Using CFD Methods to Solve Navier Stokes Equations in the Plenum of an Unglazed Transpired Solar Collector

An unglazed transpired solar collector (Solar wall) or UTC is studied numerically. These collectors which are considered for past three decades use the sustainable solar energy in order to air heating and applied recently in many buildings mainly in Canada. The objective of this study is to provide a mathematical model not only to predict the performance of the UTC system for variety of design and climates but also to compare the influence of each design parameters to maximize the energy gain of this system. Climate region, Pitch and diameter of the perforations, aspect ratio of the plenum, solar absorptive and thermal emissivity of the collector are the input data. Thus by defining the fan all boundary conditions are known and the laminar momentum equations in 2-D coordinates will be solved with Finite Volume method. Neglecting the natural convection the energy equation will be solved uncoupled. Velocity and Temperature contours are drawn and outlet air temperature could be reached by integration.

Keywords:

Unglazed Transpired Solar Collector , Solar Wall , Computational Fluid Dynamics , Numerical Solution