Experimental Study on the Performance of a Gravity-assisted Heat Pipe Flat Plate Solar Collector

Based upon the heat transfer analysis of the performance of the heat pipe flat plate collector, some experimental studies were carried out on the heat transfer characteristics of a closed thermosiphon (gravity-assisted) heat pipe under the heat flux conditions occurring in flat plate solar collectors. An outdoor performance test of a heat pipe solar collector and a conventional one which has the same structure and size was undertaken. The experimental research indicates that little thermal performance improvement will be obtained in a heat pipe solar collector; however, with a view to solving the freezing and corrosion problems of solar collectors, it is worthwhile to do further R&D on the use of heat pipe technology in flat plate solar collectors