Modélisation et simulation du comportement thermique transitoire d’un capteur solaire plan à air

Abstract

The sun provides the Earth with enormous amounts of energy that can be exploited in many applications, in particular the conversion of solar radiation into heat using flat-plate solar air heaters, where many studies have been conducted to improve their performance and effectiveness. In this study, we propose two unidirectional mathematical models (one is simple, the other is relatively detailed) describing the heat transfer in these solar collectors in order to simulate their thermal behavior under unsteady solar radiation. We also carried out computational tests in order to study the effect of some parameters such as the air flow rate, the wind convection coefficient, the dimensions of the solar collector, and the thermo-physical properties of the absorber plate and the transparent cover. A day-long experiment was carried out to consolidate the theoretical results obtained previously and also to deduce which of the two proposed models is the most reliable one. Key words: solar energy; flat-plate solar air heater; unsteady regime; modeling; simulation.