Abstract
The present paper analyses the airflow through the lobed orifices of a transpired solar collector which acts as a solar ventilated facade element through numerical simulation. This study is part of a complex research project which analyses the implementation of phase changing materials within air solar collectors. We decided to study an elementary part of the collectors' absorbent plate with four equivalent orifices in order to obtain the velocity and temperature field at the outlet of the computing domain since the numerical simulation of the entire solar collector (more than 5000 orifices) is not feasible due to the big amount of computational resources and time needed. This paper presents the experimental validation of the numerical model, its final parameters and preliminary results. The numerical simulation was conducted using Ansys Fluent CFD software and the results were processed via Tecplot. The boundary conditions imposed were emphasised and k-ε RNG turbulence model was used according to the literature. After comparing the velocity profiles and temperature fields obtained with both experimental and numerical approaches we concluded that the numerical model reproduces real flow phenomena within acceptable limits. The numerical model thus obtained will be used in further studies in order to optimise the collectors' geometry and characteristics by means of parametrical analyses.
Highlights
1.1 ObjectiveThe present paper is part of a complex research conducted by our team which analyses the implementation of phase changing materials (PCMs) within transpired air solar collectors (TSCs) with lobed orifices acting as a solar ventilated facade element.During the construction of the TSC numerical model we understood that the numerical simulation of the entire solar collector absorber metal plate (1020x2000mm and 5000 orifices) is not feasible resulting a huge number of cells for the numerical mesh for which we would have needed very high computational resources and a very large amount of time in order to solve the problem.Taking these aspects into consideration we decided to create first a numerical model that can accurately simulate the airflow through the lobed orifices
The present paper concludes the final parameters and results of the numerical model that studies the airflow through the lobed orifices of a transpired solar collector which can be used as a solar facade
By conducting the experimental validation with two different approaches we can observe that the numerical model reproduces real flow phenomena within acceptable limits
Summary
During the construction of the TSC numerical model we understood that the numerical simulation of the entire solar collector absorber metal plate (1020x2000mm and 5000 orifices) is not feasible resulting a huge number of cells for the numerical mesh for which we would have needed very high computational resources and a very large amount of time in order to solve the problem Taking these aspects into consideration we decided to create first a numerical model that can accurately simulate the airflow through the lobed orifices. The aim of the present paper is to present the final parameters and results of the numerical model that studies the airflow through the lobed orifices of the TSC and analyses the experimental validation of the model that has been conducted after the mesh independency study presented in previous studies [1] Regardless of their type, the operating principle of air solar collectors is the same and it is very simple [2]. Solar radiation is captured by an absorbent element (generally a metal plate) that transfers the heat to the airflow within the collectors’ air cavity
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