Natural convection and conduction in porous wall, solar collector systems without vents

Journal Article · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2929980· OSTI ID:5462825

Mbaye, M; Bilgen, E ^[1]

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1. Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, PQ (Canada)

Steady natural convection heat transfer has been studied in porous wall, solar collector systems. The boundary conditions were: two isothermal was at different temperatures, two horizontal bounding adiabatic walls, and either uniform or nonuniform heat generating porous layer without vents. The aspect ratio A was from 0.5 to 1.4. The Rayleigh number varied from 10{sup 3} to 10{sup 8}. The Darcy number was from 10{sup {minus}8} to 10{sup {minus}2} but the detailed studies were carried out only for 10{sup {minus} 4}, an optimum value. In this paper the results are presented in terms of thermal parameters ({Theta}, {Theta}{sub max}, Nu) as a function of Ra and other nondimensional parameters (A = H/L, B = 1/L, F = d/L, k{sub r}). The isotherms and streamlines within the system are also produced. The overall results indicate that geometrical parameters are the most important parameters affecting the system performance.

• OSTI ID: 5462825
• Journal Information: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering; (United States) Vol. 114:1; ISSN 0199-6231; ISSN JSEED
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
141000* -- Solar Collectors & Concentrators
42 ENGINEERING
420400 -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
CONFIGURATION
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
HEAT TRANSFER
ISOTHERMS
MASS TRANSFER
PERFORMANCE
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
WALLS