A Performance Evaluation of a Solar Air Heater Using Different Shaped Ribs Mounted on the Absorber Plate—A Review

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of various shapes of ribs used in Solar Air Heaters (SAHs) was discussed. The review is concentrated on the geometry of the rib and its location on the SAH panel. Both numerical and experimental works were considered for discussion with dry air and Nano fluids as a working fluid. The influence of various shapes, such as an L shape, W shape, V shape, Multiple V shape, V shape with a gap, detachable & attachable ribs etc., was analyzed. The common fact observed from this analysis is that the implementation of artificial roughness in the absorber plate results in a considerable increase in the rate of heat transfer. Further, it is observed that ‘Multiple V-shaped with open between the ribs’ results in the maximum thermal enhancement when compared to the other shapes.

CFD Analysis on the Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow of Solar Air Heater having Transverse Triangular Block at the Bottom of Air Duct

“…In order to develop the correlation for Nusselt number, we first need to know the relationship between Nusselt number and Reynold number, and it is proportional to the n th power of Reynolds number as shown in Equation (16).…”

“…At this time, n, which is represented by a slope, is 0.6828. Therefore, Equation (16) can be written as Equation (18).…”

“…Zheng et al [13] performed experimental investigation of solar air heaters having perforating corrugated plate, slit-perforated plate, and corrugated packing. In addition to this, a number of studies have been conducted, and they mainly focused on the performance improvement by artificially roughened rip mounted on the absorber plater or modified absorber structure [14][15][16][17].Another technique to increase the heat-transfer performance of solar air heater is modifying the air duct or the shape of bottom plate in an air channel of the solar air heater. Ho et al [18] analyzed the performance of double-pass cross-corrugated solar air collector that has the wavelike-shaped absorbing plate and bottom plate.…”

“…Zheng et al [13] performed experimental investigation of solar air heaters having perforating corrugated plate, slit-perforated plate, and corrugated packing. In addition to this, a number of studies have been conducted, and they mainly focused on the performance improvement by artificially roughened rip mounted on the absorber plater or modified absorber structure [14][15][16][17].…”

Selected Papers from the XI International Conference on Computational Heat, Mass and Momentum Transfer (ICCHMT 2018)

“…The maximum heat and cool streams that can be obtained during the operation of the fuel cell were also evaluated. Kumar et al [10] presented a review on performance evaluation of a solar air heater using different shaped ribs on the absorber plate.…”