Inverse modeling of a solar collector involving Fourier and non-Fourier heat conduction

This article applies the golden section search method (GSSM), simplex search method (SSM) and differential evolution (DE) for predicting the unknown Fourier number (Fo), Vernotte number (Ve) and non-dimensional solar heat flux (S∗) in a flat-plate solar collector when subjected to a given temperature requirement. The required temperature field is calculated using an analytical forward method by considering Fourier and non-Fourier heat conduction, and using this, the inverse problem is solved to predict the Fo, Ve and S∗ which are assumed to be the unknown parameters. The study reveals that the temperature field is highly sensitive to the Fo, thus even a small error in the temperature measurement can result in an unrealistic estimation of heating time of the collector. The present study is proposed to be useful in determining the time, the time lag and solar heat flux for controlled heating of an absorber plate within a stipulated time, which will be required to attain a prescribed/desired temperature distribution. Additionally, the study also shows that subjected to different time levels, the same temperature distribution is possible through different absorber plate materials. It has been observed from the present study that apart from SSM and DE, GSSM fails to estimate the unknown parameters at large value of Ve and small value of Fo, due to the associated fluctuation in the measured temperature field. The present study further discusses the computational performance of direct search method (e.g. GSSM and SSM) with that of the evolutionary method (DE) in terms of the maximum number of iteration and CPU time required to achieve the desired objective.