EE01654U1 - Outdoor shower thermal collector - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention describes a thermal collector of an outdoor shower, which uses solar energy to heat water and has a hermetic environment for the use of precious gas. The thermal collector of outdoor shower comprises a cylindrical tank filled with heat transfer fluid which has a coating that absorbs solar energy and around the cylindrical tank is a tube of transparent material. There is an air gap between the cylindrical tank and a tube made of transparent material, which is filled with precious gas. The ends of the thermal collector have flanges with ring seals and the upper end has an opening for the precious gas to enter the air gap.

Description

 Technical field

The invention relates to a thermal collector for an outdoor shower, more specifically, the invention relates to heating water using solar energy for an outdoor shower made on the principle of a thermal collector.

State of the art

A tubular radiation absorbing device using solar energy is known (US2007235024, Schott AG, published 11.10.2007), which includes a central tube and a surrounding glass tube, between which a gas-tight closed space containing a noble gas is formed. During operation of the device, a heat transfer fluid, in particular oil, is pumped through the central tube. With this device, solar radiation is concentrated by means of a tracking mirror and converted into heat. The disadvantage of this solution is that its design is complex and expensive and is intended for a rear-well collector of a solar power plant.

A solar collector element is known (GB2032095, Anderson D.C, Dawson D, published 30.04.1980) which comprises an elongated water-carrying tube from which one or more fins extend generally radially for a distance at least equal to the diameter of the tube. The tube and fins are made of a heat-conducting material, e.g. copper, and are coated with a black coating which increases heat absorption. An outer transparent tube contains the tube and fins with water and is sealed and filled with an inert gas. The solution presented forms a base for a solar panel which is suitable for connection to a system designed to heat a liquid, usually water. In this solution, the hermeticity of the ends of the tube is not ensured.

The closest analogue in terms of technical nature is the thermal collector (heat receiver tube) (EP3163213, Siemens Concentrated Solar Power Ltd, published 03.05.2017), which contains a stainless steel thermal collector, the heat transfer fluid of which is thermal oil or molten salt. The thermal collector is surrounded by a transparent glass tube. The surface of the thermal collector and the surface of the surrounding tube are placed in opposite directions relative to each other, creating a vacuum chamber. The air gap of the thermal collector is filled with the noble gas krypton or xenon. The dimensions of the thermal collector are variable

by means of an adjustment device. The noble gas inlet openings are arranged in the wall of the thermal collector and the openings are sealed by means of O-rings. The disadvantage of this solution is the complexity of the design and the high cost, the device is intended for the production of electricity using a solar collector, where the thermal collector (heat receiver tube) is arranged on the focal line of the solar radiation reflecting surface of the parabolic mirror.

The essence of the invention

The aim of the invention is to create an outdoor shower based on the principle of a thermal collector that uses solar energy to heat water, which has a hermetic environment for the use of a noble gas, which prevents condensation from forming in the system, which in turn improves the efficiency of the thermal collector.

The thermal collector contains a cylindrical tank filled with a heat transfer fluid, which is water, which has a solar energy absorbing coating (e.g. Tinox), and a tube made of transparent material around the cylindrical tank. There is an air gap between the cylindrical tank and the transparent tube, which is filled with a noble gas (argon, krypton or xenon). The thermal collector has a lower end and an upper end, which are hermetically sealed with flanges. The flanges have O-rings, and at the upper end there is an opening for the noble gas to enter the air gap, which is closed after the noble gas is added to the air gap with hermetically sealed bolts. The cylindrical tank is made of aluminum. The transparent tube is an acrylic tube. The lower end of the thermal collector is sealed with two O-rings and the upper end is sealed with three O-rings. The thermal collector has fixed dimensions.

List of drawings

Figure 1 shows the basic technical solution of a thermal collector using solar energy;

Figure 2 shows a cross-section of a thermal collector;

Figure 3 shows an enlarged partial view of the upper end of the thermal collector (detail A from Figure 2);

Figure 4 shows an enlarged local view of the lower end of the thermal collector (detail B from Figure 2).

Example of carrying out the invention

The outdoor shower thermal collector 1 is designed to absorb solar energy (heat and infrared radiation) and heat water. The thermal collector 1 includes a cylindrical tank 2 made of aluminum and covered with a solar energy-absorbing coating (absorber coating) 3. The cylindrical tank 2 is surrounded by a tube 4 made of transparent material, which helps to achieve a greenhouse effect in the thermal collector 1. There is an air gap 5 between the cylindrical tank 2 and the tube 4 made of transparent material, which is filled with a noble gas, such as argon, krypton or xenon.

This solution helps to prevent condensation water from forming on the inner surface of the thermal collector 1, which can prevent the solar radiation from reaching the solar energy absorbing coating 3 and reduce the efficiency of the system. The use of noble gas also helps to improve the thermal stability of the system, ensuring a higher initial temperature at the beginning of the day (at sunrise).

Both ends of the thermocollector 1 are closed with flanges to ensure the air tightness of the thermocollector 1. To ensure the hermeticity of the thermocollector 1, turned aluminum flanges are used for the noble gas. The lower end 6 of the thermocollector 1 (Fig. 4) has two ring seals 6A, 6B to prevent the noble gas from leaking out of the system. The upper end 7 of the thermocollector 1 (Fig. 3) has three ring seals 7A, 7B, 7C to prevent the noble gas from leaking. To fill the air gap 5 of the thermocollector with noble gas, noble gas inlet openings 8 are made in the upper end 7, which are closed after the noble gas is added with hermetically sealed bolts 9.

In a preferred embodiment, the solar absorbing coating 3 is Tinox, the transparent tube 4 is an acrylic PMMA XT tube, and the noble gas is krypton. In a preferred embodiment, the cylindrical tank 2 has dimensions of 175.0 x 7.0 mm and a length of 1897 mm, the transparent tube 4 has an outer diameter of 200 mm, an inner diameter of 194 mm, and a length of 1950 mm. It should be understood, however, that the dimensions of the device can be changed if necessary.

Claims (9)

1. An outdoor shower thermal collector (1) comprises a cylindrical tank (2) filled with a heat transfer fluid, which has a solar energy absorbing cover (3), a tube (4) made of transparent material is around the cylindrical tank (2), an air gap (5) is between the tank (2) and the tube (4) made of transparent material, which is filled with a noble gas, the thermal collector (1) has an inlet opening for the noble gas, which is sealed with an O-ring, characterized in that - the heat transfer fluid is water; - the lower end (6) and the upper end (7) of the thermal collector (1) are hermetically sealed with flanges; - the upper end (7) of the thermal collector (1) has an inlet opening (8) for the noble gas into the air gap (5), which is hermetically sealed with bolts (9); - the thermal collector (1) has specific dimensions. 2. Outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the cylindrical tank (2) is made of aluminum. 3. Outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the solar energy absorbing coating (3) is Tinox. 4. Outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the transparent material pipe (4) is an acrylic pipe. 5. The outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the noble gas is krypton. 6. The outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the noble gas is argon. 7. The outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the noble gas is xenon. 8. Outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower end (6) of the thermal collector is sealed with two O-rings (6A, 6B). 9. Outdoor shower thermal collector according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper end (7) of the thermal collector is sealed with three O-rings (7A, 7B, 7C).