Dissipator integrated into a compact solar collector

Abstract

The present invention relates to a solar collector (1) comprising a containment structure (6) with at least one face exposed to solar radiation, said containment structure (6) comprising a central housing recess (7) and an outer edge (8) that surrounds said central housing recess (7), inside said central recess (7) a primary conduit being arranged for the circulation of a primary heat transfer fluid, exposed to solar radiation, a secondary conduit for the circulation of a secondary fluid, and a heat exchange area between said primary and secondary conduit for the heat exchange between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid, said solar collector (1) being characterized in that in at least one portion of said outer edge (8) of the containment structure (6) at least one dissipation conduit (9) is obtained in fluid communication with said primary conduit to dissipate the excess heat to outside said solar collector (1).

Claims

1. Compact solar collector (1) comprising a containment structure (6) with at least a face exposed to the solar radiation, said containment structure (6) comprising a central housing recess (7) and an outer frame (8) that encloses and laterally envelops said central housing recess (7), inside said central recess (7) being arranged a primary storage conduit (3, 15) for the storage and the circulation of a primary heat transfer fluid, exposed to the solar radiation, a secondary storage conduit (5) for the circulation and storage of a secondary fluid, and an heat exchange area between said primary (3, 15) and secondary (5) conduits for the heat exchange between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid, said solar collector (1) being characterized in comprising a plurality of vacuum sealed collector tubes (2) arranged within said central housing recess (7), wherein each vacuum sealed tube (2) provides a portion (3) of said primary conduit (3, 15) which envelops a respective portion (5) of said secondary conduit (5) in heat exchange between each other, in that in at least a portion of said outer frame (8) of the containment structure (6) is obtained at least a dissipation conduit (9) in fluid communication with said primary conduit (3, 15) for the circulation of said primary heat transfer fluid in order to dissipate the surplus heat outwardly with respect to said solar collector (1), and in further providing a circulator (12) in fluid communication between the primary conduit (3, 15) and the at least dissipation conduit (9), said circulator (12) being apt to set in motion the primary heat transfer fluid when the temperature of the heat transfer fluid exceeds a first pre-set value (T1), in order to allow the primary heat transfer fluid to flow and pass through the at least a dissipation conduit (9) at a higher speed in order to reduce the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid in order to be re-introduced subsequently in the primary conduit (3, 15).

2. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least a portion of said frame is obtained from a profile (8), made of a thermally conductive material, which has an outer perimeter (10) and a central conduit (9), which coincides with said dissipation conduit, connected in turn to the outer perimeter (10) by means of radial connecting winglets (11) that act as heat transfer fins towards the outside of the solar collector (1).

3. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in further providing a thermostat, in connection with said circulator (12) and said primary conduit, said thermostat being able to measure the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid within said primary conduit and being able to act on said circulator (12) so that, during use, if the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid exceeds a first pre-set value (T1) said circulator (12) is operated easing the circulation of the primary heat transfer fluid also in the at least a dissipation conduit (9), and if the temperature of the primary conduit drops or goes below a second pre-set temperature value (T2) said circulator (12) is turned off or stays off.

4. Solar collector (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said first temperature value (T1) varies between 95° C. and 85° C.

5. Solar collector (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said second temperature value (T2) varies between 80° C. and 70° C.

6. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in further providing a non-return and safety valve (14), arranged in fluid connection with said circulator (12) and said primary conduit apt to expel an amount of primary heat transfer fluid for allowing the primary conduit to adjust itself, and in that, during use, if the pressure of the primary conduit exceeds a pressure calibration value (P1) said safety valve (14) expels an amount of fluid until the pressure of the primary conduit stabilizes below said value (P1).

7. Solar collector (1) according to claim 6, characterized in further providing a vacuum breaker valve (13) in combination with said safety valve (14) apt to allow an amount of air to enter in the primary conduit as a function of the pressure difference (AP) between the pressure of the environment outside said collector (1) and the pressure in the primary conduit, and in that, during use, if the vacuum breaker valve (13) detects a pressure difference (ΔP), said vacuum breaker valve (13) allows the entry in the primary conduit of an amount of air until such pressure difference (ΔP) is cancelled.

8. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said portion of the primary circuit (3, 15) is a primary storage element (3) for containing the primary heat transfer fluid apt to store thermal energy and in that each vacuum sealed tube (2) provides a collecting tube (4), which envelops said primary storage element (3), and which is arranged coaxially to it, forming an insulating air gap.

9. Solar collector (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that said secondary conduit has a plurality of sections (5) connected between each other in series forming a coil, wherein the sections (5) are arranged in pairs inside said storage elements (3), forming a heat exchange area between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid.

10. Solar collector (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the storage elements (3) of the primary heat transfer fluid are connected between each other by means of suitable side connectors (15) that connect them two by two, forming said primary conduit.

11. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the diameter of the dissipation conduit (9) is comprised between 10 mm and 20 mm.

12. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the circulator (12) is configured so that it acts on the primary heat transfer fluid so that it flows in the dissipation conduit (9) at a speed comprised between 0.5 m/s and 1 m/s.

13. Solar collector (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat exchange between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid occurs by natural circulation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting illustration, with particular reference to the drawings of the appended figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a top view of the solar collector according to the invention in a preferred embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 is a broken perspective view of the solar collector of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a lateral section view of the solar collector in FIG. 1 along the section line III-III′;

(5) FIG. 4 is a section view of the profile that forms the side frame of the solar collector of FIG. 1;

(6) FIG. 5 is a top view of the solar collector of FIG. 1, wherein the primary conduit and the hot sanitary water or secondary conduit are shown when the circulator is not operating;

(7) FIG. 6 is a top view of the collector of FIG. 1, wherein the primary conduit and the hot sanitary water or secondary conduit are shown, and the flow of the primary fluid inside the dissipation conduit, when the circulator is operating; and

(8) FIG. 7 is a graph in which the performance of the solar collector with the dissipation conduit according to the invention is shown, in particular it is shown how the temperature (measured in ° C.) of the primary heat transfer fluid varies in a time space during the temperature variations (measured in ° C.) of the external environment.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFICATION EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(9) Making reference to FIGS. 1-3, the solar collector according to the invention is observed in a preferred embodiment, indicated by the numeric reference 1.

(10) In the figures, there is shown a particular type of solar collector of compact type with indirect radiation comprising vacuum tubes acting as collector elements. It is clear that the present invention can be applied also to other types of solar collectors, without making significant modifications. In particular, the heat exchange between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid occurs through natural circulation.

(11) The solar collector 1 comprises a containment structure 6 with at least one face exposed to solar radiation, said containment structure 6 has a central housing recess 7 and an outer edge 8 that surrounds said central housing recess 7. Inside said central recess 7 there are arranged a primary conduit for the circulation of the primary heat transfer fluid, exposed to solar radiation, a secondary conduit for the circulation of the secondary fluid, for example hot sanitary water or HSW, and a heat exchange area between said primary and secondary conduit for the heat exchange between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid.

(12) The solar collector 1 further comprises a hydraulic circuit, obtained in the same containment structure 6 as said solar collector 1, to which the task is assigned of dissipating to the external environment the excess energy accumulated by the primary conduit.

(13) In particular, in at least one portion of said outer edge 8 of the containment structure 6 at least one dissipation conduit 9 is obtained that is in fluid communication with said primary conduit. In the preferred embodiment, the outer edge is a frame 8 that laterally envelops the central housing recess 7. Preferably, this frame 8 is obtained from extruded profiles, in a thermally conductive material, like for example aluminium, which have, in a section like the one shown in FIG. 4, an outer perimeter 10 and a central conduit 9, which coincides with the dissipation conduit 9, connected in turn to the outer perimeter 10 by connecting radial fins 11 that also act as heat transfer fins.

(14) In the profile 8 of FIG. 4 there are five radial fins 11 for the transfer of heat, in other embodiments a different number can be provided according to thermal and structural needs.

(15) The designed and described system enables overtemperatures and the problems linked thereto to be avoided without having to add appendages to the compact solar collector, dissipating the excess heat through the structure of the panel. To do so, the conduits or dissipation conduits 9 are exploited in which the overheated primary fluid is made to transit. Owing to the radial fins, obtained inside the profiles 8, the excess heat is allowed to be dissipated to the external environment. The transfer of heat from the conduit in which the primary fluid flows and the outer surface of the profile is facilitated by the excellent heat conductivity of the aluminium.

(16) In this manner the heat dissipation system is totally invisible and integrated inside the solar collector, without having to add external components like stand-alone dissipation units; the overall plan dimensions of the collector remain accordingly unchanged.

(17) The solar collector 1 according to the invention moreover has a circulator 12 in fluid connection between the primary conduit and the at least one dissipation conduit 9. The circulator 12 has the task of making the primary heat transfer fluid move to enable the primary heat transfer fluid to transit inside the heat dissipation conduit 9 in order to reduce the temperature of the system (as shown in FIG. 6). In particular, the dissipation conduit 9 is connected to the primary conduit in such a manner that when the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid exceeds a preset first value T1, the circulator 12 makes the heat transfer fluid move in order to flow and transit inside the at least one dissipation conduit 9 at a higher speed in order to reduce the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid to be returned subsequently to the primary conduit.

(18) The circulator 12 advantageously allows the flow speed of the primary heat transfer fluid in the dissipation conduit to be increased, thus reducing the excess heat dissipation time, and thus the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid.

(19) Considering the flow speeds of the primary heat transfer fluid in prior art natural circulation systems, which are approximately values in the order of 0.02-0.05 m/s, using the solar collector according to the invention, an increase is obtained in the flow speed of the primary heat transfer fluid that is 20 to 40 higher.

(20) In particular, this speed is a function of the transit diameter of the fluid, in particular of the diameter of the dissipation conduit 9. As the solar collector 1 according to the invention is a solar collector of compact type, or the storage of the secondary fluid and of the primary fluid are both inside the same containment structure, the dissipation conduit 9 was advantageously inserted into the frame 8 of the collector 1 and thus has dimensional limits that are such that the diameter of the section of the dissipation conduit 9 is preferably comprised between 10 mm and 20 mm. On the basis of these dimensional parameters, the circulator 12 will have a flowrate that is such as to make the primary heat transfer fluid flow in the dissipation conduit 9 and the fluid speeds can vary between 0.5 m/s and 1 m/s. Advantageously, owing to the use of the circulator 12, by varying the aforesaid diameters a ratio between the fluid speed in the system devised according to the invention and the fluid speed in a natural circulation system can be maintained that is 10 to 50 times greater.

(21) For example, from field tests conducted and shown in the graph of FIG. 7, it is shown that 8 minutes suffice to reduce the temperature of the primary heat transfer fluid by 20° C. In particular, this 20° C. temperature variation falls within the range shown in the figure between the maximum temperature T° max and the temperature value TΔt after a period of time Δt of 8 minutes.

(22) In the example in FIG. 7 the activation value T1 of the circulator is the equivalent of Tmax, which is the equivalent of about 100° C.

(23) The test was conducted on a summer day in Central Italy and, as can be seen from the X axis of the graph in which the time of day is shown, in conditions of maximum sunlight. As a result, the power that the system is able to dissipate is much greater than the power that it receives in the form of radiation, about 1300 Watt. The tilt of the collector during the test was equal to 30°, the conduit for dissipating the heat had a section that was 15 mm in diameter, considering a circulator flowrate of 500 I/hour, the fluid speed can be considered to be equal to 0.8 m/s.

(24) Preferably, the circulator 12 can be activated by a thermostat (not shown) that, when a first preset temperature value T1 of the primary conduit is reached, allows the primary circuit to be switched on. Said first temperature value T1 can vary between 95° C. and 85° C. For other applications it can be higher or lower.

(25) Further, said thermostat commands switching off of the circulator 12 once the temperature of the primary conduit falls below a preset second temperature value T2. In this case the primary heat transfer fluid does not circulate in the dissipation conduits 9, as shown in FIG. 5.

(26) For the embodiment shown in the figure said second temperature value T2 can vary between 80° C. and 70° C. For other applications it can be higher or lower.

(27) The presence of the circulator enables considerable flow speeds to be obtained. The result is a high heat exchange coefficient and thus optimum dissipation capacity. In other words said circulator enables flow speeds to be obtained for which the convective coefficient, and thus the heat exchange, is high.

(28) Further, according to the invention, the solar collector 1 according to the invention can have a non-return and safety valve 14 combined with a vacuum breaker valve 13, arranged in fluid connection with said circulator 12, which enables the primary conduit to regulate itself. In fact, if the pressure of the primary conduit exceeds the calibration pressure P1 of the safety valve 14, the latter will expel a certain quantity of primary fluid until the pressure of the primary conduit stabilizes. The calibration pressure value P1 is dictated not only by the maximum pressure to which it is desired to subject the entire primary circuit, but also by the maximum pressure defined by the manufacturers of the individual components.

(29) In other words, the safety valve 14 advantageously allows the primary circuit to be protected against overpressure and, at the same time, prevents a flow reversal and possible parasitic circulation.

(30) Following cooling of the collector 1, owing for example to removal of energy by the user, the pressure of the primary conduit may fall and could adopt a value below atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference ΔP that is created between the pressure in the external environment and the pressure in the primary storage conduits could lead to the implosion of the conduits, but owing to the presence of the vacuum breaker valve 13, this effect will be avoided. In fact, the aforesaid valve 13, which is sensitive to small pressure variations ΔP, for example between 0.05 bar and 0.15 bar, will enable a quantity of air to enter that is such as to stabilize the pressure of the primary conduit until the pressure difference ΔP between the outside environment and the primary circuit is cancelled.

(31) The presence of the vacuum breaker valve advantageously allows the generation of vacuums to be prevented following the driving of the safety valve and the cooling of the system that may lead to the implosion of the primary storage conduits.

(32) In the case of solar collectors having tubing of large diameter, it is good practice to use the two valves 13 and 14 in combination. In the case of circuits wherein the tubes have relatively small diameters, for example in standard or non-compact solar collectors, just the safety valve 14 can be used, because in this case the risk of implosion is practically absent, and the vacuum breaker valve 13 would be superfluous.

(33) In this manner, maximum system safety is always guaranteed and, at the same time, the integrity of the plant is preserved because the high temperatures are limited.

(34) Further, owing to the use of these components using an expansion tank in the primary circuit is not necessary because the air cushion that is created inside the circuit acts as an expansion tank. The dilation of the primary fluid due to heating is offset by the compression of the air present inside the primary circuit.

(35) In the specific embodiment, the solar collector 1 comprises a plurality of collector elements, in particular vacuum tubes 2, wherein each vacuum tube 2 has a primary storage element 3 for containing the primary heat transfer fluid apt to store thermal energy and a collector 4 tube, in particular made of glass, which envelops said primary storage element 3, and which is arranged coaxially therewith, forming an insulating air gap.

(36) Said secondary conduit has a plurality of sections 5 connected together in series to form a coil. The sections 5 are arranged in pairs inside said storage elements 3, forming a heat exchange area between the primary heat transfer fluid and the secondary fluid. Preferably, these sections 5 are connected together so as to enter and exit said storage elements 3 from a sole side of the solar collector 1.

(37) Also the storage elements 3 of the primary fluid are connected together by suitable lateral connectors 15 that connect the storage elements 3 two by two, forming said primary conduit. Also in this case they can be connected at a sole side of the solar collector 1, in the specific case the connector side between the sections 5 of the secondary conduit.

(38) Further, the primary conduit is connected to the dissipation conduit 9 by connecting connectors 16. At the side of the solar collector 1 opposite that where the lateral connectors 15 are arranged, the circulator 12 is arranged in fluid connection with said connecting connectors 16 and the safety valve 13 and the vacuum breaker valve 14.

(39) Hydraulic continuity is ensured by the connection circuit 16 between the circulator 12, dissipation conduits 9 and primary conduit 3, 15.

(40) Operationally, the primary heat transfer fluid, contained inside the storage elements 3, is heated owing to the sun's rays hitting the vacuum tube collector 2. Inside the primary storage tube 3 the sections 5 that form the coil of the secondary conduit heat the sanitary water that flows inside the sections 5 at the heat exchange area. Owing to the great insulation that characterizes the aforesaid collector tubes, the temperatures reached by the system, in conditions of appropriate radiation, may be very high, even above 100° C.

(41) Owing to the dissipation conduit 9 and to the radial fins 11, obtained inside the profiles 8, the excess heat is allowed to dissipate to the external environment.

(42) As mentioned previously, the radial fins advantageously ensure thermal continuity between the dissipation circuit and the rest of said containment structure, in particular with the outer surface.

(43) The preferred embodiments have been described above and variants on the present invention have been suggested but it must be understood that expert persons can made modifications and changes without thereby falling outside the relative scope of protection, as defined by the attached claims.