Abstract

Flow maldistribution represents a problem of particular interest in the engineering field for several thermal systems. In flat plate solar collectors, the thermal efficiency strongly depends on the flow distribution through the riser tubes, where a uniform distribution causes a uniform temperature distribution and therefore a higher efficiency. In this work, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical analysis has been carried out using the commercial software FLUENT®, in order to determine the flow distribution, pressure drop and hence the thermal efficiency of a solar collector with distribution flow plates inside the manifolds. The obtained numerical solution for this type of thermal systems has been validated with experimental results available in literature for laminar and turbulent flow. Four distribution plate configurations were analyzed. Results show that using two distribution plates in each of both manifolds improves the flow uniformity up to 40% under the same operating conditions when distribution plates are not used. Besides, it is shown that there exists an increase in the overall pressure drop which is practically negligible for the tilt angles commonly employed in the installation of flat plate solar collectors in Mexico. The use of closed end distribution plates on the dividing and combining manifolds allows the thermal efficiency to become close to the ideal thermal efficiency which is obtained with a uniform flow distribution.

Details

Title
Numerical Study on the Effect of Distribution Plates in the Manifolds on the Flow Distribution and Thermal Performance of a Flat Plate Solar Collector
Author
García-Guendulain, Juan Manuel; Riesco-Avila, José Manuel; Elizalde-Blancas, Francisco; Belman-Flores, Juan Manuel; Serrano-Arellano, Juan
First page
1077
Publication year
2018
Publication date
2018
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19961073
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2108543137
Copyright
© 2018. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.