• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.322-328
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• 2014

Return piping is used in a solar combi-system for heating and hot water supply. When the temperature of the lower side of a storage tank is low due to hot water usage, the returned hot water after heating is mixed with the lower side cold water of the tank, and the useful energy is reduced. We studied the degree of thermal stratification in the tank, using either a diffuser or a manifold to prevent mixing. Using the diffuser, mixing starts from the bottom of the storage tank. On the other hand, the manifold has the marked effect of preventing mixing. As a result of experiments with changing the diameter and number of holes in the manifold, the optimum condition is 8.5 mm diameter and 96 holes, under the condition of 0.3 lpm.