Thermal performance of Trombe wall with fins: Experimental and CFD analysis

Abstract

A Trombe wall is a passive solar heating system designed to capture and store solar energy for indoor heating. However, traditional Trombe wall systems often exhibit limited thermal efficiency. This study investigates the enhancement of thermal performance by integrating internal metal fins into the air cavity, which improve both heat transfer and airflow patterns. A full-scale experimental prototype was developed, and numerical simulations were performed to assess performance under different fin configurations, varying from two to six fins. The reference configuration without fins reached a thermal efficiency of 18.2 %, while the six-fin configuration achieved 32.6 %. The experimental and numerical results aligned closely, with an average deviation of 3.6 %. These findings confirm the effectiveness of fin integration in boosting solar energy utilization. The novelty of this work lies in the combined experimental and numerical evaluation of multiple finned configurations, offering a comprehensive insight into the impact of fin quantity on passive heating efficiency an aspect rarely addressed in previous literature.