Enerconcept
Design and programming of a CFD simulation tool for a solar-heated air collector
Enerconcept designs and installs solar-heated air collectors (exterior walls) used to preheat air entering a building ventilation system. The number and arrangement of solar collectors depend on the building geometry and orientation. Enerconcept wanted to simulate the overall efficiency and the pressure losses for various configurations, depending on the needs of its customers and the architecture of the building. A CFD analysis (Computational Fluid Dynamics) can provide a good estimate of these values. In addition, it is possible to provide a user interface where the relevant parameters of each case are entered. In this case, the CFD analysis is done in the background and does not require an expert user. The user receives the results in an automatic report (office format, pdf, etc.) with important post-processing images (ex: temperature distribution).
Results:
Lx Sim realized a solar-heated air collectors fluid dynamics simulation including heat transfer. We also developed a user-friendly interface, fully adapted to the particular case of Enerconcept solar collectors, which allows them to carry out simulations with a minimum of training. The output data is formatted automatically following Enerconcept needs.