CFD Analysis of a solar flat plate collector with different cross sections

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29019/enfoque.v11n2.601

Keywords:

Solar collector, cross section, efficiency, ANSYS Fluent, CFD.

Abstract

Low and medium solar heating systems used for domestic and industrial applications, such as water and space heating, usually utilize solar flat plate collectors in order to absorb solar thermal energy converting it into heat and then transferring the heat to a fluid (usually water or air) that flows through it. The aim of this study is to evaluate the solar flat plate collector’s efficiency and the fluid behavior inside the pipeline with three different cross sections, whose hydraulic diameters are 10, 5.12 and 6.16 mm, by using ANSYS Fluent. The results obtained from the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool showed that the collector with the Type I cross section reached temperatures up to 330 K at the pipe outlet obtaining an efficiency of 68 %, higher than those of Types II and III, whose efficiencies were 51 % and 60 %, respectively. Type I cross section also presented the lowest values in both speed and pressure drop, these being 0.266 m/s and 108.3 Pa, respectively.

Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

ANSYS Fluent Theory Guide 12.0. (2009, Abril).

ANSYS Fluent User Guide. (2012, Noviembre).

Basavanna, S., & Shashishekar, K. (2013). CFD Analysis of triangular absorber tube of a solar flat plate collector. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, 2 (1): 19-24.

Birhanu, G., Ramayya, A. & Shunki, G. (2016). Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation and Experimental Testing of a Serpentine Flat Plate Solar Water Heater. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 7 (10): 320-333.

Eisenmann, W., Wiese, F., Vajen, K. & Ackermann, H. (2000). Experimental investigations of serpentine-flow flat-plate collectors. Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany.

Gunjo, D. G., Mahanta, P. & Robi, P. S. (2017). CFD and experimental investigation of flat plate solar water heating system under steady state condition. Renewable Energy, 106: 24-36.

Ingle, P., Pawar, A., Deshmukh, B. & Bhosale, K. (2013). CFD Analysis of Solar Flat Plate Collector. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 3 (4): 337-342.

Kannan, N., & Vakeesan, D. (2016). Solar energy for future world: -A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 62: 1092-1106.

Karanth, K., Madhwesh , N., Kumar, S. & Manjunath, M. (2015). Numerical and experimental study of a solar water heater for enhancement in thermal performance. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, 4 (3): 548-553.

Li, Q., Liu, Y., Guo, S. & Zhou, H. (2017). Solar energy storage in the rechargeable batteries. Nano Today, 16: 46-60.

Madhukeshwara, N. & Prakash, E. (2012). An investigation on the performance characteristics of solar flat plate collector with different selective surface coatings. International Journal of Energy & Environment, 3: 99-108.

Marroquín-De Jesús, Á., Olivares-Ramírez, J. M., Jiménez-Sandoval, O., Zamora-Antuñano, M. A. & Encinas-Oropesa , A. (2013). Analysis of Flow and Heat Transfer in a Flat Solar Collector with Rectangular and Cylindrical Geometry Using CFD. Ingeniería Investigación y Tecnología, 14 (4): 553-561.

Matrawy, K. K. & Farkas, I. (1997). Comparison study for three types of solar collector for water heating. Energy Conversion and Management, 38: 861–869.

Mesa, F. (2006). Colector solar de placa plana. Bogotá: Energía Solar.

Muhammed Yarshi, K. A. & Benny, P. (2015). Analysis of Heat Transfer Performance of Flat Plate Solar Collector using CFD. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research, 4 (10): 3576-3580.

Mukesh Manilal, K. (2016). Design, CFD Analysis and Fabrication of Solar Flat Plate Collector. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 3 (1): 1000-1004.

Myrna, D. K. S., & Beckman, W. (1998). Analysis of serpentine collectors in low flow systems. Solar Energy Laboratory University of Wisconsin-Madison 1500 Engineering Drive Madison, WI 53706.

Prakash, B., Vishnuprasad, B. & Ramana, V. (2013). Performance study on effect of nano coatings on liquid flat plate collector: An experimental approach. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, 2 (4): 379-384.

Prasad, P., Byregowda, H. & Gangavati, P. (2010). Experiment Analysis of Flat Plate Collector and Comparison of Performance with Tracking Collector. European Journal of Scientific Research, 40 (1): 144-155.

Ranjitha, P., Somashekar, V. & Jamuna, A. (2013). Analysis of Solar Flat Plate Collector for Circular Pipe Configuration by using CFD. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), 2(12), 3356-3362.

Selmi, M., Al-Khawaja, M. & Marafia, A. (2008). Validation of CFD simulation for flat plate solar energy collector. Renewable Energy, 33 (3): 383-387.

Shelke, V., & Patil, C. (2015). Analyze the Effect of Variations in Shape of Tubes for Flat Plate Solar Water Heater. International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research (IJSER), 3 (4): 118-124.

Sopian, K., Syahri, M., Abdullah, S., Othman, M. & Yatim, B. (2004). Performance of a non-metallic unglazed solar water heater with integrated storage system. Renewable Energy, 29 (9): 1421-1430.

Vasudeva Karanth, K., Manjunath, M. & Yagnesh Sharma, N. (2011). Numerical Simulation of a Solar Flat Plate Collector using Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) – A CFD Approach. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering, 3.

Published

2020-04-01

How to Cite

Andrade Cando, A. X., Quitiaquez Sarzosa, W., & Toapanta, L. F. (2020). CFD Analysis of a solar flat plate collector with different cross sections. Enfoque UTE, 11(2), pp. 95-108. https://doi.org/10.29019/enfoque.v11n2.601

Issue

Section

Miscellaneous