CFD analysis of the impact of air gap width on Trombe wall performance

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a lot of research and debate on how solar energy can be used instead of conventional sources of heating to power residential heating. In this study, the Trombe wall (TW) technique, based on natural convection and energy storage, was examined to predict mass flow rate, temperature field, and velocity field for the TW system under steady conditions. A numerical simulation model was investigated for further validation using k-ε turbulence and discrete ordinates (DO) radiation models. Independent grid studies were conducted to ensure that there were no changes after varying the grid numbers. The effect of the air gap was carried out to enhance TW thermal performance. CFD simulation shows good agreement with published data in the literature, and the optimum air gap was set at 0.1 m. The results pave the way for future studies to improve passive solar heating systems, which will eventually help move towards more sustainable residential heating solutions.