Hydrothermal analysis of turbulent fluid flow inside a novel enhanced circular tube for solar collector applications

Abstract

In this study the impact of a novel enhanced tube on the hydrothermal performance of a working fluid flow is investigated. The behavior of the turbulent flow is analyzed numerically considering new designs of turbulators in a circular tube for applications in solar thermal collectors. Also, the three-dimensional model of the current problem is simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The steady-state governing equations, of the heat transfer fluid flowing in the circular tube, are solved through a turbulence model. The influences of the angle and pitch of the flow turbulators on the Nusselt number and friction factor are studied. The findings indicate that the Nusselt number increases by adding the flow turbulators in the tubular tube. Additionally, a decrease in the pitch of the flow turbulators leads to larger heat transfer coefficient values, while the friction factor reduces by increasing the distance between the turbulators.

KEYWORDS:

• Heat transfer
• CFD simulation
• circular tube
• friction factor
• turbulence model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).