Numerical analysis of natural laminar convection in a radial solar heater

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical analysis of a Solar Radial Air Heater, operating on natural laminar convection in steady state, to predict the thermo-hydrodynamic behavior of the device. Temperature conditions were imposed on boundaries, so as to limit the flow in the laminar regime along the device. The mathematical model (Navier—Stokes and Energy Equations) was analyzed by the Finite Volumes Method in Generalized Coordinates. The solution was obtained in a fixed computational domain independent of the geometrical shape of the physical system. This methodology allows a detailed visualization of the effects of geometric of optimal geometric and operational characteristics for such devices.