TY - JOUR
TI - Numerical simulation of the air flow around the arrays of solar collectors
AU - Bakić Vukman V
AU - Živković Goran S
AU - Pezo Milada L
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2011
VL - 15
IS - 2
SP - 457
EP - 465
PT - Article
AB - This paper deals with the numerical simulation of air around the arrays of  flat plate collectors and determination of the flow field, which should  provide a basis for estimating a convective heat losses, a parameter which  influences their working characteristics. Heat losses are the result of the  reflection on the glass, conductive losses at the collector’s absorber plate,  radiation of the absorber plate and convective losses on the glass. Wind  velocity in the vicinity of the absorber plate depends on its position in the  arrays of collectors. Results obtained in the numerical simulation of flow  around collectors were used as boundary conditions in modeling of  thermal-hydraulic processes inside the solar collector. A method for coupling  thermal-hydraulic processes inside the collector with heat transfer from  plate to tube bundle was developed, in order to find out the distribution of  the temperature of the absorber plate and the efficiency of the flat plate  collectors. Analyses of flow around arrays of collectors are preformed with  RNG k - ε model. Three values for free-stream velocity were analysed, i.e. 1  m/s, 5 m/s and 10 m/s, as well as two values for the angle between the ground  and the collector (20° and 40°). Heat transfer coefficient was determined  from the theory of boundary layer. Heat transfer inside the plate cavity was  analyzed assuming constant intensity of radiation.