Comparison of CFD results of smooth air duct with experimental and available equations in literature

Abstract

Solar air heater (SAH) has vast applications in agriculture, crop drying and other field. In solar air heater, air temperature increases at the exit section. Research has worked extensively in SAH field, experimentally and numerically to observe the performance of SAH. In the present work, a 3D model of SAH is created in Design Modeler of ANSYS and simulation is run in ANSYS Fluent for the Reynolds number range between 2000-18000. Main objective of the study is to calculate the Nusselt number (dimensionless number) and friction factor influenced by pressure drop inside the duct. Numerical results are validated with the experimental results and compared with the Modified Dittus-Boelter equation and Modified Blasius equation. Mean percentage absolute error in simulation results are within range of 10%.