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Commercial solar water heating collectors are usually oversized in order to satisfy a heat demand and this increases their manufacturing cost. It is possible to reduce the size of collectors if heat transfer from the channel walls to the working fluid is increased. To enhance the heat transfer to the working fluid a metal porous medium placed inside pipes. The presence of a metal porous medium made of aluminium or stainless steel results in the increase of the interface between the fluid and absorber, diffusion in the near wall flow and increases in the heat transfer rate. The aim of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of heat transfer inside the channels, partially filled with porous medium, of a simplified flat plate solar water collector for application in the Southern Europe.

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This work describes the developed of a lumped parameter model and demonstrates its practical application. The lumped parameter mathematical model is a useful instrument to be used for rapid determination of design dimensions and operational performance of solar collectors at the designing stage. Such model which incorporates data from relevant Computational Fluid Dynamics design and experimental investigations can provide an acceptable accuracy in predictions and can be used as an effective design tool. A computer algorithm validates the lumped parameter model via a window environment program.

No abstract