IMPACT OF CHANGING ABSORBER SHAPE ON AN AIR FLOW BEHAVIOR IN A THERMO-SOLAR CONVERTER

Abstract

In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical study of heat exchange by forced convection of an incompressible laminar flow in a solar air heater duct (SAH), which is equipped with a shoulder attached to the absorber, was performed. The impact of three locations of this shoulder and their three heights on friction losses, as well as the drag coefficient, the variations of velocity, and temperature at the exit section of the SAH, were analyzed for a volume flow rate in the range [20-80 m3/h.]. The results obtained numerically prove that the insertion of a shoulder on the absorber improves the heat transfer and the dynamics of the flow very significantly. An average temperature difference (inlet-outlet) of the collector of 23.51 °C at 29.94 °C and 50.64 °C at 67.53 °C is acquired respectively for the high and the low flow rates. This paper also showed that the height of the shoulder used can ensure an acceleration of the flow with an axial variation of the order of 1.25 up to 2.5 times (> twice) compared with the simple case.