This paper presents a numerical study on the enhancement of heat transfer in a solar air heater (SAH) duct with Hybrid Vortex Generators (HVG) placed periodically along the flow direction on its heated wall (absorber plate) for fluid flow and convection heat transfer at Reynolds numbers between 4121 and 25,365. HVGs consist of a trapezoidal winglet (TWL) for HVG-winglet-base-angles θ = 45° and 30°, or a combination of a delta winglet (DWL) with a delta wing (DWG) for angles θ = 26°, 18° and 12°. The angle of attack for the winglet (TWL or DWL) in the HVG is set at 30°, while the merging angle with the DWG is 45°, and the relative height BR = e/H = 0.48 remains constant. Initially, the effects on heat transfer and friction factor of Trapezoidal Winglet Vortex Generator (TWVG) and HVG45 (θ = 45°) obtained by basic modification on TWVG are investigated under the same flow conditions for PR = 1.5 and Re = 11,205. Subsequently, parametric studies are performed for five different HVG-winglet-base-angles (θ = 45°, 30°, 26°, 18° and 12°) and three different longitudinal pitch ratios (PR = PL/H = 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0). The calculations are performed with ANSYS Fluent 2021R2 based on the finite volume method. In order to model turbulent flow, the GEKO (GEneralized K-Omega) turbulence model recently developed by ANSYS and based on the k-ω formulation is used. HVG45, obtained by basic modification on TWVG, produces slightly stronger and more effective longitudinal vortices compared to TWVG, showing a 3.87 % decrease in friction factor and a 4.11 % increase in Nusselt number and thus a 5.43 % increase in Thermal Enhancement Factor (TEF). Parametric investigations are conducted across a range of values for both θ and PR. The highest rise in friction factor is attained at the lowest Reynolds number, reaching a value of f/f0 = 54.52, while the most significant enhancement in heat transfer rate is noted at the highest Reynolds number, with Nu/Nu0 = 5.86 for θ = 45° and PR = 1.0. The TEF reaches 2.42 at the lowest Reynolds number for the HVG18 with a winglet-base-angle of 18° and a longitudinal pitch ratio of 1.5. The resulting findings not only offers a new approach to improve the thermal performance of solar air heaters but also hints at the potential success of the GEKO model in predicting turbulent flow and heat transfer analysis.
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