Application of response surface methodology and computational fluid dynamics for analyzing and optimizing the performance of finned solar air heater

Abstract

In this research paper, a Solar Air Heater (SAH) with triangular fins has been experimentally and numerically analyzed and validated. The novelty of this work is the selection of the type of the fins, the triangular fins not only enhance the turbulence and heat transfer to the air but have lower material consumption as compared to the rectangular fins. The ANSYS 2022, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software has been used for the numerical study, the post processor simulation results of the velocity, pressure, and temperature field at velocity, pressure and Roserland boundary conditions has been determined by using k-ε standard turbulence model at steady state. The heat transfer coefficient and friction factor are two important parameters that are used for determining the heat transfer rate and pressure drop over the surface of the Solar Air Heater (SAH). For enhancing the heat transfer rate and minimizing the pressure drop, a optimized geometry of the fins must be required. In consideration of this fact, in this research, the Heat transfer Coefficient (HTC) and Friction factor (FF) have been optimized by the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The two important input variables namely Reynolds Number (Re) and pitch to height ratio (p/L) of the fins has been selected for maximizing the performance of the SAH. The simulation results of the velocity contour shows that the velocity reached maximum between the narrow gap of the triangular fins due to conservation of mass. So, velocity of the flowing air increasing in between the fins. The optimum values of response parameters namely Nusselt Number, friction factor and Thermal Performance Factor are obtained to be 176.5064, 0.0260, and 1.8903 at Reynolds Number 16928.2180 and P/L 1.3430.