Double pass solar air heater with aerofoil and bio-inspired fins: A numerical analysis of thermohydraulic performance

Sagar Vyas, Amit Kumar Sharma and Anant Kumar Rai

Energy, 2024, vol. 311, issue C

Abstract: In the present study, a numerical flow analysis is performed on a double pass solar air heater (DPSAH) with a bottom plate surface roughened using aerofoil fins to study its thermohydraulic performance. The experimentally validated DPSAH model was studied considering factors like different fin shapes, diurnal variation of solar radiation, absorber plate material, and the flow conditions at different relative height ratios (h/H) between 0.17 and 0.50 and fin length ratio (l/H) of 0.29. Using the RNG k-ε turbulence model, the relative Nusselt number (Nu/Nus), relative friction factor (f/fs), and thermohydraulic performance factor (THPF) were found for Reynolds number between 3000 and 21000 with an increment of 3000. The maximum enhancements of 4.23 and 2.51 times were achieved in the Nu/Nus and THPF values, respectively, for a Re value of 3000 in a 2-row setup with h/H of 0.50. The DPSAH with bio-inspired fins performed better than optimized aerofoil fins for majority of the tested range even with similar increase in effective heat transfer area. The values predicted using correlations developed in this study and numerically obtained values of the Nusselt number and friction factor matched closely with an extreme deviation of 5 % in f values.

Keywords: Aerofoil fin; Thermohydraulic performance; Reynolds number; Thermal efficiency; Double pass solar air heater (DPSAH); Bio-inspired fin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:311:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224030962

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133320

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