Some aspects concerning modelling the flow and heat transfer in horizontal mantle heat exchangers in solar water heaters

Gary Rosengarten, Masud Behnia*, Graham Morrison

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An experimental and numerical investigation has been undertaken to study the heat transfer process in horizontal mantle heat exchangers used in solar water heaters. A rectangular cavity has been as a simplified geometry. With the aid of particle image velocimetry (PIV) the flow field in the centre-plane of the rectangular cavity has been visualized. Three-dimensional flow simulations were performed using a commercial CFD package. The impinging jet formed by the inlet flow directed towards the opposite wall was found to produce localised turbulence in the cavity, with an inlet Reynolds number as low as 360. This turbulence was found to effect the flow field and heat transfer in the cavity when the inlet Reynolds number was above 1200. It is shown that, with the boundary conditions used in this study, most of the heat transferred was in the bottom half of the cavity. This is not the ideal situation for optimization of solar water heating systems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1007-1016
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Energy Research
Volume23
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CFD
  • Mantle heat exchanger
  • PIV
  • Solar water heater

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