Numerical Study on the Effect of Distribution Plates in the Manifolds on the Flow Distribution and Thermal Performance of a Flat Plate Solar Collector

Juan Manuel García-Guendulain, José Manuel Riesco-Avila, Francisco Elizalde-Blancas, Juan Manuel Belman-Flores and Juan Serrano-Arellano
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Juan Manuel García-Guendulain: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Guanajuato, 36885 Salamanca, Gto., Mexico
José Manuel Riesco-Avila: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Guanajuato, 36885 Salamanca, Gto., Mexico
Francisco Elizalde-Blancas: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Guanajuato, 36885 Salamanca, Gto., Mexico
Juan Manuel Belman-Flores: Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Guanajuato, 36885 Salamanca, Gto., Mexico
Juan Serrano-Arellano: División de Arquitectura e Ingeniería en Energías Renovables, Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Huichapan, El Saucillo, 42411 Huichapan, Hgo., Mexico

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-21

Abstract: Flow maldistribution represents a problem of particular interest in the engineering field for several thermal systems. In flat plate solar collectors, the thermal efficiency strongly depends on the flow distribution through the riser tubes, where a uniform distribution causes a uniform temperature distribution and therefore a higher efficiency. In this work, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical analysis has been carried out using the commercial software FLUENT ® , in order to determine the flow distribution, pressure drop and hence the thermal efficiency of a solar collector with distribution flow plates inside the manifolds. The obtained numerical solution for this type of thermal systems has been validated with experimental results available in literature for laminar and turbulent flow. Four distribution plate configurations were analyzed. Results show that using two distribution plates in each of both manifolds improves the flow uniformity up to 40% under the same operating conditions when distribution plates are not used. Besides, it is shown that there exists an increase in the overall pressure drop which is practically negligible for the tilt angles commonly employed in the installation of flat plate solar collectors in Mexico. The use of closed end distribution plates on the dividing and combining manifolds allows the thermal efficiency to become close to the ideal thermal efficiency which is obtained with a uniform flow distribution.

Keywords: flat plate solar collector; flow distribution; pressure drop (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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