Numerical investigation of ferrofluid flow in evacuated tube solar collector manifold under the effect of external magnetic field

Abstract

In the present contribution, a new technique for heat transfer enhancement has been used in evacuated tube solar collector (ETSC), it is based on the application of an external magnetic field on ETSC’s manifold during the flow of ferrofluido (Fe3O4/Therminol 66) as a working fluid for the collector. The investigation has been carried out using an implemented User Defined Function (UDF) programed by the C language, using the commercial CFD code ANSYS Fluent. This UDF includes the magnetic proprieties of the used ferrofluid and numerical model of body force (Kelvin force) which is involved in such interaction between the magnetic field and ferrofluids. The used model was simplified in order to reduce the complexity of the interaction of three phenomena; hydrodynamic phenomena, the heat transfer and electromagnetism. The obtained results reveal the effect of the applied magnetic field on the temperature distribution, velocity contours and the flow’s streamlines.