BUOYANCY EFFECTS IN A SOLAR REGENERATOR

In laminar forced solar regenerator the temperature of absorbent solution is different from that of the air passing over it and on account of low velocities used buoyancy forces are always present. This paper deals with the theoretical investigations of first order deviation of heat and mass transfer rates due to the buoyancy effect. The governing equations have been solved by using the Runge-Kutta method. Analysis shows that the ratio of solution film velocity to air stream velocity is an important parameter that governs the performance of solar regenerators. It has been found that the effect of buoyancy is more on local heat transfer than on local mass transfer. © 1979.