Experimental studies coupled by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) findings for the of Heat Transfer enhancement in Flat Plate Solar Water Collectors

Abstract

The aim of this experimental study is to improve the thermal performance of passive flat plate solar collectors using a novel cost effective enhanced heat transfer technique. The project work focuses on the process of energy conversion from the collector to the working fluid. This is accomplished by employing an aluminium grid placed in the channels of a collector to induce a gradient of heat capacitance. This novel technique is tested experimentally using two unglazed collectors. One collector has the aluminium net inserted in its channels and it is tested against an identical conventional collector in order to have a direct comparison at the same time. The results are coupled by the findings of simplistic Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) designs, obtained in previous work. The experimental data obtained and the CFD findings show a good agreement.