Numerical investigation of thermo-hydraulic characteristics of corrugated airheater solar collectors

In this study, the effects of using corrugated absorber plate on heat transfer and turbulent flow in solar air-heater collectors were numerically investigated. The two-dimensional governing equations were solved by utilizing finite volume method and SIMPLE algorithm. The absorber plate with triangle, rectangle and sinuous corrugations in turbulent flow regime and Reynolds number was considered within the range of 2500-4000. Proper geometry was selected based on the best performance evaluation criteria (PEC) and increasing the air temperature from collector inlet to outlet (ITIO). Simulations were performed for two different tilt angles of collector, which are the optimum six month tilts for flat plate solar collectors in Kashan. The results revealed that using corrugated absorber plate has a considerable influence on the flow field and heat transfer. For the whole year the highest PEC was obtained for the sinusoidal corrugated model, however, the highest ITIO was observed for rectangular corrugated model. To achieve best ITIO and the highest PEC, the optimum Reynolds number of 2500 was also noticed.