Publication Cover
Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications
An International Journal of Computation and Methodology
Volume 76, 2019 - Issue 6
466
Views
29
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

CFD modeling and performance evaluation of multipass solar air heaters

ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 438-464 | Received 02 Apr 2019, Accepted 25 Jun 2019, Published online: 18 Jul 2019

References

  • A. Saxena and A. El-Sebaii, “A thermodynamic review of solar air heaters,” Renew. Sust. Energy Rev., vol. 43, pp. 863–890, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2014.11.059.
  • M. Aktaş, A. Sözen, A. D. Tuncer, E. Arslan, M. Koşan, and O. Çürük, “Energy-exergy analysis of a novel multi-pass solar air collector with perforated fins,” Int. J. Renew. Energy Dev., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 47–55, 2019. DOI: 10.14710/ijred.8.1.47-55.
  • B. Aronov and Y. Zvirin, “A novel algorithm to investigate conjugate heat transfer in transparent insulation: Application to solar collectors,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 35, pp. 757–777, 1999. DOI: 10.1080/104077899275010.
  • A. S. Yadav and J. Bhagoria, “A numerical investigation of square sectioned transverse rib roughened solar air heater,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 79, pp. 111–131, 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2014.01.008.
  • M. Farshchimonfared, J. Bilbao, and A. Sproul, “Channel depth, air mass flow rate and air distribution duct diameter optimization of photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) air collectors linked to residential buildings,” Renew. Energy, vol. 76, pp. 27–35, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.10.044.
  • W. Fan, G. Kokogiannakis, and Z. Ma, “A multi-objective design optimisation strategy for hybrid photovoltaic thermal collector (PVT)-solar air heater (SAH) systems with fins,” Sol. Energy, vol. 163, pp. 315–328, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2018.02.014.
  • İ. T. Toğrul and D. Pehlıvan, “The performance of a solar air heater with conical concentrator under forced convection,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 42, pp. 571–581, 2003. DOI: 10.1016/S1290-0729(03)00023-1.
  • S. Rhee and D. Edwards, “Laminar entrance flow in a flat plate duct with asymmetric suction and heating,” Numer. Heat Trans. A Appl., vol. 4, pp. 85–100, 1981. DOI: 10.1080/01495728108961780.
  • A. Kabeel, M. H. Hamed, Z. Omara, and A. Kandeal, “Influence of fin height on the performance of a glazed and bladed entrance single-pass solar air heater,” Sol. Energy, vol. 162, pp. 410–419, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2018.01.037.
  • H. K. Ghritlahre, and R. K. Prasad, “Investigation of thermal performance of unidirectional flow porous bed solar air heater using MLP, GRNN, and RBF models of ANN technique,” Therm. Sci. Eng. Progr., vol. 6, pp. 226–235, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.tsep.2018.04.006.
  • N. Moummi, S. Youcef-Ali, A. Moummi, and J. Desmons, “Energy analysis of a solar air collector with rows of fins,” Renew. Energy, vol. 29, no. 13, pp. 2053–2064, 2004. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2003.11.006.
  • Z. a H. Obaid, A. Al‐Damook, and W. H. Khalil, “The thermal and economic characteristics of solar air collectors with different delta turbulators arrangement,” Heat Trans. Asian Res. DOI: 10.1002/htj.21472.
  • A. Saravanan and S. Jaisankar, “Heat transfer augmentation techniques in forced flow V-trough solar collector equipped with V-cut and square cut twisted tape,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 140, pp. 59–70, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2019.02.030.
  • H. Fugmann, L. Schnabel, and B. Frohnapfel, “Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for laminar flow in an in-line and staggered array of circular cylinders,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 1–20, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2018.1562741.
  • B. S. Romdhane, “The air solar collectors: Comparative study, introduction of baffles to favor the heat transfer,” Sol. Energy, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 139–149, 2007. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2006.05.002.
  • A. S. Yadav, and J. Bhagoria, “A numerical investigation of turbulent flows through an artificially roughened solar air heater,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 65, no. 7, pp. 679–698, 2014. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2013.846187.
  • H. Benzenine, R. Saim, S. Abboudi, O. Imine, H. F. Oztop, and N. Abu-Hamdeh, “Numerical study of a three-dimensional forced laminar flow in a channel equipped with a perforated baffle,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 73, no. 12, pp. 881–894, 2018. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2018.1486645.
  • G. Xie S. Zheng, and B. Sundén, “Heat transfer and flow characteristics in Rib-/deflector-roughened cooling channels with various configuration parameters,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 140–169, 2015. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2014.916122.
  • S. Biswas P. Sharma B. Mondal, and G. Biswas, “Analysis of mixed convective heat transfer in a ribbed channel using the lattice Boltzmann method,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 75–98, 2015. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2014.965095.
  • M. T. Al-Asadi, F. Alkasmoul, and M. Wilson, “Heat transfer enhancement in a micro-channel cooling system using cylindrical vortex generators,” Int. Commun. Heat Mass., vol. 74, pp. 40–47, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2016.03.002.
  • M. T. Al-Asadi, A. Al-Damook, and M. Wilson, “Assessment of vortex generator shapes and pin fin perforations for enhancing water-based heat sink performance,” Int. Commun. Heat Mass., vol. 91, pp. 1–10, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2017.11.002.
  • S. Krishnananth and K. K. Murugavel, “Experimental study on double pass solar air heater with thermal energy storage,” JKSUES, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 135–140, 2013. DOI: 10.1016/j.jksues.2012.05.004.
  • R. Karwa, and V. Srivastava, “Thermal performance of solar air heater having absorber plate with v-down discrete rib roughness for space-heating applications,” J. Renew. Energy, vol. 2013, pp. 1, 2013. DOI: 10.1155/2013/151578.
  • F. Chabane, N. Moummi, S. Benramache, D. Bensahal, and O. Belahssen, “Collector efficiency by single pass of solar air heaters with and without using fins,” Eng. J., vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 43–55, 2013. DOI: 10.4186/ej.2013.17.3.43.
  • L. S. Paraschiv, S. Paraschiv, and I. V. Ion, “Experimental and theoretical analyses on thermal performance of a solar air collector,” Environ. Eng. Manage. J., vol. 13, 2014. DOI: http://omicron.ch.tuiasi.ro/EEMJ/.
  • F. Chabane, N. Moummi, and S. Benramache, “Experimental study of heat transfer and thermal performance with longitudinal fins of solar air heater,” J. Adv. Res., vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 183–192, 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2013.03.001.
  • R. Tyagi, R. Ranjan, and K. Kishore, “Performance studies on flat plate solar air heater subjected to various flow patterns,” Appl. Sol. Energy, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 98–102, 2014. DOI: 10.3103/S0003701X14020133.
  • M. Abuşka and M. B. Akgül, “Experimental study on thermal performance of a novel solar air collector having conical springs on absorber plate,” Arab. J. Sci. Eng., vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 4509–4516, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/s13369-016-2177-4.
  • B. Ramani, A. Gupta, and R. Kumar, “Performance of a double pass solar air collector,” Sol. Energy, vol. 84, no. 11, pp. 1929–1937, 2010. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2010.07.007.
  • A. Priyam and P. Chand, “Thermal and thermohydraulic performance of wavy finned absorber solar air heater,” Sol. Energy, vol. 130, pp. 250–259, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2016.02.030.
  • R. K. Ravi and R. Saini, “Experimental investigation on performance of a double pass artificial roughened solar air heater duct having roughness elements of the combination of discrete multi V-shaped and staggered ribs,” Energy, vol. 116, pp. 507–516, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.09.138.
  • G. Alvarez, J. Arce, L. Lira, and M. Heras, “Thermal performance of an air solar collector with an absorber plate made of recyclable aluminum cans,” Sol. Energy, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 107–113, 2004. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2004.02.007.
  • A. Mohamad, “High efficiency solar air heater,” Sol. Energy, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 71–76, 1997. DOI: 10.1016/S0038-092X(96)00163-6.
  • B. Parker, M. Lindley, D. Colliver, and W. Murphy, “Thermal performance of three solar air heaters,” Sol. Energy, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 467–479, 1993. DOI: 10.1016/0038-092X(93)90132-8.
  • M. Sodha and R. Chandra, “Solar drying systems and their testing procedures: A review,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 219–267, 1994. DOI: 10.1016/0196-8904(94)90004-3.
  • S. J. B. Hale, Methods of Testing to Determine the Thermal Performance of Solar Collectors. Atlanta: Ashrae, 1986.
  • K. Altfeld, W. Leiner, and M. Fiebig, “Second law optimization of flat-plate solar air heaters Part I: The concept of net exergy flow and the modeling of solar air heaters,” Sol. Energy, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 127–132, 1988. DOI: 10.1016/0038-092X(88)90128-4.
  • F. Ozgen, M. Esen, and H. Esen, “Experimental investigation of thermal performance of a double-flow solar air heater having aluminium cans,” Renew. Energy, vol. 34, no. 11, pp. 2391–2398, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2009.03.029.
  • H. Esen, F. Ozgen, M. Esen, and A. Sengur, “Artificial neural network and wavelet neural network approaches for modelling of a solar air heater,” Expert Syst. Appl., vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 11240–11248, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2009.02.073.
  • S. Chamoli, R. Chauhan, N. Thakur, and J. Saini, “A review of the performance of double pass solar air heater,” Renew. Sust. Energy Rev., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 481–492, 2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2011.08.012.
  • L. Perão, P. Zdanski, and M. Vaz, Jr., “Conjugate heat transfer in channels with heat-conducting inclined fins,” Numer. Heat Trans. A–Appl., vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 75–93, 2018. DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2017.1420309.
  • COMSOL Multiphysics Modeling Software 5.3a, “CFD Module Users Guide,” ed., pp. 1-598, 2018.
  • D. C. Wilcox, Turbulence Modeling for CFD, vol. 2, La Canada, CA: DCW Industries, 1993.
  • H. K. Versteeg and W. Malalasekera, An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Finite Volume Method. UK: Pearson Education, 2007.
  • M. Al Hamdani, M. Al Qubeissi, M. Al-Damook, D. Dixon-Hardy, and P. J. Heggs, “Thermal Optimisation of Fin Clusters for Heat Sink Purposes,” in 11th ICTEA: International Conference on Thermal Engineering, in Doha Qatar in collaboration with Texas A&M Doha campus and Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 2018.
  • R. B. Bird, “Transport phenomena,” Appl. Mech. Rev., vol. 55, no. 1, pp. R1–R4, 2002. DOI: 10.1115/1.1424298.
  • S. Khanna, K. Reddy, and T. K. Mallick, “Optimization of finned solar photovoltaic phase change material (finned pv pcm) system,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 130, pp. 313–322, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2018.04.033.
  • K. Sukhatme, and S. P. Sukhatme, Solar Energy: Principles of Thermal Collection and Storage. Hoboken, New Jersey: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 1996.
  • T. L. Bergman, F. P. Incropera, and A. S. Lavine, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer. USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
  • OGIMET. (2019). “Professional information about meteorological conditions in the world,” Available: http://www.ogimet.com/gsynres.phtml.en
  • S.S.S. Radiation. (2019). “Data-Helioclim-3 archives for free Feb. 2004,” Available: http://www.soda-pro.com/web-services/radiation/helioclim-3-archives-for-free
  • H.A.S.H. ASHRAE, HVAC Applications Handbook. Atlanta: IP edition, 2011.
  • A. Schack, Industrial Heat Transfer. Dusseldorf: Verlag Stahleisen M B H, 1970, p. 464.
  • J. A. Duffie and W. A. Beckman, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
  • S. T. Buisan, C. Azorin‐Molina, and Y. Jimenez, “Impact of two different sized Stevenson screens on air temperature measurements,” Int. J. Climatol., vol. 35, no. 14, pp. 4408–4416, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/joc.4287.
  • K. E. Amori and M. Al-Damook, “Performance Analysis of Four Conceptual Designs for the Air Based Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors,” J. Eng., vol. 20, pp. 28–45, 2014.
  • Lutron Malaysia. (2018). LUTRON EM-9000 ENVIRONMENT METER, + Humidity, Anemometer, Light, type K/J. Available: http://www.lutronmalaysia.com/index.php/item/1085-thermometers-thermocouple/5065-lutron-em-9000-environment-meter-humidity-anemometer-light-type-k-j
  • Renewable Energy Research Center. “Install a solar tracking system the first of its kind in Iraq,” Available: http://www.uoanbar.edu.iq/RERCenter/English/CMS.php?ID=33. Accessed: Mar. 18, 2018.
  • M. Al-Damook et al., “CFD analysis of a one-pass photovoltaic/thermal air system with and without offset strip fins,” in MATEC Web of Conferences, Kraków, Poland, May. 21–24, 2018. DOI: 10.1051/matecconf/201824003002.
  • S. Sharma, V. Dutta, and M. Eswaramoorthy, “An Experimental Investigation on multi-V and protrusion element on absorber plate of solar air heater,” Energy Sour. Part A, pp. 1–9, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2019.1618986.
  • S. Rai, P. Chand, and S. Sharma, “Evaluation of thermo hydraulic effect on offset finned absorber solar air heater,” Renew. Energy, vol. 125, pp. 39–54, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.01.110.
  • A. A. Hegazy, “Comparative study of the performances of four photovoltaic/thermal solar air collectors,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 861–881, 2000. DOI: 10.1016/S0196-8904(99)00136-3.
  • Friction Factor for Laminar Flow, 2018. Available: https://www.nuclear-power.net/nuclear-engineering/fluid-dynamics/major-head-loss-friction-loss/friction-factor-for-laminar-flow/
  • R. L. Daugherty, Fluid Mechanics with Engineering Applications. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 1989.
  • D. F. Young, B. R. Munson, T. H. Okiishi, and W. W. Huebsch, A Brief Introduction to Fluid Mechanics. USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
  • M. Ahmed-Dahmane, A. Malek, and Z. Tahar, “Design and analysis of a BIPV/T system with two applications controlled by an air handling unit,” Energy Convers. Manage., vol. 175, pp. 49–66, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2018.08.090.
  • K. E. Amori and M. A. Abd-AlRaheem, “Field study of various air based photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar collectors,” Renew. Energy, vol. 63, pp. 402–414, 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.09.047.
  • D. N. Moriasi, J. G. Arnold, M. W. Van Liew, R. L. Bingner, R. D. Harmel, and T. L. Veith, “Model evaluation guidelines for systematic quantification of accuracy in watershed simulations,” Trans. ASABE, vol. 50, pp. 885–900, 2007. DOI: 10.13031/2013.23153
  • Z. Zhang, W. Zhang, Z. J. Zhai, and Q. Y. Chen, “Evaluation of various turbulence models in predicting airflow and turbulence in enclosed environments by CFD: Part 2—Comparison with experimental data from literature,” HVAC&R Res., vol. 13, pp. 871–886, 2007. DOI: 10.1080/10789669.2007.10391460.
  • I. Guarracino, A. Mellor, N. J. Ekins-Daukes, and C. N. Markides, “Dynamic coupled thermal-and-electrical modelling of sheet-and-tube hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) collectors,” Appl. Therm. Eng., vol. 101, pp. 778–795, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.02.056.
  • M. S. Owen and H. E. Kennedy, ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals. Atlanta: SI edition, ASHRAE, 2009.
  • M. Gupta and S. Kaushik, “Performance evaluation of solar air heater having expanded metal mesh as artificial roughness on absorber plate,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 1007–1016, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2008.08.011.
  • B. Brinkworth, “Estimation of flow and heat transfer for the design of PV cooling ducts,” Sol. Energy, vol. 69, no. 5, pp. 413–420, 2000. DOI: 10.1016/S0038-092X(00)00082-7.
  • M. Ansari and M. Bazargan, “Optimization of flat plate solar air heaters with ribbed surfaces,” Appl. Therm. Eng., vol. 136, pp. 356–363, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.02.099.
  • R. M. Manglik and A. E. Bergles, “Heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for the rectangular offset strip fin compact heat exchanger,” Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 171–180, 1995. DOI: 10.1016/0894-1777(94)00096-Q.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.