Finding the best configuration for a solar air heater by design and analysis of experiment

Abstract An experimental investigation was performed on a solar air heater with different configurations. The configurations included testing the single- and double-pass solar collectors with normal and perforated covers and with wire mesh layers instead of an absorber plate. Design and analysis of experiment was used to develop a model for the tested solar air heater and IBM’s Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used to analyze the model. Strong agreement was found between the results obtained from the theoretical and experimental investigations. Both methods suggested the same configuration for attaining the highest thermal efficiency from the system, i.e., a double-pass solar collector with a quarter-perforated cover with 3-cm hole-to-hole spacing and a mass flow rate of 0.032 kg/s.

[1]  Kasra Mohammadi,et al.  Appraising the performance of a baffled solar air heater with external recycle , 2014 .

[2]  Chii-Dong Ho,et al.  Effect of collector aspect ratio on the collector efficiency of upward type baffled solar air heaters , 2000 .

[3]  Tao Yu,et al.  Thermal storage performance of molten salt thermocline system with packed phase change bed , 2015 .

[4]  M. Mittal,et al.  Optimal thermohydraulic performance of a wire mesh packed solar air heater , 2006 .

[5]  S. Chander,et al.  Thermo-hydraulic performance due to relative roughness pitch in V-down rib with gap in solar air heater duct—Comparison with similar rib roughness geometries , 2015 .

[6]  Mustafa Ilkan,et al.  Single and double pass solar air heaters with wire mesh as packing bed , 2010 .

[7]  Suzelle Barrington,et al.  Performance of unglazed solar ventilation air pre-heaters for broiler barns , 2011 .

[8]  Douglas T. Queheillalt,et al.  The effects of topology upon fluid-flow and heat-transfer within cellular copper structures , 2004 .

[9]  Tao Liu,et al.  A parametric study on the thermal performance of cross-corrugated solar air collectors , 2006 .

[10]  Manish Mishra,et al.  Performance characteristics of solar air heater with surface mounted obstacles , 2014 .

[11]  Hikmet Esen,et al.  Experimental energy and exergy analysis of a double-flow solar air heater having different obstacles on absorber plates , 2008 .

[12]  M. F. El-khawajah,et al.  The effect of using transverse fins on a double pass flow solar air heater using wire mesh as an absorber , 2011 .

[13]  J. Saini,et al.  Investigation of heat transfer and friction characteristics of packed bed solar air heater using wire mesh as packing material , 2009 .

[14]  Vineet Tirth,et al.  Design and thermal performance evaluation of a novel solar air heater , 2015 .

[15]  A. Mohamad.  High efficiency solar air heater , 1997 .

[16]  Rajendra Karwa,et al.  Experimental study of heat transfer enhancement in an asymmetrically heated rectangular duct with perforated baffles , 2005 .

[17]  Siddhartha,et al.  Thermal performance optimization of a flat plate solar air heater using genetic algorithm , 2010 .

[18]  A. P. Omojaro,et al.  Experimental performance of single and double pass solar air heater with fins and steel wire mesh as absorber , 2010 .

[19]  J. P. Holman,et al.  Experimental methods for engineers , 1971 .

[20]  L. Aldabbagh,et al.  Single and double pass solar air heaters with partially perforated cover and packed mesh , 2014 .

[21]  L. Aldabbagh,et al.  Investigation of single and double pass solar air heater with transverse fins and a package wire mesh layer , 2015 .