Numerical Assessment of the Thermal Efficiency of a Concentrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (CPV/T) Hybrid System Using Air as Heat Transfer Fluid

In this paper, we propose a thermal model of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal concentration system. Starting from the thermal balance of the model, the equation is solved and simulated with a MATLAB code, considering air as the cooling fluid. This enabled us to evaluate some of the parameters influencing the electrical and thermal performance of this device. The results showed that the temperature, thermal efficiency and electrical efficiency delivered depend on the air mass flow rate. The electrical and thermal efficiencies for different values of air mass flow are encouraging, and demonstrate the benefits of cooling photovoltaic cells. The results show that thermal efficiency decreases air flow rate greater than 0.7 kg/s, whatever the value of the light concentration used. The thermal efficiency of the solar cell increases as the light concentration increases, whatever the air flow rate used. For a concentration equal to 30 sun, the thermal efficiency is 0.16 with an air flow rate equal to 0.005 kg/s;the thermal efficiency increases to 0.19 with an air flow rate equal to 0.1 kg/s at the same concentration. An interesting and useful finding was that the proposed numerical model allows the determination of the electrical as well as thermal efficiency of the hybrid CPV/T with air flow as cooling fluid.

Numerical Study of Heat Transfer in a Differentially Heated Cavity

Laminar natural convection is studied in a square cavity filled with air whose two vertical sides are subject to a temperature difference, while the other two horizontal sides are adiabatic. The hot and cold wall temperatures are kept constant. We have presented a dynamic and thermal study of pure natural convection for different values of the Rayleigh number. The numerical simulation was carried out for Rayleigh numbers ranging from 102, 103, …, 105 and the Prandtl number is Pr = 0.71. We used the COMSOL Multiphysic 5.1 software, which allows us to simultaneously solve the coupled physical phenomena in a square enclosure containing air under the Boussinesq approximation. For the coupling of natural convection with radiation from radiative surfaces, both horizontal faces are subjected to radiative flux, and the emissivity of the surfaces varies from ε = 0.1 to 0.8. We have seen that a circulation process is involved. The fluid that is subjected to a high temperature near the hot wall rises to the ceiling and the fluid near the cold wall sinks. This movement continues until the fluid reaches thermal equilibrium. In a natural convection-surface radiation coupling, simulation results indicate that radiative exchange decreases as a function of the Rayleigh number. Surface radiation reduces the flow in the cavity.

Thermal Study and Modeling of the Cold Room of a Solar Adsoption Refrigerator

In this work, we are interested in the study of the thermal exchanges which take place at the evaporator of an adsorption refrigerator. Due to the cost of designing experimental devices and the impossibility of studying the influence of certain parameters experimentally, an alternative would be simulation. The aim is to provide a model for predicting the thermal behavior of the various elements in the cold room of an adsorption solar refrigerator. A dynamic modelling of the refrigerator taking into account fluid flow, heat and mass transfer phenomena in the cold room was made. The calculation code obtained using COMSOL 5.1 software makes it possible to analyze and study the influence of the various parameters on the performance of the system. In a second step, the theoretical results obtained were compared with the experimental results in order to validate the model. The analysis of the influence of the physical-thermal properties of the insulating material on the temperature of the chamber makes it possible to conclude that a material having a low density ρ, a low thermal conductivity λ and a low specific heat capacity offers better performance to the cold room. Better thermal insulation also implies having a reasonable insulation thickness.

Establishment of a Model for the Calculation of the COP of a Solar Adsorption Refrigerator

This paper deals with the evaluation of the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of solar adsorption refrigeration. In the literature, simulation models to predict the thermal behaviour and the coefficient of performance of these systems are uncommon. This is why we suggest a model to simulate the operation of the machine in a typical hot and dry climate of the city of Ouagadougou. The objective is to provide a model for calculating the COP from the measurement of the ambient temperature and the irradiation of a given site. Starting from mathematical modelling, a resolution and simulation were made with COMSOL software based on the Dubinin-Astakhov adsorption model, the heat transfer balance equations, and the Linear Driving Force (LDF) model to describe the thermal behaviour of the system. A one-week measurement sequence on the adsorption solar refrigerator at the Albert Schweitzer Ecological Centre (CEAS) validated the numerical results. The measurement shows that for the days with high sunshine, the temperature of the reaction medium reaches 110°C, and the pressure reaches 500 mbar. This leads to a production of cold that allows it to reach the temperature of -5°C at the evaporator. Under these conditions, the COP is worth 14%. These results are obtained both by numerical simulation using the COMSOL 5.1 software and after a measurement session on the solar refrigerator available to the CEAS. We obtained an experimental and theoretical coefficient of performance varying between 9% and 14% with a difference of between 0% and 3%. We conclude that our model is suitable to estimate the COP of any device based on its thermal properties, the ambient temperature and the irradiation of a given site.

Effect of the Orientation on the Comfort of a Building Made with Compressed Earth Block

Thermal comfort is one of the most important requirements that scientists and building designers must meet to ensure the indoor air quality knowing its importance on productivity and the health of occupants. However, it has never been of great concern for architects and architectural historians and seldom explores it. Buildings are the large consumer of the most energy consumption (around 40% worldwide) and generate around 35% of GHGs like CO2 that leads to extreme climate change. Hence, general and specific eco-friendly solutions in the field of building construction are required. Analysis of this study shows that air conditioning consumption can be significantly reduced thanks to the compressed earth bricks and by taking into account the climate and the orientation of the facades. However, this paper establishes viable low-cost option of building energy consumption while maintaining the thermal comfort and good indoor air quality. This work explains the effect of a single residential room orientation, by reducing the thermal amplitude, and improving the thermal phase shift in Ouagadougou climate conditions in April. Internal temperature was modelled with 8 cardinal orientations. The result corresponds to a decrease of thermal amplitude damping greater than 4°C between East-West and North-South sides and, with a thermal phase shift of 4 hours 30 minutes between the Nord and West walls.