Article: Investigation of the effect of inlet and outlet of the water flow on the productivity of a solar collector Journal: International Journal of Critical Infrastructures (IJCIS) 2025 Vol.21 No.7 pp.1 - 25 Abstract: The paper makes it possible to harvest energy from solar radiation by using collectors containing fluid flow. Using this method, the radiant energy of the sun is absorbed by the fluid in the collector, and this energy is then conveyed to a thermal exchanger and used for a variety of purposes. Therefore, the influence of the inlet and outlet valve positions on the thermal productivity of the collector has been studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in this study. The simulation of the problem was performed by COMSOL software by numerically solving the governing equations and establishing suitable boundary conditions. There are three different configurations investigated: input and output in the same direction, input and output perpendicular to each other, and input and output in the same direction and the opposite direction. Results indicate that the best thermal conduction rate occurs when the inlet and outlet are aligned (inlet and outlet are positioned opposite each other) and on the same side of the collector. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Investigation of the effect of inlet and outlet of the water flow on the productivity of a solar collector

Authors: Yi Cao

Addresses: Department of Equipment Engineering, Shanxi Vocational University of Engineering Science and Technology, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China

Abstract: The paper makes it possible to harvest energy from solar radiation by using collectors containing fluid flow. Using this method, the radiant energy of the sun is absorbed by the fluid in the collector, and this energy is then conveyed to a thermal exchanger and used for a variety of purposes. Therefore, the influence of the inlet and outlet valve positions on the thermal productivity of the collector has been studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in this study. The simulation of the problem was performed by COMSOL software by numerically solving the governing equations and establishing suitable boundary conditions. There are three different configurations investigated: input and output in the same direction, input and output perpendicular to each other, and input and output in the same direction and the opposite direction. Results indicate that the best thermal conduction rate occurs when the inlet and outlet are aligned (inlet and outlet are positioned opposite each other) and on the same side of the collector.

Keywords: solar collector; fluid flow; thermal performance; computational fluid dynamics; CFD; heat exchanger; boundary conditions; heat transfer; solar thermal systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2025.148168

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2025 Vol.21 No.7, pp.1 - 25

Received: 06 Mar 2025
Accepted: 09 May 2025
Published online: 27 Aug 2025 *

Title: Investigation of the effect of inlet and outlet of the water flow on the productivity of a solar collector

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