Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A parametric study of the 2D model of solar air heater with elliptical rib roughness using CFD

  • Published:
Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 23 March 2017

Abstract

The heat transfer can be improved by providing artificial roughness on absorber plate of the solar air heat. Many studies are available on circular, semi-circular, triangular and rectangular rib roughened solar air heater. But in present study heat transfer enhancement by providing elliptical ribs on absorber plate was analyzed by developing CFD code on non-commercial ANSYS (Fluent) 12.1 software. The simulations were performed on 2-D CFD model and analysis was carried out to study the effect of relative roughness width, relative roughness height and relative roughness pitch on heat transfer and friction factor. The Reynolds number range from 4000 to 15000 and turbulence phenomena is modeled by using Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes equations (RANS). The mathematical modeling is validated and compared with available results. The strong vortex formation takes place in the main stream flow because of elliptical roughness, which improved heat transfer augmentation in the solar air heater. The local turbulence kinetic energy strongly influenced by orientation of the elliptical ribs. The value of average Nusselt number increases by increasing relative roughness height but it decreases with the increase of relative roughness width and relative roughness pitch. The rib width has significant effects on heat transfer enhancement and maximum Nusselt number is observed for relatively small roughness width (i.e., 0.5) among the considered range of 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm. The maximum value of Nusselt number and friction factor is observed for relative roughness width of 0.5, relative roughness height of 0.045, and relative roughness pitch of 6.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. W. W. S. Charters, Some aspects of flow duct design for solar-air heater applications, Solar Energy, 13 (1971) 283–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. V. S. Hans, R. P. Saini and J. S. Saini, Performance of artificially roughened solar air heaters–a review, Renew Sustain Energy Rev., 13 (8) (2009) 1854–1869.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Varun, R. P. Saini and S. K. Singal, A review on roughness geometry used in solar air heaters, Solar Energy, 81 (2007) 1340–1350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. B. N. Prasad, Thermal performance of artificially roughened solar air heaters, Solar Energy, 91 (2013) 59–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. R. Kumar, A. Kumar and Varun, Computational fluid dynamics based study for analyzing heat transfer and friction factor in semi-circular rib roughened equilateral triangular duct, International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow (DOI: 10.1108/HFF-10-2015-0438).

  6. A. Boulemtafes-Boukadoum and A. Benjzaoui, CFD based analysis of heat transfer enhancement in solar air heater provided with transverse rectangular ribs, Energy Procedia, 50 (2014) 761–772.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. A. N. Al-Shamani, K. Sopian, H. A. Mohammed, S. Mat, M. H. Ruslan and A. M. Abed, Enhancement heat transfer characteristics in the channel with trapezoidal rib-groove using nanofluids, Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 5 (2015) 48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. V. B. Gawande, A. S. Dhoble, D. B. Zodpe and S. Chamoli, Experimental and CFD investigation of convection heat transfer in solar air heater with reverse L-shaped ribs, Solar Energy, 131 (2016) 275–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. A. Kumar and M. Kim, Heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in air duct with various V-pattern rib roughness on the heated plate: A comparative study, Energy, 103 (2016) 75–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Y. Rao, P. Chen and C. Wan, Experimental and numerical investigation of impingement heat transfer on the surface with micro W-shaped ribs, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 93 (2016) 683–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. G. Bharadwaj, M. Kaushal and V. Goel, Heat transfer and friction characteristics of an equilateral triangular solar air heater duct using inclined continuous ribs as roughness element on the absorber plate, International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 32 (6) (2013) 515–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. A. Chaube, S. Gupta and P. Verma, Heat transfer and friction factor enhancement in a square channel having integral inclined discrete ribs on two opposite walls, Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, 28 (5) (2014) 1927–1937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. N. K. Pandey and V. K. Bajpai, Experimental investigation of heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of arcshaped roughness elements having central gaps on absorber plate of solar air heater, ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, 138 (2016) 041005–1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. B. N. Prasad and J. S. Saini, Optimal thermohydraulic performance of artificially roughened solar air heaters, Solar Energy, 47 (2) (1991) 91–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. R. Kumar, V. Goel and A. Kumar, Thermal and fluid dynamic characteristics of flow through triangular crosssectional duct: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 61 (2016) 123–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. R. L. Webb, E. R. G. Eckert and R. J. Goldstein, Heat transfer and friction in tubes with repeated-rib roughness, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 14 (1971) 601–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. V. Gawande, A. S. Dhoble, D. B. Zodpe and S. Chamoli, A review of CFD methodology used in literature for predicting thermo-hydraulic performance of roughened solar air heater, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54 (2016) 550–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. ANSYS Fluent 12.0, Documentation, ANSYS, Inc. 2003-04.

  19. A. Chaube, P. K. Sahoo and S. C. Solanki, Analysis of heat transfer augmentation and flow characteristics due to rib roughness over absorber plate of a solar air heater, Renewable Energy, 31 (2006) 317–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. S. Kumar and R. P. Saini, CFD based performance analysis of solar air heater duct provided with artificial roughness, Renewable Energy, 34 (2009) 1285–1291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. A. S. Yadav and J. L. Bhagoria, A numerical investigation of turbulent flows through an artificial roughened solar air heater, Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A, 65 (2014) 679–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. C. K. Lee and S. A. Abdel-Moneim, Computational analysis of heat transfer in turbulent flow past a horizontal surface with two-dimensional ribs, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 28 (2) (2001) 161–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. ASHRAE standard 93, Methods of testing to determine the thermal performance of solar collectors, American Society of heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA30329 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  24. S. V. Patankar, Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow, Washington DC: Hemisphere (1980).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. J. P. Abraham, E. M. Sparrow and J.C. K. Tong, Heat transfer in all pipe flow regimes: laminar, transitional/ intermittent, and turbulent, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 52 (2009) 557–563.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. A. S. Yadav and J. L. Bhagoria, A CFD (computaional fluid dynamics) based heat transfer and fluid flow analysis of solar air heater provided with circular transverse wire rib roughness on the absorber plate, Energy, 55 (2013) 1127–1142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. H. S. Chung, G. H. Lee, M. J. Nine, K. Bae and H. M. Jeong, Study on the thermal and flow characteristics on the periodically arranged semi-circular ribs in a rectangular channel, Experimental Heat Transfer, 27 (2014) 56–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, Hamirpur, 177005, India

    Rajneesh Kumar, Varun Geol & Anoop Kumar

Authors
  1. Rajneesh Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Varun Geol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anoop Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajneesh Kumar.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Youngsuk Nam

Rajneesh Kumar received his master degree in Heat Power Engineering from VNIT, Nagpur, India, in 2013. He is Ph.D. research scholar at National Institute of Technology Hamirpur (H.P), India.

Varun Goel received his Ph.D. degree from National Institute of Technology Hamirpur (H.P), India. He is working in the area of heat transfer, life cycle assessment and Renewable energy (Solar Energy).

Anoop Kumar received his Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. He is currently working as Professor in National Institute of Technology.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0253-7.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kumar, R., Geol, V. & Kumar, A. A parametric study of the 2D model of solar air heater with elliptical rib roughness using CFD. J Mech Sci Technol 31, 959–964 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0148-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0148-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation