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Lattice Boltzmann simulation for complex flow in a solar wall. (English) Zbl 1264.85003

Summary: In this letter, we present a lattice Boltzmann simulation for complex flow in a solar wall system which includes porous media flow and heat transfer, specifically for solar energy utilization through an unglazed transpired solar air collector (UTC). Besides the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) for time evolution of particle distribution function for fluid field, we introduce an analogy, LBE for time evolution of distribution function for temperature. Both temperature fields of fluid (air) and solid (porous media) are modeled. We study the effects of fan velocity, solar radiation intensity, porosity, etc. on the thermal performance of the UTC. In general, our simulation results are in good agreement with what in literature. With the current system setting, both fan velocity and solar radiation intensity have significant effect on the thermal performance of the UTC. However, it is shown that the porosity has negligible effect on the heat collector indicating the current system setting might not be realistic. Further examinations of thermal performance in different UTC systems are ongoing. The results are expected to present in near future.

MSC:

85A15 Galactic and stellar structure
76P05 Rarefied gas flows, Boltzmann equation in fluid mechanics
39A12 Discrete version of topics in analysis
76E20 Stability and instability of geophysical and astrophysical flows
76S05 Flows in porous media; filtration; seepage
80A20 Heat and mass transfer, heat flow (MSC2010)
68U20 Simulation (MSC2010)
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