Experimental Investigation of Solar Steam Generator Based on Evacuated Tube for Heating and Humidification

Abstract

In this paper, experimental investigation of solar steam generator based on evacuated tube for heating and humidification has been carried out. The experimental setup consisting of 40 evacuated tubes, a header, and a duct. Water in the header is heated up and converted to steam by using solar energy collected by the evacuated tubes. Steam was generated for 3 h from 13:00 to 16:00 h. The generated steam from the collector is mixed with the ambient air flowing through the duct. The air-flow rate was fixed at 52.31 kg h−1. The conditions at the outlet of the duct are recorded after every half an hour. The maximum temperature difference and humidification rate of 6 {\textdegree}C and 0.580 kg h−1 was obtained at 14:00 h, respectively. The results show great potential of evacuated tube collectors for winter air conditioning.