Analysis of The Performance of A Solar Air Heater With Different Configurations: Effect of Fins And Turbulators

Abstract

Solar air heaters are simple tools used to harvest the energy of the sun. The main objective of the solar air heater design is to get the highest thermal energy from the sun. In order to do this different kinds of fins and turbulators are placed in the flow channel of the solar air heater, which also affects the flow characteristic of the working fluid. In this study, the performance of two different configurations, a turbulator placed at the bottom of the channel and a longitudinal rectangular fin placed on the absorber plate, are investigated using different performance parameters. These parameters are the thermal efficiency, rational exergy management method (REMM) efficiency, flow work, and the temperature distribution on the absorber plate. According to the results, both of the test cases have nearly the same performance, which is higher than the flat solar air except the flow work. When the heat gain per unit flow work is investigated, it can be said that turbulator configuration is the best choice among the configurations that are investigated.