A CFD Investigation and Pressure Correlation of Solar Air Heater

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 6340(Print), ISSN
N 0976 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013) IAEME AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET)
ISSN 0976 6340 (Print) ISSN 0976 6359 (Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), pp. 401-417 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijmet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.7731 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com
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A CFD INVESTIGATION AND PRESSURE CORRELATION OF SOLAR AIR HEATER

Anup Kumar*, Anil Kumar Mishra** * Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, India **Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, India
ABSTRACT The intent of the present work is to study the behavior of solar air heater with and without porous media and also to compare their performance under different set of conditions, obtained by changing various governing parameters like air mass flow rate, inlet air temperature, spacing between top cover and absorber plate and intensity of solar radiation. The problems have been solved by the Finite Difference Method. This study presents the mathematical model for predicting the heat transfer characteristics and the performance of solar air heater with and without porous media. The solar air heater with porous media gives higher thermal efficiency than without porous media. The thermal conductivity of porous media has significant effect on the thermal performance of the solar air heater. The work has been carried out on GAMBIT and FLUENT software as it is standard tool for flow analysis and widely acceptable. A double pass flat plate solar air heater model is prepared subjected to the relative loads and constraints and results are obtained for the proposed models. Keyword: Solar Air Heater, Porous Media, Pressure Drop, CFD 1. INTRODUCTION Energy is a vital need in all aspects and increasing demands for energy is not sufficient for basic requirement. Therefore, human being is looking for renewable source of energy such as solar energy, geothermal energy, and wind energy. Humans have always used the Solar energy is the radiation produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the core of the sun. This radiation travels to earth through space in the form of energy called photons. Solar energy collectors are special kind of heat exchangers that transform solar radiation energy to internal energy of the transport medium. The major component of any solar system is the
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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 6340(Print), ISSN 0976 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013) IAEME
solar plate collector. This is a device which absorbs the incoming solar radiation converts it into heat, and transfers this heat to a fluid (usually air, water, or oil) flowing through the collector. The solar energy thus collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly to the hot water or space conditioning equipment or to a thermal energy storage tank from which can be drawn for use at night and/or cloudy days. Solar collector may be classified according to their collecting characteristics, and the way in which they are mounted and depends on the type of working fluid which is employed into the collector. A collector generally uses liquid or a gas as working medium to transfer heat. The most common liquids are water or a water-ethylene glycol solution. The most common gas is air.
Figure 1 Exploded view of the Flat plate collector Depending upon the air passage in the solar air heater the air heaters can be classified in the following waysSingle glass cover air heater- In this type of solar heater there is only one glass surface on the top and the absorber is below the glass plate. The air flows between the glass plate and the absorber plate. (Figure 2) Double glass cover air heater- This type of air heater includes two glass cover on the top surface and the air flows between the glass cover and the absorber plate. (Figure 3) Double pass air heater without porous matrix- In this type of solar air heater, air flows between two glass plate in one direction and then between the glass plate and the absorber plate in the opposite direction. (Figure 4) Double pass air heater with porous matrix- The constructional part of solar air heater with porous media same as solar air with non- porous media but only difference is that the porous material is used in second pass of air flow. Porous materials have become increasingly attractive for application in high temperature heat exchangers. The high effectiveness of the heat exchange mechanism is mainly due to the intimate contact in the interstices between the gas particles and porous plate. (Figure 5)
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Figure 2 Single glass cover air heater
Figure 3 Double glass cover air heater
Figure 4 Double pass air heaters without porous matrix
Figure 5 Double pass air heaters with porous matrix
A porous medium is a material containing pores (voids). The skeletal portion of the material is often called the "matrix" or "frame". The pores are typically filled with a fluid (liquid or gas). The skeletal material is usually a solid, but structures like foams are often also usefully analyzed using concept of porous media. A porous medium is most often characterized by its porosity. It is also observed that thermal efficiency of solar air heater can be increased by minimizing heat loss from collector to maximize heat transfer from absorber [8]. To provide a counter flow passage an extra top cover can be provided to increase volumetric heat transfer co-efficient. 2. MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION In the present study, at first mathematical model is obtained by the application of the governing conservation laws. The heat balance is accomplished across each component of given solar air heater i.e., the glass covers, the air stream and the absorber plate. The heat balance for the air stream yields the governing differential equations and the associated boundary conditions. The main idea is to minimize heat losses from the front cover of the collector and to maximize heat extraction from the absorber. Porous media forms an extensive area for heat transfer, where the volumetric heat transfer coefficient is very high; it will enhance heat transfer from the absorber to the airstream. In the design of this type of collector, this combines double air passage and porous media pressure drop should be minimized[11]. The basic physical equations used to describe the heat transfer characteristics
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are developed from the conservation equations of energy. The heat and fluid flow are assumed steady and one dimensional. It is because of the radiation heat exchange terms that render the problem non-linear hence making the exact solution cumbersome. So a numerical approach is applied which would give a solution with a fairly good accuracy. The model is based on the assumption made by Naphon and Kongtragool[2] Flow of air is steady. Outside convective heat transfer coefficient is constant along the length of solar air heater. Inside convective heat transfer coefficient is constant along the length of solar air heater. Thermal conductivity of the porous media is constant along the length of solar air heater. The temperatures of the cover and plates vary only in the direction of fluid flow (xdirection); The side losses are negligible and leakage of air to/or from the collectors is negligible. Ideal gas with constant specific heat. The air flow is forced, steady and one-dimensional and the thermo-physical properties of air and packed bed are independent of temperature. The plug flow condition exists throughout the length of heater, i.e., the air velocity in the channel at any section is constant. The porous absorber and the air stream are in thermal equilibrium because the value of volumetric heat transfer coefficient in the pores of the porous matrix is very high. Factors Affecting Efficiency of flat Plate Solar Air Heater 2.1 2.1.1 Porous Medium - The solar air heater with the porous media gives 25.9% higherthermal efficiency than that without porous media. The thermal conductivity of porous media has significant effect on the thermal performance of the solar air heater [2]. Asporous mediumis characterized by its porosity or measure of voids and the skeletal portion of the material is often called the "matrix" or "frame". The measure of void isa fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 01, or as a percentage between 0100 percent. There is also a concept of closed porosity andeffective porosity, i.e., the pore space accessible to flow.[7] 2.2.2 Transmissivity-Absorptivity Product-Transmissivity-Absorptivity product is defined as the ratio of the flux absorbed in the absorber plate to the flux incident on the cover system, and is denoted by the symbol (). Out of fraction transmitted through the cover system, a part is absorbed and a part reflects back diffusively. Out of the reflected part, a portion is transmitted through the cover system and a portion reflected back to the absorber plate. The process of absorption and reflection at the absorber plate surface (figure 6) goes on indefinitely, the quantities involved being successively smaller. Thus, the net fraction absorbed () = 1 1 1 ] (1)
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Figure. 6 Process of Absorption and Reflection 2.2.3 Overall Loss Coefficient- The heat loss from the collector in terms of overall loss coefficient defined by the equation (2) q U A T T The heat loss from the collector is the sum of heat loss from the top, bottom and the sides. Thus q q q q (3) q U A T T (4) (5) (6) (7) q U A T T
q U A T T U U U U
2.2.4Top loss coefficient - The top loss coefficient is evaluated by considering convection and radiation losses from the absorber plate in the upward direction. For the purpose of calculation, it is assumed that the transparent covers and the absorber plate constitute a system of infinite parallel surfaces and that the flow of heat is one-dimensional and steady. It is further assumed that the temperature drop across the thickness of the covers is negligible and the interaction between the incoming solar radiation absorbed by the covers and the outgoing loss may be neglected. The outgoing re-radiation is of larger wavelength. For these wavelengths, the transparent cover is assumed to be opaque.Sukhatme [3] suggested thatheat transferred by convection and radiation at different layers as follows(a) The absorber plate and the first cover;

h T T

(8)
(b) The two glass covers;
h T T

(9) (10)
(c) The second glass cover and the sky;
h T T T T
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Sukhatme [3] also suggested the empirical relation for the top loss coefficient asU
(11)
Where, f 1 0.04h 0.0005h 1 0.091M C 365.91 0.00883 .0001298 M=number of glass covers 2.2.5Heat transfer coefficient at the top cover- The convective heat transfer coefficient (h ) at the top cover has been calculated from the following empirical correlation suggested by McAdams [4], h 5.7 3.8V (12)
Where, V is the wind speed in m/s. An another important dimensionless correlation have been suggested by Sparrow and hiscoworkers [5] given as,
/ j 0.86Re ;
(13)

Re = Reynolds number based on the characteristics dimension L 4A /C A =Collector gross area C =Circumference associated with the collector gross area. 2.2.6Sky Temperature- As suggested by Sukhatme [3] Sky temperature is usually calculatedfrom empirical relation in which temperature are expressed in Kelvin T T (14)
Where, j=j-factor given by
Pr /
Where, k =Thermal conductivity of the insulation = Thickness of the insulation.
2.2.7Bottom loss coefficient(Ub)-The bottom loss coefficient is calculated by considering conduction and convection losses from the absorber plate in the downward direction[6]. It will be assumed that the heat flow is one dimensional and steady (Fig.7). In most cases, the thickness of thermal insulation is provided such that the thermal resistance associated with conduction dominates. Thus, neglecting the convective resistance at the bottom surface of the collector casing. U K /
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Figure 7. Bottom and side losses from a flat-plate 2.2.8 Side loss coefficient () -The assumptions applied for side loss coefficient is conduction resistance dominates and that the flow of heat is one dimensional and steady state. The one-dimensional approximation can be justified on the grounds that U is always much smaller than theU . If the dimensions of the absorber plate are L1 x L2 and the height of the collector is L3 and assuming that the average temperature drop across the insulation is (T T /2 andthe thickness of this insulation is . 2L L L k T T 2 2L L L k T T U L L q
2.3 Governing Equation Under steady state operating conditions, the energy balance for the conventional and counter flow collectors as suggested by Mohammad [1] and applying the finite difference method on the proposed double-pass flat-pate solar air heaters without and with porous media which are as follows: For top glass cover: G.E:I h T T h T T h.T T ...(15) For down flow air stream: G.D.E.: mc h T T h T T (16) For second glass cover G.E.: I h. T T h T T h T T h. T T (17) For up follow air stream: G.D.E.: mc h T T h T T ...(18)
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For absorber plate: G.E.: I h T T h. T T U T T (19) Double-pass flat-pate collector with porous media For top glass cover: G.E: I h T T h T T h. T T ...(20) For down flow air stream: G.D.E.: mc h T T h T T (21) For second glass cover G.E.: I h. T T h T T h T T h. T T ...(22) For up flow air stream: G.D.E.: mc

h T T U T T I ...(23)
For the sake of convenience the heat transfer coefficients between the air stream and the covers and between the air stream and the absorber plate are assumed equal and can be calculated as follows: h h h h h (24) The air density:

(25)
Kinematic viscosity: (26) Thermal diffusivity:

(27)
Prandtl number: P (28) Hydraulic diameter: D Reynolds number: R Grashof Number =

2D(29)

(30)
(31)
. Nusselt number; Nu 0.0333 R. (32) P
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Convective heat transfer coefficient between any two surfaces h

(33)
When the air flows through the channel in the air heater, due to friction the air pressure drop along the of the flow channel. This pressure drop across the duct is given by the: p f (3.40) Where, f f y ) The value of f and y are:

(34)
f =24/Re, y=0.9 for Laminar flow (Re<2550)
(34)
f = 0.0094, y =2.92Re-0.15for transitional flow (2550<Re<104) (35) f = 0.059 Re-0.2, y =0.73 for turbulent flow (104<Re<105) (36)
So far as pressure drop (pumping power) is concerned, the counter flow solar air heater has a U-turn section and extra-length for air passages. Hence the extra pressure drop is introduced by this design. The pressure drop in the u-section can be calculated as: p (37)

K=1forU-section
The pumping power can be calculated asW 3. MODELING AND ANALYSIS
(38)
The finite difference method (FDM) is used to solve the differential equations and hence to simulate a given solar air heater. In FDM technique, the first step involves the transformation of the actual physical domain into the computational grid. Second step is to transform the differential equations into difference equations, which along with the equations obtained by heat balance across the covers and the absorber are the simultaneous nonlinear algebraic equations. The next step is to solve those numerically using gauss elimination method. The solution is obtained in the form of nodal temperatures for the covers, the air streams and the absorber. Study has been extended by changing the various governing parameters like the air mass flow rate, the inlet air temperature, the depth of the collector duct and the intensity of solar radiation and finally the performance characteristics have been obtained. A computer program is developed using Dev C++ programming language based on algorithm and flow chart.
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3.1 Technical Specifications Input Parameters and Constants for the proposed model.
Sl.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Input Parameters Length of solar air heater, L(m) Width of solar air heater, w(m) Depth of upper channel solar air heater, D1(cm) Depth of lower channel solar air heater, D2(cm) Emissivity of glass covers, Emissivity of absorber plate and packed bed, Transmissivity of glass cover and absorber, Absorptivity of glass cover, Absorptivity of absorber, Inlet air temperature, Ti(K) Air mass flow rate per unit width, m (kg/m s) Back insulation thickness(m) Side insulation thickness(m) Porosity of Porous medium( Glass wool) Plate Type Values 2.0 1.0 4.5,5.5,6.5 4.5,5.5,6.5 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.06 0.92 288,303 0.01-.2 0.05 0.05 0.8 Flat Plate
3.2 Proposed Model The design of thermal equipment must focus on a combination of numerical and experimental techniques hence, a three-dimensional numerical model was developed using the CFD numerical package FLUENT. The proposed model is modeled by using CATIA V5 R19 which is used for analysis by applying boundary conditions. An analysis of proposed model is also performed by using CFD package as CFD is concerned with the efficient numerical solution of the partial differential equations that describe fluid dynamics. A model for virtual prototyping of thermal equipment must be detailed enough in order to consider all the main physical phenomena that are taking place as well as giving results in a reasonable computational time. The mesh size is critical for CFD analysis, especially when dealing with natural convection. 3.3 Algorithm for Computer Program Following steps are involved in the simulation of double pass flat plate solar air heater: Step 1: Enter values of m, L, D, T , p , R, h , , U , , , , , c , k . Step 2: Select the type of heater. Step 3: Calculate, P , R , N , h . Step 4: Initialize with T 0 T , h. i 5, h. i 5 for all i. Step 5: Solving the finite difference equations for a given solar heater to calculate the nodal temperatures by using the appropriate boundary conditions and gauss elimination method for solving the simultaneous equations as described above. After that following parameter are calculated. m L P f D mc T IA
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Step 6: Once all these temperature are obtained, the following performance characteristics are obtained: 1. P Vs m 2. vs 3. Vs m 4. Vs m 5.

Figure 8. 3-D Model of Solar Air Heater
Figure 9. Mesh generation of 3-D Model
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3.4 Flowchart for the simulation of double pass flat plate solar air heater
Start
Input the Values of , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
n; ; ; ; ; ;
Substituting these values in the set of equations obtained by energy balance for a given solar air heater and solving them simultaneous by gauss-elimination method to evaluate T , T , T , T and T
Obtain: T maxT i T max
Calculate
P f
; Obtain the following characteristics
m L D
1. P Vs m 2. vs 3. Vs m 4. Vs m 5.
End

412
4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The majority of the heat transfer occurred at the bottom section of the solar air heater,rather than near the level between the inlet fluid temperature and the fluid inside thesolar air heater.The variation of pressure drop with different mass flow andefficiency withmass flow rate, plate temperature, solar radiation for both solar air heater without porous and with porous media are shown in graph 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.The pressure drop increases in both solar air heater without porous and with porous media with increase in mass flow rate.
Figure 10. Variation of Pressure with Mass flow rate
Figure 11. Variation of efficiency with Mass flow rate
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Figure 12. Variation of efficiency with plate temperature
Figure 13. Variation of efficiency with dT/I
Figure 14. Variation of dT/I with mass flow rate
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Figure 15. Variation of Pressure Drop across solar Air Heater
Figure 16. Variation of Air Velocity across Solar Air heater 5. CONCLUDING REMARKS The variations of pressure in solar air heater model with different mass flow rate for non-porous and porous media are shown in figure 10 for different depth, inlet temperature and solar radiation. It is concluded that outlet temperature is decreasing with increase in mass flow rate. It is found that the use of porous media in lower channel increases the outlet temperature. The use of porous media in solar air heater increases the system efficiency and outlet temperature. This increase, results an increase in the pressure drop for solar collector with porous media, which means increasing of the cost of the pumping power expanded in the collector. But this factor has no significant for low flow rates.
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Nomenclature Af-Front Area Cp- Specific heat capacity D-Depth of the duct Dh-Hydraulic Diameter L-Length of the duct n1-Refractive index h-Heat transfer coefficient m- Mass flow rate k- Thermal conductivity I- Intensity of solar radiation U- Overall heat transfer coefficient T- Temperature V-Ambient Air velocity W-Pumping factor GREEK LETTERS -Emissivity -Transmissivity - Absorptivity -Diffusivity - Thermal efficiency - Porosity - Extinction coefficient Difference of two quantities SUBSCRIPTS a- Ambient b- Bottom c- Cover e-Effective f- Fluid p- Packing plate t- Top 1- First glass cover 2- Second glass cover REFERENCE [1]Mohamad.A.A,High efficiency solar air heater, solar energy vol.60 No.2, pp.71-76, 1997. [2]-Naphonparison,Effect of porous media on the performance of the double pass flat plate solar air heater, solar energy, Vol.12 No.1, pp.90-99, 1996 [3]Sukhatme S.P., Solar energy, 3rd ed., 1984, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi. [4] McAdams.W.H, Heat Transmission, 3rd ed.., McGraw Hill, New York, 1954. [5] Sparrow, E.M., and Tien, K.K., Forced convection heat transfer at an inclined and yawed square plate application to solar collectors, Heat transfer, Vol. 99 pp.507-522, 1977
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[6] Raja shekhar,Y.,Sharma,K.,V.,,Rao,M.,B.,Evaluation of heat loss coefficients in solar flat plate collectors,ARPN Journal, Vo. l4,No.5, pp. 15-19,2009. [7] Languri,E.,M.,Taherian, H.,Enhanced double pass solar air heater with and without porous medium, International Journal of green Energy, Vol. 8, pp. 643-654,2011. [8] Pradharaj,M.,Velmurugan,V., Moorthy, H., Review on porous and non-porous flat plate air collector with mirror enclose, International journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol2 pp.4013-4019,2010 [9] Yousef.BAA, Adam.NM, Performance analysis for flat plate collector with and without porous media, Journal of energy in Southern Africa, vol.19 No.4, pp.32-42, 2008. [10] Zhao, Q., Salder, G.W., Leonardo, J.J., Transient simulation of flat-plate solar collectors, Solar Energy, Vol.40, pp.167-174, 1988. [11] Lansing.F.L,Reynold.R, High performance flat plate solar collector, solar energy vol.24 No.2, pp.90-99, 1996. [12] Ajay Kumar Kapardar and Dr. R. P. Sharma, Experimental Investigation of Solar Air Heater using Porous Medium, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 387 - 396, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359. [13] Yogesh C. Dhote and Dr. S.B. Thombre, Parametric Study on the Thermal Performance of the Solar Air Heater with Energy Storage, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp. 90 - 99, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359. [14] Ajay Kumar Kapardar and Dr. R. P. Sharma, Numerical and CFD Based Analysis of Porous Media Solar Air Heater, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology (IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 374 - 386, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359.
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A CFD Investigation and Pressure Correlation of Solar Air Heater

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 6340(Print), ISSN

A CFD INVESTIGATION AND PRESSURE CORRELATION OF SOLAR AIR HEATER

Figure 2 Single glass cover air heater

Figure 3 Double glass cover air heater

Figure 4 Double pass air heaters without porous matrix

Figure 5 Double pass air heaters with porous matrix

(b) The two glass covers;

(c) The second glass cover and the sky;

Where, j=j-factor given by

Where, k =Thermal conductivity of the insulation = Thickness of the insulation.

Kinematic viscosity: (26) Thermal diffusivity:

Prandtl number: P (28) Hydraulic diameter: D Reynolds number: R Grashof Number =

. Nusselt number; Nu 0.0333 R. (32) P

Convective heat transfer coefficient between any two surfaces h

f =24/Re, y=0.9 for Laminar flow (Re<2550)

The pumping power can be calculated asW 3. MODELING AND ANALYSIS

Figure 8. 3-D Model of Solar Air Heater

Figure 9. Mesh generation of 3-D Model

Input the Values of , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

; Obtain the following characteristics

Figure 10. Variation of Pressure with Mass flow rate

Figure 11. Variation of efficiency with Mass flow rate

Figure 12. Variation of efficiency with plate temperature

Figure 13. Variation of efficiency with dT/I

Figure 14. Variation of dT/I with mass flow rate

Figure 15. Variation of Pressure Drop across solar Air Heater

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