Materials Today: Proceedings 60 (2022) 1491–1496

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Heat pipe integrated solar thermal systems and applications: A review

Pawan V. Chilbule ⇑, Lalit P. Dhole
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Chandrapur 442403, M.S., India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Heat pipe (HP) is a passive technique for conduction of heat from source to sink over a large distances.
Available online 13 December 2021 Being very efficient than pure metal conductor of which it is made, It has a broad spectrum of applica-
tions, from very low to very high temperatures. The discussion in this paper is limited to low and medium
Keywords: temperature heat pipe integrated solar thermal applications. The major focus is on construction and ther-
Heat pipe mal performances of solar collectors integrated with heat pipe used for water heating (domestic and
Solar collectors Industrial purpose), air/space heating, water desalination and indirect solar cooking system. Through lit-
Solar collector applications
erature review the observations are, heat pipe designs commonly used in thermal applications are wick,
Heat pipe solar collectors
Desalination
wickless (Thermosyphon), pulsating, loop and flat micro heat pipe array and feasibility prediction, perfor-
Solar water heating systems mance superiority of heat pipe integrated thermal systems over systems without heat pipe are checked
based on energy, exergy calculations.
Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Latest Developments in Materials & Manufacturing

1. Introduction nol, refrigerants etc.) compatible to tube material, consists of

With worlds increasing energy demand and issues like global
warming, air pollution, it’s very urgent to use renewable energy
resources for fulfilling the rising energy demands and minimize
the side effects caused by burning fossil fuels [1,2]. In most part of
the India, solar energy is abundantly available thus solar appliances
for heating, cooking can replace conventional methods i.e. burning
of fossil fuel. The serious issues with conventional solar collectors
are overheating, freezing, corrosion etc. [3]. Miniaturization of com-
ponents and devices demands efficient heat transfer means that can
effectively transfer high heat flux and this can be satisfied by a device
called heat pipe which by using phase change process i.e. evapora-
tion and condensation conduct high heat flux without requirement
of any external power input for its functioning [4].
Many researchers are working to boost the performance of con-
ventional solar collectors using heat pipe technology, to ensure
reliability, ease of installation and autonomy [5].
1.1. Heat pipes (HP)
A sealed evacuated tube with or without wick structure,
charged (Filling Ratio) with working fluid (e.g. DM water, etha-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pawan.chilbule@gmail.com (P.V. Chilbule).
evaporator section which is kept in contact with heat source
and a condenser section which is kept in contact with heat sink.
Adding heat to HP evaporator, the working fluid vaporizes and
travels towards condenser section due to a differential pressure
through the core via insulated adiabatic section and condenses
by rejecting heat to the fluid circulated over condenser section.
Condensate returns to evaporator through wick structure by cap-
illary action in wick HP or by gravity in wickless HP (Thermo-
syphon) [6,7]. Table 1 highlights the descriptions of the most
popular heat pipe designs used in combination with solar ther-
mal systems.
2. Heat pipe solar collectors (HPSC)
Heat pipes in solar collectors can be operated in any orientation.
They are mechanically bonded or integral part of an absorber,
receives and transfer absorbed heat to working fluid i.e. air, water
or heat transfer fluid which is circulated through the manifold con-
nected to solar collector [17]. This heated working fluid can be
directly or indirectly used for water/air heating [18]. Heat pipe
works as a thermal diode, it prevents and minimizes variety of seri-
ous issues such as corrosion, freezing and overheating. Addition-
ally, collector’s operation is unaffected by the malfunction of any
of the heat pipes fitted in solar collector [19].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.11.563
2214-7853/Copyright Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Latest Developments in Materials & Manufacturing
P.V. Chilbule and L.P. Dhole Materials Today: Proceedings 60 (2022) 1491–1496

Table 1 2.3. Evacuated tube heat pipe solar collector with concentrating
Summary of constructional and operational details and salient features of different reflectors
types of heat pipes.

Heat Pipe Wick Construction and Operation References It’s a heat pipe evacuated glass tube positioned at the focus of
Design Structure the parabolic trough reflectors. This design fills the gap between
Wickless Wickless,  Sealed container without [5,8,9] ETC and FPC offering good thermal efficiency, ratio of peak power
Heat Pipe Gravity capillary structures (wick) output to aperture area (Power production density), lower ratio
(Thermo- assisted  Operates only when Con-
syphon denser kept above
of price to power production [25], low heat loss characteristics
HP) evaporator property etc. [26]. CPC solar collector can produce steam from
Wick Heat Sintered,  Sealed container with wick [5,9,10] water with temperatures of about 108–145 °C during sunny days
Pipe Grooved or structure [27]. CPC located beneath ETSC concentrate the solar radiation,
wire meshed  Condensate moves to evap-
which increases thermal performance of ETSC-HP system [26].
orator by capillary action
through wick Use of tracking system in CPC solar collector leads to more stable
 Operates with condenser and rise in thermal efficiency approx 14.9% than stationary CPC
located below evaporator solar collector [28].
or at any orientation
Micro Miniature  Thin plate with micro heat [5,11,12]
channel axial grooves pipes having
heat pipe (Micro  Operates under the influ- 3. Heat pipe solar collector (HPSC) applications
array channels) ence of gravity
(MHPA)  Performance depends on Heat pipes in solar collectors removes the issues such as start-
tilt and evaporator
up time, low thermal conductivity, flow reversal, water freezing
temperature
Loop heat Sintered,  Separate pipe lines for [5,9,13,14] and corrosion of water pipes etc. existing in traditional solar collec-
pipe (LHP) Grooved or vapours and condensate, tors [29]. HPSC are different than traditional solar collector in a
wire meshed eliminating an entrain- way, the thermal energy transfer process from absorber to working
ment effect
or heat transfer fluid takes place and is characterized by lower
 Compensation chamber
stores condensate and sat-
thermal mass thus lower thermal resistance and faster response
urates the wick time [30].
 Operate at any orientation The various applications of heat pipe solar collectors are discussed
Close loop Wickless  It’s metallic capillary tube [5,9,15,16] in subsequent sections
Pulsating/ which pulsating fluid flow
oscillating and bended in a serpen-
HP tine-shape
(CLPHP)  Performance is influenced 3.1. Solar water heating systems
by gravity and improves
with rise in inclination Heat pipes in solar collector absorbs and covert solar energy to
heat and transmit it to heat transfer fluid in indirect system or
directly to water flowing through well-insulated manifold in direct
system [22]. In passive system, fluid flow in the collector happens
2.1. Flat-plate solar collectors with heat pipes [HP-FPSC] naturally i.e. by buoyancy effect (Thrmosyphon) and in active sys-
tem; fluid is handled or circulated by pump (forced circulation).
HP-FPSC comprises of several heat pipes (Wick or Wickless) The following section discusses the experimental and theoretical
bonded mechanically to anodized matt black absorber plate. Liquid findings of HP solar collector used for water heating
in heat pipe evaporator section vaporizes by absorbing solar heat R. Daghigh and A. Shafieian,[31] evaluated the performance of
and vapours moves towards heat pipe condenser section through heat pipe vacuum tube solar collector for water heating consider-
the core and releases its latent heat to fluid flowing through man- ing water usage trend and discovered a straight link between hot
ifold or a heat exchanger and condenses. Condensate returns to water usage and system performance and calculated number col-
evaporator via wick by capillarity in wick HP or under gravity lector pipes required for the operation as 15. M. S. Naghavi et al.
effect in wickless heat pipe [20]. Heat pipe in FPSC avoid physical [32] analyzed the design of an evacuated tube solar collector with
and mechanical contact between absorber and heat transfer fluid a latent heat storage tank for water heating in an experimental set-
or solar collector working fluid and helps to achieve increment in ting. Incident radiation and thus heat energy is stored in a latent
heat transfer, heat absorption and decrement in heat loss, fluid heat storage tank (LHST) via a finned HP condenser section. Using
flow resistance [21]. LHST thermal stratification, heat pipe overheating can be overcome
and also hot water demands after sun set can be fulfilled. P. Feliski
and R. Sekret et al. [33] investigated the impact of a polished alu-
2.2. Evacuated tube heat pipe solar collectors (ETHPSC) minum parabolic reflector with Concentration ratio (C) = 1.2x, on
the charging efficiency of a HPETSC with space between HP and
In ETHPSC, heat pipes are placed centrally inside a vacuum- evacuated tube filled with PCM (Technical grade paraffin, melting
sealed double wall low light reflection glass tube which signifi- temperature Tm = 51.24 C). Parabolic reflector reflects solar radia-
cantly reduces thermal energy losses from absorber to the sur- tion on unexposed or shaded portion of an evacuated tube and
rounding and performs efficiently, producing temperature higher helps for uniform heating of PCM. System has a gross and maxi-
than flat plate collectors (FPCs) even at less solar radiation inten- mum charging efficiency of 31%–36% and 40%– 49%, respectively.
sity and ambient temperature [23]. ETSC is an efficient solar ther- A. Maraj et al. [34] conducted energy performance analysis of a
mal collector operating at medium temperatures (50 °C–200 °C) forced circulation heat pipe ETSC having Aperture area (Ap) =
and can be used at various geographical locations with different 1.476 m2, under Mediterranean climate conditions and found that
global irradiance for domestic and industrial applications e.g. for annual irradiation of 2212 kWh/year, useful heat gain = 135
refrigeration and air conditioning, desalination of sea water, indus- kWh/year, energy delivered to storage tank and consumer
trial and space or building heating etc. [24]. 1311kWh/year and 1009kWh/year respectively.
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P.V. Chilbule and L.P. Dhole
3.1.1. Heat pipe integrated thermo-syphon and integrated collector
storage (ICS) water heating systems (passive)
The thermo-syphon and the ICS are passive solar water heating
systems that uses natural convection to circulate fluid during the
day when insolation is high. Temperature difference between cold
water in a storage tank installed above solar collector and hot
working medium (Water) heated by HP condenser causes circula-
tion of water. ICS solar water heater (SWH) is easy to build and
cheaper than flat Plate or vacuum tube thermo-siphon type water
heating systems and can provide 100–200 L of hot water per day
[35]. Flat plate and concentrating non-imaging solar collectors
are used in these integrated solar water heaters.
M. Esen and H. Esen [36] tested two-phase thermosyphon solar
collectors under identical conditions fitted with wickless copper
heat pipes charged with various refrigerants. Results shows, HP
charged with refrigerant R410 A collects more solar heat compared
to R134a and R 407C.
S. Rittidech et al. [37] constructed FPC fitted with closed-end
oscillating heat pipe (CEOHP) and conducted experiments and
found its performance as good as other heat pipe solar collector.
L. Lu et al. [38] carried out heat and momentum balance
between various elemental parts of TSWH and concluded that air
gap thickness should be 25 mm to avoid heat loss through the glass
cover and tank volume in between 130 and 150 litres and slope
equal to local latitude.
K. S. Ong et al. [39] conducted experiments on TSWH system fit-
ted with HP within vacuum glass tube. Using dye injection method
visually inspected the consequence of elevation difference
between collector and storage tank, registered temperature varia-
tion within a tank, observed overnight mean water temperature
drop by 2 to 10 °C and flow reversal during night is less in case
of HPSWH.
S. S. Chougule et al. [40] examined thermal performance of
wickless HP solar collector using pure water and nanofluid at dif-
ferent concentrations of CNT ( Carbon nanotube) nanofluid (0.15,
0.45, 0.60 and 1% by volume) and slope (20, 32, 40, 50 and 60°)
and observed, HPSC performs efficiently for CNT concentration of
0.60% by volume and 50° collector tilt angle.
According to D. A. G. Redpath [41], properly designed ther-
mosyphon systems are equally efficient as force circulation sys-
tems and requires less investment and maintenance.
Authenticated ETSWH’s performance by modified form of f-chart,
a design tool and confirmed technical viability of the design.
Z. Wang et al. [42] analyzed a novel ICSSWH with latent heat
storage ((Industrial paraffin wax) integrated with lap-joint-
micro-heat pipe arrays (MHPAs). When solar irradiance and out-
door temperature is high, thermal storage efficiency improves
and is much dependent on solar irradiance than ambient
temperature.
3.1.2. Heat pipe integrated direct and indirect circulation water
heating systems (active)
Pumps, valves and controllers are used to circulate and control
water flow rate in active system. This system is expensive but effi-
cient than passive system and easy to retrofit because of freedom
to install storage tank at any location [43].
In open-loop systems, water is heated by pumping or circulat-
ing through collector and are not used/installed in cold region.
These are known as drain down systems operated both manually
and automatically [43].
Closed-loop systems uses a heat-transfer fluid (typically water
or a glycol–water antifreeze mixture) which is pumped or
circulated within a collector and are popular in areas where freez-
ing temperatures exist [43].
M. Arab et al. [44] investigated the use of pulsating heat pipes
(PHPs) in thermosyphon solar water heater and conducted test
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Materials Today: Proceedings 60 (2022) 1491–1496
by varying PHP’s filling ratio (30%, 50% and 70%.) and found more
stable and better performance with FR = 70%.
A. Maraj, [34] conducted energy performance analysis of indi-
rect forced circulation ETHPSWH (Ap = 1.476 m2) for a year under
Mediterranean climate and obtained higher thermal performance
compared to FPC.
M. S. Dehaj et al. [11] experimentally scrutinized heat pipe
evacuated tube solar collector (Indirect Type) with different con-
centration of Water and MgO-water nanofluid as a heat transfer
fluid and discovered rise in collector efficiency with increase in
nano-fluid concentration.
A. Allouhi et al. [22] conducted transient thermal performance
analysis of FPCSWH and concluded; integrating heat pipes to FPC
can avoid their inherent drawbacks.
A. Shafieian et al. [45] studied HPSWH system’s performance
considering actual residential hot water usage pattern. Presented
mathematical model to optimize number of heat pipes (25 tubes)
required for solar collector.
T. Zhang [46] discovered that the forced-circulation wickless
loop thermosyphon systems have numerous advantages over con-
ventional systems in terms of distant heat flow and liberty in
installation of condensation unit. Low stratification in tank and
good performance makes it promising.
High heat conductivity value, very low thermal resistance, oper-
ation at constant temperature, high heat flux makes heat pipe suit-
able as solar collector absorber for heating applications even in
adverse climate.
3.2. Solar air/space heating systems
Space heating in cold climate is carried out by electric heater
which is cost ineffective [47]. The space heating by burning wood
and fossil fuels is costly and environmentally harmful. The globe is
experiencing a scarcity of coal and oil. Crop drying in direct sun
degrade product quality. Drying using solar collector technology
is faster, efficient and hygienic [48,49]. Air heating in heat pipe
solar collector is done by circulating atmospheric air over heat pipe
condenser.
Summary of experimental and theoretical work on heat pipe inte-
grated solar collector designs used for space heating is presented in
subsequent section:
M. A. Ersöz, [50] investigated the performance of thermo-
syphon heat pipe evacuated tube solar collector (THPETC) used
for heating the air, flowing at the velocities of 2, 3 and 4 m/s. Heat
pipes were charged with six different working fluids at same filling
ratio and operated at same inclination. Highest energy efficiency
obtained at air velocity of 2 and 3 m/s, with acetone HP, and at
4 m/s air velocity with chloroform HP.
R. Daghighet al. [47] designed and built a HPETSC with the dual
purpose to serve as a solar dryer and provide water heating
through heat recovery with a purpose to enhance system’s overall
efficiency and ensure utilization of solar energy at fullest. The high-
est exit temperature of dryer obtained was 44.3 °C at volumetric
flow rate of 0.0328 m3/s.
A. E. Kabeel et al. [51] used coaxial heat pipes constructed using
concentric tubes in a twin glass evacuated tube solar collectors.
Annulus was charged with refrigerant. Air at 0.0051, 0.0062,
0.007, 0.009 kg/s made to pass through a tube located inside heat
pipe. The system was tested for R-22 and R-134a with filling ratio
ranging from 30 to 60% and at different tilt angles. The maximum
thermal efficiency observed was 67% for both refrigerants at
0.009 kg/sec air flow rate.
T. T. Zhu et al. [52] designed and analyzed ETSC with micro-heat
pipe arrays (FMHPA) located inside glass tube. FMHPA are used to
improve thermal properties of solar air collector. Collector’s ther-
P.V. Chilbule and L.P. Dhole
mal efficiency reaches 73% in summer and pressure drop is below
25 Pa when flow rate is below 201.6 m3/h.
Teng-yueWang et al. [53] designed solar collector with FMHPA
as an absorber element for air heating and stored heat in PCM (Lau-
ric acid).
N. Mehla and A. Yadav, [54] experimentally investigated solar
air collector with evacuated tube (40 Nos., 20 on either side of
header) inserted into PCM (Acetamide) filled header and water as
HTF. Maximum temperature difference of 37 °C and 20.2 °C
between heated and ambient air was recorded during day and eve-
ning time respectively.
HPSC for air/water heating ensures efficient use of solar energy
with minimum thermal losses to the surrounding as compared to
conventional solar collectors and have a potential for development.
3.3. Solar desalination systems
Day by day increasing demand of potable water due to indus-
trial revolution, population explosion, degradation of natural water
resources by industrial and domestic waste are leading to scarcity
of potable water which can be fulfilled by utilizing ocean water by
removing it’s salt content by desalination.
Desalination can be done by using economical and ecofriendly
renewable energy resources. Solar still, a direct solar desalination
system which uses greenhouse effect to evaporate salty water
and Use of solar collectors based on temperature requirement in
desalination processes is an indirect system.
Different desalination systems operated using heat pipe solar collector
is discussed in this section
H. J. Mosleh et al. [55] used ethanol heat pipe in evacuated tube
located at the focus of parabolic trough collector (Ap = 1.8 m2,
C = 6.77) and investigated production rate and efficiency. With alu-
minum conducting sheet inserts within a space between heat pipe
and evacuated tube, output and efficiency found as 0.27 kg/(m2.h) ,
22.1% which is inferior than the case when space is filled with oil
giving output as 0.933 kg per m2 in an hour and efficiency of 65.2%.
Pooria Behnana et al. [56] experimentally investigated humidi-
fication and dehumidification solar system for desalination, con-
sisting of heat pipe vacuum tube collector and bubble column
humidifier. Adding oil within a space between ETCs and heat pipes,
daily clean water productivity (6.275 kg/m2 in a day) and efficiency
(65%) increase significantly.
Meysam Fageh, Mohammad Behshad Shafi [57] used phase
change material (Paraffin) as a thermal storage media to store
latent heat of condensation and used this energy during the eve-
ning time for desalination and could achieve 86% increase in the
output without affecting the daytime output. The maximum yield
and daily efficiency obtained are 6.555 kg/m2 day and 50% for a
solar still with outside condenser unit stuffed with PCM.
B. J. Huang et al. [58] developed a solar still with multiple-effect
diffusion (MEDS) with curved -plate structure which overcome
issues like heating plate deformation and peeling off of wick mate-
rial. The collector with vacuum glass tube with wickless heat pipe
was used where heating of MDU is done by heat pipe. The output
(29 kg.m 2 per day) of proposed design is 29% better than basin
type MEDS and also better than MEDS integrated with flat plat heat
pipe solar collector
T. L. Chong et al. [59] developed novel spiral shaped solar still
MDU and can produce 40.6 kg/day of pure water. The improved
production rate is due to spiral still cell of MDU enhancing diffu-
sion process by facilitating lateral as well as radial diffusion. For
desalination, in most systems heat required is supplied by solar
collectors, recent research in the field of desalination is the use
heat pipe in combination with solar collector (Evacuated tube with
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Materials Today: Proceedings 60 (2022) 1491–1496
PTC) to produce high temperatures and enhance system’s desalina-
tion yield and efficiency [55].
In multiple-effect diffusion solar still (MEDS) MDU unit is con-
nected with vacuumed tube collector with thermo-syphon heat
pipe to generate a large temperature difference for heavy produc-
tion capacity [59].
The high efficiency of desalination system can be achieved with
working temperature encountered in the system near to boiling
temperature of water, in line to this heat pipe integrated systems
can achieve the desired results.
3.4. Solar cooker (solar cooking systems)
Solar cookers are direct and indirect type; former functions
directly in Sunlight (Box type and cooker with concentrating reflec-
tors) and in later design, solar energy collected by solar collector is
conveyed to separated oven using heat pipe or piping [60].
Heat pipes are recommended in indirect type solar cooker to
conduct heat from solar collector to oven chamber because of their
capability to transfer heat at temperatures above 100 °C efficiently
and isothermally [61] and also it eliminates the efforts to supervise
cooking under sun [62].
H. P. Garg et al. [63] introduced indirect solar cooking using
steam. M. A. Khalifa et al. [64] designed and tested a parabolic
trough solar cooker with methanol copper heat pipe with evapora-
tor of heat pipe glazed by glass tube and condenser inserted into a
cooking chamber.
A. M. A. Khalifa, M. Akyurtet et al. [65] developed constructed
and tested heat pipe solar cookers, Mecca-1, 2. Mecca-1, with para-
bolic trough collector (Aperture area Ap = 1 Sq. m.) with copper
heat pipe filled with ethanol located at the focus the cooking pot
was heated by heat pipe condenser via oil.
A. M. A. Khalifa, M. M. A. Taha et al. [66] modified Mecca-2 to
split system with evaporator kept inside a triple glazed FPC with
aperture area 1 sq. m. and cooking chamber charged with 10 L of
oil gets heated to 90 °C till afternoon. Temperature differential of
10 °C between collector plate and evaporator was observed. Split
system makes solar cooking inside a kitchen feasible and use of
maintenance free FPC eliminates tracking and wind losses.
Balzar et al. [67] tested solar cooking system on clear days in
Marburg (latitude 51°) which consists of collector (Ap = 0.95 Sq.
m.) with vacuum-tube (6 No.s, Length = 1.8 m) mounted on alu-
minum concentrating reflector with integrated copper long heat
pipes (75 grooves, 0.2 mm deep, FR > 5%) connected to hot plate
and 15ocollector tilt with no tracking. 9 Liters capacity and
2.3 kg mass stainless steel pot containing 5 L of water or oil kept
over oven plate and oil temperature reached up-to 252 °C.
H. M. S. Hussein et al. [68] designed and tested indirect solar
cooker with a flat plate elliptical thermo-syphon heat pipe solar
collector with 2 plane reflectors at Giza, Egypt. Thermal storage
unit with PCM (Magnesium nitrate hexahydrate, Tm = 89 °C) and
steel chips in 20% volume ratio surrounds cooking pot of different
capacity (3 and 4 L) and heat pipe condenser section in helical coil
form wraps the pot. Solar cooker found to cook the food during day
and evening times and could be used for heating the food at night
and early morning too.
R. Chaudhary and A. Yadav [69] carried out experiments on vac-
uum tube solar collector integrated solar cooker for thickening of 1,
1.5, 2 L of sugarcane juice needed in jaggery preparation. For 2 Liters
of cooking load system operates with peak exergy and shows rise in
peak exergy power by 76% and 59% as compared to that for the box-
and parabolic trough-type solar cooker designs respectively.
R. Chaudhary and A. Yadav [70] developed a twin vessel solar
cook stove (TWSCS) and tested it by cooking two things in inter-
connected pots at the same time using variety of cooking styles.
P.V. Chilbule and L.P. Dhole
The heat collection and transfer is facilitated by vacuum tube
solar collector and heat transfer fluid (HTF). HTF has a maximum
instantaneous energy value of 386.93 kJ and an average tempera-
ture of 130.35°C. Rice cooking in vapor tight vessel 1 and kadhi,
khoa from milk preparation in vessel 2 performed twice in a day
for 5–6 members. Authors estimated 3.89 years as payback period
for this solar stove.
Solar cooking is eco-friendly and noiseless, helps in countering
ill effects of burning fossils and also feasible and effective for insti-
tutional cooking, so efforts are required to make it handy, flexible,
efficient and cost effective. It can be made superior with achieving
higher temperature with an aid of heat pipe technology. Future of
solar cooking at domestic level is based on sizing, portability, cook-
ing time, cooking temperatures, and cost effectiveness.
3.5. Future scope
 Optimize the collector size; heat pipe operational parameters
and numbers of HP quantity to fulfill domestic and industrial
hot water demand year round efficiently with minimum pay-
back period.
 Use of nano-fluid as a heat pipe working medium is studied by
many researchers but the long term stability and its effects after
long term use; on the performance of heat pipe integrated sys-
tem is hardly much discussed and analyzed.
 Estimation of effectiveness of phase change material as a ther-
mal storage material for any solar application in a long term
operation.
 Use of heat pipe solar collector as a air heater/dryer for crop and
vegetable drying process is very less
 Use of heat pipe solar collector in solar cooking (Indirect) sys-
tems needs more attention
 Developing reliable, cost effective solar water/air heating sys-
tems fitted with heat pipe is a big challenge and need to con-
duct long term experimentation.
 Integration of heat pipe solar collector with cooking chamber
and its analysis in climatic conditions of India to offer reliable
and low cost solution to the society.
 Selection and optimization of quantity of PCM as well as the
concentration of nanoparticles in a PCM, used in thermal stor-
age unit of solar thermal application.
4. Conclusions
Use of heat pipes in solar applications prove beneficial due to its
quick response, better thermal conductivity, high heat transfer
rates, ability to work in low solar radiation, thermal diode function,
avoid freezing and overheating etc. Higher initial cost is major
obstacle in increasing market share of heat pipe integrated solar
application which is directly linked with payback period.
Every effort is made to discuss and justify heat pipe solar appli-
cations but still applications of heat pipes that are not covered in
this paper are industrial unused heat retrieval, electronic cooling,
turbine blade temperature control, deicing of roadways, solar
power plants and nuclear power plants etc. Every thermal system
is designed and developed considering its environmental impact,
energy and exergy efficiencies, with heat pipe integration it is pos-
sible to harness, transfer and utilize energy efficiently and also
bring modularity in conventional systems.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Pawan V. Chilbule: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft.
Lalit P. Dhole: Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
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Materials Today: Proceedings 60 (2022) 1491–1496
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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