Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Solar Water Heater

Mechanical engineering

Increasing energy demand around the world necessitates the use of carbon-neutral alternatives that are readily available and have low or no emissions of greenhouse gases. The sun's energy is limitless and cost-free. Using a solar water heater, we may be able to meet our commercial & domestic heating needs. An investigation into the viability of 3 different solar water heater design concepts is currently underway. The in-line tube plate, the tube above plate, and the tube below plate, arrangement are the three possible configurations. The Creo parametric design programme was used to create the CAD model of the solar water heater, and the ANSYS CFX software was used for the CFD study. The conventional k-epsilon turbulence model is utilised for analysis of turbulence. According to the solar intensity on the collection plate of the water heater, the thermal flux is measured at 12 PM and 3 PM, respectively, and is analysed. Studies comparing the efficiency & temperature rise of 3 design configurations are provided. According to CFD analysis, the experimental results are very similar.

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