CFD analysis on the effect of radiation and inlet gas temperature on porous media solar heater

The effect of porosity on flow and thermal characteristics is significant. Fluid flow through porous media has many practical relevance such as agriculture, engineering, bio-medical, etc. applications. In the present study, flow of gas and through solar heater is simulated and the heat transfer characteristics are studied. Two-dimensional numerical simulations are carried using ANSYS-Fluent. Velocity of gas at the inlet is varied from 0.005 to 0.5 m/s and passed through the porous media with porosity value of 0.7. Results are presented in the form of pressure variation, velocity variation and temperature variation.