Abstract
A solar air heater is easy to build and easy to use for drying applications, room heating purposes, etc. In the present study, single-pass forced convection rectangular-type solar air heater is studied numerically. The copper metal foam with 0.92 porosity is used for case (a) empty channel, cases (b) to (e) comprising of different stepped-type arrangements, and case (f) fully filled metal foam condition and studied numerically to obtain outlet temperature, pressure drop and the performance factor of the solar air heater. The Reynolds number is varied from 4401 to 5868. Based on this range of Reynolds number RNG k-ε model with enhanced wall function is adopted for numerical simulations. The local thermal equilibrium model is used to simulate the porous zone. The Rosseland radiation model has been chosen with solar ray tracing method. The case (c) is the best stepped-type arrangement to get same outlet temperature compared to fully filled metal foam case (f). Hence, the material cost is minimized. The temperature rise is 8.89% more compared to empty channel solar air heater. Case (c) has less pressure drop compared to other metal foam arrangements. The performance factor for case (c) is 2.03.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- Re:
-
Reynolds number [-]
- ε:
-
Porosity [%]
- Ts:
-
Solid temperature [K]
- Tf:
-
Fluid temperature [K]
- Tout:
-
Outlet temperature [K]
- ∆P:
-
Pressure drop [Pa]
- CFD:
-
Computational fluid dynamics [-]
- SAH:
-
Solar air heater [-]
- ρ:
-
Density [kg/m3]
- Cp:
-
Specific heat capacity [kJ/kg K]
- k:
-
Thermal conductivity [W/m K]
- μ:
-
Kinematic viscosity [Ns/m2]
References
Saedodin S, Zamzamian SAH, Nimvari ME, Wongwises S, Jouybari HJ (2017) Performance evaluation of a flat-plate solar collector filled with porous metal foam: Experimental and numerical analysis. Energy Convers Manag 153:278–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2017.09.072
Jadhav PH, Gnanasekaran N, Perumal DA, Mobedi M (2021) Performance evaluation of partially filled high porosity metal foam configurations in a pipe. Appl Therm Eng 194. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APPLTHERMALENG.2021.117081
Kansara R, Pathak M, Patel VK (2021) Performance assessment of flat-plate solar collector with internal fins and porous media through an integrated approach of CFD and experimentation. Int J Therm Sci 165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2021.106932
Anirudh K, Dhinakaran S (2020) Performance improvement of a flat-plate solar collector by inserting intermittent porous blocks. Renew Energy 145:428–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.015
Singh S (2020) Experimental and numerical investigations of a single and double pass porous serpentine wavy wiremesh packed bed solar air heater. Renew Energy 145:1361–1387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.137
Peng H, Li M, Liang X (2020) Thermal-hydraulic and thermodynamic performance of parabolic trough solar receiver partially filled with gradient metal foam. Energy 211:119046. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENERGY.2020.119046
Valizade M, Heyhat MM, Maerefat M (2020) Experimental study of the thermal behavior of direct absorption parabolic trough collector by applying copper metal foam as volumetric solar absorption. Renew Energy 145:261–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RENENE.2019.05.112
Wang Z, Wu J, Lei D, Liu H, Li J, Wu Z (2020) Experimental study on latent thermal energy storage system with gradient porosity copper foam for mid-temperature solar energy application. Appl Energy 261:114472. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APENERGY.2019.114472
**ao X, Jia H, Wen D, Zhao X (2020) Thermal performance analysis of a solar energy storage unit encapsulated with HITEC salt/copper foam/nanoparticles composite. Energy 192:116593. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENERGY.2019.116593
Jouybari NF, Lundström TS (2020) Performance improvement of a solar air heater by covering the absorber plate with a thin porous material. Energy 190:116437. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENERGY.2019.116437
Rajarajeswari K, Alok P, Sreekumar A (2018) Simulation and experimental investigation of fluid flow in porous and non-porous solar air heaters. Sol Energy 171:258–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.079
Jadhav PH, Gnanasekaran N, Perumal DA (2021) Numerical consideration of LTNE and darcy extended forchheimer models for the analysis of forced convection in a horizontal pipe in the presence of metal foam. J Heat Transf 143(1). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4048622
Kamath PM, Balaji C, Venkateshan SP (2013) Convection heat transfer from aluminium and copper foams in a vertical channel—an experimental study. Int J Therm Sci 64:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2012.08.015
Ansys Fluent R2 Student version (2022)
Acknowledgements
The first author Rawal Diganjit, Research Scholar, gives his heart full thanks to Dr. N. Gnanasekaran. We both authors are thankful to 9th International and 49th National Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power (FMFP-2022) dated on December14-16, 2022, IIT Roorkee, India.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Diganjit, R., Gnanasekaran, N. (2024). Performance Evaluation of Single Pass Solar Air Heater with Stepped-Type Arrangement of Metal Foam by a Numerical Study. In: Singh, K.M., Dutta, S., Subudhi, S., Singh, N.K. (eds) Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power, Volume 7. FMFP 2022. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7047-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7047-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-7046-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-7047-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)