Flat Plate Solar Collector Conjugated Heat Transfer (CHT), ANSYS Fluent CFD Training

Introduction

Flat Plate Solar Collectors (FPSC) or Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV/T) systems are widely used in the solar industry to convert solar radiation into thermal energy. The efficiency of FPSCs depends on various factors, including the design of the collector, the materials used, and the collector’s location. In this simulation, we investigate radiation’s effects on the water’s temperature passing through pipes in an FPSC located in Doha with a 45-degree tilt angle using ANSYS Fluent software. The geometry of the FPSC was designed using DesignModeler software and meshed using ANSYS Meshing software in Tetrahedral type. It must be noted that the whole number of elements created is 5592039.

Flat Plate Solar Collectors Methodology

The simulation was conducted by solving Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow, energy equations for heat transfer, and DO radiation for direct irradiation. The boundary conditions were set as follows:

– Inlet temperature of water = 300k

– Inlet mass flow rate of water = 0.02 kg/s

– Outlet pressure = atmospheric pressure

– Solar irradiation = 800 W/m²

– The amount of volumetric heat flux generated in the PV layer is also determined from the following equation:

In the above equation, S_gen is the volumetric heat flux (W/m³), I_sun is the solar heat flux (W/m²), τ_g is the glass transmittance, α_PV is the PV absorption coefficient, η is the nominal panel efficiency, and t_PV is the PV layer thickness (m). The values ​​of these parameters are presented in the table below.

The Discrete Ordinate (DO) Radiation Model simulates radiation behavior on the FPSC.

Conclusion

The simulation results showed that solar radiation affects the temperature of the water passing through pipes in an FPSC. The average water temperature is equal to 306.486 K, and average PV layer temperature is equal to 310.133 K.