Heat Transfer Analysis of a Solar Air Heater Roughened with Chamfered Rib and Groove Roughness on the Absorber Plate Using CFD Approach

Abstract

The 2-D CFD based numerical study of solar air heater equipped with the chamfered shaped rib with groove roughness on the collector plate has been investigated in a rectangular channel duct. The solar air heater analysis with its rib height on the collector plate has been done using CFD approach on the basis of heat transfer obtained considering Reynolds number (3000–20,000), the relative roughness pitch ratio, i.e., (P/e = 4.5, 6 and 8) and chamfer angle of 18° at constant e/D of 0.04. ANSYS FLUENT 16.2 code has been used to visualize the distribution of the flowing fluid across the channel. The heat transfer results in the form of Nusselt number and friction factor which are considered for the evaluation of the smooth duct with chamfered rib grooved roughness found to be a good result with reference to the experimental results. The effect on chamfered rib roughness at P/e of 6 emphasizes that the Nusselt number is a strong function and dependent variables on the Reynolds number with an optimum value of heat transfer and pressure drop found to be minimum.