A CFD (COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS) BASED THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF SOLAR AIR HEATER WITH RIB-ROUGHENED CHANNELS

摘要

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study is conducted to determine turbulent fluid flow and temperature profiles in rectangular ribbed channels of solar air heater. The results show significant effect of Reynolds number and ribs height and pitch on turbulence and heat transfer rates. When heat flux is defined at the bottom wall, the temperature values increase rapidly near the ribs due to stagnant zones. The heat transfer coefficients are lower at these locations. When heat flux is specified at the top wall, the variation in heat transfer coefficient is relatively smooth. From the research work, the channel containing ribs of 3mm and pitch 40mm are determined suitable due to higher heat transfer rates.