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Numerical and Experimental Study of Flow Characteristics in Solar Collector Manifolds

Author

Listed:
  • Panagiotis Karvounis

    (University of West Attica, Campus 1, School of Engineering, Agiou Spyridonos, 12243 Aigaleo, Greece)

  • Dimitrios Koubogiannis

    (University of West Attica, Campus 1, School of Engineering, Agiou Spyridonos, 12243 Aigaleo, Greece)

  • Elias Hontzopoulos

    (Prime Laser Technology SA, Viopa Kerateas, 19001 Keratea, Greece)

  • Antonios Hatziapostolou

    (University of West Attica, Campus 1, School of Engineering, Agiou Spyridonos, 12243 Aigaleo, Greece)

Abstract

The flow through a forced circulation Z-type flat plate solar collector was investigated by means of combined experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The efficient operation of such collectors depends on the uniformity of the flow rate distribution among their riser tubes, while low pumping power demand is also sought. Mass flow rate measurements in the riser tubes were performed, utilizing a specially adapted ultrasound instrument for various values of total flow rates in the collector. By means of a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, laminar and turbulent flow models in different computational grids were tested and validated against the experiments. Appropriate metrics were introduced to quantify flow rate distribution non-uniformity among the risers, and pressure drop through the manifold was calculated. Parametric studies for flow conditions outside the experimental window were performed utilizing the CFD method in order to assess the effect of the Reynolds number in the flow distribution among the riser tubes. Furthermore, aiming to enhance flow rate uniformity, a methodology based on modifying the diameter of each riser tube was applied and successfully demonstrated. The proposed method can be employed in large solar collector arrays, either as stand-alone systems or as belonging to hybrid alternative sources of energy (ASE) systems, aiming to optimize their overall efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Panagiotis Karvounis & Dimitrios Koubogiannis & Elias Hontzopoulos & Antonios Hatziapostolou, 2019. "Numerical and Experimental Study of Flow Characteristics in Solar Collector Manifolds," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:8:p:1431-:d:222635
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Juan Manuel García-Guendulain & José Manuel Riesco-Avila & Francisco Elizalde-Blancas & Juan Manuel Belman-Flores & Juan Serrano-Arellano, 2018. "Numerical Study on the Effect of Distribution Plates in the Manifolds on the Flow Distribution and Thermal Performance of a Flat Plate Solar Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, April.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Minjung Lee & Yunchan Shin & Honghyun Cho, 2020. "Performance Evaluation of Flat Plate and Vacuum Tube Solar Collectors by Applying a MWCNT/Fe 3 O 4 Binary Nanofluid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Ge Zhao & Wei Li & Jinsong Zhu, 2019. "A Numerical Investigation of the Influence of Geometric Parameters on the Performance of a Multi-Channel Confluent Water Supply," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Yee Van Fan & Zorka Novak Pintarič & Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, 2020. "Emerging Tools for Energy System Design Increasing Economic and Environmental Sustainability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Martin Beer & Radim Rybár & Michal Cehlár & Sergey Zhironkin & Peter Sivák, 2020. "Design and Numerical Study of the Novel Manifold Header for the Evacuated Tube Solar Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Tomáš Létal & Vojtěch Turek & Dominika Babička Fialová & Zdeněk Jegla, 2020. "Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis-Based Flow Distribution and Heat Transfer Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, April.

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