Abstract
Experimental and theoretical investigations of vertical mantle
tanks for solar domestic hot water systems have been carried out.
Differently designed mantle tanks have been evaluated in a
laboratory test facility and a transient three-dimensional
CFD-model of one of the mantle tanks is developed in the
CFD-program CFX 4.1. The model is validated against the
experimental tests and good agreement between measured and
calculated results are achieved. The results from the
CFD-calculations are used to illustrate the thermal behaviour and
the fluid dynamics in the mantle and in the inner tank. The
CFD-calculations are used to carry out a detailed analysis of the
heat transfer from the solar collector fluid to the wall of the
inner tank. The analysis has resulted in a local Nusselt-Rayleigh
correlation for the heat transfer between the solar collector
fluid and the wall of the inner tank.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Solar Energy |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 4-6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 245-256 |
| ISSN | 0038-092X |
| Publication status | Published - 1998 |