Water Heating System - Application in an Apartment Building

Abstract

Energy consumption is one of the great measures of progress and welfare of society . The concept of "energy crisis" occurs when energy sources from which people supply are exhausted. An economic model like the actual, whose operation depends on continued growth, also requires a growing demand for energy. As sources of fossil and nuclear energy are finite, it is inevitable that at some point the application cannot be supplied and the whole system collapses, unless new methods of energy are discovered and developed: these would be alternative or renewable energies. For all these reasons, large companies and major institutions are devoting efforts in re-search and development the so-called renewable energy which are naturally replenished. Although some of these energies are still under development, others can be found today in fields such as transport fuels, power generation, heating systems... One of these energies is the solar energy. Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. One of the most common uses of solar energy is the solar thermal energy a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy (heat) using solar thermal collectors. Along this document, the use of solar thermal energy will be studied and analyzed in a specific case; a heating water system in an apartment building in Madrid (Spain). To this end, based on the amount of energy needed to meet consumption, the system will be sized, including the number of collectors, connections, the heat exchangers and all the elements needed. /Kir11