Numerical Solution of the Mathematical Model of Air Flow Movement in a Solar Air Heater with a Concave Tube
Abstract
The article is aimed at determining the operating parameters of the device, as well as solving the problems of finding the optimal speed when entering the pipe. In the working chamber of the device, an analysis of air movement and the appearance of a vortex inside concave pipes was carried out. When developing a mathematical model of the longitudinal distribution of heat and velocity in each air pipe of this concave tubular solar air heater, the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) were used. The Spalart–Allmares turbulence model was used to close these equations. To solve the Reynolds and Spalart–Allmares differential equations for convective terms, the scheme against the flow of A.A. Samarskii was used, and the scheme of central separations was used for the diffusion term. For the difference approximation of the initial equations, the control volume method was used, and the relationship between velocities and pressure was found using the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations (SIMPLE) procedure.