Using computational fluid dynamics for different alternatives water flow path in a thermal photovoltaic (PVT) system

Abstract

Purpose This study aim to use the finite volume method to solve differential equations related to three-dimensional simulation of a solar collector. Modeling is done using ANSYS-fluent software program. The investigation is done for a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell, with the dimension of 394 × 84 mm2, which is the aluminum type and receives the constant heat flux of 800 W.m−2. Water is also used as the working fluid, and the Reynolds number is 500. Design/methodology/approach In the present study, the effect of fluid flow path on the thermal, electrical and fluid flow characteristics of a PV thermal (PVT) collector is investigated. Three alternatives for flow paths, namely, direct, curved and spiral for coolant flow, are considered, and a numerical model to simulate the system performance is developed. Findings The results show that the highest efficiency is achieved by the solar cell with a curved fluid flow path. Additionally, it is found that the curved path’s efficiency is 0.8% and 0.5% higher than that of direct and spiral paths, respectively. Moreover, the highest pressure drop occurs in the curved microchannel route, with around 260 kPa, which is 2% and 5% more than the pressure drop of spiral and direct. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has been no study that investigates numerically heat transfer, fluid flow and electrical performance of a PV solar thermal cell, simultaneously. Moreover, the effect of the microchannel routes which are considered for water flow has not been considered by researchers so far. Taking all the mentioned points into account, in this study, numerical analysis on the effect of different microchannel paths on the performance of a PVT solar collector is carried. The investigation is conducted for the Reynolds number of 500.

Thermal-hydraulic performance of turbulent flows across a heated round tube installed through several perforated twisted tapes

“…There is hardly any work in which the authors coded a computational program to resolve the physical model of the turbulent thermal convection and hydraulic features around the passive inserts inside a heated passageway. Hoseinzadeh et al (2020, 2021) and Hoseinzadeh and Heyns (2020) used the ANSYS® software to separately analyze the thermo-structural fatigue of a heat exchanger, the turbulent heat transfer of pulsating Al 2 O 3 /water and the thermo-hydraulic properties inside a thermal photovoltaic solar cell system. Also, past articles (Perng et al , 2021; Perng et al , 2022) exercised the above code to simulate the thermal convection and fluid flows through the heated ducts equipped with various passive inserts for gauging the amelioration of thermal convection.…”

Numerical simulation of fluid dynamic performance of turbulent flow over Hunter turbine with variable angle of blades

“…Increasing the level of public welfare and quality of life is the ultimate goal of all programs in society. In the past century, many countries have moved toward industrialization with renewable energy such as; solar energy, wind energy and tidal energy (Hoseinzadeh et al , 2021; Menni et al , 2019). Growing industry means increasing energy demand.…”

Techno-economic study of compound parabolic collector in solar water heating system in the northern hemisphere

“…Since then, many papers have been published regarding the design and analysis of CPC. Some of this research is documented in [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21]. Moreover, researches have tried continuously to devise methods to improve the efficiency of this kind of solar collector, which in the following, some of them will be reviewed.…”