1.

INTRODCTION
The rate at which the non-renewable energy is utilized or depleted it is need to be focus
on renewable energy resources. Many types of renewable energy are available but
conversion technology of this energy into usable form is not effectively and more
complicated. The sun is a good example of those resources which undergo a faster
replenishment rate within a relatively short time than the rate at which non-renewable
energy is utilized or depleted. The energy of the sun is generated from the nuclear fusion
of its hydrogen into helium, with a resulting mass depletion rate of approximately
4.7106 tons per second. The earths population currently needs 15 terawatts of power in
total, but the solar radiation that reaches the earth on a continuous basis amounts to
120,000 terawatts; only fraction of the suns energy reaching the earth will cover the bulk
of energy requirements. The sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous matter with a
diameter of 1.39x109 m[1]. The solar energy strikes our planet a mere 8 min and 20 s after
leaving the giant furnace, the sun which is 1.5 X 10 11 m away. The sun was an effective
blackbody temperature of 5762 K. Now days, 80% of total energy is produced by means
of fossil fuels, and this massive utilization is leading to the overtiredness of these
resources and imposes a real threat to the environment, mainly through global warming
and acidification of water cycle.
The demand for renewable energy is increasing due to the rapid growth of
industrialization and the excessive use of fossil fuels which has adverse effects on global
climate change. Solar energy is one of the cleanest, most abundant and environmental
friendly sources of renewable energy. To obtain maximum thermal energy from incident
solar radiation, well developed solar conversion technology today solar water heaters with
different configurations and designs have been used for various applications. Solar water
heaters play a vital role in low temperature applications especially in domestic sector.
Solar water heater is one of the most successful solar technologies. Currently, worlds
demand of energy has dramatically increased; furthermore, process to collect hot water by
solar radiation is expensive[1]. The use of solar water heaters (SWH) is encouraged to
produce domestic hot water because SWH can substantially reduce primary energy
consumption compared with conventional water heaters. Flat plate collectors (FPC) are
the most used type of collector. FPC is usually employed for low temperature applications
up to 1000C, although some new types of collectors employing vacuum insulation can
achieve slightly higher values.
FPC is usually permanently fixed in position and requires no tracking of the sun. The
collectors should be oriented directly towards the equator, facing south in the northern
hemisphere and north in the southern. The optimum tilt angle of the collector is equal to
the latitude of the location with angle variations of 10 0150 more or less depending on the
application. The solar radiation is incident on the absorber plate. The absorber plate is
made of copper material because of its high thermal conductivity which will rapidly
absorb heat from sun's rays and quickly transfer that heat to the tubes or fins which will
transfer heat to the water. The main pipe is made of material of copper to transfer the
absorbed heat to the water; a dark-coloured shows the absorber and a cover glass. Casing
is providing to the collector to reduce the heat transfer losses by convection and radiation.
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It is made of Aluminium or wooden material depending upon the applications. Most

solar water heater designs used for single family are closed and opened solar water
heating systems. These two systems are categorized into two groups: forced
circulation and natural convection. The advantages of thermosyphon systems are
more reliable and longer life than forced circulation systems with no need of pumps
and controllers.
2. LITERATURE SURVEY:
A numerical analysis of flat plate collector for circular pipe configuration by using
cfd has been done by Ranjitha P et al.[2] In this study numerical and experimental
investigation of flow and temperature was performed. The influence of tube shape in
conventional collectors was investigated using CFD.
Performance analysis of flat plate collector with modified risers was investigated by
Mohammed Saad Abbas et al[2]. In this study collector with triangular tubes with
fins were investigated.Another CFD analysis was done on triangular absorber tube of
solar flat plate collector by Bavanna S et al. In this study solar collector with
triangular riser tubes were investigated. In which triangular riser tubes shows riser in
the outlet temperature.
Another study was conducted to analyze the effect of variations in shapes of tubes for
flat plte solar water heater by Vishal G Shelke et al. In this study collectors with riser
tubes of elliptical shapes where considered. In which it shows it will be beneficial in
future.

3. FLAT PLATE COLLECTOR:

The construction of a flat-plate collector is shown in Figure 1 The basic parts noted
are a full-aperture absorber, transparent or translucent cover sheets, and an insulated
box. The absorber is usually a sheet of high thermal conductivity metal with tubes or
ducts either integral or attached[3].

Fig 1: Flat plate solar collector[3]

Its surface is painted or coated to maximize radiant energy absorption and in some cases
to minimize radiant emission. The cover sheets, called glazing, let sunlight pass through
to the absorber but insulate the space above the absorber to prohibit cool air from flowing
into this space. The insulated box provides structure and sealing and reduces heat loss
from the back or sides of the collector.
3.1 Absorber Plate:
The main element of a flat-plate collector is the absorber plate. It covers the full aperture
area of the collector and must perform three functions: absorb the maximum possible
amount of solar irradiance, conduct this heat into the working fluid at a minimum
temperature difference, and lose a minimum amount of heat back to the surroundings.
Absorption: Solar irradiance passing through the glazing is absorbed directly on the
absorber plate without intermediate reflection as in concentrating collectors. Surface
coatings that have a high absorptance for short-wavelength (visible) light, are used on the
absorber[3]. Usually these coatings appear dull or "flat," indicating that they will absorb
radiation coming from all directions equally well. Either paint or plating is used, and the
resulting black surface will typically absorb over 95% of the incident solar radiation.
Fin Heat Removal: The second function of the absorber plate is to transfer the absorbed
energy into a heat-transfer fluid at a minimum temperature difference. This is normally
done by conducting the absorbed heat to tubes or ducts that contain the heat-transfer fluid.
The heat-transfer fluid may either be a liquid (water or water with antifreeze) or gas (air).
The important design criterion here is to provide sufficient heat transfer capability that the
difference between the temperature of the absorber surface and the working fluid is not
excessive; otherwise, the heat loss from the absorber would be excessive. High heattransfer rates are usually accomplished at the expense of pumping power and absorber
plate material.
When a liquid is used as the heat-transfer fluid as is most often the case, special problems
occur in transferring the heat absorbed on the absorber surface into the fluid. Liquid
collector absorber plates often consist of a flat sheet of metal with tubes spaced 10-25 cm
(4-10 in.) apart and attached to it in some fashion (integral, brazed or press fitted). The
sheet of metal absorbs most of the solar irradiance and acts as a fin to bring the absorbed
heat into the fluid. The following are important points in designing a good tube and
sheet absorber:
1. The fin (absorber sheet) must he made of a material with high thermal
conductivity.
2. The fin should be thick to minimize the temperature difference required to transfer
heat to its base (tube).
3. Tubes should not be spaced too far apart; otherwise, a higher temperature
difference between the tip of the fin (midway between the tubes) and the base will
result.

4. Tubes should be thin-walled and of a high-thermal -conductivity material.

5. The tube should be brazed or welded to the absorber sheet to minimize thermal
contact resistance.
6. The tube and absorber sheet should be of similar material to prevent galvanic
corrosion between them.
When air is the heat-transfer fluid, often the back side of the absorber plate usually
forms one surface of a duct and heat is transferred through the absorber sheet to the
air over the entire back surface of the absorber. A thin, rather than thick, absorber
sheet of high-thermal-conductivity material will enhance this heat-transfer process.
The internal air passage must be designed to provide a sufficiently high airflow
velocity past the back of the absorber to give adequate heat transfer without
producing a high pressure drop across the collector. Low heat-transfer rates cause the
absorber plate to become significantly hotter than the heat-transfer fluid, which
increases heat loss. On the other hand, a large pressure drop across the collector
causes high pumping power consumption by the fans supplying the air.
Emittance:
Temperature of the absorber surface is above ambient temperature, the surface reradiates some of the heat it has absorbed back to the surroundings. This loss
mechanism is a function of the emittance of the surface for low-temperature, longwavelength (infrared) radiation. The dilemma is that many coatings that enhance the
absorption of sunlight (short-wavelength radiation) also enhance the long wavelength
radiation loss from the surface. This is true for most dull black paints.
A class of coatings, mostly produced by metallic plating processes, will produce an
absorber surface that is a good absorber of short-wavelength solar irradiance but a
poor emitter of long-wavelength radiant energy. The function of these coatings,
called selective surfaces. Flat-plate absorbers that have selective surfaces typically
lose less heat when operating at high temperature. However, the absorptance of
selective coatings is seldom as high as for non-selective coatings, and a tradeoff must
be made based on whether the increased high-temperature performance overshadows
the reduced low-temperature performance and expense of the selective coating.
3.2 Cover Sheets:
The absorber is usually covered with one or more transparent or translucent cover
sheets to reduce convective heat loss. In the absence of a cover sheet, heat is lost
from the absorber as a result of not only forced convection caused by local wind, but
also natural convective air currents created because the absorber is hotter than
ambient air. The cover sheet forms a trapped air space above the absorber, thereby
reducing these losses. However, convective loss is not completely eliminated because
a convective current is set up between the absorber and the cover sheet, transferring
heat from the absorber to the cover sheet. External convection then cools the cover

sheet, producing a net heat loss from the absorber. In addition, heat loss is reduced
because of the thermal resistance of the added air space.

3.3 Number of Covers:

The number of cover sheets on commercial flat-plate collectors varies from none to three
or more. Collectors with no cover sheet have high efficiencies when operated at
temperatures very near ambient temperature. This is because incoming energy is not lost
by absorption or reflection by the cover sheet. When no cover sheet is used, however, a
considerable amount of the incident energy is lost during operation at temperatures much
above ambient or at low solar irradiance levels. A typical application for an uncovered
flat-plate collector is for swimming pool heating, where temperatures less than 10C
(18F) above ambient are required.
Increases in the number of cover-sheets increases the temperature at which the collector
can operate (or permits a given temperature to be reached at lower solar irradiance). One
or two cover sheets are common, but triple glazed collectors have been designed for
extreme climates. In addition to the added expense, each added cover sheet increases the
collection efficiency at high temperature by reducing convection loss but decreases the
efficiency at low temperatures because of the added absorption and reflectance of the
cover.
In regions of average mid-latitude temperatures and solar radiation, collectors with no
glazing are generally used for applications to 32C (90F), single-glazed collectors are
used for applications to 70C (158 F), and double-glazing is used in applications above
70C (158F). As discussed in Chapter 5, collector efficiency increases with increasing
solar irradiance level but decreases with increasing operating temperature. In regions of
low average solar irradiance or extremely low temperatures, therefore, double-glazed
collectors are used in applications where single-glazed collectors should be used normally
and single-glazed collectors for unglazed applications. Also, selective absorber surfaces
become more worthwhile.
3.5 Materials:
Because of its superior resistance to the environment, glass is used as the outer cover
sheet on most commercial collectors. Usually the glass is tempered, with a low iron
content and 3.2-6.4 mm (0.12-0.25 in.) thick. The surface may be either smooth, making
the glass transparent, or with a surface pattern, making it translucent. Both types have a
transmittance of around 90 per cent.
Plastic cover sheets are sometimes used for the second cover sheet when two sheets are
required. Installation of the plastic sheet beneath the glass protects the plastic from the
environment. Glass also does not transmit UV radiation and thus protects the plastic,
which is usually sensitive to this portion of the solar spectrum. Rigid sheets of acrylic-or
fiberglass-reinforced polymers are in use, as are stretched films of polyvinyl fluoride.
Some of these plastic cover sheets have a transmittance approaching that of low iron

glass. A major draw back of this scheme is the potential for overheating the plastic sheet
at collector stagnation (no-flow) temperatures.
Generally copper, aluminium, GI sheets are used as absorber material as they have high
thermal conductivity, absorptivity.

4. Theoretical Analysis:
The laminar, incompressible, three dimensional and steady constant-properties
viscous Newtonian flow inside a solar collector is governed by the usual continuity,
momentum and energy equations. For the above assumptions, the continuity
equation may be written as[4]:
u v w
+ + =0
x y z

(1)

The momentum equations in x, y and z directions can be written as:

u

u
v
w p
2 u 2 v 2 w
+ v + w
=
+ [ 2 + 2 + 2 ]
x
y
z
x
x y z

(2)

u
v
w p
2 u 2 v 2 w
+ v + w
=
+ [ 2 + 2 + 2 ]
x
y
z
y
x y z

(3)

u
v
w p
u v w
+ v + w
=
+
+ 2 + 2 gz
2
x
y
z
z
x y z

(4)

The energy equations for fluid and the frame of collector are as following:
2

c pu

T
T
T
T T T
+ cp v + cp w
=k [ 2 + 2 + 2 ]
x
y
z
x y z
2

T T T
+ 2 + 2 =0
2
x y z

(5)

(6)

5. CFD Simulation
5.1 Modelling of Flat Plate Collector:
The 3-D model for absorber plate is created using CAD Package CATIA V5 R20. It
is imported in Ansys fluent workbench. The extra length added for pipe at inlet and
outlet flat plate collector which helps in reducing the non-uniformity of flow. The
geometrical specifications of the absorber plate have chosen somewhat arbitrarily.
6

Absorber plate dimension is 1000X500X2mm. Inside and outside diameter of tube

are 14mm and 18mm. Generally this model is designed and applying heat transfer
from top face to fluid present in the absorber plate. The model of absorber plate is
shown in figure 2.
Absorber plate is imported in to the Ansys 15 fluent geometry and given properties
for the plate as solid and tube inside as fluid.

Fig 2: Model of absorber plate with tube

B) Grid Generation of Absorber plate:

Fig 3: Meshing domain of absorber plate

The ANSYS ICEM-CFD is used for discretization of domain. Initially a relatively coarser
mesh is generated. This mesh contains tetrahedral cells having rectangular faces at the
boundaries. Care is taken to use tetrahedral cells as much as possible. It is meant to
reduce numerical diffusion as much as possible by structuring the mesh in a well manner,
particularly near the wall region. Later on, a fine mesh is generated, for this fine mesh the
edges and regions of high temperature and pressure gradients are finely meshed. Meshing
domain of absorber plate is shown in figure 3.
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C) Physics of the Simulation for CFD Analysis:

a) Initial assumptions:
i. Water is a continuous medium and incompressible.
ii. The flow is steady and possesses laminar flow characteristics.
b) Boundary conditions:
The laminar model is selected to analyse the heat transfer and contour presentation.
Energy model is set to ON position which permits heat transfer analysis.
In this analysis mass flow rate of 0.02 kg/s with constant inlet temperature is
introduced at the inlet while a pressure outlet condition is applied at the exit. The
physical properties of the working fluid (water) have been assumed to remain
constant at mean bulk temperature. Impermeable boundary and no-slip wall
conditions have been implemented over the channel walls. The time independent
heat flux was given on absorber plate surface while the opposite side was kept at
adiabatic wall condition.
Properties of materials:
Boundary conditions:
Solar irradiation
:
800 W/m2
Inlet temperature of water
:
300 K
Inlet mass flow rate
:
0.02 Kg/sec
Specific heat of water
:
4182 J/Kg-K
Density of water
:
998.2 Kg/m3
Specific heat of copper
:
381 J/Kg-K
Thermal conductivity
:
387.6 W-m/K
c) Solver parameters:
The solver functioning areas its initialization values in constant mass flow rate,
temperature is 300 k ,pressure distribution analysis insert 1bar ,velocity magnitude
0.132 m/s after solution is initialised it gives the water outlet temperature from flat
plate collector configuration after certain number of iterations.
d) Results and discussion:
In solver stage optimum results computed with the solution converged plot. If
optimum result reached at that time the converged plot is appeared. After the
solution converged we got the outlet temperature of water flowing through copper
absorber plate is 307.15K. The temperature distribution on upper surface of copper
absorber plate is shown in fig4.
From fig 4 we can see that temperature at nearer to the tube is less and as it goes
away from the tube it is more. The radiation which is falling on the absorber plate is
absorbed by it and absorbed heat energy passes inside the tube by conduction
process and at the walls of tube this heat transfers to the fluid passing through it and
it heats it.
On the upper surface at nearer to the tube inlet is around 307.9K and at output is
around the 318K.

Fig 4: Temperature distribution on upper surface of copper absorber plate

Temperature distribution of water flowing inside the copper absorber fluid is shown
in fig 5 from inlet to outlet. The temperature of water at inlet is 300K and at outlet is
307.15K. As the water goes away from the inlet its temperature is increasing by
absorbing the heat from absorber plate which is gained by absorption from solar
radiation.

Fig 5: Temperature variation of water in side copper absorber plate

In fig 6 we can see the temperature variation of water along the tube from inlet to the
outlet. It is clearly shows that the as the fluid is flowing inside the tube temperature is
continuously increases. So to get the high out let temperature we have to allow the
water to flow inside for more amount of time.

308
306
304
Temperature K 302
300
298
296

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Length of tube in m

Fig 6: Variation of temperature along the length of tube

6. Factors affecting outlet temperature of water

Water output temperature depends upon following factors:
a) Absorptivity of absorber plate
b) Material of absorber plate
c) Mass flow rate of water
d) Radiation felling on absorber plate
a) Absorptivity of absorber plate:
If the absorptivity of material is more then it can absorb more amount of energy
felting on it and results in increasing outlet temperature.
Example: The absorptivity of copper is more than the absorptivity of aluminium and
emissivity of the copper is less than the aluminium. When we use the copper tube we
can get more outlet temperature of water than aluminium.
b) Material of absorber plate:
If the material has high thermal conductivity then it can transfer more amount of heat
form upper surface to the lower surface and helps to increase the outlet temperature
of water flowing inside of it.
Example: Let us consider that we are using copper and aluminium as absorber plates
and water is flows inside the tube at temperature 300K and mass flow rate is 0.02
kg/s. Properties of materials are given below.
Density
Specific heat
Thermal conductivity
Emissivity
3
(Kg/m )
(J/kg-K)
(W-m/K)
Water
998.2
4182
0.6
Aluminium
2719
871
202.4
0.18
Copper
8978
381
387.6
0.06
The results got by simulating absorber plate in Ansys fluid are as follows:
The outlet temperature of water by using copper plate is 307.15K and by using
aluminium plate is 306.43K.

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Fig 7: Temperature distribution on upper surface of copper absorber plate

Temperature distribution on upper surface of absorber plate is shown in fig 7.
Temperature nearer to the tube inlet is 309.5K and at output is 329.5K.

Fig 8: Temperature distribution on upper surface of aluminium absorber plate

Temperature distribution of water flowing inside the aluminium absorber fluid is
shown in fig 8 from inlet to outlet. The temperature of water at inlet is 300K and at
outlet is 306.43K.

Fig 9: Temperature distribution of water inside copper absorber plate

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Fig 10: Temperature distribution of water inside aluminium absorber plate

Comparison of temperature distribution of water flowing inside copper and
aluminium absorber plate along length of tube is shown in fig 11.
308
306
304
Temperatue (K) 302
300
298
296

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Length of pipe in m

Fig 11: Comparison of temperature variation of water flowing inside copper and
Aluminium absorber plate
c)

Mass flow rate of water at inlet:

If the mass flow rate is more then its outlet temperature is less because water flowing
inside the absorber plate had less time in contact with the tube walls and absorbs less
heat so it cant absorb more amount of energy.
Let us consider that water flowing inside tube at rate of 0.02 kg/s and 0.01 kg/s then
outlet temperatures of water are 307.15K and 312.53K.

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315
310
305
Temperature K)

300
295
290

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Length of tube in m

Fig 12: Comparison of temperature variation of water flowing at the rate of 0.02 kg/s
and 0.01 kg/s
d) Radiation felting on absorber plate:
If the amount of radiation felting on absorber plate is more then outlet temperature of
fluid is more as it as more amount of energy to absorb.
Let us consider that solar radiation of 800 W/m 2 and 1000 W/m2 are felting on the
surface of a copper absorber plate at mass flow rate of 0.02 Kg/s and inlet temperature
of water is 300K then the outlet temperature of water is 307.15K and 309.12K.
310
308
306
304
Temperature (K) 302
300
298
296
294

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Length of tube in m

Fig 13: Comparison of temperature variation of water flowing at the 800W/m2 and
1000W/m2

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7. CONCLUSION
Solar flat plate collector efficiency is depends mainly on the absorber plate. Analysis
of absorber plate is carried out in the Ansys software. The water outlet temperature can
be increased by increasing the absorptivity of absorber plate, decreasing the mass flow
rate or inlet velocity of water flowing inside the tube, choosing the absorber plate
material with high thermal conductance and have less emissivity. By increasing the
mass flow rate the outlet temperature is decreases. By using the high conductive and
high absorptivity materials we can get high outlet temperatures. For this reasons we
have to choose a material of high thermal conductens and high absorptivity and we
have to give sufficient time for fluid to absorb the heat from plate to give high outlet
temperatures.

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8. REFERENCES:
[1] K A Muhammed Yarshi, Dr Benny Paul, Analysis of Heat transfer performance of
flat plate solar collector using CFD, International Journal of Science, Engineering
and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 4, Issue 10,pp 3576-3580, October 2015
[2] Nosa Andrew Ogie, Ikponmwosa Oghogho, Julius Jesumirewhe, Design and
construction of a Solar Water Heater Based on the Thermosyphon Principle.Ashdin
Publishing Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Application, Vol. 3,
pp. 1-8.,2013
[3] Ashish N. Sarode, Dr. Atul A. Patil, V.H.Patil, Experimental and Computational Fluid
Dynamics Analysis of a New Flat Plate Solar Collector, International Conference on
Global Trends in Engineering, Technology and Management, ISSN: 2231-5381, pp
456-460, 2016.
[4] Sanket Khamitkar, Dr. O. D. Hebba, Performance analysis of solar air heater using
CFD, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), Vol. 2,
ISSN: 2278-0181, pp 1771-1776,2013.

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