Modeling the Performance of a Flat Solar Collector Based on Cellular Polymeric Materials
Currently, in the field of energy supply of agro-industrial facilities, there is an increasing interest in the development of new structures and engineering systems using solar energy, including flat solar collectors based on cellular polymer materials. Modern solar collectors based on metal absorbers, despite their high efficiency, have a large specific weight, high metal consumption and cost. The use of cellular polymer materials for the manufacture of solar collector absorbers reduces the cost and reduces the weight of the installation. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in conducting a numerical simulation of the performance of a flat solar collector based on cellular polymer materials. (Materials and methods) Authors used analytical methods for mathematical modeling of a flat salt collector based on cellular polymer materials. The article presents a mathematical model of a flat solar collector in the computer program ANSYS Fluent. The distribution contours of temperature and pressure of the coolant in the channels of a flat solar collector were obtained at different values of the coolant flow rate at the inlet. (Results and discussion) The article presents comparison the temperature of the coolant at the output of the solar collector on the flow rate of the coolant obtained analytically and using the developed CFD model. The results of verification of the calculated model of the solar collector showed its adequacy and high convergence of the data obtained using the computer model. (Conclusions) The article presents a design of a flat solar collector based on cellular polymer materials. The developed design of a flat solar collector allows us to reduce the specific weight more than three times and reduce the cost while maintaining high thermal performance.