time. The Tee flow rate is assumed to be constant due to using (active) water
piece (Type11) is a pipe or duct tee-pieces, mixers, and pump to circulate the water. As the water pump is started at
diverters with two inlet liquid streams are mixed together into about 7:30am, the flow rate is designed to be 200 kg/h. Also
single outlet water. (Type25) is similar to (Type65) for from Fig.5 it can be seen that the incident solar radiation
printing simulation information as a readable output file in increases from morning hours to reach 557w/m2 as a maximum
TXT extension [17]. at about 12:30 pm and then starts to decline until sunset.
III. RESULTS
Fig’s 2 and 3 show the monthly average daily ambient
temperature and solar radiation on horizontal surface
respectively of Baghdad during a year.
Fig.5 Variations of incident solar radiation and water flow with
time
Fig.2 monthly average daily ambient temperature
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 154
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
Fig.6 shows the variations of the temperature coming-out of
collector and temperature coming out of storage tank. The
temperature coming-out of collector increases during the
morning hours to reach 68 C as a maximum at 3pm and then
starts to decline until sunset. The temperature coming out of
storage tank fluctuated between 60 C to 67 C. It increases
during the morning hours to reach a maximum value at 3pm
and then starts to decrease until 60 C.
Fig.8 Predicted monthly auxiliary energy needed by the system
Fig 9 shows the effect of collector area on solar fraction.
Solar fraction increased from 69% to 75.5% as collector area
increased from 10 to 40 m2 respectively. At collector area of
40m2 to 80m2, the solar fraction shows maximum/constant
value of 75.5%.
Fig.6 Variations of the temperature coming out of collector
and storage tank
The monthly solar fraction is shown in Fig.7. In this figure
solar fraction values are fluctuating from 65% in Feb to reach
72% in Jul. The annual solar fraction is found to be 69%.
Fig.9: Annual solar fraction as a function of collector area
IV. CONCLUSION
An optimal SDHW direct system for 25 persons in Baghdad
was identified. The system would use one-storage tank (600
liter) design with a collector area of 10 m2 with an annual solar
fraction of about 69%. The minimum auxiliary energy was
needed during July nearly 300 MJ/month while the maximum
auxiliary energy was needed during February nearly 1025
Fig.7: Predicted monthly solar contribution of the solar water MJ/month and December 1000 MJ/month. Solar energy
heater research is vital and should be always adopted for the future
plan in Iraq due to environmental challenges and future oil/gas
Fig.8 shows the auxiliary energy needed per month. It is depletion.
important to note that during the months of winter the
requirements of heating are much bigger than in summer. The REFERENCES
minimum auxiliary energy was needed during July nearly 300 [1] Ken Butti 2002.A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and
MJ/month while the maximum auxiliary energy was needed Technology (Cheshire Books).
during February nearly 1025 MJ/month and December 1000 [2] Who Invented Solar Energy http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/
MJ/month. whoinventedsolarenergy.html
[3] Grupta, G.L. and Garg,H.P. 1968. System design in solar water
heaters with natural circulation, Solar Energy.12:163-182.
[4] Ong, K.S. 1976. An improved computer program for the thermal
performance of a solar water heater. Solar Energy. 16:137-147.
[5] Kudish, A.I. Santamaura, P. and Beufort, P. 1985. Direct measurement
and analysis of thermosyphon flow. Solar Energy. 35:167-173.
[6] Shariah, A.M. and Shalabi, Bassam. 1997. Optimal design for a
thermosyphon solar water heater. Renewable Energy. 11:351-361
[7] Swartman,R.K. 1986. Development of a new thermosyphon package.
Proceeding of Energy Conference in Canada
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 155
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
[8] Shariah, A.M and Lof, G.O.G. 1996. The optimization of tank volume
to collector area ratio for thermosyphon solar water heater. Renewable
Energy. 7:289-300.
[9] Shariah A.M. and Lof, G.O.G. 1997.Effects of auxiliary heater on
annual performance of thermosyphon solar water heater simulated under
variable operation conditions. Solar Energy. 60:199-126.
[10] Shariah, A.M. and Ecevit, A. 1995. Effect of Hot water load
temperature on the performance of a thermosyphon solar water heater
with auxiliary electric heater. Energy Conversion and Management.
36:289-296.
[11] Carrilo Andres, A. and Cejudo Lopez, J.M. 2002. TRNSYS model of a
thermosyphon solar water heater with a horizontal store and mantle heat
exchanger. Solar Energy. 72:89-98.
[12] Shariah, A.M. Rousan, A. Rousan, Kh.K. Ahmad, A.A. 1999. Effect of
thermal conductivity of absorber plate on the performance of a solar
water heater . Applied Thermal Engineering. 19:733-741.
[13] Jim Salasovich,“Simulation of an Unglazed Collector System for
Domestic Hot Water and Space Heating and Cooling”. Proceedings of
the Solar 2002 Conference Including Proceedings of 32nd ASES
Annual Conference and Proceedings of 28th National Passive Solar
Conference, 21-26 June 2003, Austin, Texas
[14] TRNSYS, A transient simulation program (Version 16). Solar Energy
Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, 1994.
http://sel.me.wisc.edu/trnsys/index.html
[15] Klein, S.A. et al. TRNSYS 14.2, A Transient Simulation and Program.
Solar Energy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1994.
[16] Soteris A. Kalogirou, Christos Papamarcou Modelling of a
thermosyphon solar water heating system and simple model validation
Renewable Energy 21 (2000) 471–493
[17] TRNSYS, A transient simulation program (Version 16) manual.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0 156
View publication stats
