Experimental studies and 3D simulations for the investigation of thermal performances of a solar air heater with different spiral-shaped baffles heights

Abstract

A new design of Solar Air Heater (SAH) with spiral flow path is studied experimentally and numerically. The spiral-shaped SAH performance is studied at various mass flow rates, inlet temperatures, radiation intensity and baffle heights. Similarly, a CFD model is developed using “ANSYS Fluent” software to study the fluid flow and heat transfer in the SAH. Mesh independence is performed in order to choose the appropriate mesh. The discrete ordinate (DO) radiation model and the k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model are used to study the radiative heat transfer and the turbulent flow, respectively in the SAH. Effects of different baffle heights (42 mm,50 mm,70 mm,90 mm, 110 mm and 130 mm) for different mass flow rates (input velocities:5 m/s,10 m/s,15 m/s, 20 m/s and 25 m/s) are numerically investigated. Local flow characteristics are presented and discussed. The results show a good agreement between the numerical model and the experimental data with an average error of 3.6%. The maximum outlet air temperature of the SAH during the test days reached 77.7 °C with input velocity of 5 m/s. The maximum thermal efficiency is founded for geometries having 110 mm and 130 mm baffle-heights ranges between 40% and 59% for an airflow of 0.0075 kg/s and 0.038 kg/s, respectively. The geometry having a 110 mm baffle-heights shows the optimum thermal performance of 13% higher than standard geometry (50 mm baffle height).