INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

Published online 29 May 2007 in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/er.1327

SHORT COMMUNICATION
Performance evaluation of a helix tube solar collector system
Kritsada Boonchom1,3, Anusorn Vorasingha2, Nipon Ketjoy3,
Chaluay Souvakon4 and Theerachai Bongkarn2,*,y
1

Faculty of Science and Technology, ChiangMai Rajabhat University, ChiangMai 50300, Thailand
2
Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
3
School of Renewable Energy, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
4
Faculty of Science and Technology, Uttaradit Rajabhat University, Uttaradit 53000, Thailand

SUMMARY
In this paper we evaluated the performance of a helix tube solar collector. This helix tube collector
increases the absorbed radiation of diuse and ground reection. The inner and outer diameters of the
helix tube are 8 and 12 mm, respectively. The helix tube was designed as a copper tube which is coated with
a nanocarbon composite. A cylindrical glass, length 1.2 m, outer diameter 1.397
101 m and thickness
6.4
103 m, was used as a cover. The performance of the collector was in Phitsanulok province, Thailand,
which is located at latitude 16.7838N with an average wind velocity of 3 m s1. Solar absorbance was 0.94
and the IR emission of nanocarbon was 0.15. The heat transfer uid was Paratherm MGTM oil at 328C and
the oil mass ow rate was 9.5 kg h1. These were used to evaluate the performance of the collector. The
performance of the helix tube collector and the temperature dierence of oil (inlet and outlet) were 50.32%
and 47.438C, respectively. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS:

helix tube solar collector; nanocarbon composite; the performance of collector; heat transfer uid

1. INTRODUCTION
Hot uid is an essential requirement in industry as well as in the domestic sector (Kalogirou,
2004). The solar collector is a device which absorbs incoming solar radiation, converts it into
heat, and transfers this heat to a uid (usually air, water, or oil) which ows through the
collector. Solar collectors are categorized in two ways: non-concentrating or stationary and
*Correspondence to: Theerachai Bongkarn, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand.
y
E-mail: threerachaib@nu.ac.th
Contract/grant sponsor: ChiangMai Rajabhat University, Thailand
Contract/grant sponsor: EPPO, Energy Ministry, Thailand
Contract/grant sponsor: Naresuan University, Thailand

Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 15 October 2006

Accepted 15 October 2007

1170

K. BOONCHOM ET AL.

concentrating (sun tracking system). The various types of stationary solar collectors are
at-plate collectors (FPCs), evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and compound parabolic
collectors (CPCs) and various types of concentrating, such as parabolic trough collectors
(PTCs), parabolic dish and central receivers. Solar thermal applications can be categorized by
temperature in two ways. Low temperatures (both active and passive) are used to heat and cool
buildings, to heat water for domestic and industrial uses, to heat swimming pools, to power
refrigerators, to desalinate water for drinking purposes and to dry agriculture material. High
temperatures are used to operate engines to generate electricity, etc.
For low-temperature applications, the important part is the solar collector (FPC or ETC).
The components of a collector such as the covering glass and the absorbing surface were studied
to improve their eciency. Antireective coatings and surface texture techniques were used to
develop the transmittance of the cover glass. High-temperature-resistant transparent insulating
materials (FPC and CPC) were used as cover glass. They showed a higher eciency as collectors
than conventional glass (Schweiger, 1997; Benz et al., 1998). Teixeira et al. (2001) found that the
level of absorbance (a) and emittance (e) of the absorber surface was directly aected by the
FPC eciency. Characteristics of the spectral solar selected: 0:85a50:95 and 0:055e50:2 were
found in nanocomposite materials (Oelhafen and Schuler, 2005). Katzen et al. (2005) prepared a
thin lm of porous silica and nanosized carbon with an absorbance of a 0:94 and an IR
emittance of e 0:15: In this study, the helix tube, coated with a nanocarbon composite
receiver, was designed for a high absorption of solar radiation and a low loss of thermal
radiation. The performance of the collector was evaluated by thermal analysis based on the Thai
climate in Phitsanulok province. The result was also compared with a traditional FPC.

2. HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR

A good collector should have high solar radiation absorption and low thermal loss radiation.
So, the interior surface and vacuum envelope were chosen to increase absorbed radiation and
reduce thermal loss. A helix tube solar collector was designed as shown in Figure 1. It consists of
a vacuum cylindrical cover glass and copper helix tube.
The glass solar collectors, which transmit as much as 90% of the incoming shortwave solar
radiation but transmitting virtually none of the long-wave radiation emitted outward by the
absorber plate, were used as the cover glass for the collector. The cylindrical cover glass has an
outer diameter of 1.397
101 m, a length of 1.2 m and a thickness of 6.4
103 m. The
incidence transmittance of a normal cover glass collector is 0.88. The cover glass was sealed with
Aluminum plate
Vacuum chamber
Oil
inlet

Oil
outlet

Helix tube

Cover glass

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of helix tube solar collector.

Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

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A HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR SYSTEM

1171

aluminium plate and was evacuated. The helix copper was coated with a nanocarbon composite.
A thin lm of nanocarbon composite has excellent optical parameters (a 0:94 and e 0:15).
The helix copper tube has an outer diameter 0.012 m, inner diameter 0.008 m and receiver area
(AR) approximate 0.5 m2 (surface area of helix tube).

3. THERMAL ANALYSIS OF COLLECTOR

The bases of the thermal analysis of the collectors are considered to be the collectors thermal
eciency. The performance of a solar collector is dened as the ratio of the useful energy
delivered to the energy incident on the collector aperture (Due and Beckman, 1980; Kreith and
Kreider, 1978). In a steady state, the performance of a solar collector (Z) can be written as
Qu
Z
1
It A R
The performance of a solar collector is described by the energy balance that indicates the
distribution of incident solar energy into useful energy gain, thermal losses, and optical losses.
The useful energy output of the collector is the dierence between the absorbed solar radiation
and the thermal loss. The useful energy output of the collector is dened by this equation:
Qu AR FR S  UL Ti  Ta 

FR as collector heat removal factor:





mC
AR UL F 0
p
1  exp 
FR
mC
AR UL
P

F 0 as the collector eciency factor:

F0

Uo
UL

UL is the overall collector loss coecient. It is the sum of the top, bottom and edge loss
coecient
UL Ut Ub Ue

The thermal network of the collector can be written as shown in Figure 2.

The overall collector thermal resistance can be written as
1
1
RL

hr:Coa hc:Coa ACo hr:RCo AR

The overall collector loss coecient can be written as


1
UL
AR
RL

The heat transfer from the outer surface of tube to the uid in the tube includes the tube wall.
Thus, the heat transfer from the tube to the uid is the overall heat transfer coecient (Uo)
which is calculated from the base on the outside diameter of the helix tube.



1
8
Uo
AR
RL R4 R5
Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

DOI: 10.1002/er

1172

K. BOONCHOM ET AL.

Ta

R1 =

R2 =

1
h c:Co a A Co

hr:Coa A Co
R3 =

1
h r :R Co AR

R4 =

1
h fi Ainside tube

diameter

tube

diameter

tube

2Lk

Tfi

S
R5 =

r
outer
ln
r inner

Qu

Figure 2. Thermal network of the helix tube solar collector.

The wind heat transfer coecient as

Nuk
L
The radiation coecient from cover tube to ambient is
hc:Coa

or

hw

2
hr:Coa eCo sTCo
Ts2 TCo Ts

10

The radiation coecient from receiver tube (helix tube) to cover tube is
hr:RCo

2
sTR2 TCo
TR TCo



1  eR
1  eCo AR
1
eR
eCo
ACo

11

The isotropic diuse sky model, hourly based, was used to calculate the absorbed radiations
which can be written as this equation:






1 cos b
1  cos b
S Ib Rb tab Id tad
rg Ib Id tag
12
2
2
1 cos b=2 and 1  cos b=2 are the view factors from the collector to the sky and from
collector to the ground. The subscripts b, d and g represent beam, diuse and ground,
respectively.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1. The absorbed radiation
The absorbed radiation was evaluated hourly by using the isotropic diuse sky model which is
% as seen in Table I (Department of
based on the monthly average daily total radiation H
Energy Development and Promotion and Silapakorn University, 1999). The absorbed radiation
Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

DOI: 10.1002/er

1173

A HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR SYSTEM

Table I. Monthly average daily total radiation.

Month

Beam radiation
(MJ m2)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

9.6
11
12.4
13.3
14.1
13.5
10.9
13.8
10
9.6
9.5
9.8

Diuse radiation
(MJ m2)

Total radiation
(MJ m2)

6.1
6.7
7.5
7.9
8.1
8.2
8.3
7.9
7.9
7.1
6.2
5.8

15.7
17.7
19.9
21.2
22.2
21.7
19.2
21.7
17.9
16.7
15.7
15.6

of helix tube solar collector was calculated from Equation (12) and can be written as
S Ib Rb tab 0:5 Id tad rg Ib Id tag 0:5

13

Equation (13) consists of terms such as beam radiation, diuse radiation and ground reects
radiation. Beam radiation angle b 08 was a half of beam radiation in Equation (13) because
the aperture area was located on the top of helix tube only. The maximum diuse radiation
value was only Id tad because the helix tube could only receive diuse radiation from the whole
of the northern hemisphere. The tilted angle (b) from ground reection radiation term as if
b 1808 and the helix tube also received the ground reection radiation on the bottom side
only.
This means 1  cos b=2; in terms of ground reection radiation, was equal to 0.5. The
absorbed radiation of the FPC was calculated from Equation (13) with a tilted angle of
16.7838N






1 cos16:783
1  cos16:783
S Ib Rb tab Id tad
rg Ib Id tag
14
2
2
Moreover, from Equation (12), the value of transmittance (t) of the glass and the absorbance (a)
of the thin lm of nanocarbon also eected the absorption of radiation. The absorbed radiation
of the helix tube solar collector and the FPC was evaluated from Equations (13) and (14),
respectively (Table II). The absorbed radiation of the helix tube is lower than the FPC.
However, from Equation (5), the overall collector loss coecient (UL) of the FPC on the bottom
side (Ub) and the edge side (Ue) was higher than the helix tube collector.
4.2. Heat transfer coecient
The heat transfer coecient of the helix tube collector was considered from a thermal network
which consisted of three parts:
*
*
*

The heat transfer coecient from cover tube to ambient (hc;Coa or hw).
The heat transfer coecient from cover tube to ambient (hr;Coa ).
The heat transfer coecient from receiver tube (helix tube) to cover tube (hr;RCo ).

Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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K. BOONCHOM ET AL.

Table II. The absorbed radiation of helix tube collector and FPC on tilted angle 16.7838N.
Time (5:16)

I total (W m2)

9.0010.00
10.0011.00
11.0012.00
12.0013.00
13.0014.00
14.0015.00

859.90
1033.66
1128.46
1128.46
1033.66
859.90

S at plate (W m2)
526.80
732.75
859.93
859.93
732.75
526.80

S helix (W m2)
418.88
575.71
679.60
679.60
575.71
418.88

The heat transfer coecient of the collector was studied under these conditions: ambient
temperature at 308C, cover temperature at 508C, wind velocity 05 m s1, emissive of glass (e) at
0.88 and the average temperature 408C.
The hw can be calculated from Equation (9). Nu in this equation is the Nusselt number which
relates to Reynolds number (Re) shown in Equation (16).
Nu 0:40 0:54Re0:52

for 0:1 > Re >1000

15

and
Nu 0:30Re0:6

for 1000 > Re > 50 000

Re was calculated from this equation

Re

rVD
m

16

If the value of Re is interval 100050 000 then the Nusselt number can be calculated by:
Nu 0:3Re0:6 : The value of Re and Nu are shown in Table III. The results of hw with several
wind velocities showed in Figure 3. The hr;Coa and hr;RCo were evaluated form Equations (10)
and (11), respectively. The hr;Coa is equal 6.14 W m2 K1. The hr;RCo with dierence wind
velocity were also demonstrated in Figure 3. The hw increased rapidly and the hr;RCo increased
slightly with increasing wind velocity. These may be the hw and hr;RCo transferred in the air and
vacuum, respectively.
4.3. The overall heat transfer coecient
The overall heat transfer coecient (Uo) consists of the overall collector loss coecient, heat
transfer coecient of conduction and heat transfer coecient of convection.
The overall collector loss coecient (UL) can be calculated from the equation

1
AR
AR

17
UL
hr:Coa hc:Coa Ac hr:RCo AR
The heat transfer coecient of conduction and the heat transfer coecient of convection were
calculated based on the outside helix tube. The overall heat transfer coecient (Uo) is shown in
the following equation:



2
31
router diameter tube
router diameter tube ln
61
router diameter tube 7
rinner diameter tube
7

Uo 6
18
4UL
k
hfi rinner diameter tube 5

Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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A HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR SYSTEM

1175

Table III. The heat transfer coecients of convection

with dierent wind velocity.
vw (m s1)
0
1
2
3
4
5

Re

Nu

0
7219.55
14 439.09
21 658.64
28 878.18
36 097.73

0
61.98
93.94
119.81
142.38
162.78

Figure 3. Heat transfer coecient with various wind velocities.

The heat transfer coecient of uid (h) in Equation (18) can be calculated by using the physical
properties of Paratherm MGTM oil (food grade) at 328C: viscosity 0.00422 kg m1 s1, thermal
conductivity 0.14056 W m1 K1, specic heat capacity 2268.41 J kg1 K1 and mass ow rate of
oil as 9.5 kg s1. The Reynolds number was calculated from Equation (16) (Re 99:60). This
value is lower than 2200 thus Nu 3:7: The heat transfer coecient of the oil was
65.01 W m2 K1. The UL and Uo with the dierent wind velocities are shown in Figure 4.
The Uo was lower than the UL because the heat transfer uid reduced the dierence in
temperature between the cover glass and the helix tube.

4.4. Performance of collector

The heat gain input of the collector is calculated from a total incident radiation (Table II) with a
receiver area (0.5 m2). The heat gain output was calculated with a wind velocity of 0 and 3 m s1.
The heat gain results are shown in Figure 5.
Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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K. BOONCHOM ET AL.

Figure 4. The overall collector loss coecient and the overall heat transfer coecient.

600

500

Heat gain (W)

400

Heat
gain input
300

Heat gain
output at
vw=0 m/s

200

Heat gain
output at

100

vw=3 m/s
0
Time

9.00-10.00

10.00-11.00

11.00-12.00

12.00-13.00

13.00-14.00

14.00-15.00

Figure 5. Heat gain input and output related to time.

The performance of the collector can be calculated from Equation (1) and is shown in
Table IV. The performance of the helix tube solar collector with vw at 3 m s1 is lower than vw at
0 m s1. This result is related to the overall heat loss coecient. Both the helix tube and the FPC
Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

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1177

A HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR SYSTEM

Table IV. The performance of helix tube solar collector.

Time

Qu (W)

Ti (K)

To (K)

1

9.0010.00
10.0011.00
11.0012.00
12.0013.00
13.0014.00
14.0015.00

190.06
262.34
310.22
310.22
262.34
190.06

305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15

336.90
348.98
356.97
356.97
348.98
336.90

31.75
43.83
51.82
51.82
43.83
31.75

44.21
50.76
54.98
54.98
50.76
44.21

vw 3 m s1

9.0010.00
10.0011.00
11.0012.00
12.0013.00
13.0014.00
14.0015.00

172.86
239.68
283.93
283.93
239.68
172.86

305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15
305.15

334.03
345.19
352.58
352.58
345.19
334.03

28.88
40.04
47.43
47.43
40.04
28.88

40.21
46.37
50.32
50.32
46.37
40.21

vw 0 m s

DT (K) Performance (%)

Table V. The performance of at plate collector.

Time
9.0010.00
10.0011.00
11.0012.00
12.0013.00
13.0014.00
14.0015.00

DT (8C)
28.88
40.04
47.43
47.43
40.04
28.88

Performance
of at plate (%)
51.05
44.13
39.29
39.29
44.13
51.05

were considered at a wind velocity of 3 m s1. The average performance of the helix tube
collector at a working time (9.0014.00) is 48.34%. The performance of a good FPC can be
calculated from (Kalogirou, 2004)




2
DT
DT
Z 0:792  6:65
 0:06
19
Itotal
Itotal
The performance of FPC calculated from (25) is shown in Table V. The average performance of
the at plate calculated at working time (9.0014.00) with vw at 3 m s1 was 41.71%, which was
lower than the helix tube collector. The performance of the helix tube was increased by the
increase in the absorbed radiation. It is dierent from the FPC because the heat loss coecient
of the at plate increased with the increase in absorbed radiation.

5. CONCLUSION
The performance of the helix tube collector was evaluated based on the monthly average daily
total radiation in Phitsanulok province, Thailand, with an average wind velocity of 3 m s1. The
maximum performance radiation of the helix tube collector was higher than the at plate by
11.03%. Moreover, the average performance of helix tube solar collector at working time
(10.0014.00) was higher than the at plate collector by 6.63%. The result also indicated that the
Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

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1178

K. BOONCHOM ET AL.

thin lm nanocarbon composite coated on the helix tube signicantly improved performance.
This reveals a good capability of the helix tube collector to convert solar energy to heat for solar
thermal applications.

NOMENCLATURE
AR
Cp
FR
F0
%
H
hr;Coa
hc;Coa or hw
hr;RCo
Ib
Id
It
K
k
L
m

Nu
Qu
R
Re
RL
S
T
Ub
Ue
Uo
UL
Ut
vw

receiver area (m2)

specific heat capacity (kJ kg1 K1)
collector heat removal factor
collector eciency factor
monthly average daily total radiation (MJ m2)
the heat transfer coecient from cover tube to ambient (W m2 K1)
the heat transfer coecient from cover tube to ambient (W m2 K1)
the heat transfer coecient from receiver tube (helix tube) to cover tube
(W m2 K1)
beam hourly irradiation (W m2)
diffused hourly irradiation (W m2)
total hourly irradiation (W m2)
extinction coecient
thermal conductivity (W m1 K1)
thickness or length space (m)
mass ow rate (kg s1)
Nusselt number
the useful energy (W J s1)
thermal resistance (m2 K W1 m2)
Reynolds number
thermal resistance of the collector loss (m2 K W1 m2)
absorbed radiation (W)
temperature (K)
the bottom loss coecient (W m2 K1)
the edge loss coecient (W m2 K1)
overall heat transfer coecient (W m2 K1)
collector overall heat loss coecient (W m2 K1)
the top loss coecient (W m2 K1)
wind velocity (m s1)

Greek letters
a
b
g
d
e
Z
y

absorbance
tilted angle
surface azimuth angle
declination
emittance
performance of collector
incident angle

Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

DOI: 10.1002/er

A HELIX TUBE SOLAR COLLECTOR SYSTEM

yZ
m
r
rg
t
f
o

1179

zenith angle
absolute viscosity
density
ground reectance
transmittance
latitude
hour angle

Subscripts
a
b
c
Co
d
g
i
o
R
r
w

ambient
beam radiation
convection
cover tube
diffuse radiation
ground reect radiation
inlet
outlet
receiver
radiation
wind
fluid inlet

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the School of Renewable Energy, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University,
Faculty of Science and Technology, ChaingMai Rajabhat University and Ministry of Energy, Thailand,
for nancial support. Acknowledgement is also to Don Hindle for his helpful comments and editing of the
manuscript.

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Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Int. J. Energy Res. 2007; 31:11691179

DOI: 10.1002/er