SPF Competencies Solar Thermal

CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics

Most of today’s engineering problems demand of numerical simulations. At SPF we face such challenges using tools to model the heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena using several levels of model complexity, from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for specific components to simplified models coupled in dynamic system simulation platforms targeting buildings or complete districts.

We develop in-house models for several system simulation platforms such as TRNSYS (IceEx, MacSheep), Polysun (spin-off of SPF) and IDA-ICE. For CFD modelling, used to better understand the phenomenologys of specific devices such as thermal storage tanks (ImmHx), solar thermal or PVT collectors, we use tools such as ANSYS, COMSOL and OpenFoam. We also carry out simulations using finite elements modelling (FEM) for materials.