scholarly journals CFD Analysis on the Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow of Solar Air Heater having Transverse Triangular Block at the Bottom of Air Duct

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1099
Author(s):  
Hwi-Ung Choi ◽  
Kwang-Hwan Choi

In this study, a two-dimensional CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis was performed to investigate the heat-transfer and fluid-friction characteristics in a solar air heater having a transverse triangular block at the bottom of the air duct. The Reynolds number, block height (e), pitch (P), and length (l) were chosen as design parameters. The results are validated by comparing the Nusselt number predicted by simulation with available experimental results. Renormalization-group (RNG) k - ε model with enhanced wall-treatment was selected as the most appropriate turbulence model. From the results, it was found that the presence of a transverse triangular block produces a higher Nusselt number than that of smooth air duct. The enhancement in Nusselt number varied from 1.19 to 3.37, according to the geometric conditions investigated. However, the use of transverse triangular block also results in significantly higher friction losses. The thermohydraulic performance (THPP) was also estimated and has a maximum value of 1.001 for height (e) of 20 mm, length (l) of 120 mm, and pitch (P) of 150 mm, at Reynolds number of 8000. Furthermore, in the present study, correlations of the Nusselt number and friction factor were developed as a function of geometrical conditions of the transverse triangular block and Reynolds number, which can be used to predict the value of Nusselt number and friction factor with the absolute percentage deviations of 3.29% and 7.92%, respectively.

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantanu Purohit ◽  
N. Madhwesh ◽  
K. Vasudeva Karanth ◽  
N. Yagnesh Sharma

This study presents an innovative idea to augment heat transfer to an air heater using helicoidal finned arrangement. A parametric analysis of the helicoidal shaped fin geometry is considered with helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.1666–0.3, fin diameter ratio of 1.75–2. For the placement of the fin beneath the absorber plate, longitudinal pitch ratio ranging from 0.0416 to 0.1666 are used. The flow Reynolds number used for the study ranges from 4800 to 25,000. The effects of helicoidal pitch ratio, wire diameter ratio and longitudinal pitch ratio on Nusselt number and friction factor have been discussed. It is seen from the analysis that there is a significant improvement in Nusselt number for the case of helicoidal fin of wire diameter ratio of 1 when compared to base model as well as straight fin model for the operating range of Reynolds number. It is also observed from the analysis that for the helicoidal fin configuration of helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.2333, friction factor appears to be moderate. Flow and roughness parameters for roughened solar air heater have been optimized using thermal-hydraulic enhancement factor (THEF). The study reveals that by the use of helicoidal fins, maximum enhancement in the Nusselt number is found to be 2.21 times when compared to the base model for longitudinal pitch ratio of 0.0416, helicoidal pitch ratio of 0.166 for a fixed wire diameter. The improvement obtained in performance corresponding to increased Nusselt number establishes the efficacy the helicoidal fin design for the absorber plate.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 963-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitesh Rana ◽  
Anshuman Silori ◽  
Rajesh Maithani ◽  
Sunil Chamoli

A CFD analysis of a solar air heater has been carried out using V-shaped ribs as artificial roughness on the absorber plate. The relative roughness pitch, P/e = 6-12, Reynolds number of 3800-18000, relative roughness height, e/D = = 0.042, and angle of attack, ? = 30?-75?, have been selected as design variables of V-shaped rib for analysis. The ANSYS FLUENT 15.0 with renormalization group k-? turbulence model is selected for the analysis of computational domain of solar air heater. The enhancement of Nusselt number and friction factor with Reynolds number for different values of a relative roughness pitch are presented and discussed by CFD analysis. The effect of angle of attack and Reynolds number on enhancement of Nusselt number and friction factor is also presented. The optimum value of rib configuration based on constant pumping power requirement has been derived using thermohydraulic performance parameter and has been found maximum at angle of attack of 60? and P/e = 10.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vipin B. Gawande ◽  
A. S. Dhoble ◽  
D. B. Zodpe

CFD analysis of 2-dimensional artificially roughened solar air heater duct with additional circular vortex generator, inserted in inlet section is carried out. Circular transverse ribs on the absorber plate are placed as usual. The analysis is done to investigate the effect of inserting additional vortex generator on the heat transfer and flow friction characteristics inside the solar air heater duct. This investigation covers relative roughness pitch in the range of 10 ≤P/e≤ 25 and relevant Reynolds numbers in the range of 3800 ≤ Re ≤ 18000. Relative roughness height (e/D) is kept constant as 0.03 for analysis. The turbulence created due to additional circular vortex generator increases the heat transfer rate and at the same time there is also increase in friction factor values. For combined arrangement of ribs and vortex generator, maximum Nusselt number is found to be 2.05 times that of the smooth duct. The enhancement in Nusselt number with ribs and additional vortex generator is found to be 1.06 times that of duct using ribs alone. The maximum increase in friction factor with ribs and circular vortex generator is found to be 2.91 times that of the smooth duct. Friction factor in a combined arrangement is 1.114 times that in a duct with ribs alone on the absorber plate. The augmentation in Thermal Enhancement Factor (TEF) with vortex generator in inlet section is found to be 1.06 times more than with circular ribs alone on the absorber plate.


Author(s):  
Sheetal Kumar Jain ◽  
Ghanshyam Das Agrawal ◽  
Rohit Misra

Abstract In the present research, the thermohydraulic performance of a solar air heater having artificial roughness in the form of arc-shaped ribs with multiple gaps has been investigated experimentally and compared with that of a solar air heater having smooth absorber plate. The performance has been investigated in terms of enhancement in the Nusselt number and friction factor. Results of the present work have also been compared with previously published work. Reynolds number and arc angle (α) were varied from 3000 to 18,000 and 30 deg to 75 deg, respectively. Present roughness results in a higher rate of heat transfer from the absorber surface to air, but it also imposes a penalty in terms of the increased friction factor. Maximum enhancement in Nusselt number, friction factor, and thermohydraulic performance parameter for the roughened absorber surface is found to be 3.74, 2.69, and 2.75 times that of the smooth plate, respectively. Correlations of heat transfer and friction factor for proposed roughness have also been developed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 931-932 ◽  
pp. 1193-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prawat Soodkaew ◽  
Sompol Skullong ◽  
Pongjet Promvonge ◽  
Watanyu Pairok

This article presents the study of heat transfer enhancement in a uniform heat-fluxed channel fitted with discrete V-shaped baffles. The experiments are carried out by varying airflow rate for Reynolds number ranging from 4100 to 22,000. The V-baffles with relative height ratio, e/H = 0.15 and the attack angle, α = 45o, are mounted repeatedly on the upper plate only, similar to an absorber plate of solar air heater systems. The effects of four baffle-pitch to channel-height ratios (PR= 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0) on heat transfer in terms of Nusselt number and pressure loss in the form of friction factor are experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that the use of the discrete V-baffles leads to a considerable increase in Nusselt number and friction factor in comparison to the smooth channel alone. The V-baffled channel with PR=0.5 provides the highest heat transfer, friction factor and thermal enhancement factor.


Author(s):  
MM Matheswaran ◽  
TV Arjunan ◽  
Mukesh K Sahu

In this work, an experimental study was carried out to investigate the enhancement of heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of an impinging jet solar air heater integrated with twisted tape fins. During the analysis, the Reynolds number fin design parameters namely twist ratio (Y), and pitch ratio (py) are varied from 3500 –13500, 5.5–9.5, and 0.1–0.3, respectively. During the experimentation, the constant heat flux of 1000 W/m2 was maintained on the absorber plate. From the results, it was observed that the heat transfer rate increases while increasing the twist ratio up to 7.5 and further increase in twist ratio diminishes the performance. It was also concluded that the rise in pitch ratio (py) deteriorates the rate of heat transfer. The present work enhances the heat transfer and friction factor by the maximum of 1.9 and 1.81 times as compared with the conventional jet impingement solar air heater at identical operating conditions.


Author(s):  
AVDHESH SHARMA ◽  
VARUN VARUN ◽  
GAURAV BHARADWAJ

Double pass solar air heater (DPSAH) consisted of rectangular duct provided with artificial roughness on both side of the absorber plate has been experimentally investigated. Circular ribs of aluminium wire is used to provide roughness to increase heat transfer coefficient between absorber plate and air. Ribs are attached to absorber plate at four different angle of attackbetween 30° to 75° . Experiment is carried out over the range of Reynolds Number from 4900 to 12000, and relative roughness height (e/Dh) varies from 0.022 to 0.044. Experimentally different values of Nusselt number(Nu). and friction factor(fr) have been determined for various parameters. The enhance-ment in heat transfer and increment in the friction factor values of Nusselt number and friction factor have also been compared with the smooth one.


Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1305
Author(s):  
Seung-Yong Ahn ◽  
Kwang-Yong Kim

This paper proposes T-shaped ribs as obstacles attached to the heat absorber plate in a rectangular solar air heater to promote heat transfer. The thermal and aerodynamic performance of the solar heater was numerically evaluated using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with the shear stress transport turbulence model. A parameter study was performed using the ratios of rib height to channel height, rib width to channel width, and rib width to rib height. The area-averaged Nusselt number and friction factor were selected as the performance parameters of the solar air heater to evaluate the heat transfer and friction loss, respectively. In addition, the performance factor was defined as the ratio of the area-averaged Nusselt number to the friction factor. The maximum area-averaged Nusselt number was found at h/e = 0.83 for a fixed rib area. Compared with triangular ribs, the T-shaped ribs showed up to a 65 % higher area-averaged Nusselt number and up to a 49.7% higher performance factor.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navneet Kumar Pandey ◽  
Vijay Kumar Bajpai

Thermal performance of solar air heater does not take into account the energy loss due to friction for propelling air through the duct. In this work, an experimental investigation has been carried out to study the effect of heat transfer and friction characteristics of turbulent flow of air passing through rectangular duct which is roughened by circular arcs having gaps of 2 mm in between arranged in angular fashion, and the roughened wall is uniformly heated. The thermal and friction characteristics are governed by duct aspect ratio (W/H), hydraulic diameter (D), and relative roughness pitch (P/e), angle of attack of angular arc (α), and Reynolds number (Re). Experiments encompassed the Reynolds number ranges from 3600 to 15,100, P/e ranges from 6 to 20, and angle of attack of angular arc of flow over the protrusions ranges from 15 deg to 75 deg. The results have also been compared to W-shaped roughness inclined at 45 deg. The maximum enhancement in heat transfer and friction factor is 3.15 and 3.93 times as compared with smooth duct. Arc with gaps have also been observed to be better than their W-shaped counterparts. These experimental results have been used to study their influence on Nusselt number and friction factor, and empirical relations have been derived using regression analysis.


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