Numerical simulation of a solar flat plate collector using Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) - A CFD approach

Solar flat plate collectors are commonly used for domestic and industrial purposes and have the largest commercial application amongst the various solar collectors. This is mainly due to simple design as well as low maintenance cost. An attempt is being made in this paper to numerically analyze the solar collector using the Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) so as to numerically simulate the solar collector for better understanding of the heat transfer capabilities of the collector. In the present work a 3D model of the collector involving the water pipe, absorber plate, the glass top and the air gap in-between the absorber plate and the glass top is modeled to provide for conduction, convection and radiation in the analysis. The numerical results obtained using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by employing conjugate heat transfer show that the heat transfer simulation due to solar irradiation to the fluid medium, increases with an increase in the mass flow rate. Also it is observed that the absorber plate temperature decreases with increase in the mass flow rate.