UDC 519.6
MATHEMATICAL MODELING AND NUMERICAL STUDY OF DIRECT ABSORPTION SOLAR COLLECTORS WITH NANOFLUIDIC COOLANT
V. A. Minaev, Dr. in technical sciences, Professor, Professor of Special Information Technologies Department, Kikot Moscow University of the Internal Affairs Ministry of Russia, Moscow, Russia;
orcid.org/0000-0002-5342-0864, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I. S. Manzhula, Head of the Specialized Disciplines Department, Department of Information and Technical Support, Department of Internal Affairs, Far Eastern Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia named after I.F. Shilov, Khabarovsk, Russia;
orcid.org/0000-0002-1298-1470, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
E. M. Vikhtenko, Ph.D. in physics and mathematical sciences, Associate professor, Associate professor of the Higher School of Cybernetics and Digital Technologies, Pacific National University, Khabarovsk, Russia; orcid.org/0000-0002-7152-2311, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
А. V. Koryachko, Ph. D. in technical sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of Mathematics and Information Technology Management Department, Faculty of Economics, Academy of the Federal Peniten tiary Service of Russia, Ryazan, Russia; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Improving the efficiency of solar thermal systems is a key challenge in the context of decarbonization and energy sustainability. Significant progress in this area can be achieved with direct absorption solar col lectors (DASCs), which absorb solar radiation directly by working fluid, minimizing interfacial heat loss. One of the most promising ways to improve the performance of such collectors is the use of nanofluids— colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in base heat transfer fluids. The aim of the work is to construct a mathematical model and develop algorithms for computational modeling of physical processes in a solar collector using nanofluid as both an absorber of solar energy and a heat transfer fluid. To solve this prob lem, a computational algorithm was developed based on symmetric conservative finite-difference scheme of second-order accuracy in spatial variables, ensuring the conservation of discrete energy and mass invari ants and unconditional stability. Specialized C++ software package supporting parallel calculations in two dimensional domain has been elaborated. The package includes modules for generating adaptive grids, cal culating collector effective thermophysical properties, and visualizing nanofluid temperature fields. A nu merical parametric study of the influence of nanoparticle material and model boundary conditions on ther mal efficiency was conducted, temperature field distributions were obtained, and the contribution of dis persed phase to increased efficiency was quantified. The choice of nanoparticle material and the optimiza tion of reflective/absorbent properties of collector lower boundary are proved to be the key factors in in creasing efficiency. Research results provide the basis for rational design of highly efficient nanofluidic DASCs and the development of next-generation engineering models.
Key words: : solar collector, nanofluid, absorption, heat and mass transfer, mathematical modeling, finite difference method, approximation, computational experiment.