An experimental study of the utilization of heat pipes for solar water heaters

This paper reports the performance of solar domestic hot water systems manu factured with heat pipes. A series of tests were conducted on a number of s ystems to elicit the most suitable configuration of the system for possible commercialization in Korea. The heat pipe is made with a copper tube and t he respective lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections are 1700, 100 and 200 mm. The evaporator section is finned with a copper pl ate to increase solar input. Results show interesting performance data stem ming from the difference in working fluids, presence of a wick, and other v arious design parameters associated with the collection and utilization of solar energy. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.