Solar Heating Systems - Liquid-To-Liquid Transfer

A good way to save energy is to use solar heating systems. They are good for the environment and they are also good for your budget. It is very interesting on how the solar heating systems work. In this article we are going to discuss how it all works. We are going to focus on the liquid-to-liquid transfer.

The solar power heating systems works by the use of a heat exchanger to transfer the solar energy. The solar energy is absorbed in solar collectors then to the liquid or air that is used to heat water or a space. The heat exchangers can be mad of different materials. They can be made up of steel, copper, bronze, stainless steel, aluminum, or cast iron. Even though they can be made out of many different materials copper is the type that is more commonly used. The reason that copper is used more often is because it is a good thermal conductor and has greater resistance to corrosion.

There is two different ways that the solar power heating system works. It can either work by liquid to liquid, or air to liquid transfer. The heat exchanger uses a special fluid that is called heat-transfer fluid. The heat-transfer fluid circulates through the solar collector, absorbs heat, and then flows through the heat exchanger to transfer its heat to the water in the storage tank.

The different kinds of heat-transfer fluids that are more commonly used is antifreeze. The antifreeze protects the solar collector from freezing up when the weather gets cold. The liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers have either one or two barriers. There can be single or double layer walls between the heat-transfer fluid and the water supply.

The single-wall heat exchanger is a pipe or tube that is surrounded by the fluid. This can happen in two ways. By either fluid passing through the tubing or fluid surrounding the tubing can be used as the heat-transfer fluid. The other fluid is the potable water.

The double-wall heat exchangers have two walls between the two fluids. Two walls are often used when the heat-transfer fluid is toxic, such as ethylene glycol. Double walls are required as a safety measure in case of leaks, helping ensure that the antifreeze does not mix with the potable water supply.

A good example of the double-wall, liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger is a "wrap-around heat exchanger". Which is a tube that wraps around and is bonded to the outside of the hot water tank. The double-wall heat exchangers increase safety, they are less efficient because heat must transfer through two surfaces rather than one. To transfer the same amount of heat, a double-wall heat exchanger must be larger than a single-wall exchanger.