TY - JOUR
TI - Optimizing solar water heater performance through a numerical study of zig-zag shaped tubes
AU - Korti Mohammed Choukri
AU - Youcef Ahmed
AU - Akgül Ali
AU - Alwan Abbas Adil
AU - Mohsen Karrar S
AU - Asad Jihad
AU - Jarrar Rabab
AU - Shanak Hussein
AU - Menni Younes
AU - Abdullaev Sherzod
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2023
VL - 27
IS - 4
SP - 3143
EP - 3153
PT - Article
AB - This study aimed to investigate the thermal behavior of water flows in a  solar collector equipped with zig-zag tubes. To achieve this, a numerical  simulation using CFD was conducted, which is a powerful tool for analyzing  fluid-flow and heat transfer. The simulation employed the finite volume  method to discretize the fluid domain and the SIMPLE algorithm to solve the  pressure-velocity coupling. The simulation results indicated that the shape  of the tubes significantly influenced the flow behavior and overall  performance of the solar collector. Specifically, the temperature profiles  at various times of the day showed that zig-zag-shaped tubes enhanced the  heat transfer coefficient, resulting in higher temperatures within the  collector. Moreover, the zig-zag design increased the residence time of the  fluid inside the collector, further improving its overall efficiency. These  findings highlight the potential of utilizing zig-zag-shaped tubes to  optimize the performance of solar water heating systems, which could have  important implications for renewable energy applications.