TY - GEN
T1 - Three dimensional CFD simulation of thermosyphon flow in an unglazed solar flat plate collector
AU - Sharma, Yagnesh N.
AU - Shivamallaiah, Manjunath M.
AU - Karanth, Vasudeva K.
PY - 2013/1/1
Y1 - 2013/1/1
N2 - Thermosyphon unglazed solar flat plate collectors have been widely used all over the world to harness solar energy for generating hot water for various applications. This is mainly due to the passive nature of the system besides being simple in design. However, flat plate collectors are associated with higher heat losses from the surface leading to lower thermal performance. Hence, there is a dire need to optimize the thermal design aspects of the flat plate collector in order to achieve higher thermal performance. In this paper, the results of a full three dimensional CFD simulation of thermosyphon flow in an unglazed solar flat plate collector are presented. It is observed from the parametric study that there are interesting trends for the temperature distribution of the absorber plate and loop water for various simulated solar heat flux inputs. This analysis also brings out the effect of various simulated heat fluxes on the mass flow rates in the collector loop. The results of this CFD simulation study provide an insight into the behavior of the thermosyphon solar flat plate collector under various operating conditions and hence will be further helpful to undertake optimization for enhanced thermal performance of the collector.
AB - Thermosyphon unglazed solar flat plate collectors have been widely used all over the world to harness solar energy for generating hot water for various applications. This is mainly due to the passive nature of the system besides being simple in design. However, flat plate collectors are associated with higher heat losses from the surface leading to lower thermal performance. Hence, there is a dire need to optimize the thermal design aspects of the flat plate collector in order to achieve higher thermal performance. In this paper, the results of a full three dimensional CFD simulation of thermosyphon flow in an unglazed solar flat plate collector are presented. It is observed from the parametric study that there are interesting trends for the temperature distribution of the absorber plate and loop water for various simulated solar heat flux inputs. This analysis also brings out the effect of various simulated heat fluxes on the mass flow rates in the collector loop. The results of this CFD simulation study provide an insight into the behavior of the thermosyphon solar flat plate collector under various operating conditions and hence will be further helpful to undertake optimization for enhanced thermal performance of the collector.
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U2 - 10.1115/IMECE2013-64090
DO - 10.1115/IMECE2013-64090
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84903435337
SN - 9780791856321
VL - 7 B
T3 - ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)
BT - Fluids Engineering Systems and Technologies
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers(ASME)
T2 - ASME 2013 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2013
Y2 - 15 November 2013 through 21 November 2013
ER -