Experimental Testing and Numerical Simulation of a Single-Circuit
Solar Water Heater with a Thermosiphon
MURAT KUNELBAYEV1, TAGANOVA GULDANA2, ABDILDAYEVA ASSEL3,
ZHADYRA ZHUMASHEVA3, TLETAY SHOLPAN3, KURMANALI MEIRAMGUL3,
DUISSEMBAYEVA LAURA3, KURBANALIYEVA AIMAN3
1Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Institute of Information and Computer Technologies,
Almaty, 05000, KAZAKHSTAN
2L. N. Gumilov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, 05000, KAZAKHSTAN
3Al-Farabi Kazakh National Universitу, Almaty, 05000, KAZAKHSTAN
Abstract: - In this article, a single-circuit solar water heater with a thermosiphon was built, tested and
numerically modeled in Kazakhstan, Almaty. To heat cold water in the south-eastern region of Kazakhstan, a
flat solar collector was developed and studied, as well as a mathematical model of a single-circuit solar
installation with a thermosiphon. In this mathematical model, the Bernoulli equation was used to solve the
water flow in the dispenser tank and in the collector itself. Numerical modeling in MatLab was developed using
a mathematical model. The dependences of the temperature inside the solar collector, which is usually
distributed inside the collector in accordance with the law of thermodynamics, were obtained, and the
maximum relative humidity, which was 75%, was also solved. In the course of the study, the annual change in
the efficiency of the system was decided.
Keywords: Flat solar collector, thermosiphon, numerical simulation
Received: August 11, 2021. Revised: May 23, 2022. Accepted: June 11, 2022. Published: June 24, 2022.
1 Introduction
When using traditional energy, which requires
production, leads to pollution and harms the
environment. In [1,2], a water heating system with
a thermosiphon effect was developed. In [3], a
system was developed to compare conventional and
spiral models to improve thermal performance
using a spiral standing pipe, which increases
productivity. In the article [4], a process with a
ribbed tube was developed and investigated, which
showed an increase. In [5], a water heater made of
an absorption pipe was developed. It has been
recorded that the absorption pipes absorb another
pipe in which the pipe has increased. In [6], a
system was developed that was experimentally
analyzed. In [7], flat plate solar collectors with heat
pipes without a wick were developed, having
different pipe cross-sectional geometry and filling
factor. In [8], heat absorption by the solar collector
was improved. In [9], the characteristics of an
energy harvesting device modeling CFD are
studied. In the article [10], an effect using
improved transmission of solar energy is developed
and investigated. In the article [11], and an
efficiency comparison was carried out. In [12], the
thermal efficiency of collectors was evaluated. In
the article [13], experimental work was carried out
to increase the heat transfer of the device. In [14],
the thermal characteristics of the solar heat supply
system, as well as fossil fuels, were experimentally
tested [15]. While compared to a solar heating
system with forced circulation [16].
Fig. 1: Single-circuit solar water heater with
thermosiphon
Figure 1 shows a single-circuit solar water heater
with a thermosiphon on the campus of Yunnan
University. Each consists of 18 tubes (inner tube/lid
diameter 47/58 mm, length 1.8 m) (Fig. 2).
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.84
Murat Kunelbayev, Taganova Guldana,
Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva,
Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul,
Duissembayeva Laura, Kurbanaliyeva Aiman
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
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Volume 18, 2022
Collector slope: inclined 22° 46°. The following
were developed: the first was intended to study the
operation at night of a single-circuit solar water
heater with a thermosiphon and reverse, and the
second was a loss analysis for reverse control of
ambient air temperature, a PT100 sensor located
nearby was used [17].
Fig. 2: Single-circuit solar water heaters
Theoretical flow forecasts in thermosiphon
forecasts are proposed studies of forecasts [18]. In
[19], experimental comparisons were made
between two sets of single-circuit thermosiphons in
a tank, but for another system, the storage tank was
located horizontally with a vertical distance of 0.35
m between the connections of the collector circuit
in the tank.
Fig. 3: Single-circuit solar water heaters
Figure 3 shows a single-circuit solar water heater.
In Fig. 4, the work is chosen as a horizontal solar
collector with a vacuum tube "water in a glass",
since it is used largely depending on the speed of
the natural circulation flow [20].
Fig. 4: Single-circuit solar heating systems with
thermosiphon
In the article [21], bioenergy is being developed,
which makes it possible to reduce hydraulic
exploration. This article [22] discusses the
resources for biogas production in the Republic of
Kazakhstan. As a result, it was found that when
using the technology of anaerobic digestion of
manure, the output of biogas from solid household
waste and sewage sludge was calculated.
2 Research Method
A single-circuit solar water heater with a
thermosiphon was designed and installed in
Almaty, Kazakhstan (Fig. 1 and 2).
Fig. 5: Collector diagram
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.84
Murat Kunelbayev, Taganova Guldana,
Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva,
Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul,
Duissembayeva Laura, Kurbanaliyeva Aiman
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
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Volume 18, 2022
Fig. 6: Сollector
Fig. 7: Single-circuit solar water heater with
thermosiphon
3 Mathematical Model of the System
3.1 Thermosiphon Solar Water
Heater
A single-circuit solar water heater with a
thermosiphon multilayer stationary reverse flow
circuit, which is separated by several
perpendiculars, is solved using the Bernoulli
equation applied to the power circuit
=   (1)
This model includes a velocity that satisfies the
calculated friction pressure of the fluid in the
collector, and a separate insignificant throughput


󰇛
)󰇟 󰇛󰇜

󰇠 (2)
The friction pressure loss in the pipe is defined as


(3)

󰇛󰇜
󰇛
󰇛󰇜
)*exp[󰆓

󰇛
󰇜
󰇠
(4)
The amount of heat in the system is:
󰇛󰇛󰇜 󰇛
󰇜 (5)
were


󰇛󰇛
󰇗
󰇜
󰇛󰇛
󰇜 (6)
3.2 The Battery Tank
The average temperature supplied for loading is:
󰇛󰇜
(7)
Сalculated conductivity of the storage tank

 󰇛󰇜󰇛
󰇜󰇛󰇜
󰇛󰇜

󰇛󰇜
󰇛󰇜

(8)
 󰇛 ) (9)
The amount of the substance is
 󰇛 󰇜 (10)
4 Results and Discussion
Using a mathematical model and the MatLab
program, a numerical analysis was obtained for a
single-circuit solar water heater with a
thermosiphon.
Fig. 8:. Temperature distribution at heating
temperature
Figure 8 shows the distribution of the solar
collector at a constant heating temperature. As can
be seen from the figure, this is due to the fact that
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.84
Murat Kunelbayev, Taganova Guldana,
Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva,
Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul,
Duissembayeva Laura, Kurbanaliyeva Aiman
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
896
Volume 18, 2022
the temperature is well distributed inside the
collector.
Thus, in Figure 9, the accounting of the quantity
provided by the collector remains unchanged.
Fig. 9: Relative humidity distribution system with
constant heating temperature
Fig. 10: Distribution of the upper level temperature
Figure 10 shows the upper level of the distribution.
As you can see from the picture, the distribution is
also present in the system, which allows you to
improve performance.
Figure 11 shows the annual change in efficiency,
which varies, does not have a definite value, does
not lead to a significant improvement in
performance and does not have much significance
for system performance.
Fig. 11: Annual change in system efficiency
5 Conclusion
A single-circuit solar heat supply system has been
developed, installed and tested in Kazakhstan,
which is used as a heat source. The system can
work continuously. As a result of testing the
system, it was found that the use of a thermosiphon
circulation system increases the efficiency and
economy of the system and ensures good
condensation.
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Murat Kunelbayev, Taganova Guldana,
Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva,
Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul,
Duissembayeva Laura, Kurbanaliyeva Aiman
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
Policy)
-Taganova Guldana, Murat Kunelbayev carried
out the simulation and the optimization.
-Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva has
implemented the Algorithm in MatLab.
-Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul has
organized and executed the experiments of Section
4.
-Duissembayeva Laura, and Kurbanaliyeva
Aimanwas responsible for the Statistics.
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This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.84
Murat Kunelbayev, Taganova Guldana,
Abdildayeva Assel, Zhadyra Zhumasheva,
Tletay Sholpan, Kurmanali Meiramgul,
Duissembayeva Laura, Kurbanaliyeva Aiman
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
898
Volume 18, 2022