Determining the Effect of Inlet Flow Conditions on the Thermal Efficiency of a Flat Plate Solar Collector

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of inlet temperature (Tin) and flowrate ( m ˙ ) on thermal efficiency ( η t h ) of flat plate collectors (FPC). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was employed to simulate a FPC and the results were validated with experimental data from literature. The FPC was examined for high and low level flowrates and for inlet temperatures which varied from 298 to 373 K. Thermal efficiency of 93% and 65% was achieved at 298 K and 370 K inlet temperature’s respectively. A maximum temperature increase of 62 K in the inlet temperature was achieved at a flowrate of 5 × 10−4 kg/s inside the riser pipe. Tin and m ˙ were optimised in order to achieve the minimum required feed temperature for a 10 kW absorption chiller.

Numerical Evaluation of the Flow within a Rhomboid Tessellated Pipe Network with a 3 × 3 Allometric Branch Pattern for the Inlet and Outlet

“…For instance, Abhishek et al [13] conducted a compilation of studies utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the analysis of flat plate solar collectors. Additionally, investigations into collector-evaporators have explored diverse methods, such as the utilization of phase change materials for latent thermal energy storage [14], thermal behaviour analyses of collectors [7,[14][15][16][17][18][19], and more recently, the implementation of pipes with varying geometries [7,17,19].…”

A Stability Analysis for Magnetohydrodynamics Stagnation Point Flow with Zero Nanoparticles Flux Condition and Anisotropic Slip

“…Water, oil and ethylene glycol are the common base fluid used in the formation of nanofluid. The invention of nanofluids that have good thermophysical properties can improve heat transfer performance for enormous futuristic applications such as in nuclear cooling systems, solar water heating, biomedical applications, lubrication, thermal storage, refrigeration, coolant in automobile radiator, and many others [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Choi et al [14] initiated an experiment on nanotube-in-oil suspensions and measured that the thermal conductivity is inevitably greater than the theoretical predictions.…”