Work

Performance Assessment of Aerogel-Based Transparent Insulation in Building-Integrated Natural Convection Solar Air Collectors

Year: 2026

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: This study presents a comparative numerical assessment of three transparent cover configurations for a building-integrated natural convection solar air collector: low-iron tempered glass, an aerogel-filled polycarbonate panel, and monolithic silica aerogel. A three-dimensional steady-state CFD model was developed using ANSYS Fluent under identical solar and ambient boundary conditions. Compared with low-iron glass, monolithic aerogel increased the outlet air temperature from 326.4 K to 360.1 K, useful heat gain from 647.25 W to 1629.91 W, and thermal efficiency from 32.3% to 81.5%, indicating improved thermal performance under the investigated numerical conditions. A five-level mesh refinement study supported the selection of the 285,380-element mesh based on the stability of outlet temperature and mass flow rate. These findings indicate the potential of monolithic aerogel for passive solar air heating under the investigated conditions.

DOI: 10.3390/engproc2026147021

Authors: Yusuf Kepir, Holger Seidlitz, Lars Ulke-Winter, Felix Kuke

Institutions: Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research

Language: English

Topic: Solar Energy Systems and Technologies

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

OpenAlex ID: W7215031605

FWCI:

Cites: 11

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Related to: 10