This research is aimed to study the system performance for a large solar hot water system constructed by connecting a series of small domestic natural circulation systems. There are few studies on this type of large solar hot water system available. The major concern is that when circulation pump is on, there forms a short flow between inlet and outlet of each storage tank of natural circulation solar hot water unit. Therefore, water does not have chance to flow though the collector by thermosyphon and system performance can be lowered down drastically. This thesis presents the numerical simulation study for the control and system operating parameters effects on the system performance to provide important information both for users and system designers.

Precipitation of solids in plumbing systems (i.e., scaling) is a major problem in both traditional tank (electric and gas) and tank-less building hot water systems. Scaling can cause energy inefficiencies, flow reduction, pressure loss, and erosion corrosion damage. Consumers are also concerned with unsightly soap scum, cloudy water, discolored glassware, and failing infrastructure including appliances and fixtures. There are many treatments available that claim to ameliorate scaling problems, and several efforts have been made to develop standardized test protocols to verify and quantify their performance. This work critically evaluated previous testing efforts and revealed limitations in terms of reproducibility and a need to measure all key aspects of scale deposition including quantity, location, aesthetic and other issues. A Standardized Scaling Test Protocol (SSTP) was conceived and vetted to address these deficiencies and measure key parameters of calcium carbonate scaling throughout a model premise plumbing system, while using a synthesized test water that could provide reproducible results in any laboratory. This synthetic water and methodology was able to produce significant scaling in a model hot water system within the targeted 5-day experimental time frame. The average amount of scale recovered for the triplicate control tests (with no scale reduction device) was 25.1 grams of calcium carbonate with a 95% confidence interval of 20.3-29.8 grams of calcium carbonate. The approach also worked in recreating scaling in natural waters and was used to verify the performance of a wide array of scale reduction technologies including cation exchange softeners, electrochemical deionization, physical magnets or electric field generators, media induced precipitation, sacrificial media (phosphate), and sacrificial media (citric acid). While calcium carbonate precipitation within a water distribution system is generally undesirable; it was recently discovered that calcium carbonate particles are sometimes naturally clogging leaks in pipes and extending the lifetime of aging infrastructure. Corrosion inhibitors, mainly phosphates, have been increasingly dosed (up to 3.0 mg/L as PO4) into water to inhibit the corrosion of lead and copper pipelines in potable water systems since the advent of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) in 1991 by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Phosphate corrosion inhibitors are now used at over 50% of water utilities in the United States and they can affect calcium carbonate scaling kinetics. In bench-scale experiments, the critical concentrations of phosphates that could inhibit leak repair over the short-term in one water tested were: tripolyphosphate (0.05 mg/L as P) < hexametaphosphate (0.1 mg/L) < orthophosphate (0.3 mg/L). The results prove that dosing of phosphates for corrosion control will also affect the kinetics and likelihood of calcium carbonate precipitation, with both beneficial and adverse consequences for pipes and consumers. Specifically, increased use of inhibitors for corrosion control is expected to reduce the likelihood of all calcium carbonate scaling problems while reducing the likelihood of autogenous pipe leak repair. In Providence, RI the dosing of orthophosphate at relatively high pH to control a lead corrosion problem, caused formation of a white precipitate, consumer reports of white water, clogging of aerators and loss of the added soluble phosphate corrosion control inhibitor due to precipitation. The precipitate was identified as a calcium phosphate solid. Field and lab scale tests suggest that at doses below 2 mg/L as PO4, precipitation did not occur in water at pH 10.4 even when the water was heated to 48°C. However, if the water was dosed above 2 mg/L as PO4 precipitation occurred within 5 minutes, and once pre-existing particles were formed precipitation tended to continue even at much lower phosphate doses. Virtually all of the phosphate precipitated within 4 hours at the upper range of 60°C that is commonly found in water heaters. Thus, dosing of phosphate can actually increase scaling problems in some circumstances. Prior work has highlighted a need for a simplified bench-scale test that can be used to rapidly screen for qualitative trends in scaling. The SSTP and practical experience showed that the vast majority of scaling occurred in the water heater. Therefore, a simplified bench-scale test consisting of a heating element in a small volume of water could be used to focus on the most sensitive aspect of scaling. A 3-hour bench-scale test was developed to quickly examine scaling with orders of magnitude less volume, time, labor, cost, and space requirements. This approach was used to evaluate aspects of scaling in water heaters for the following illustrative examples: (1) scale impacts of combined phosphate corrosion inhibitor addition and partial water softening at centralized treatment plants, (2) role of silica concentration in scaling propensity and deposit durability, (3) effects of phosphate addition on scaling in a water known to cause erosion corrosion pipe damage. This dissertation reveals the complexity of scaling for consumers and water utilities and provides tools to systematically study and resolve these practical problems. Dosing of phosphate corrosion control inhibitors can increase scaling from calcium phosphate, decrease scaling of calcium carbonate, and in other cases will have little or no effect on scaling. Both calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate can contribute to scaling as controlled by pH, temperature, hardness, phosphate dose, and other circumstances. The standardized bench and pilot scale approaches developed herein, can serve as a basis for building knowledge reproducibly in any modern laboratory. These methods can also be used to verify performance claims for a wide range of scale reduction technologies, test treatments that could be applied at centralized treatment plants, and optimize water heater design dependent on water chemistry. / Doctor of Philosophy / Precipitation of solids in plumbing systems (i.e., scaling) is a major problem in both traditional tank (electric and gas) and tank-less hot water systems. In addition to scale build up within the hot water system, consumers are also concerned with unsightly soap scum, cloudy water, discolored glassware, and failing infrastructure including appliances and fixtures. There are many treatments available that claim to mitigate scaling problems, and several efforts have been made to develop standardized test protocols to verify and quantify their performance. This work evaluated previous testing efforts to determine limitations in their methodology. A Standardized Scaling Test Protocol (SSTP) was developed to address these deficiencies and measure key parameters of calcium carbonate scaling throughout a model home plumbing system, while using a test water that could provide reproducible results in any laboratory. The test water was able to produce significant scaling within a 5-day test period with reproducible results. While calcium carbonate precipitation within a water distribution system is generally undesirable; it was recently discovered that calcium carbonate particles are sometimes naturally repairing leaks in pipes and extending the lifetime of aging plumbing systems. An increasing number of water treatment plants are adding corrosion inhibitors to water to prevent the corrosion of lead and copper pipelines. Small scale lab experiments were run to determine how effective this natural leak repair was when there were corrosion inhibitors in the water. The results showed that most corrosion inhibitors also prevented or delayed calcium carbonate precipitation which reduced the likelihood of pipe repair through clogging leaks. In Providence, RI the addition of a corrosion inhibitor caused a white precipitate to form in the water which led to consumer complaints of white water and clogging of aerators. This was due to the uniquely high pH of the water. The precipitate was identified as a calcium phosphate solid. Field and lab scale tests suggest that there is a critical inhibitor dose, below which no precipitation occurred in the high pH water. However, if the water was dosed above this critical limit, precipitation occurred immediately and continued as time went on. Prior work has highlighted a need for a simplified bench-scale test that can be used to rapidly screen for qualitative trends in scaling. A 3-hour bench-scale test was developed to quickly examine key aspects of scaling with orders of magnitude less volume, time, labor, cost, and space requirements. This dissertation reveals the complexity of scaling for consumers and water utilities and provides tools to systematically study and resolve these practical problems.

Thesis (MTech(Electrical Engineering)) -- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014 / Today the building energy modeling industry is facing a number of challenges, the advanced programs or methods developed for building energy modeling, are very technical and complex to be used, especially for earlier designs, and the easy programs or methods are not accurate. Moreover, more than a hundred programs developed for energy modeling, have been used in the same building, but most of the time the results differed by about 30%. That is why this thesis has developed a new building energy model in System Modeling Language (SysML), in order to meet, at the same time, the accuracy and the simplicity to be used for future and existing buildings. In this thesis, SysML has been used to develop an energy model and to set up an automation system to the existing building. SysML can do more than simulations, but this thesis is limited to only the simulations steps by using easy applications of SysML and fewer diagrams which could develop in a complete building energy model. SysML is the extension of Unified modeling Language (UML), which uses fewer diagrams than UML. SysML is simple, open and more flexible to be used in any Engineering System. The previous chapter describes SysML and gives the overview and the platform of SysML. The simulations of SysML in this project have been developed through Enterprise Architect and Mat lab software. The inputs used to simulate the program are the parameters of the existing building chosen for modeling that is a student residential building complex located in Stellenbosch, Western Cape in South Africa. Automation system program used in this thesis was based on the norms and building standards of South Africa, renewable energy and the requirements of the buildings’ occupants, in order to meet energy efficiency and safety of the occupants.

Solar Domestic Hot Water (SDHW) systems collect energy from the sun to heat the household water. In the context of a system energy balance, numerical simulations were conducted using the commercial software “TRNSYS-17” to study the SDHW system performance (solar fraction) influenced by the critical parameters in various sizes of the thermal storage tank (TES) tank. The key parameters were the magnitude of the collector mass flow rate, degree of thermal stratification within the TES tank, and the duration of the mass flows through the collector. An empirical correlation was obtained to determine the operating collector mass flow rate and TES volume to deliver the peak system performance. The correlation was preliminarily verified with different weather data. The studies showed that the optimal collector mass flow rate occurred when the same amount of total daily household demand passed through the collector. Furthermore, when the twofold amount of the household demand passed through the collector, the optimal dimensionless tank volume became insensitive to the change of collector flow rate and remained constant at 0.84. Researchers discovered that promoting thermal stratification within the TES tank would enhance system performance. Thermal stratification within a TES improves the system performance by sending colder water to the solar collector and hotter water to the household. This research challenges the research community’s focus on thermal stratification by showing that solar fraction is directly related to the solar collector heat losses. As such, the role of the TES tank is to supply cold fluid to the collector to minimize collector losses. Thermal stratification in the top portion of the tank is thus unimportant in influencing solar fraction. In this research, the pump is turned on/off by monitoring the temperature difference between the collector inlet and outlet. Different pump control strategies at different collector mass flow rates were implemented to adjust the pump-on time. The studies showed the system performance was negligibly affected (~0.5%) by employing different pump control strategies while the collector mass flow rate was held constant. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Submitted by CRISTIANO PANSANATO null (pansanato.cristiano@gmail.com) on 2017-01-12T21:03:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiano Pansanato - Dissertação de Mestrado - 2016.pdf: 4251034 bytes, checksum: f23b5995e15e89e575b69d4b742fb372 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUIZA DE MENEZES ROMANETTO (luizamenezes@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-01-16T18:33:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pansanato_c_me_bauru.pdf: 4251034 bytes, checksum: f23b5995e15e89e575b69d4b742fb372 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-16T18:33:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pansanato_c_me_bauru.pdf: 4251034 bytes, checksum: f23b5995e15e89e575b69d4b742fb372 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A busca mundial for fontes de energia que garantam um crescimento sustentável tem marcado o século XXI. Nesse cenário, o Brasil é beneficiado, com diversas fontes de energias viáveis nas condições atuais e outras promissoras num cenário de médio e longo prazo. A utilização da energia solar convertida em energia térmica ou elétrica apresenta-se como uma destas alternativas. Explorar a energia solar de forma viável economicamente e melhorar a eficiência de captação e transformação são os grandes desafios que se apresentam. Neste contexto, este estudo se propôs a analisar experimentalmente o desempenho de um Sistema Acoplado, composto por coletores planos com e sem cobertura. O objetivo é reduzir o custo de implantação de um sistema de aquecimento, uma vez que o os coletores sem cobertura são mais baratos. Além disso, dependendo das características de implantação, é ainda possível aumentar a eficiência global do sistema através de um pré-aquecimento da água no coletor sem cobertura, aproveitando a maior eficiência térmica para temperaturas de operação próximas a do ambiente. Para estudo do Sistema Acoplado, um outro sistema composto apenas por coletores com cobertura foi montado e denominado Sistema Simples. Desta forma, com os dois aparatos montados e devidamente instrumentados foi possível obter resultados para as mesmas condições ambientais de teste. Assim, diversos esquemas de controle também puderam ser testados e analisados tanto na operação do Sistema Acoplado como do Sistema Simples. Resultados comparativos avaliando as condições de saída, energia útil e armazenada e eficiências térmicas foram apresentados e comparados para os dois sistemas. / The global search for energy sources that ensure sustainable growth has marked the 21st century. In this scenario, Brazil is benefited, with several viable sources of energy under current conditions and other promising sources in a medium and long-term scenario. The use of solar energy converted into thermal or electric ones presents itself as one of these alternatives. Using solar energy in a cost-effective way and improving the performance for capturing and transforming are the major challenges nowadays. In this context, this study proposed to analyze experimentally the performance of a Coupled System, composed by glazed and unglazed flat collectors. The purpose of this system is to reduce the installation costs of a heating system, since the unglazed collectors are less expensive. In addition, depending on its implementation characteristics, it is possible to increase the overall efficiency of the system by preheating the water in an unglazed collector, taking advantage of its higher thermal efficiency at nearby operating and ambient temperatures. For analysis of Coupled System, another system composed only of glazed collectors was assembled and denominated as Simple System. In this way, with the two devices mounted and instrumented some results can be obtained for the same environmental test conditions. Thus, several control schemes could also be tested and analyzed in the operation of both systems. Comparative results evaluating the output conditions, useful and stored energy and thermal performances are presented and compared for the systems.