IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v215y2021ipas036054422032154x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A numerical study on performance optimization of a micro-heat pipe arrays-based solar air heater

Author

Listed:
  • Zhu, Tingting
  • Zhang, Ji

Abstract

Solar air heater is a simple and convenient technology to utilize solar thermal energy. In this paper, an optimization study was carried out for a micro-heat pipe arrays-based solar air heater, aiming to derive the optimal operation conditions and geometrical parameters of the solar air heater. A 3-D CFD model was developed based on the physical heat transfer processes in the solar air heater and validated by the experimental results. The ambient temperature, air flow rate, air layer thickness, air duct aspect ratio and fins geometrical parameters (height and spacing) were selected as the parameters and their effects on the system efficiency and thermal-hydraulic performance of air flow were investigated. The results indicate that the inlet velocity of 3.3 m/s was determined to be the optimal flow velocity of the air heater, enabling a maximum thermal efficiency of 66.5%. The air layer thickness of 25 mm was determined as the optimal value, which is able to minimize the heat loss from the glass cover to the surrounding. The results also indicate the optimal aspect ratio, fin height and fin spacing among the values studied in the paper, which are 0.25, 12 mm and 6 mm, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhu, Tingting & Zhang, Ji, 2021. "A numerical study on performance optimization of a micro-heat pipe arrays-based solar air heater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:215:y:2021:i:pa:s036054422032154x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.119047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054422032154X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2020.119047?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhong, Guisheng & Tang, Yong & Ding, Xinrui & Rao, Longshi & Chen, Gong & Tang, Kairui & Yuan, Wei & Li, Zongtao, 2020. "Experimental study of a large-area ultra-thin flat heat pipe for solar collectors under different cooling conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1032-1039.
    2. Türk Togrul, İnci & Pehlιvan, Dursun & Akosman, Cevdet, 2004. "Development and testing of a solar air-heater with conical concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 263-275.
    3. Tanda, Giovanni, 2011. "Performance of solar air heater ducts with different types of ribs on the absorber plate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 6651-6660.
    4. Karim, Md Azharul & Hawlader, M.N.A, 2006. "Performance investigation of flat plate, v-corrugated and finned air collectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 452-470.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kumar, Amit & Singh, Ajeet Pratap & Akshayveer, & Singh, O.P., 2022. "Performance characteristics of a new curved double-pass counter flow solar air heater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    2. Kumar, Vikash & Murmu, Ramesh, 2021. "Experimental investigation for thermal performance of inclined spherical ball roughened solar air duct," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1365-1392.
    3. Kareem, M.W. & Habib, Khairul & Pasha, Amjad A. & Irshad, Kashif & Afolabi, L.O. & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2022. "Experimental study of multi-pass solar air thermal collector system assisted with sensible energy-storing matrix," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Ming & Yang, Xudong & Li, Xing & Wang, Zhifeng & Wang, Pengsu, 2014. "Design and optimization of a solar air heater with offset strip fin absorber plate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1349-1362.
    2. Mohammadi, K. & Sabzpooshani, M., 2013. "Comprehensive performance evaluation and parametric studies of single pass solar air heater with fins and baffles attached over the absorber plate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 741-750.
    3. Varun Pratap Singh & Siddharth Jain & Ashish Karn & Ashwani Kumar & Gaurav Dwivedi & Chandan Swaroop Meena & Nitesh Dutt & Aritra Ghosh, 2022. "Recent Developments and Advancements in Solar Air Heaters: A Detailed Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-55, September.
    4. Shams, S.M.N. & Mc Keever, M. & Mc Cormack, S. & Norton, B., 2016. "Design and experiment of a new solar air heating collector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 374-383.
    5. Fudholi, Ahmad & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2019. "A review of solar air flat plate collector for drying application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 333-345.
    6. Kumar, Rajneesh & Kumar, Anoop & Goel, Varun, 2019. "Performance improvement and development of correlation for friction factor and heat transfer using computational fluid dynamics for ribbed triangular duct solar air heater," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 788-799.
    7. Evangelisti, Luca & De Lieto Vollaro, Roberto & Asdrubali, Francesco, 2019. "Latest advances on solar thermal collectors: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Nidhul, Kottayat & Kumar, Sachin & Yadav, Ajay Kumar & Anish, S., 2020. "Enhanced thermo-hydraulic performance in a V-ribbed triangular duct solar air heater: CFD and exergy analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    9. Basma Souayeh & Suvanjan Bhattacharyya, 2023. "Turbulent Heat Transfer Augmentation in a Square Channel by Augmenting the Flow Pattern with Novel Arc-Shaped Ribs," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Alvarez, A. & Cabeza, O. & Muñiz, M.C. & Varela, L.M., 2010. "Experimental and numerical investigation of a flat-plate solar collector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 3707-3716.
    11. Yeh, Pei-Ying & Yen, Po-Ching & Yen, Jia-Yush & Wu, Tsung-Tsong & Liu, Pei-Ling & Wu, Chia-Ling & Peng, Ching-Yu, 2011. "Focal point tracking system for concentration solar power collection," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 3029-3033, August.
    12. Varun Kumar, B. & Manikandan, G. & Rajesh Kanna, P., 2021. "Enhancement of heat transfer in SAH with polygonal and trapezoidal shape of the rib using CFD," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    13. Mahian, Omid & Mahmud, Shohel & Heris, Saeed Zeinali, 2012. "Analysis of entropy generation between co-rotating cylinders using nanofluids," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 438-446.
    14. Alam, Tabish & Kim, Man-Hoe, 2017. "Performance improvement of double-pass solar air heater – A state of art of review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 779-793.
    15. Ge, T.S. & Wang, R.Z. & Xu, Z.Y. & Pan, Q.W. & Du, S. & Chen, X.M. & Ma, T. & Wu, X.N. & Sun, X.L. & Chen, J.F., 2018. "Solar heating and cooling: Present and future development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1126-1140.
    16. Ozgen, Filiz & Esen, Mehmet & Esen, Hikmet, 2009. "Experimental investigation of thermal performance of a double-flow solar air heater having aluminium cans," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 2391-2398.
    17. Zukowski, M., 2015. "Experimental investigations of thermal and flow characteristics of a novel microjet air solar heater," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 10-20.
    18. Ramadan, M.R.I. & El-Sebaii, A.A. & Aboul-Enein, S. & El-Bialy, E., 2007. "Thermal performance of a packed bed double-pass solar air heater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1524-1535.
    19. Yu-Jin Kim & Kwang-Seob Lee & Libing Yang & Evgueniy Entchev & Eun-Chul Kang & Euy-Joon Lee, 2020. "Validation and Numerical Sensitivity Study of Air Baffle Photovoltaic-Thermal Module," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, April.
    20. Singh Yadav, Anil & Kumar Thapak, Manish, 2014. "Artificially roughened solar air heater: Experimental investigations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 370-411.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:215:y:2021:i:pa:s036054422032154x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.