Modeling of heat transfer in flat solar collectors for air heating

Abstract

This work presents a heat transfer model in flat plate solar collectors for air heating by natural convection. The model proposes a system of differential equations that describe the energy balance for the transparent cover, the absorbent plate, the thermal insulation and the air circulating in the collector. The solutions are approximated using the finite difference method and simulations are generated that reveal the behavior of the components in the collector. For the simulations, variations in incident solar radiation, air speed and separation between plate and cover were considered, showing qualitative behavior presented by other models. The
results show the behavior of the temperature in the different components and in the circulating air, allowing us to understand which parameters most influence the variation in air temperature at the collector outlet.