NATURAL-CONVECTION AND CONDUCTION IN TROMBE WALL SYSTEMS

The thermal performance of classical Trombe wall solar collector systems is studied numerically. It is assumed that the flow is laminar and two-dimensional, the glazing is isothermal and the solar heat absorbed by the wall is transferred to the air in the channel with a constant flux by natural convection and to the adjacent room by conduction and then by convection. The mass, momentum and energy conservation equations are discretized and solved using the finite difference-control volume method. Flow and temperature fields are produced and the results are presented in terms of temperature and velocity distributions in various parts of the system; the Nusselt number and the system thermal performance as a function of the Rayleigh number are also evaluated and presented.