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2019 CFD Modeling of Operating Processes of A Solar Air Heater in ANSYS Fluent

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2019 CFD Modeling of Operating Processes of A Solar Air Heater in ANSYS Fluent

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ali
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DOI 10.

1007/s10891-019-01908-8

Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics, Vol. 92, No. 1, January, 2019

CFD MODELING OF OPERATING PROCESSES


OF A SOLAR AIR HEATER IN ANSYS FLUENT

D. I. Pashchenko UDC 620.91

Rapid development of the technologies of use of renewable energy sources in the recent decade has opened up
prospects for satisfying our society′s ever growing needs for fuel and power resources. In the present work, the
author has shown results of investigation into the thermal and aerodynamic characteristics of a solar air heater. A
computer model whose adequacy has been confirmed using experimental data was developed in the ANSYS Fluent
software product. It has been determined that for the end of calendar autumn, the operating efficiency of the solar air
heater is the highest at the angle of inclination of the absorption surface to the earth α = 60o. The dependence of the
value of heating of air in the solar heater during daylight hours has been determined in the physical and computer
experiment; it has been established that for the city of Samara (GMT + 4) the maximum air heating is observed in the
interval between 13.00 and 14.00. The influence of transverse ribs on the heat exchange between the light-absorbing
surface and the air has been shown. A curvilinear shape of the temperature contour is formed in the immediate
vicinity of the ribs due to the formation of vortices and reverse-current zones.

Keywords: ANSYS, CFD modeling, renewable energy sources, solar air heater, energy efficiency.
Introduction. Solar radiation is a promising energy source capable of satisfying our society′s ever growing needs
for fuel and power resources without any substantial adverse environmental impacts [1]. Solar energy has long been used in
various fields of the national economy: heat and electric power supply systems [2], agriculture and healthcare, the energetics
of heat technologies, transport [3], and others.
In recent decades, there has been a substantial qualitative and quantitative development of the technologies of use
of solar energy for electric power supply needs. Solar air heaters (SAHs) have begun to find wide application in heat supply
systems owing to their simple structure and low capital and operating costs. The surface absorbing solar radiation converts
the solar radiation into the useful thermal energy of air: the SAH basic heat-transfer agent.
A regular smooth absorbing plate has a relatively low thermal efficiency because of the low coefficient of heat
transfer to the flow air. The efficiency of heat transfer in the SAH can be improved by implementation of the following
measures: (1) increase in the share of the useful area of the absorption surface and (2) enhancement of the air-flow turbulence
and formation of vortices/reverse-current zones. These measures are implemented due to the branched heat-transfer surface
obtained by creating an obstacle in the region of the air flow. However, extra surfaces lead to an increase in the aerodynamic
drag and hence to a greater spent work of the fan.
In the present study, we give computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of the operating processes of an SAH
in the ANSYS Fluent software product using the built-in module "Solar Calculator." On the basis of the developed model,
thermal and aerodynamic characteristics of the SAH with transverse ribs have been investigated numerically. The adequacy
of the developed model is confirmed by the results of physical experiment. In the work, we present a detailed description of
the geometry, the computational mesh, the boundary conditions, settings of the Fluent solver, and also of the processing of
obtained results and their validation with experimental data.
Characteristics of the Solar Air Heater. Geometry. The solar air heater incorporates the absorption surface (3),
the inlet (2) and outlet (1) of the heat-transfer agent, and also the transparent surface manufactured from glass of thickness
3 mm. The SAH casing is fabricated from wood; the absorption surface with dimensions 1000 × 850 mm is covered with
heat-insulating material on the outside. On the absorption surface, there are transverse ribs (5) manufactured from 25 × 25 mm
bars of length 600 mm. Lateral walls (4) are fabricated from 50 × 50 mm bars. The diameters of the inlet and outlet air
Samara State Technical University, 244 Molodogvardeiskaya Str., Samara, 443100, Russia; email: pashchenkodmitry@
mail.ru. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp. 77–83, January–February, 2019. Original article
submitted December 14, 2016.

0062-0125/19/9201-0073 ©2019 Springer Science+Business, LLC 73


Fig. 1. Experimental setup (a) and the ANSYS Fluent calculated geometry (b) of an
SAH: 1) air outlet; 2) air inlet; 3) light-absorbing surface; 4) lateral wall; 5) ribs.

Fig. 2. Computational mesh and its characteristics.

pipes are 80 mm. The calculated geometry of the computational model (Fig. 1b) fully follows the experimental setup
(Fig. 1a).
Mesh. Construction of a computational mesh is performed in the built-in Meshing module. To upgrade the solution,
the computational mesh is structured near the walls of the absorption surface. A 5-mm-thick wall boundary layer is created
using the standard functions "Sizing" and "Inflation." The structure of the computational mesh and its characteristics are
given in Fig. 2. The total number of mesh elements is 686,806.
Mathematical description. A mathematical description of the model in generated form is a system of equations that
consists of the equations of continuity, of the law of conservation of momentum, and of the law of conservation of energy.
To model the dynamics of air motion, use is made of Navier–Stokes equations closed by the standard k–ε turbulence model
[4, 5]:

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the continuity equation

(ρui ) = 0 , (1)
∂xi
the equation of the law of conservation of momentum

∂ ∂p ∂ ⎡ ⎛ ∂ui ∂u j ⎞⎤ ∂
(ρui u j ) = − + ⎢μ ⎜⎜ + ⎟⎟⎥ + ( −ρui u j ) , (2)
∂xi ∂xi ∂x j ⎢⎣ ⎝ ∂x j ∂xi ⎠⎥⎦ ∂x j

and the heat-balance equation


∂ ∂ ⎡ ∂T ⎤
(ρu j T ) = ⎢(a + at ) ⎥. (3)
∂xi ∂x j ⎣⎢ ∂x j ⎥⎦

Thermophysical properties of the air as well as of the wood and the glass have been obtained from the Fluent Database.
Initial and boundary conditions for the temperature are of the following form:

Tin (t = 0) = Ts (t = 0) = Tgl (t = 0) = Tenv (t = 0) , (4)

∂Tin ∂Tgl ∂Ts ∂Ts


= 0, = 0, = 0, = 0, (5)
∂x x=0 ∂x x=H
∂x x=0 ∂x x=H

where Tin, Ts, Tgl, and Tenv are the temperatures of the air at the heater inlet, of the light-absorbing surface, of the glass, and
of the environment respectively, K.
The value of the solar radiation is calculated using the "Solar Calculator" device built into ANSYS, which permits
determining the solar-radiation intensity as a function of the following parameters [6]: the geographical coordinates, the date
and time of computer experiment, the angle of inclination of the SAH to the earth′ surface, and the Sunshine Factor.
Results and Discussion. In the present study, the physical and computer experiments were conducted in the city of
Samara on the 22nd of November, 2016, in the time interval from 10 to 16 h; the Sunshine Factor was equal to 1 (absolutely
clear sky). The indicated conditions were entered in the solar calculator (Fig. 3).
The temperature contour of the light-absorbing surface (contour 1) and of the air at a distance of 14 mm from the
surface of the glass (contour 2) for the conditions given in Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 4, one can see a nonuniform
character of the contour due to the presence of transverse ribs on the light-absorbing surface. The contour′s curvilinear
shape is formed in the immediate vicinity of the ribs due to the formation of vortices and reverse-current zones. The low-
temperature region on the upper edge of the ribs points to the more intense heat exchange between the light-absorbing surface
and the air, which is caused by the high turbulence of the flow in this zone. At the same time, the region of the surface between
the ribs has a comparatively higher temperature as a consequence of the less intense heat exchange.
Temperature maxima are observed near the lateral walls which may be called a "dead zone" because of the insignificant
motion of the heated air in this SAH part, which impairs substantially its operating efficiency [7].
The operating efficiency of the SAH depends substantially on the velocity of sound at entry, and also on the angle of
its inclination to the earth′s surface [8–10]. Figure 5 gives the plot of the difference of the air temperatures at the solar-heater
inlet and outlet versus the inlet air velocity for different angles of inclination. To analyze the influence of these parameters on
the value of air heating, we used, as the initial data, the following values: date and time — 22.1.2016, 13.00 (GMT + 4, the
city of Samara); absolutely clear sky (Sunshine Factor = 1). According to the obtained data, the SAH operating efficiency is
the highest for the angle of inclination of the absorption surface to the earth α = 60o. This is attributable to the fact that for
the last part of November in the city of Samara, the sun is fairly low above the horizon and the cosine of the angle between
the sunrays and the SAH surface has a minimum value. Clearly, with increase in the air velocity at entry into the SAH, the
temperature of heating of the air decreases, since in the case the volumetric rate of flow of the heat-transfer agent increases.
This fact is also confirmed by the model-experiment results given in Fig. 5.
Figure 6 shows the difference in air temperatures at the heater inlet and outlet during daylight hours for various inlet
air velocities. The angle of inclination of the SAH to the earth′s surface is α = 60o. The results of the computer experiment
are shown by the lines, and the results of the physical experiment, by the symbols. Figure 6 demonstrates good agreement
between the results of the computer and physical experiments. On the whole, we can speak of the adequacy of the developed

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Fig. 3. Desktop of the solar calculator.

Fig. 4. Temperature contours of the light-absorbing surface (contour 1) and the air at
a distance of 14 mm from the surface of the glass (contour 2) at uin = 1.5 m/s for the
conditions shown in Fig. 3.

computer model of an SAH to the actual SAH: the model′s behavior is coincident with a sufficient degree of accuracy with
the behavior of the modeled object, all modeling conditions being the same; the model is convincingly presented for the SAH
properties that are predicted using it.
From Fig. 6, it can be seen that the maximum air heating is observed in the interval between 13:00 and 14:00. This is
due to the fact that the cosine of the angle between the sunray and the SAH surface in this time for the end of calendar autumn
has a peak. A peak of ~50oC is attained by the air heating at a minimum inlet air velocity of 0.5 m/s. Results of the physical
experiment for an inlet air velocity of 1.5 m/s are not shown in Fig. 6, since they have an absolute error of more than 28% and
are not reliable, in the author′s opinion.

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Fig. 5. Difference of the air temperatures at the SAH inlet and outlet vs. inlet velocity for
different angles of inclination (ΔT = Tout – Tin) of the SAH to the earth′s surface.

Fig. 6. Difference of the air temperatures at the SAH inlet and outlet during the day for
different inlet air velocities.

Figure 7 gives the contours of air velocities and of static pressure in the solar heater. It can be seen from the figure
that at the sites of location of the ribs, the air velocity increases 2–2.5 times compared to the region where there are no ribs.
The heat-transfer coefficient increases as a result of the velocity increase, which in turn gives rise to the nonuniformity of the
temperature contours [11, 12]. This fact is confirmed by the character of the temperature contours given in Fig. 4. However,
the presence of the ribs exerts no influence, in practice, on the contour of static pressure in the SAH volume, which is also
given in Fig. 7. At small values of the air velocity in the SAH volume (as small as 1–2 m/s), the presence of the ribs exerts no
substantial influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the flow.
Figure 8 shows the plot of behavior of the friction factor for the light-absorbing surface with ribs and without ribs.
The friction factor in the present computer experiment was determined for the laminar regime of flow for all the velocities.
The value of the friction factor is calculated from the formula
ΔP
λ = . (6)
L u2
ρ
d eq 2

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Fig. 7. Contours of air velocities and of static pressure in the SAH.

Fig. 8. Plot of behavior of the friction factor.

From Fig. 8 it can be seen that the presence of the ribs increases the friction factor, on the average, by 10–22% depending on
the air velocity at entry into the SAH.
As has been noted above, among the advantages of an SAH are the low operating costs which are mainly ensured by
the expenditure of energy in pumping the air. The presence of the ribs exerts no substantial influence on the operating costs,
since the fan power is determined by the flow rate of the air and by its outlet pressure which is extremely low for the SAH in
question. This fact follows from the determination of the fan power:
QP
N = . (7)
η

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Conclusions. In the present study, we have constructed the computer model of a solar air heater in the ANSYS Fluent
software product. The adequacy of the developed model has been confirmed by experimental data obtained in investigating
the SAH in the city of Samara (53o north latitude and 50o east longitude) on the 22nd of November, 2016. On the basis of
the resulting model, we conducted a computer experiment enabling us to establish the dependence of the difference of the
air temperatures at the SAH inlet and outlet on the inlet air velocity for different angles of inclination (ΔT = Tout – Tin) of the
SAH to the earth′s surface. According to the obtained data, the highest operating efficiency of the SAH is observed for the
angle of inclination of the absorption surface to the earth α = 60o.
Also, we have obtained the dependence of the value of air heating throughout the daylight hours and have established
that the maximum air heating is observed in the interval between 13:00 and 14:00. A peak of the air heating of ~50oC is
attained at a minimum inlet air velocity of 0.5 m/s.
We have established the influence of the ribs on the heat exchange between the light-absorbing surface and the
air. The curvilinear shape of the temperature contour is formed in the immediate vicinity of the ribs due to the formation
of vortices and reverse-current zones. Investigation into the aerodynamic characteristics of the SAH has shown a minor
influence of the ribs on the energy expenditure associated with the pumping of air in the air duct compared to the smooth
light-absorbing surface.

NOTATION
a and at, molecular and turbulent thermal diffusivities respectively, m2/s; deq, equivalent diameter, m; L, characteristic
length, m; P, assumed outlet pressure, Pa; Q, rate of flow of the air through the SAH, m3/s; T, temperature, K; u, air velocity,
m/s; ΔP, pressure loss in the SAH, Pa; η, efficiency of the fan; λ, friction factor; μ, coefficient of dynamic viscosity, Pa·s;
ρ, air density, kg/m3.

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