Coating technology
TiNOX is an energy trap.
Highly selective blue TiNOX energy absorber coatings take up a lot of energy -- some
95% of incident solar radiation -- and convert it into heat energy.
Conventional absorbers lose a large part of that energy as heat radiation. In contrast, TiNOX energy coatings have an extremely low thermal emissivity of less than 4% in the infrared range to prevent such heat losses.
Once the energy has been converted into heat, it stays trapped within the TiNOX absorber.
The high performance of the absorber layer therefore requires the greatest possible degree of absorption within the solar radiation range and the lowest possible degree of emissivity in the heat radiation range.
TiNOX energy fulfils this requirement ideally:
Solar absorption α= 95%
Thermal emissivity ε < 4%
Both black surfaces and highly selective TiNOX energy products absorb 95 % of incident solar radiation. But black surfaces emit a large part of that energy unused as heat radiation; 45% of the energy is lost. The overall yield of collectors with black coatings is therefore below 50%.
TiNOX energy absorbs 95% of incident solar radiation and converts it into heat.
Like an "energy trap," highly selective blue TiNOX coatings only lose 4% of the captured solar energy as heat radiation.
Around 90% of the energy in sunlight can therefore be used as heat. TiNOX energy absorbers very efficiently take up solar radiation energy, but they only give off little heat radiation.
The trick is to use solar radiation energy at its wavelength below 2.5 µm, while not giving off heat at the cutoff point above 2.5 µm, the characteristic wavelength range for heat radiation from a 100°C surface (maximum operational temperature of a hot water collector).
In other words, our absorbers are capable of reacting differently to wavelengths above and below 2.5 µm; they are selective.
This ability clearly reduces heat radiation losses below the level of a black surface.
The blue surface shows how well TiNOX energy absorbs solar radiation. The pale red area represents heat radiation emissions from a black, non-selective coating. The low heat radiation emissions of TiNOX energy are dark red in contrast. The blue curve shows the reflexion response of TiNOX energy.
In the range of solar radiation, reflection is very low because the absorber is designed to take up as much energy as possible. In comparison, the coating reflects infrared light very well, resulting in very low heat radiation emissions.
After all,
as much energy as possible is to remain within the absorber.
Why is TiNOX blue?
TiNOX energy layers get their colour from the multiple reflections of incident light in the top quartz layer.
The light is reflected in the transparent top quartz layer until most of it has been absorbed by the absorber layer.
Only a small part of the spectrum -- the blue part -- manages to leave the quartz layer, producing TiNOX blue’s unique colour. The colour is a pure spectrum of light characteristic of the high-quality antireflection layer.
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