In this paper, flow systems which are commonly used in fittings elements such as contractions in ice slurry pipelines, are experimentally investigated. In the study reported in this paper, the consideration was given to the specific features of the ice slurry flow in which the flow behaviour depends mainly on the volume fraction of solid particles. The results of the experimental studies on the flow resistance, presented herein, enabled to determine the loss coefficient during the ice slurry flow through the sudden pipe contraction. The mass fraction of solid particles in the slurry ranged from 5 to 30%. The experimental studies were conducted on a few variants of the most common contractions of copper pipes: 28/22 mm, 28/18 mm, 28/15 mm, 22/18 mm, 22/15 mm and 18/15 mm. The recommended (with respect to minimal flow resistance) range of the Reynolds number (Re about 3000-4000) for the ice slurry flow through sudden contractions was presented in this paper.

The analysis of a solar installation operation was conducted on the example of a detached house in the Lesser Poland province in Poland. A gas boiler and three flat-plate collectors are located inside the house, which are used for heating water in the hot water tank with a volume of 220 dm3. The installation was established in 2012. The heat measured system (for solar gains) was added in 2014. In 2015–2019 solar heat gains measured per area of absorber were higher than 340 kWh/m2. During a two-week period in June 2015, the insolation on the horizontal plane and the temperature were measured in 4 different points of the hot water tank. On this basis, heat losses from the storage tank were determined, i.e. a decrease in temperature during periods with and without the consumption of hot water by the residents. During this period, a temperature higher than 80°C was observed several times in the hot water tank. In two parts of the hot water tank, rhe determined temperature decreases were used to obtain the heat loss amount. In the analyzed period (2 weeks), 9 days were observed with solar heat gains higher than 9 kWh/day. For these days, the value of heat loss from the solar hot water tank was estimated at over 6 kWh/day. This data corresponds to the actual heat demand for hot water preparation in the building at 7.3 kWh/day. The correlation between daily solar heat gains and solar hot water tank heat losses were also determined. In addition, based on the amount of heat losses, the value of the tank loss coefficient was estimated. The obtained value was compared with the manufacturer’s data and reference data.

The head loss is a decrease in compressive height caused by friction and direction changes of flow at the sliced bend. This method expected to provide is easy, fast, and economical. The elements of influence are the velocity of flow, the num-ber of slices, average length of sliced walls, angle changes of the sliced, coefficient of friction, acceleration of gravity, and slope of the pipe. Equation for coefficient of head loss (Kb) is an analysis method for the head loss (hL) calculation. The analysis results that have obtained are the larger diameter of the pipe, and the more slices with a fixed discharge, the coefficient of hL becomes small. Conversely, if the diameter of the pipe is getting smaller, and the slice is getting less, then the coefficient of hL becomes bigger. This method, expected to give new knowledge in pipeline network applications, especially for the large diameter of pipelines.