Learning Forum

[anthony.spinozzi]

Hi everyone, this is my first time ever using a CFD. We are working on a solar dryer that will use heat from the sun and a fan to dry corn kernels. How can I set up a simple analysis of how much heat will be transferred to the air if there is a 'heat source' (tarp or fluid being heated by sun) in the fluid volume? I cannot get the heat to transfer to the fluid in any way, and boundary conditions are getting me stuck in Ansys Discovery. Am I spending too much time on the wrong software (Workbench vs. discovery vs. fluent vs. setup(?))? What does the usual workflow look like when doing a Fluent thermal simulation? Is Discovery powerful enough to do what I want? Do I need to mesh the model (I can't get meshing to work or do anything meaningful) before i can get the fluid and walls to interact thermally? I am very lost and need guidance. Thanks to anyone who might be willing to help.

[jcooper]

Hi Anthony:

Fluent might be easier to use if you are a beginner. I would suggest looking at a few Fluent start-to finish tutorials to get an idea of what to expect.  The tutorial below deals with radiation, which will be a factor in your case:

https://ansyshelp.ansys.com/account/secured?returnurl=/Views/Secured/corp/v242/en/flu_tg/flu_tg_headlamp_radiation_meshing.html

There are also a ton of Youtube videos online covering the different aspects of the Fluent heat transfer workflow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiLuoFtTBqE

 

The Fluent Help Documentation also has additional tutorials with downloadable files that you can work through to get used to Fluent.