Applied Energy 18(1984) 1-13

Performances of Channel-Type Flat-Plate Solar Energy Air-Heaters

M. M. S o r o u r a n d Z. A. M o t t a l e b Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria (Egypt)

S UMMA R Y The experimental investigation described in this paper was devoted to the study of the influences of some design parameters on the performances of channel-type flat-plate solar air-heaters. The effects of cover-to-absorber plate spacing, absorber-to-back plate spacing and the optimal number of glass covers were studied. In addition, a comparison was made between the behaviours of three different flow arrangements and for a system with a long straight channelanda group of short subsequent channels. Theflow arrangements considered included the air passage over, and~or under, the absorbing black plate.

INTRODUCTION The flat-plate channel-type solar air-heater is still the most economic method of utilizing solar energy for drying and air conditioning processes because it has a simple design and can be manufactured using metallic sheets of low cost. However, its thermal performance is poor, especially when high temperatures are required.

NOMENCLATURE a Ac Half the channel width. Collector area.

1

Applied Energy 0306-2619/84/$03-00 Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1984. Printed in Great Britain

M.M. Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb

A I , A z and A 3 Flow arrangement with blowing air above the absorber

plate, for single, double and triple glazing. B 1 , B 2 a n d B 3 Flow arrangement with blowing air above and below the absorber plate for single, double and triple glazing. C 1, C 2 and C 3 Flow arrangement with blowing air below the absorber plate for single, double and triple glazing. FP Flat-plate collector. Convective heat loss coefficient (W/m 2 C). hw I Rate of incidence of radiation per unit area of the tilted collector surface. L Total length of the channel. MFP Modified flat-plate collector. Pr Prandtl number. Partial pressure of water vapour in the atmosphere Pw (cm Hg). Mass flow rate (kg/s). O Rate of heat transfer to the working fluid. Ou Re Reynolds number. S Inter-plate spacing in the flow channel perpendicular to the flow direction. to1, to2 and to3 Temperatures of the upper glass cover for one, two and three glass plates respectively. tpl, tp2 and tp3 Temperatures of the absorber plate for systems with one, two and three glass plates, respectively. Ambient temperature. L Sky temperature. L W Wind speed (m/s). X Axial distance from the channel entrance.
Greek symbols AT Air temperature difference between inlet and outlet. q Thermal efficiency.

Thermal entrance length. Time. The performances of solar collectors depend on environmental, operating and design parameters. In general, they can be improved by increasing the rate of heat gain to the working fluid and/or suppressing the rate of heat loss from the collector to the surroundings.

Performances of channel-type flat-plate solar energy air-heaters

i

Cover glass air flow absorDer

Cover cjlass air flOWN absorber

:
I

~over 91ass air gap absorber r

c Fig. 1. Air heating solar collectors classified by the flow channel locations.
A B

Close 1 and Whillier 2 were the first to conduct extensive theoretical investigations for channel-type solar air-heaters. In addition, some aspects of the flow duct design have been considered by Charters, 3 Gupta and Garg 4 and Woodman. 5 There are three arrangements for the air flow passage in channel-type solar air-heaters. In arrangement A, the air flows above the absorber plate, in arrangement C, the air flows below the absorber plate and in arrangement B, the air flows above and below the absorber plate: all are shown in Fig. 1. In choosing between these alternatives, Hollands 6 recommended the use of arrangement C for the flat-plate type to reduce the upper heat losses. Conversely, Sodha et al. 7 and Bhargava et al. 8 recommended the use of arrangement B. In addition, Diab et al. 9 indicated that arrangement B should be used for tow flow rates and arrangement C for high flow rates. Therefore, it seems that there is some uncertainty, and lack of experimental evidence, on the best possible flow arrangement. This experimental investigation is devoted to the study of the performances of various flow arrangements of channel-type fiat-plate solar air-heaters, with special emphasis being placed on the effect of interplate spacing and the optimal number of glass covers. In addition, these design parameters were investigated for two operating conditions--the mass flow rate and the inlet air temperature. E X P E R I M E N T A L SET-UP In essence, the apparatus (see Fig. 2) consists of a flat-plate collector, an electric fan to induce the air, flow measuring devices and a data logger. The solar collector consists of two identical parts (2.75m x 0"64m z 0" 10 m) in which the exit of one collector was used as an inlet to the other by circulating the air in a wooden box located at the rear of the collector. The collector is made of 3 cm wood supported by a steel frame which was

M . M . Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb
I'---

275 cm

"i

t- - 6 z , cm. -4 Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up. 1, Electric fan; 2, junction; 3, orificemeter; 4, air supply; 5, steel frame; 6, data logger; 7, air chamber; 8, wooden frame; 9, glass cover; 10, absorber plate.

also used to tilt the collector to various angles (always facing south), depending on the operating conditions. The experimental procedure involves the adjustment and measurement of the flow rate (for a particular set of flow arrangement, number of glass covers and inter-plate spacing) and then the measurement of the steadystate air temperature at the inlet and exit, and of the temperature distribution of the upper glass cover and the black absorber plate, respectively, at various time intervals. Copper-constantan thermocouple wires were used and the recording interval was normally taken as 30 min because no rapid variations occur during these experiments. Experiments were undertaken over 6h of sunshine at the Solar Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, and the local meteorological data, including the wind speed, solar intensity and relative humidity, were also measured simultaneously. During these experiments the average total solar intensity varied from 890 W/m 2 to 830 W/m 2 and the wind velocities between 4.2 m/s and 7.7 m/s.

PerJbrmances of channel-type fiat-plate solar energy air-heaters

The efficiency of a solar energy flat-plate collector can be defined as: -Q~"dr Ac q~h - I dr

(1)

where: Q. = rate of heat transfer to the working fluid in the collector; A,: = collector area; I = rate of incidence of radiation per unit area of the tilted collector surface and d r - - t i m e interval considered. This equation may be expressed a s Q"
qth -

(2)

IA e

To calculate the convective heat losses (in W/m 2 C) from the glass covers, the convection coefficient can be obtained 1 using: h w =2.8 + 3W (3)

where W - - w i n d speed in m/s. To predict the radiative rate of heat loss, the sky temperature is taken as equal to: 1 Ts = (0.55 + 0-207P~w/2)''4 (4)

where T a = ambient temperature (in C) and Pw = partial pressure of water vapour in the atmosphere in cm Hg.l

RESULTS The mass flow rate, Q, and the outlet air temperature are the two key factors in solar air-heater design. The objective of the designer is to determine the mass flow rate per unit collector area to produce the required temperature according to the thermal performance of the collector. In this investigation, Q was varied between 0.01 kg/s and 0.04kg/s for various design parameters. The present investigation indicates that increasing Q leads to a rise in the thermal efficiency, although this increase is higher at low flow rates than for higher flow rates, and thus agrees with conclusions from previous investigations. Also, the present study reveals that air-heaters of the same design, but different physical dimensions, do not yield similar efficiencies for the same

M . M . Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb

Series I-

(D

"-3_ T
ZZZZZ

Ob

Series ]-I(3")

i -f

Ob

group A group B group C Fig. 3. A schematic diagram of series I and 11 for various inter-plate spacings and various flow arrangements of solar air-beater. (Dimensions are given in milfimetres.)

mass flow rates. In fact, the influence of inter-plate spacing, or the equivalent diameter, on the performance of solar air-heaters of the channel type is very significant. This factor is considered by presenting two series of experiments. The first consists of changing the position of the absorber plate relative to the glass cover while keeping the total distance between the glass cover and the bottom insulation constant. On the other hand, the second series of experiments involves changing the flow passage spacing while keeping other distances in the solar air-heater unchanged. These two series are illustrated in Fig. 3. Figure 4 presents the experimental results expressed on a performance curve representing the thermal efficiency versus A T / I for various interplate spacings, flow arrangements, and for the two series of experiments. It can be seen that decreasing the inter-plate spacing significantly increases the efficiency of the collector for all conditions. Decreasing the inter-plate spacing increases the intimacy of the flow of air to the heated wall which enhances the average heat transfer coefficient from this wall. Thus, the heat extracted from this wall increases and consequently so does the thermal efficiency. Figure 5 presents the variation of the thermal efficiency of the air-heater with inter-plate spacing for various flow arrangements, and the theoretical predictions of Diab et al. 9 It can be seen that all the theoretical and experimental results indicate that the efficiency decreases with the

Performances of channel-type flat-plate solar energy air-heaters

Series I
I 1 f
l

Series TT
i U~' i

5O
.2

C2
o~.

5O
x!~x S = 6.2cm S = 9.1cm x S = 19 cm
I I

C2 ~xx

~o
, S =6.2cm

~--.~40 30 xx
I

4O 30 .::
I

x S = 4.1 cm o S : 1.9cm
I I

70 o 60 4 m, 50

B2

70
6O
X

8o0
g
p I x

[so
S = 73 cm

4O 3O
I

40 3O

:,
I

S = 6.2m S : 4.1cm e S = 1.9 m

I I

8O
~.~70 ~60 5O 4O

A2

8O

A2

o.4o7O ~"~6 0
el

5O
x S:32cm-

S=5.4cm
l

4O
I

.. "" ,

6.2 cm

." 0.02

x S =4,1 cm
i o S = 1i9 c m

o S=1.1cm
I

Q01
Fig. 4.

0.02

AT/I C

oOD3 2

Q()4

T/ZC

003

Q04

Effect of inter-plate spacing on the performance characteristics of various arrangements for series I and II of solar air-heaters.

inter-plate spacing. However, there is a large difference between the theoretical predictions and experimental results and between the two series of experiments. The most significant difference between the two series is observed for case C and this difference increases as the inter-plate spacing decreases. The thermal efficiency in series I is always less than that in series II. This is attributed to the secondary flow which occurs in the space between the hot absorber plate and the glass cover facing it. It is much more vigorous in case I than in case II due to the larger spacing in the former system. The increase in the total conductance due to the initiation of secondary flow in enclosed spaces with special reference to solar collectors has been indicated previously. 12'13 Therefore, the

8
80 70

M . M . Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb

A~

60

--~
Series ]]

C7

50
g",,o

z~O

30

Theoretical (9)
20 0
L I I I I I

3 4 5 [nterplate spacing 5cm

Fig. 5.

Effect of inter-plate spacing on the collector efficiency for series | and 11.

increase in heat gain, due to the increase in the heat transfer coefficient between the flowing air and the absorber plate, is offset by the rise in the heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and the glass cover, and consequently the losses from the upper glass cover. This experimental investigation indicates that arrangement A is the most efficient despite the opposing conclusions of other investigators. In the authors' opinion the preference between various flow arrangements depends on many factors. The thermal entrance length, 14 ~t, is one of the important factors in comparing flow arrangements. When ~t is very small compared with the channel length, the upper heat losses will significantly increase in arrangement A compared with other flow arrangements because the hot fluid film will directly contact the upper glass cover. Consequently, arrangement C may attain the highest thermal efficiency. However, because the variables of the present investigation led to ~t being less than the length of the duct, this situation does not occur. In addition, because the air layer between the absorber plate and the glass cover is thermally unstable, forced flow through this passage will dampen the secondary convective motion and thus decrease the upper heat losses, if operated within the entrance length, ~r Lastly, the theoretical investigations assumed extremely low heat transfer losses by conduction through the bottom surface: these cannot be achieved in practice.

PerJbrmances of channel-type flat-plate solar energy air-heaters

air passage , ~ / g l a s s cover absorber

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of modified arrangement A. To illustrate further the effectiveness of short ducts in the performance of solar air-heaters, arrangement A is modified such that the plate length is divided into five sections as shown in Fig. 6. The inter-plate spacing and the insulation thickness were equal to the optimal dimensions of arrangement A. However, because the absorber plate was at different levels, the number of glass covers varied with the different sections of the solar heater, such that the flow passage remained constant throughout the length of the channel. Therefore, this arrangement of glass covers is equivalent to double glazing in the standard arrangement. A comparison between the modified and standard arrangements is presented in Fig. 7. It can be seen that the performance of the modified arrangement is better than that achieved with the standard channel type and that the improvement is significant. It is to be noted that similar conclusions were reported in a study of interrupted wall channels. 15 However, it was also reported s that the increase in efficiency with plate length reaches a
I i I i

90 80 70 60

+xx

+xx
x oo o ii (~111

e,,

50 40 30

EP, Q : 0.03 Kg/s + 10 O :0026 Kg/s . Q : ,QOS KgI , OO 0.03 Q04 Q05 Fig. 7.

20

A+/ic /w

M.F.P o 9 Q06

, 0.07

Comparison of performances of the modified and standard arrangement A 2.

10

M. M. Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb

5O

Single
x x :=" ~ X x = .
o
I

Double Triple

J4o
30
60-

~~

din 24~: ~tin 25cz~t,n33 c

.tin35
I

~tin6,6etin53

o---s0 r----,

ff ,~=x ~tin.24

~tin25 t,tin26

40 ~30_
00 I
O

..."

=~xXx~X
i

,tin41

=tin45 ,tin46

5040 _ 30_

oee tin25 ~,tin 25 Atin 26 tin 43 ~tin48 etin45

/

Fig. 8.

A 003 0)2 ' Z~T/I ~C A/w Effect of the inlet air temperature on the performanceof solar air-heaters for various numbers of glass covers and flow arrangements.

0.01

maximum. This may be due to higher mass flow rates per unit collector area used. The effect of inlet air temperature on the optimal number of glass covers for various flow arrangements is presented in Fig. 8. For models A and B, the higher inlet air temperature results in lower thermal efficiencies: this trend holds true irrespective of the number of glass covers. In addition, double glazing produces the optimal efficiency for high air inlet temperatures in these flow arrangements. On the other hand, for model C, the increase in inlet air temperature has a much smaller influence on the thermal efficiency. Furthermore, the optimal number of glass covers is similar to those for arrangements A and B, for the ambient inlet air temperature, but varies for higher inlet air temperatures, three covers being the optimum in that case. To explain the variation of the heater characteristics with the axial length, number of glass covers and inlet air temperature, Fig. 9 presents the variation of the temperatures of the upper glass cover and the absorber plate with the axial distance at mid-day. It can be seen that, for

Performances of channel-type flat-plate solar energy air-heaters

t131 ...,,--- " ' - " ...._..-- -"~"

11

90 80 oU 70 60 50 &O 30 20 90 80
oU

Single Double Triple

_ t i n 25c ._tin 25c ..Ltin 25c

~""'t

tP 2
L,3 __ 24 Z,I g2 2L, 35 _ __ _ -43 25 45 25 46 __ _ __ _ __ 45 26 46 33 53

LD2 LP 3

P2

9O %0
/

j J !k
at

70 6C 50 4E 30

~60 50 ~0 30 20 0 025 0.50

//
B tg~
0.75 1.00 0 0.25 0.50

g~
100

20

X/k

025

xfL

Fig. 9. The variation of the temperatures of the glass cover and the absorber plate along the collector at mid-day for various numbers of glass covers, flow arrangements and inlet air temperatures.

an ambient inlet temperature, the steep increase in the absorber plate temperature, which is observed at the entrance section, is reduced further downstream. Conversely, the glass temperature only increases moderately with the axial distance. In addition, when the inlet air temperature increases, the steep variation of the absorber temperature at the entrance section decays and the temperature level increases. These phenomena indicate a decrease in the heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and the flowing air downstream of the entrance and, in the case of high inlet air temperatures, the decrease of the heat transfer coefficient is associated with a decrease in the cooling effect and a degradation in the performance. Lastly, both the absorber and the glass cover temperatures decrease with the number of glass covers.

12

M. M. Sorour, Z. A. Mottaleb

CONCLUSIONS This experimental investigation of the performance of flat-plate channeltype solar air-heaters indicates that the inter-plate spacing is the most important parameter affecting the behaviour. The increase in the heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and the flowing air with the decrease o f inter-plate spacing is more significant than the corresponding increase with the flow rate. Within the experimental range of variables, arrangement A is the most efficient arrangement compared with the other two arrangements for the same system parameters. Shorter channels have higher efficiencies than long channels. In addition, for high inlet air temperatures, double glazing is the o p t i m u m for arrangements A and B, whereas triple glazing is the optimum for arrangement C.

REFERENCES 1. D.J. Close, Solar air heater for low and moderate temperature applications, Solar Energy, 7 (1963), p. 117. 2. A. Whillier, Black-painted solar air heaters of conventional design, Solar Energy, 8 (1964), pp. 31-7. 3. W. W. S. Charters, Some aspects of flow duct design for solar air heater applications, Solar Energy, 13 (1971), pp. 283-8. 4. C. L. Gupta and H. P. Garg, Performance studies on solar air heaters, Solar Energy, 11 (1967), p. 25. 5. T. P. Woodman, The effect of design and operating parameters on the performance of flat-plate solar collectors: Calculation method and detailed appraisal, Solar Energy, 19 (1977), pp. 263-70. 6. K. G. T. Hollands, Air heating flat plate solar collectors, Proc. International Symposium on Solar Energy Utilization, London, Canada, 1980. 7. M. S. Sodha, N. K. Bansal and D. Singh, Analysis of a non-porous double flow solar air heater, Applied Energy, 12 (1982), pp. 251-8. 8. Ashok Kumar Bhargava, H. P. Garg and V. K. Sharma, Evaluation of the performance of air heaters of conventional designs, Solar Energy, 29(6) (1982), pp. 523-33. 9. M. R. Diab, J. T. Pearson and R. Viskanta, A two-dimensional analysis of flat-plate air heating solar collectors, Proc. ASME-AICHE National Heat Transfer Conference, Orlando, Florida, July 27-30, 1980. 10. J. H. Watmuff, W. W. S. Charters and D. Proctor, Solar- and wind-induced external coeflicients for solar collectors, Comples Int. Revue d'Helliotechnique, 1977, p. 56.

Performances of channel-type flat-plate solar energy air-heaters

13

I I. J. A. Duffle and W. A. Beckman, Solar energy thermal processes. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1974. 12. H. Buchberg, I. Catton and D. K. Edwards, Natural convection in enclosed spaces: A review of application to solar energy collection, ASME Winter Annual Meeting, New York, November 17 22, 1974. 13. A. Malhotra, H. P. Garg and U. Rani, Minimizing convective heat losses in flat-plate solar colledtors, Solar Energy, 25 (1980), pp. 521 6. 14. M. S. Bhatti and C. W. Savery, Heat transfer in the entrance region of a straight channel: Laminar flow with uniform wall heat flux, Proc. ASME-AICHE Heat Transfer Conference, St Louis. Mo. USA, August 9-11, 1976. 15. E. M. Sparrow, B. R. Baligu and S. V. Patankar, Heat transfer and fluid flow analysis of interrupted-wall channels, with applications to heat exchangers, Journal of Heat Transfer (1977), pp. 4-11.