Experimental investigations on thermal performance of solar air heater with wavy fin absorbers

摘要

In this paper, the thermal performance of wavy finned solar air heater are investigated experimentally. Experiments were performed under Jamshedpur (22 degrees 48' N, 86 degrees 11 ' E) prevailing weather conditions. The effect of mass flow rate, fin spacing and insolation on thermal efficiency and air temperature rise of wavy fin solar air heaters are investigated. The results showed that the maximum efficiency of 69.55% has been found for the mass flow rate 0.0158 kg/s and fin spacing of 2 cm. Further, for the same fin spacing, maximum air temperature rise has been obtained as 64.33 degrees C at the mass flow rate of 0.00312 kg/s. For the range of mass flow rate (0.00312-0.0158 kg/s) and fin spacing (2-6 cm), the wavy fin absorber solar air heater has been found to be 67.44 to 121.43% thermally efficient. These experimental results would be reliable and useful for optimum design in practical applications.