Ethiopian Institute of Technology-Mekelle

(EIT-M)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Internship Project
On
Design of Solar Water Heater for Aircraft hanger (B777) Body Washing
By
Markos Yohannes

Mentor: Ashenafi Kebedom

Date: October 11, 2011.

1

Contents
Contents...............................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER ONE..................................................................................................................5
1.

Introduction...........................................................................................................5

1.1. Company History..................................................................................................5

1.2 Company Profile....................................................................................................5
1.3. Services And Product............................................................................................9
CHAPTER TWO...............................................................................................................11
2.

Internship Experience.................................................................................................11
2.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................11
2.2. Work Flow..........................................................................................................11
2.3. Activities.............................................................................................................12

CHAPTER THREE...........................................................................................................14
3.

Literature Review.......................................................................................................14
3.1. Introduction To Solar Energy..............................................................................14

3.2 Benefits from solar water heating................................................................................15

3.3 Solar Energy Collectors...............................................................................................15
a)

Flat Plate Solar Collectors..........................................................................................15

b)

Concentrating Solar Collector....................................................................................16

CHAPTER FOUR.............................................................................................................17
4.

Internship Project.......................................................................................................17
4.1. Aircraft Hangar Hot Wash Systems....................................................................17

4.2 Internship Project Work Selected.................................................................................17

4.3 Objectives...........................................................................................................18
4.4 Specific Objectives.............................................................................................18
4.5 Problem Description...........................................................................................18
4.6 Methodology........................................................................................................19
CHAPTER FIVE...............................................................................................................20
5
5.3

Design Analysis..........................................................................................................20
Design parameters..................................................................................................20
5.4 Expected Design Outputs...................................................................................20
5.5 Design of Solar Collector...................................................................................20
5.3.1 Components of solar water heater..................................................21

5.3.1.1 Glass................................................................................................ 22
5.3.1.2 Pipe.............................................................................................. 31
5.3.1.3Absorber....................................................................................... 31
5.3.1.2 Storage tank................................................................................31
5.3.1.3 Insulation Design.........................................................................31
5.3.1.4 Pump........................................................................................... 33
5.3.1.5 Temperature sensor (Thermocouple)...........................................33

Cost Analysis..............................................................................................................33

7. Conclusions And Reccomendations.............................................................................36

Reference...........................................................................................................................37

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family, mentor and friends who have
been supportive to me in every step of the way. The supervision and support they gave
me truly helped me for the progression and successful completion of the internship
program. The co-operation is much indeed appreciated.
My grateful thanks also go to engineering staff members of Ethiopian Airlines
Company who helped me from time to time during the internship program. All projects
would be nothing without the enthusiasm and support from all of you. Besides, this
internship program makes me realized the value of working together as a team and as a
new experience in working environment, which challenges us every time.
Last but not least am greatly thankful for my mentor Mr. Ashenafi for his advice which
in turn enables me to come up with a great design and analysis, his critics also shows me
how to overcome challenges and he also gave me some vital books which were helpful in
order to accomplish the internship project.

Abstract
My internship report contains all the activities about my work experience at Ethiopian
Airlines Company. Ethiopian airlines are one of the top airlines for its service in Africa
and the rest of the world and its a company that gains an annual income of 1billion
dollar. Despite the world airlines economic downturn Ethiopia airlines is still undergoing
a huge expansion in order to broaden its reach in providing quality service.
During the internship period I gain lot of experience starting from time management up to
complex part of the plain or the expensive part of the plane which is the engine.I had a
chance to see the power plant section, how the engine disassemble every part .and also
the engine test room ,how they test the engine before installing to aircraft .and I also had
a chance to see most the office and department.
Even though its hard to get a mentor in the company but t got most the important
knowledge that I should have to know.
After many observation and concentration I got my final project which is solar water
heater for air craft hanger body wash. This a critical issue for the company since they use
tap water but the standard cleaning manual from Boeing states that up to71 of
heated water is required to clean B777. The main aim of the project is reducing the cost
of electric consumption by using solar water heater.

CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction
1.1. Company History
Ethiopian Airlines, often referred to as simply Ethiopian, is an airline headquartered on
the grounds of Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It serves as the
country's flag carrier. The company is wholly owned by the Government of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie I asked the Americans, British and French to assist him
in establishing a new airline, in an attempt to modernize the country. Emperor envisioned
the creation of a quality national airline to shake off the poverty-stricken image Ethiopia
had at that time. Americans believed the country could become an important hub for air
traffic into the Red Sea region and its surroundings, and agreed to help the Emperor.
The carrier was eventually founded as Ethiopian Air Lines on 21 December 1945, with
aid from both Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express, which later
merged into TWA. The carrier relied upon American pilots, technicians, administrators
and accountants; it even had TWA General Managers. Soon afterwards, the company is
showing tremendous growth.

1.2 Company Profile

Ethiopian Airlines hub is Bole International Airport, from which the airline serves 61
international destinations and 17 domestic with 157 weekly international departures from
Addis Ababa and a total of 410 weekly international departures worldwide. The company
flies to more destinations in Africa than any other airline. Likewise, it is one of the few
Sub-Saharan profitable airlines, as well as one the fastest growing airlines in the industry.
Ethiopian Airlines has code share agreements with: South African Airways, Lufthansa,
Gulf Air, Air One, Brussels Airlines, British Midland (BMI), Rwanda Air, and Saudi
Arabian Airways.

Human Resource Management: fleet (as of December 31, 2010)

Total No. of Employees
Marketing & Sales:
Maintenance & Engineering:
Cabin Crew:
Cockpit Crew:

5,635
29%
28%
12%
6%

25%
Others:
Ethiopian has an advanced maintenance base, which is fully operational for Airframe
maintenance up to D-Checks, Engine, Overhaul, Components repair & overhaul, Light
Aircraft maintenance and technical, and management assistance for other airlines. The
maintenance base is certified by the US- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Ethiopian is self-sufficient in all aviation training systems. The Ethiopian Aviation

Academy offers training for Pilots, Aircraft Technicians, Cabin Crew (Service Trainee),
Marketing & Sales as well as Management and Finance staff.

Figure 1: Maintenance base

FIGURE 2 SIMULATORS

Figure 2: Simulator
1.3. Services and Product
It operates scheduled international passenger and freight services to over 50 destinations
worldwide, as well as domestic services to 32 destinations and passenger and cargo
charter flights. Ethiopian Airlines operates the Youngest Fleet in Africa. The following
are the major categories of owned and leased aircrafts (36 aircraft): 10 Boeing 767-300; 8
Boeing 757-200; 2 Boeing 757-260 F; 2 Boeing 747F; 2 MD-11F; 5 Boeing 737-700NG;
2 B737-800W; and 5 Fokker 50.
In July 2009 Boeing and Ethiopian announced an order for five Boeing 777-200LRs. In
doing so, Ethiopian Airlines becomes the first African carrier to order the ultra-longrange 777-200LR model. Ethiopian Airlines earlier was the first African carrier to order
the 787 Dream liner, committing to 10 in 2005. Ethiopian will begin taking deliveries of
the B777-200LR in October, 2010 and the A-350-900 in 2017.The order for the five
B777-200LRs is valued at $ 1.3 billion. It also ordered twelve Airbus-350-900s at US$2.9
billion. The new purchase of aircraft from Boeing and Airbus is made in line with

Ethiopians fast growth strategy in which it is predicated that the fleet size would
significantly increase in the next ten to fifteen years.
Ethiopian has 35 new airplanes on order direct from the manufacturers. Including the
recent orders of five B777-200LR and twelve A350-900, Ethiopian has also on order for
ten Boeing B787 and eight Bombardier aircraft. These long term investments will also
enable Ethiopian to operate one of the youngest and greenest fleet in Africa. Ethiopian
has been one of the fastest growing airlines in the industry during the past five years and
continues to maintain the trend firmly. Thus, in order to meet the required level of fleet
size going forward, Ethiopian made the decision to diversify its fleet type among Boeing,
Airbus and Bombardier aircraft.
o

CHAPTER TWO
2. Internship Experience
2.1.

Introduction

This internship program help me to develop my skills and techniques directly applicable
to my career, to facilitate reflection on experience, to enhance understanding of academic
material by application, to develop attitudes and to provide in-depth knowledge of the
formal functional activities of a participating organization.
I gave my internship vacancy paper to Ethiopian Airlines Company and luckily they
accepted my request. For the whole 4 month I have been working in System Section. It is
a subsection of engineering office. Engineering and planning is sub-sectioned into 4
departments. These are
1. System:
2. Structure,
3. Avionics, and
4. Power plant.
2.2.

Work Flow

The work flow of the power plant is

First the engine is detached from the Air Craft Body

The power plant is moved to the shop
The engine will be disassembled
Some of the parts that can be repaired can be done in the shop.
Otherwise it will be send to the manufacture company
After that it should has to be closed with plastic.
Finally it will be installed in the aircraft body.
2.3. Activities

The 1st week of my internship program, I focused very much in touring the company. The
departments listed above were explained briefly and they told us how things are handled,
managed, function and how the work flow inside each department.
1. Avionics is a section in which it comprises electronic systems for use on aircraft,
artificial satellites and spacecraft, comprising communications, navigation and the
display and management of multiple systems. It also includes the hundreds of
systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles responsible for all
electrical system found in the aircraft.
2. Power plant section is responsible for the engines of all aircrafts.
3. Structure section is responsible for the outer and inner structure of the aircrafts.
4. System is responsible for different types of system found in the aircraft.
Pneumatic shop, wheel shop, brake shop, fuel shop, landing gear shop are under
this department.
The 2nd week up to fourth week of my internship program I was working in the power
plant section. A senior engineer technician explained me how each part disassembled.
And this will be in the following order,
we detach the fan section
the low pressure compressor
the high pressure turbine
the high pressure compressor
the high pressure turbine
the lower pressure compressor
diffuser case
Nozzle
The fifth week of the internship program they show us a tube test machine its called
hydrostatic test bench machine, and its function is check the leak. But this machine has a
problem

1. It has safety problem because of the cover and this cause damage to
workers. They told us one worker had sever accident.
2. It is operated by water

So I gave them my suggestion to the department in the following way;

a) For the first case
It is preferable that to change the cover glass with appropriate or standard
glass which has high strength.
b) For the second case
In air plane engine almost all parts transfer oil, so it is preferable if we use
oil to check the tube.
c) All in all its preferable if we by the standard test machine which satisfies the
above solution.
The sixth week I focused my internship project to be on the design of solar water for
cleaning B777. The problem in Ethiopian Air lines was they use cold water for cleaning
aircraft. This contradicts from the standard Boeing cleaning manual. So to do the right
procedure we need to use the hot water which is up to 71

. So the project chooses

to use the solar water heater to perform the task. This is presented in the next section.

CHAPTER THREE
3. Literature Review

3.1.

Introduction to Solar Energy

The energy produced and radiated by the sun, more especially the term solar energy
refers to the suns energy that reaches the earth. Solar energy, received in the form of
radiation can be converted directly or indirectly into other forms of energy, such as heat
and electricity, which can be utilized by man. Since the sun is expected to radiate at an
essentially constant rate for a few billion years, it may be regarded as an inexhaustible
source of useful energy. The major drawbacks to the extensive application of solar energy
are:

The intermittent and variable manner in which it arrives at the earths surface and
The large area required to collect the energy at a useful rate.

Energy is radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves of which 99% have wavelengths
in the range of 0.2 to 4 micrometers. Solar energy reaching the top of the earths
atmosphere consists of about 8% ultraviolet radiations [short wave lengths, less than 0.39
micrometers], 46% visible light [0.39 to 0.78 micrometers], and 46% infrared radiation
[long wave length more than 0.78 micrometers].
Most of the energy we receive from the sun comes in the form of light, a short wave
radiation, not all of which is visible to the human eye. When this radiation strikes a solid
or liquid, it is absorbed and transformed into heat energy. The material becomes warms
and stores the heat, conducts it to surrounding material (air, water, other solids) or
reradiated it to other materials of lower temperature. This reradiating is along wave
radiation [1].

3.2 Benefits from solar water heating

a. Economical benefits:
Solar water heating is generally a worthwhile economical investment whenever there is a
combination of the following availabilities
Average to the above average sunshine
Average to above to average cost of heating fuel (electric)
Average to above average need for heat
From large economic point of view, solar water heating becomes very compiling when the
hidden economic and environmental cost benefits as well as subside we pay are considered.

b. Environmental benefits:
Because most heating system burns fossil fuel which create pollution, all the energy saved by
solar water heating system eliminates the pollution that would otherwise add to our problems of
poor air quality, poor health smog and global climate change.

c. Sustainability benefits:
Many solar water heaters use a small solar electric (photovoltaic) module to power the pump
needed to circulate the heat transfer fluid through the collectors. The use of such module allows
the solar water heater to operate even during a power outage.

3.3 Solar Energy Collectors

A solar collector is a device for collecting solar radiation and transfers the energy to a fluid
passing in contact with it. Utilization of solar energy requires solar collectors. These are general
of two types
a) None concentrating or flat plate type solar collector
b) Concentrating (focusing) type solar collectors

a) Flat Plate Solar Collectors

The solar energy collector, with its associated absorber, is the essential component of any system
for the conversion of solar radiation energy into more usable form (e.g. Heat or electricity). In
the non-concentrating type, the collector area (i.e. the area that intercepts the solar radiation) is
the same to the absorber area (the area absorbing the radiation).
Flat plate solar collectors may be divided into two main classifications based on the type of heat
transfer fluid used. These are:
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1. Liquid heating collectors: are used for heating water and non-freezing aqueous solutions
and occasionally for non-aqueous heat transfer fluids.
2. Air or gas heating collectors: are employed as solar air heaters. The principal difference
between the two types is the design of the passages for the heat for the transfer fluid.

b) Concentrating Solar Collector

In these types of collectors, the area intercepting the solar radiation is greater, sometimes
hundreds of times greater than the absorber area. By means of concentrating collectors, much
higher temperatures can be obtained than with the non-concentrating type. Concentrating
collectors may be used to generate medium pressure steam. They use many different
arrangements of mirrors and lenses to concentrate the suns rays on the boiler. This type shows
better efficiency than the flat plate type. For best efficiency, collectors should be mounted to face
the sun as it moves through the sky.

12 | P a g e

CHAPTER FOUR
4. Internship Project
4.1.

Aircraft Hangar Hot Wash Systems

Aircraft hanger washing systems can be designed or applied for a variety of applications. A
hanger washing system is designed to meet the specifics of the aircraft and the mission. The
common denominators in all cases are to minimize out of service time and maximize
decontamination performance. The primary objectives for aircraft use are operational availability
or mission accomplishment. Time spent in the hanger for aircraft service certainly detracts from
these objectives.
Washing an aircraft by hand 20 times per year provides a good example of the savings possible
when using a high-pressure hot water system. The hand wash process can use up to 10,000
gallons of water per wash and require about 36 man-hours per aircraft. Alternately, a hanger
wash/rinse system can greatly reduce the manpower, water, wastewater and detergent used to
wash aircraft.
But in Ethiopian airlines they did not use the hot water system; rather they use tap water from the
water reservoir tanker. So this leads to Corrosion. The project deals with the hot water system in
order to reduce corrosion which can be found in using solar flat panel water heater methods.
4.2 Internship Project Work Selected
The project I have selected to work as my internship project work is titled as Design of Solar
water heater for Aircraft Hanger (B777) body washing.
The reasons why I choose the project are:

It is a critical issue to the company to solve the problem

It is also interesting especially from renewable energy perspective way

From cost perspective way it is vital to the company.

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4.3 OBJECTIVES
To design solar water heater to satisfy the demand for the body washing of B777 aircraft.
4.4 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
The activities to accomplish the above stated objective are:

I gather data

I used internet

I used well known books

I interview some of the works in the company that have relation to the project. That is the
Air Craft Hunger body cleaning section.

4.5 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

In most air line companies, aircraft corrosion is a multi-billion dollar problem. Corrosion occurs
when materials react adversely to each other, corrosive liquids, or their environment, which
exposes the aircraft to moisture, salt, sand, and extreme temperatures. Problems caused by
corrosion are compounded by an aging aircraft fleet, where aircraft are regularly pushed far
beyond their original intended life cycles.
In Ethiopian air lines, corrosion affects the following aircraft parts.
a) Increase fire hazards by removal of leaking fluids.
b) Reduce aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft.
c) Create visibility problem through canopies and windows.

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4.6 METHODOLOGY
To design the solar water heater the following methodologies are used;
a) Data collection
In designing of solar water heater different datas needs to be collected. For
example, the metrology data collected from weather data section in Ethiopian
Air Lines
b) Internet sources

Internet source are vital to this internship project because some of the books were
found from free down load sites like 4sherd.com.

c) Literatures

15 | P a g e

CHAPTER FIVE
5 DESIGN ANALYSIS
5.3 Design parameters
The following parameters have been used to design the solar water heater.

Hot water consumption in hanger for cleaning B777

The amount of water needed to wash a B777 air plane is 2000 gallons (About 7570 litters).

a) Temperature

From the metrological data of Addis Ababa the average ambient temperature is 21 .

Wind Speed
From the metrological data of Addis Ababa the average wind speed is 3.1

m
s

but it is taken to

be 5 m/s for our calculation purpose.

Solar intensity
From the metrological data of Addis Ababa the solar intensity is 0.786 MJ/m2.
5.4 Expected Design Outputs
The desired outputs are the followings:
a)

The desired output temperature should not more than 71 degree Celsius

b)

The desired output pressure should not more than 80 psi.

c)

The desired volume of hot water should be 2000 gallon.

5.5 Design of Solar Collector
The solar collector selected to our prototype on the solar water heater is the flat plate type. This
is due to the following reasons.
0

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

The temperature required is below or about 100 c

It is simple to manufacture
The flat plate collectors are convenient for water heating
They have the advantage of using both beam and diffuse solar radiation
They do not require much tracking unlike that of concentrating collectors

16 | P a g e

vi.

They require little maintenance

5.3.1 Components of solar water heater

The components of the flat plate collector type of the solar water heater are:

17 | P a g e

Glass
pipe
Absorber
Storage tank
Insulation
Pump
Temperature sensor

Steel pipe
Copper pipe

Thermocouple

Hot water out

Cold water in

Pump

Figure 3: Solar water heater

5.3.1.1 GLASS
Glass easily transmits short wave radiation, which means that it poses little interference to
incoming solar energy, but it is a very poor transmitter of long wave radiation. Once the suns
energy has passed through the glass windows and has been absorbed by some material inside, the
heat will not be radiated back outside. Glass therefore, act as a heat trap. A phenomenon which
has been recognized for some time in the construction of green houses, which can be get quite
warm on sunny days, even in the middle of winter; this has come to be known in fact. As the
(Green house effect) flat plate, collectors usually have one or more glass covers.
The front covers are generally glass (may be one or more) that is transparent to in-coming solar
radiation from the absorber. The glass covers act as a convection shield to reduce the losses from
the absorber plate beneath. Glass is generally used for the transparent covers but certain plastic
films may be satisfactory. Glass is the most favorable material. Thickness of 3 and 4 mm are

18 | P a g e

commonly used. The usual practice is to have 1 or 2 covers with a specific ranging from 1.5 to
3cm.
Advantage of first glass, which is added above the first one are:
a) Losses due to air convection are further reduced. This is important in windy areas
b) Radiation losses in the infra-red spectrum are reduced by a further 25%, because half of the
50%, which is emitted outwards from the first glass plate, is back radiated. It is not worthwhile to
use more than two glass plates. This is due to the fact that each plate reflects about 15% of the
incoming sunlight.
The performance of solar collectors is described in energy balance that indicates the
distribution of incident solar radiation in to the useful energy gain and various losses .the thermal
losses can be separated into three components
1. Conductive losses
2. Convective losses
3. Radiation losses
Under steady state conditions, the useful heat delivered by solar collector is equal to the energy
absorbed in the metal surface minus the heat losses from the surface directly and indirectly to the
surrounding. This principle can be stated in the relationship
Qu=Ac[S-UL{Tpm-Ta}]
Where,
Qu -Useful energy delivered by collector

Collector area

S- Absorbed energy
S=

I d R b ( )b + I d ( )d

( 1+ cos
)+ ( I + I ) ( ) ( 1cos
)
2
2
g

- Over all heat loss coefficient,

U
19 | P a g e

= Ut+ Ub+ Ue

Ut - Top loss coefficient

Ub - Bottom loss coefficient
Ue - Edge loss coefficient
Tpm -Mean absorber plate temperature
Ta - Ambient temperature

The heat losses from the surface are the following

a) Top Loss (Ut)
This loss occurs through the glass covers taking in to consideration the emittances of plate
and glass, wind convective heat loss. Mathematically can be expressed by
U L=

N
C
T pm

1
+
e
hw

(( T N T
+ f ))
pm

Where:
N - number of glasses
w 0.1166 h w
1+0.089 h

f =

C=520(1-.0000512) for 070

- Collector tilt angle

- Emmitance of glass (.88)

T
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Emmitance of plate

pm

Mean plate temperature

( T pm+ T a ) ( T PM2 +T a2 )
+
1 2 N + f 1+ 0.133 p
N
( p+ 0.00591 N hw ) +
g

T
h

Ambient temperature
w

5.7 3.8V w

= wind heat transfer coefficient, with wind speed,

= Stefan Boltzmann constant(5.67*10-8)

e =0.430(1-100/Tpm)
To calculate the mean plate temperature, steady state heat conduction from the plate to the
fluid is used, which latter is iterated until similar result is obtained with the correct useful
energy.

Tpm=Tfi+

QU
AC
F RU

(1-FR)
L

Where:
FR- Collector heat removal factor
QU -Useful energy from collector
UL -Total heat loss coefficient
Tfi -Inlet fluid temperature
b) Bottom loss coefficient (Ub)
This loss accounts the convective and conductive loss through the insulation.
Mathematically:
Ub=K/L
Where,
L - Thickness of insulation
K- Thermal conductivity of insulation
Ub -Bottom loss coefficient

21 | P a g e

c) Edge loss, (Ue)

This heat dissipation comes from the edge loss to the environment. It is given by
Ue=

(UA )e
AC

Where
(UA)e Edge loss coefficient-area product
AC Collector area
Know the overall heat loss coefficient,(UL)is
UL=Ut+Ub+Ue

5.3.1.1fin Efficiency, Fe
Fin efficiency of the collector is given by the following relation;
F= tanh

m (W D )
/m(W D)/ 2
2

Where
W fin width
D outer diameter of heat pipe.

UL
k

K thermal conductivity of fin

Fin thickness

F Standard Fin efficiency

5.3.1.2 Collector Fin Efficiency Factor, F

1
UL

F' =
w

1
1
1
+ +
U L [ D+ { W D } F ] C b D i h fi

Where,
22 | P a g e

Cb bond conductance

fi

, local film heat transfer coefficient

=300w/m2 oc for natural circulation

5.3.1.3 Collector heat removal factor (FR)

F R=

[ [

m
cp
AC U L F
1 exp
p
Ac U L
mC

'

]]

Where,
m Mass flow rate of the fluid
Cp specific heat capacity for water
F collector Fin Efficiency Factor

5.3.1.4 Collector flow factor (F)

F

} = {{F} rsub {R}} over {{F} ^ {'}} = {acute {m {C} rsub {p}}} over {{A} rsub {C} {U} rsub {L} {F} ^ {

[ (

A C U L F '
1exp
cp
m

)]

To get the useful energy

QU = A C ( SU L { T pmT a } )

5.4 Absorber (Collector) Design

The following parameters are taken into consideration for design of this part:

Available thickness of the absorber material = 0.5 mm

Fin material selected for this purpose is Aluminum because of the following two reasons;
Low cost
Easily corrugated to hold heat pipes
w
Thermal conductivity of aluminum K =221 m2 k

g .88

Emmitance of glass
Ambient temperature Ta=20 oc
Emitance of plate =0.27

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Average wind speed, Vw = 5

Collector tilt angle =9

m
s

w
m2

Incident solar radiation, I = 218

w
m2
Beam solar radiation Ib =104
w
m2
Diffuse solar radiation Id=114
Number of glass covers is taken to be 2 to prevent high convection losses

Assumptions taken for this design are

Tube spacing (w) = 150 mm

Tube diameter D = 20 mm

w
Heat transfer coefficient hfi=300 m2 k

1
Bond conductance Cb is very large so c b

Heat flow through a cover is one dimensional

There is one dimensional heat flow through back insulation
Dust and dirt on the collector are negligible.

=0

5.5 UL over all heat loss coefficients

UL= Ut+ Ub+ Ue
a)

Top loss coefficient (Ut)

2 N +f 1+0.133 p
N
g

2
2
1 1 ( T pm+T a ) ( T PM +T a )
+
+
e

hw

1
( p +0.00591 N h w ) +

U L=

24 | P a g e

N
C
T pm

((

T pmT a
N +f

))

Lets assume Tpm =60+273.15=333.15k

Ta=21+273.15=294.15k
N= 2
F= 2.82
w
Hw=24.7 m2 k
ep= 0.27
e= 0.3
c=519.99
Then the top loss coefficient will be
w
Ut=2.448 m2 k
b) The bottom loss coefficient(Ub)
Ub=K/L
Where
L Thickness of insulation 0.06m
w
K Thermal conductivity of insulation 0.025 m2 k
Ub Bottom loss coefficient
w
Therefore Ub=0.42 m2 k

C) Edge loss, (Ue)

Ue=

( UA )e
AC

k
U= t e
where
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k is the termal insulation conductivity.(0.025)

te is edge insulation thickness(0.03)
then U=0.833
A=perimeter of the collector * edge insulation thickness
A=6*0.03
=0.18m2
Ac=length of the collector* the width of the collector
= 2m2
Then
w
Ue=0.022 m2 k
Therefore, the overall heat transfer coefficient
UL=Ut+Ub+Ue
= 2.89

w
m2 k

Fin Efficiency, F
F= tanh

m=

m (W D )
/m(W D)/ 2
2

UL
k =5.11

F= 0.959

5.6 Collector Fin Efficiency Factor, F

1
UL

F' =
w

1
1
1
+ +
C

D
U L [ D+ { W D } F ]
b
i h fi

1
C b =0 because Cb is very large.

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Then F = 0.837

5.7 Collector heat removal factor (FR)

[ [

m
cp
AC U L F'
F R=
1 exp
p
Ac U L
mC
FR= 0.791
The solar absorbed energy;
S=

I d R b ( )b + I d ( )d

1cos
+ ( I + I ) ( ) (
( 1+ cos
)
)
2
2
g

w
S= 373.57 m2
Then the useful energy will be
QU=AC[S-UL(Tpm-Ta)]
QU =5211.8

Then the plate temperature in the first iteration is

Tpm=405.8K
Tpm=344.15k in the second iteration.
Hence taking 344.15k,the UL F,F,FR,F and QU will be
w
UL=2.731 m2 k
F=0.962
F=0.926
FR=0.428
F=0.462
QU=7797.8W

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]]

5.3.1.2 Pipe
5.3.1.2.1Copper pipe
The copper pipe is used to transfer heat from the solar flat plate to the fluid.

Design parameters
Diameter of the pipe = 20 mm
Length of the pipe = 2m
Number of copper pipes ,N
To find N we can use this formula
r s2=N r c2
Where rs refers to the radius of steel, which is equal to 50 mm
N=2

5.3.1.2.2 Steel pipe

The steel pipe is used
To transfer the cold water from the tanker to the flat plate
To transfer the hot water to the storage tank
5.3.1.3Absorber
Solar absorber surfaces have been researched the most extensively over the last decade compared
to the other collector materials. For the project I choose the aluminum because of high absorption
property.

5.3.1.2Storage tank
It is used to store the hot water and the size will be as follows
3
1 m =1000 l

= 7570 l

3
x= 7.57 m

The size tanker is equal 1.7*1.5*2m which is 8.1 m3 with some allowance.

5.3.1.3Insulation Design
A. Tanker Insulation
The tanker (hot water reservoir) should be insulated appropriately for two reasons
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While the tanker is heating during the sunshine hour, heat loss should not be
significant to reduce the temperature of the water.

During the night, the hot water will be stored in the tanker for the use in the next
day in the morning. So, the heat loss should be minimized to make temperature of
the water in the desired magnitude.

.
The insulation material available is urethane foam with previously cited properties.
The tanker has six faces with two of them identical in area. The dimensions for one
panel containing 7570 liter of water are as follows.

2m

1.5m
2.7m
Area of each face is
A1=2.7*1.5= 4.05 m2
A2=1.5*2= 3 m2
A3=2.5*2= 5 m2
Total area is Atot= 12.05 m2
material for tanker is steel which is available in the companys workshop
with antirust paint its thermal conductivity , k=54w/m-k
The minimum ambient temperature, Ta is taken to be 10 oC.
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 Assumed thickness of insulation, L=60 mm.

convective heat transfer to the environment, hw=25.7w/m2-k
Surface temperature of the tanker, Tf is taken to be the maximum
temperature the water reaches i.e. 71oC for one shift heating and 90oC for
water heating the whole day.

B.

Pipe Insulation
The Critical radius of insulation, rcr for cylindrical body is given by
rc r=K/h
=18/24.7
= 0.7mm
w
Where, k- is thermal insulation conductivity=18 m2 k
w
h- is Convective heat transfer coefficient of surrounding medium = 24.7 m2 k

5.3.1.4 Pump
Its function is to give head to the cold water which flow rate is 0.01kg/s. So we can by or order
the pump from pump factories.

5.3.1.5Temperature sensor (Thermocouple)

Its function is to indicate the temperature of water.
If the temperature of water is below 71

then the water should have to recycle until

it is reached to 71
.
If the water is reached 71 then the hot water can be used to the required task.
Note that after the storage tank there is a hose and a pump which is used to transmit the hot water
and to give the desired pressure (80psi). And these two materials are available in the company.

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Cost Analysis
The main objective of cost analysis is required to know the cost of 1kwh energy produced
by the solar water heater and to compare with the cost of energy produced using 1kwh
electrical energy in Ethiopia.
Specification:
Material steel sheet metal
2

Absorber size - 1900x900mm

Materials required and their costs:
Materials

Size

cost
2

1. Glass

2000*1000mm

700birr

2. Absorber
3. Support
4. storage tank
5. Casing

1900*900 mm
2000mm
8.1m32000*1000mm2

400birr
400birr
9000birr
500 birr

Then the total cost is equal to 11,000 birr

To produce 1kwh of energy from solar energy using the solar collector the cost spend is
only the depreciation cost of the solar water heater each year, otherwise there is no other
additional cost rather there may be some maintenance cost which is negligible as
compared to its cost.
0

The depreciation cost for each machine in Ethiopia is 20 each year

The depreciation cost of the solar water heater in 2004E.C (the time of manufacturing) is
given by

0.2 * original cost

=0.2 *11000
=2200birr/year

2200
365 = 6 birr/day

But using this solar water heater the energy produced per day is
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E=

m cp T

E=

vc p( T pmT a )

E= 1000*7.57*4190*50
E= 1,589915kw
The energy consumption per day in kil0wat hour is
1,589915
3600

= 440kwh/day

The cost of 1kwh energy produced by this water heater is given by:
1kwh = x
440kwh/day= 6 birr/day
X = 0.014 birr for this year (2004)
The costs in the future years are calculated and written in the table below
Year (EC)
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

Total machine cost

(book value) ,birr
11000
8800
7040
5632
4505.6
3604,48

Depreciation
cost/year ,birr
2200
1760
1408
1126.4
901.12
720.896

Cost of 1kwh
Solar energy, birr
0.014
0.011
0.009
0.007
0.004
0

As from the EELPA information the electrical cost for 1kwh in Ethiopia is 0.58 birr for
institutions. When we compare this cost with the solar energy cost over the coming 6
year,
For the solar energy which is used for 6 years 11,00 birr only for initial cost
When we use the electric power the cost will be
The total energy which is going to produced for the upcoming 6 years is
440*365*6
=963,600kw
And the electrical cost will be,
0.58*963,600
= 558,888 birr
From the above step we can see that the one which use the solar energy for the
amount energy saves a birr of;
558,888 11,000 = 547888 birr.
So the company has high advantage in terms of cost since it saves 547,888 birr.
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7. Conclusions and Recommendations

7.1 Conclusions
Generally solar water heater is the most cost effective energy converter than that of solar
electricity (photovoltaic cells). As the system uses renewable energy from the sun it does not
harm the environment unlike that of fossil fuels.
There are many types of solar collectors, but the most common type is flat plate collector with
black paints and connected (glued) with a copper pipe. The collector material used is aluminum
which has high conductivity with relatively low cost.
From the analysis we can see that it needs 189 panels to heat 7570 litter of water.
There are 25 copper pipes inside of the solar collector in order to transfer heat from the absorber
to the fluid and each of the copper pipes has 20mm diameter. And we have to use a water pump
in order to give a desired flow rate from a storage tank which stored the heated water. To control
the exact water temperature we have a temperature sensor thermocouple. To avoid a heat lose
that is caused by the process of heat transfer we uses standard insulators.

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Finally I want to urge the company administrators to bring into their attention the adaptation of
this technology which can play a vital role not only in saving the company money but also in
creating a world free from carbon.

6.2 Recommendations:
During installation, production and insulating of the components great care should be taken to
maintain the results of the design.
Using a single cover glass, doubles the heat loss and this in turn decrease the efficiency. So using
two cover glasses is recommended.
From the internship project design it can be conclude that using solar water heater for air craft
hanger washing body is effective, especially from cost perspective view. Since the main aim of
the company is saving expenditure cost, as a result my design saves total of 547,888birr for the
six years.
The company needs to improve its handling of intern students and their understanding about
internship because today interns can be tomorrow employs at the company.

Reference
1. G.D.Rai, 2004, Energy Resources, 4th Edition, Khanna, New Delhi.
2. JOHN A. DUFFIE & A.BECK MAN, 1980, Solar engineering of thermal
processes, 2nd edition
3. Internet
4. D.A DAVID and Associates Whitely Bay, 2006, Heat pipe 5th edition.
5. ARORA.DOMKUNDWA A course in heat and mass transfer

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