THERMAL ANALYSIS OF SOLAR FLAT PLATE HARP TYPE AIR HEATER USING CFD

The use of solar energy has increased tremendously from the last two and half decades. Different appliances are developed to harness this energy; one of them is solar air heater. The uses of solar air heater have increased from clothes drying to drying of industrial products. Agricultural products such as food grains, fruits, etc. contain a substantial amount of moisture, which reduces their shelf life. Removal of moisture efficiently and in cost effective way would really help to enhance shelf life of such products and will in-turn uplift farmer community. Flat plate solar air heaters would be the promising source of hot air, which could be judiciously utilized for various low temperature heating needs like drying, room heating etc. This work aims at development of a cost effective solar air heater without compromising its efficiency. So, a CFD model of the solar collector with HARP type absorber was created by use of PRO-E software and is meshed with ICEM-CFD which is simulated using FLUENT.