Longitudinal vortex generators applied on enhancement heat transfer for a flat plate solar collector

• Grant number: 18/20875-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: February 28, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Thermal Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Oliveira Salviano
• Grantee: Felipe Augusto Santos da Silva
• Supervisor: Hyunsun Alicia Kim
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rosana. Rosana , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/00608-0 - Longitudinal vortex generators applied to enhancement of heat transfer on flat-plate solar collector, BP.IC

Abstract

The development of sustainable sources for energy generation has been widely studied, since the energy is essential to the economic development of countries. The Thermal solar energy is a key to increasing the participation of renewable sources in the global energy matrix. In countries that access to resources energy is scarce, the importance of developing alternative sources for energy generation is even more important. The climate changes on the planet and the increased demand for energy has contributed for investment in sustainable sources. In Brazil, thermal solar energy can be applied for heating of fluid through solar collectors in household, tourism sector and the hospitals. However, research to improve the efficiency of thermal solar systems is still necessary. Passive techniques for enhance the heat transfer in a circular tube can be applied on flat plate solar heater to increase the efficiency of solar energy conversion into useful thermal energy. Longitudinal vortex generators has been applied as a passive technique for enhance the heat transfer in a circular tube, with promising results for improved performance of heat exchanger used in industrial and residential applications. This research project applied genetic algorithm as an optimization method for definition the optimal geometry of the vortex generator. The devices were stamped on a middle plate inside tube and the geometric parameters were submitted to the optimization process: lateral heights, base length and the attack angle of the longitudinal vortex generators. Thus, to find optimal geometry of the longitudinal vortex generator in order to increase heat transfer and minimize the pressure drop penalty can increase the global efficiency of the solar water heater. (AU)