Applied Energy 87 (2010) 34383450

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Energy and exergy analysis of a new at-plate solar air heater having different obstacles on absorber plates
Ebru Kavak Akpinar *, Fatih Koyigit
Mechanical Engineering Department, Firat University, 23279 Elazig, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This study experimentally investigates performance analysis of a new at-plate solar air heater (SAH) with several obstacles (Type I, Type II, Type III) and without obstacles (Type IV). Experiments were performed for two air mass ow rates of 0.0074 and 0.0052 kg/s. The rst and second laws of efciencies were determined for SAHs and comparisons were made among them. The values of rst law efciency varied between 20% and 82%. The values of second law efciency changed from 8.32% to 44.00%. The highest efciency were determined for the SAH with Type II absorbent plate in ow channel duct for all operating conditions, whereas the lowest values were obtained for the SAH without obstacles (Type IV). The results showed that the efciency of the solar air collectors depends signicantly on the solar radiation, surface geometry of the collectors and extension of the air ow line. The largest irreversibility was occurring at the SAH without obstacles (Type IV) collector in which collector efciency is smallest. At the end of this study, the energy and exergy relationships are delivered for different SAHs. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 18 February 2010 Received in revised form 12 April 2010 Accepted 14 May 2010 Available online 12 June 2010 Keywords: Energy analysis Exergy analysis Exergy efciency Solar air heater Obstacles Thermal efciency

1. Introduction Energy in various forms has played an increasingly important role in world wide economic progress and industrialization. In view of the worlds depleting fossil fuel reserves, which provide the major source of energy, the development of non-conventional renewable energy sources has received an impetus. Sunlight available freely as a direct and perennial source of energy provides a non-polluting reservoir of fuel. The simplest and the most efcient way to utilize solar energy is to convert it into thermal energy for heating applications by using solar collectors. Solar air heaters, because of their inherent simplicity are cheap and most widely used collection devices. The main applications of SAHs are space heating; seasoning of timber, curing of industrial products, and these can also be effectively used for curing/drying of concrete/clay building components. The SAH occupies an important place among solar heating system because of minimal use of materials and cost [1,2]. Thermal performance of the solar air collectors depends on the material, shape, dimension and layout of the collector. Performance improvement can be achieved using diverse materials, various shapes and different dimensions and layouts. The modications to improve the heat-transfer coefcient between the absorber plate and air include the use of an absorber with ns attached, corrugated
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 424 2370000/5325; fax: +90 424 2415526. E-mail addresses: ebruakpinar@rat.edu.tr (E.K. Akpinar), kavakebru@hotmail. com (F. Koyigit). 0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.05.017

absorber, matrix type absorber, with packed bed, with bafes and different congurations are given in the literature [316]. For high solar gains, an efcient thermal coupling between absorber and uid is required, while the electrical power for the fan operation ought to be as small as possible. There are different factors affecting the SAH efciency, e.g. collector length, collector depth, type of absorber plate, glass cover plate, wind speed, etc. Increasing the absorber area or uid ow heat-transfer area will increase the heat transfer to the owing air, on the other hand, will increase the pressure drop in the collector, thereby increasing the required power consumption to pump the air ow crossing the collector [14,17]. Performance improvement can be achieved using diversematerials, various shapes and different dimensions and layouts. The modications to improve the heat-transfer coefcient between the absorber plate and air include the use of an absorber with ns attached, corrugated absorber, matrix type absorber, with packed bed, with bafes and different congurations are given in the literature [316]. Thermodynamic analysis is an effective means to obtain precise and valuable information about energy efciency and losses due to irreversibility in a real situation [18]. The rst law is widely used in engineering practice and is the basis of the heat balance method of analysis that is commonly used in engineering systems performance analysis. The second law involves the reversibility or irreversibility of processes and is a very important aspect of the exergy method of energy systems analysis [19]. The energy analysis has some deciencies. Fundamentally, the energy concept is not sensitive to the assumed direction of the process, e.g. energy analysis does not object if heat is considered to be transferred

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Nomenclature AC CP _ E _ Ex ExD _ Exdest h I _ IP _ m M P R R _ Qc _ Qs s _ S t T U _ W W surface area of the collector (m2) specic heat of air at constant pressure (kJ/kg K) energy rate (kW) exergy rate (kW) dimensionless exergy loss (dimensionless) rate of irreversibility (kW) enthalpy (kJ/kg) solar radiation (W/m2) rate of improvement potential (kW) mass ow rate (kg/s) mass (kg) uid pressure (Pa) universal gas constant (J/kg K) regression coefcients useful heat rate (kW) incident energy in the collector area (kW) entropy (kJ/kg K) entropy generation rate (kW/kg K) time (s, min) temperature (C) heat loss coefcient (W/m2 C) work rate or power (kW) uncertainty in the measurement (%) Greek letters absorptivity (dimensionless) thermal efciency (dimensionless) exergetic efciency (dimensionless) optical yield (dimensionless) effective transmission (dimensionless) specic exergy (kJ/kg)

a gI gII go sa w

Subscripts a air ave average C collector c convection e environment f uid in inlet m mean out outlet gen generation p plate r radiation s sun

spontaneously in the direction of the increasing temperature. It also does not distinguish the quality of the energy, e.g., 1 W of heat equals 1 W of work or electricity. Energy analyses on their own incorrectly interpret some processes, e.g., environmental air, when isothermally compressed, maintains its energy (e.g. enthalpy) equal to zero, whereas the exergy of the compressed air is larger than zero. However, exergy data are more practical and realistic in comparison to the respective energy values. Thus, the exergy analysis provides a more realistic view of process, sometimes dramatically different in comparison to standard energy analyses [20,21]. Exergy analysis establishes the theoretical limits of ideal operations, very convenient to determine the best collector for a specic application [22]. Recently, several researchers have undertaken many studies covering the thermodynamic analysis of SAHs. Karsli [17] determined the rst and second laws of efciencies of four types of air heating at-plate solar collectors. Altfeld et al. [23,24] performed an optimization analysis on the net ow of exergy in at plate collectors for air heating. They found that the collection surface characteristics, especially those of the extended surface, diminished the air ow, thus increasing the net ow of exergy and the thermal efciency of the device. Gupta and Kaushik [25] established the optimal performance parameters for the maximum exergy delivery during the collection of solar energy in a at-plate SAH. They stated that based on the output energy evaluation, the SAH should have high aspect ratio, low duct depth, and low inlet temperature of air. They have observed and proved that if the inlet temperature of air is low, then maximum exergy output is achieved at low value of mass ow rate. Comakl and Yuksel [26] presented the experimental results of four types of SAHs. Only the exergetic efciencies of the collectors were calculated and comparisons were made among them on the basis of the exergetic efciencies. ztrk and Demirel [27] presented an experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a SAH having its ow channel packed with Raschig rings. They observed that the energy and exergy efciencies of the packed-bed SAH increased as the outlet temperature of heat transfer uid increased. ztrk [28] described an experimental evaluation of energy and

exergy efciency of a seasonal latent heat storage system for greenhouse heating with the SAH. Kurtbas and Durmus [29] investigated ve types of SAHs, which had different front absorption surfaces. They concluded that there was a reverse relationship between dimensionless exergy loss and heat transfer, as well as pressure loss. The more important parameters in order to decrease the exergy loss were found to be the collector efciency, temperature difference of the air and the pressure loss. Torres-Reyes et al. [22] performed thermodynamic optimization based on rst and second law to determine the optimal performance parameters and to design a solar thermal energy conversion system. They produced graphs of exergy ow rate as a function of mass ow rate for different collector congurations. Torres-Reyes et al. [30] established a generalized methodology to determine the optimum path ow length of the working uid by means of a thermohydraulic model developed from the rst and the second law points of view. Ajam et al. [31] derived the equations to study the exergetic efciency of SAHs and used MATLAB to optimize the system. Layek et al. [32] presented the mathematical model for predicting the entropy generation of a SAH having chamfered rib groove roughened absorber plate. They found that the entropy generation decreases with increase in relative roughness height. Esen [33] reported an experimental study to evaluate the energetic and exergetic efciencies of four types of double-ow SAHs with several obstacles and without obstacles under a wide range of operating conditions. He showed that the use of obstacles in the air duct of the double ow collector is an efcient method of adapting air exchanger according to user needs. This paper presents the performance analysis of a novel SAH. Four different absorbing plates have been used in this study. An experimental set-up, described in the next section, is constructed and tested. The analysis includes both the rst law and second law of thermodynamics. The collector efciencies were determined for four types of SAHs and comparisons were made among them. The method used by Esen [33] was employed to analysis the sample solar installation data. All sources of irreversibility were considered to minimize the irreversibility by optimizing the air ow rate.

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2. Description of the experimental set-up and measurement procedure An experimental set-up is constructed and tested in Engineer ing Faculty of Frat University, Elazg, Turkey. Turkey also has great solar energy potential due to its location in the Mediterranean Region (36 and 42 North latitudes). The sunshine period of Turkey is 2624 h/year with a maximum of 365 h/month in July and a minimum of 103 h/month in December. The main solar radiation intensity is about 3.67 kW h/m2 day. The cumulative total of this is about 1.340 MW h/m2 year. The amount of solar radiation received over all of Turkey, in other words, the gross solar energy potential is 3517 EJ/year [28]. Fig. 1a gives the variations of meteorological data (mean monthly ambient temperatures, C, mean monthly solar radiation, cal/cm2 min, mean monthly solar duration and mean monthly wind speed) measured in Elazg (latitude 38.41N, longi-

tude 39.14E, altitude 1067 m above sea level) by the Elazg State Meteorological Station from 1994 to 2005. Fig. 1b also shows variation of the mean monthly ambient temperature and mean monthly solar radiation and duration, wind speed in period of 19942005 [34]. A schematic view and photograph of experimental set-up of the constructed SAH system and front view sight of collector are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. A schematic view and photographs of the four different absorber plates of the SAH are shown in Figs. 4ad and 5ad, respectively. In this study, four types of absorber plates were used. Different type of obstacles at different angles at Type I, Type II and Type III was used and absorber plate was divided with rectangular obstacles. The absorbers were made of stainless steel with black chrome selective coating. Dimension and plate thickness for all four collectors were 1.20 m, 0.7 m, and 0.12 m, respectively. The absorber

(a)
16

Wind speed Sunshine duration

Temperature Solar radiation

385 380 375

Wind speed (m/s), Temperature ( o C), Sunshine duration (h)

14 12

370 10 8 6 4 345 2 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 340 335 365 360 355 350

Yearly

(b)
Wind speed (m/s), Temperature ( o C), Sunshine duration (h)
30 25 20 15

Wind speed Sunshine duration

Temperature Solar radiation

700

400 300 10 5 0 200 100 0

Sebtember

January

March

May

Monthly
Fig. 1. Meteorological (a) yearly, (b) monthly data for the 19952005 period in Elazg.

November

December

February

October

April

June

July

August

Solar radiation

(Cal/cm2

500

min)

600

Solar radiation (Cal/cm2 min)

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Fig. 2. Schematic view of experimental set-up. (1) Collector box, (2) glass cover, (3) foot, (4) fan, (5) fan engine, (6) connection pipe, (7) channel selector, (8) digital thermometer, (9) thermocouples, (10) pyranometer, (11) pyranometer recorder, (12) anemometer, (13) absorber plate (cooper plate thats been painted black), (14) absorber plate with obstacles.

Fig. 3. The photograph of experimental set-up.

surface (Types IIV) which is the most important component of the collector, which absorbs the suns radiation, has been plated with cooper plate thats been painted black. Normal window glass of 5 mm thickness was used as glazing. Single glass cover was used in all four collectors. Thermal losses through the backs of the collector are mainly due to the conduction across the insulation (thickness 3 cm) and those caused by the wind and the thermal radiation of the insulation is assumed negligible. Type of obstacles at different angles was being mentioned as the following: Type 1: the triangular obstacles of 5 5 cm dimension were manufactured and the obstacles were situated on the absorber plate at 10 cm intervals with 3.5 cm distance between successive lines (Figs. 4a and 5a).

Type 2: the leaf shaped obstacles of 5 5 cm dimension were situated on the absorber plate at 10 cm intervals with 3.5 cm distance between successive lines (Figs. 4b and 5b). Type 3: the rectangular obstacles of 10 10 cm dimensions were situated at 2.5 cm intervals with at a 45o angle on the absorber plate (Figs. 4c and 5c). Type 4: there are no obstacles on the absorbent surface (Figs. 4d and 5d). After installation, the four collectors were left operating sequential days (period of 10 July and 5 August) under normal weather conditions for weathering processes. Thermocouples were positioned evenly, on the top surface of the absorber plates, at identical positions along the direction of ow, for collectors. Inlet, outlet and ambient air temperatures were measured by two well-

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Fig. 4. The photograph of absorber plate with obstacles: (a) The photograph of absorber plate with the triangular type obstacles. (b) The photograph of absorber plate with the leaf type obstacles. (c) The photograph of absorber plate with rectangular type obstacles. (d) The photograph of absorber plate with out obstacles.

insulated thermocouples. The ambient temperature was measured by a mercury thermometer placed in a special container behind the collectors body. The total solar radiation incident on the surface of the collector was measured with a Kipp and Zonen CM 11 Pyranometer. This meter was placed adjacent to the glazing cover, at the same plane, facing due south. The total solar radiation was recorded by a Kipp and Zonen CC 12 solar integrator automatically. The measured variables were recorded at time intervals of 15 min and include: insolation, inlet and outlet temperatures of the working uid circulating through the collectors, ambient temperature, absorber plate temperatures at several selected locations, and wind speed, air ow rates by digital anemometer (Lutron AM4206 M). A xed speed fan was used to blow the air used in the system (0.0833 m3 s1, 0.25 kW, 220 V, 50 Hz, 1380 min1). The

air ow speed was adjusted by means of the aps located at the entry into the channel. The experiments were repeated for different mass air ow speeds (0.0074, 0.0052 kg/s). The pressure loss was measured by means of a digital manometer (AZ 82100) placed between inlet and outlet of the collector. All tests began at 9 am and ended at 5 pm. 2.1. Experimental uncertainty Errors and uncertainties in the experiments can arise from instrument selection, condition, calibration, environment, observation, reading and test planning. In experiments in SAH, the temperatures, velocity of air, solar radiation and pressure loss were measured with appropriate instruments. During the measure-

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Accumulated energy energy gain absorbed energy lost energy 2

for each term of Eq. (2) the following expressions are formulated:

Accumulated energy Mp C p dT p;av e =dt _ Energy gain mC p T out T in Absorbed energy go IAC Lost energy U c T p;av e T e AC

3 4 5 6

By combining Eqs. (3)(6), the thermal energy balance equation necessary to describe the solar collector functioning is obtained:

_ Mp C p dT p;av e =dt mC p T out T in go IAC U c T p;av e T e AC

The optical yield (go) and the energy lose coefcient (UC) are the parameters that characterize the behaviour of the solar collector. Note that go represents the fraction of the solar radiation absorbed by the plate and depends mainly on transmittance of the transparent covers and on the absorbance of the plate [33]. The energy loss coefcient includes the losses by the upper cover, the laterals, and the bottom of the collector. The upper cover losses prevail over the others, depending to a large extent on the temperature and emissivity of the absorbent bed, and besides, on the convective effect of the wind on the upper cover. The thermal efciency of the solar collectors (gI) is dened as the ratio between the energy gain and the solar radiation incident on the collector plane [17,29,33]:
Fig. 5. Schematic views of absorber plates: (a) with the triangular type obstacles, (b) with leaf type obstacles, (c) with rectangular type obstacles, (d) without obstacles.

gI

_ mC p T a;out T a;in IAC

ments of the parameters, the uncertainties occurred were presented in Table 1. Considering to relative uncertainties in the individual factors denoted by xn, uncertainty estimation was made using the following equation [35]:

3.2. Exergy analysis This article focuses on the combination of the two laws of thermodynamics, which are described in the concept of exergy analysis. The assumptions made in the analysis presented in this study are [17,29,33,36]: (i) steady state, steady ow operation, (ii) negligible potential and kinetic energy effects and no chemical or nuclear reactions, (iii) air is an ideal gas with a constant specic heat, and its humidity content is ignored, (iv) the directions of heat transfer to the system and work transfer from the system are positive. The mass balance equation can be expressed in the rate form as

h i1=2 W x1 2 x2 2 xn 2

3. Analysis SAHs contain a process where energy intensity is high, in other words where the energy has to be used. This study contains the analysis of the rst and second laws of SAH with different absorber surfaces; in other words the exergy and energy analysis. 3.1. Energy analysis The theoretical model employed for the study of the solar collector that operates in unsteady state is made using a thermal energy balance [33]:

_ min

_ mout

Table 1 The uncertainties during the measurements of the parameters. Parameter Uncertainty in the temperature measurement Collector inlet temperature Collector outlet temperature Absorber surface (copper plate) Ambient air temperature Uncertainty in the time measurement Temperature values Uncertainty in the air velocity measurement Uncertainty in the measurement of solar energy Uncertainty in the measurement of pressure loss Uncertainty in reading values of table Unit C C C C min ms1 W m2 psi % Comment 0.173 C 0.173 C 0.173 C 0.173 C 0.1 0.14 0.1 0.3 0.10.2

_ where m is the mass ow rate, and the subscript in stands for inlet and out for outlet. If the effects due to the kinetic and potential energy changes are neglected, the general energy and exergy balances can be expressed in rate form as given below [17,29,33,36]:

X X
or

_ Ein

_ Eout _ Exout X _ Exdest

10 11a

_ Exin

_ _ _ _ _ Exheat Exwork Exmass;in Exmass;out Exdest

11b

Using the Eq. (11b) the rate form of the general exergy balance can be expressed as follows:

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 X X X Te _ _ _ _ _ Qs W min win mout wout Exdest 1 Ts

where

12

By substituting Eqs. (16)(18), into Eq. (15) the equation below can be derived [17,29,33]:

win hin he T e sin se wout hout he T e sout se

13 14

  T f ;out Te _ _ IsaAC mC p T f ;out T f ;in mC p T e ln 1 Ts T f ;in Pout _ _ mRT e ln Exdest Pin

19

If Eqs. (13) and (14), are substituted in Eq. (12), it is arranged as below:

The exergy destruction or the irreversibility may be expressed as follows [17,29,33]:

  Te _ _ _ Q s mhout hin T e sout sin Exdest 1 Ts

15

_ _ Exdest T e Sgen

20

_ where Q s is the solar energy absorbed by the collector absorber surface and it is evaluated with the expression given below [17,29,33]:

_ Q s IsaAC

The exergy efciency of a solar collector system can be calculated in terms of the net output exergy of the system or exergy destructions in the system. The exergy efciency of SAH system has been evaluated in terms of the net output exergy of the system. The second law efciency is calculated as follows [36]:

16

The changes in the enthalpy and the entropy of the air at the collector are expressed by [17,29,33,36]

gII _ out Exin

_ Ex

_ mhout hin T e sout sin   _ 1 Te Q s Ts

21

Dh hout hin C p T f ;out T f ;in T f ;out P out Ds sout sin C p ln R ln T f ;in Pin

17 18

When dealing with the exergy of a process component, the difference between exergy losses and destruction should be noted. Exergy losses consist of exergy owing to the surroundings, whereas, exergy destruction indicates the loss of exergy within

Type I Type III

Type II Type IV

Type I Type III

Type II Type IV

Instantaneus solar radiation, W/m 2

(a) m=0.0074 kg/s

1000 800 600 400 200 0 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Instantaneus solar radiation, W/m 2

1200

1200

(b) m=0.0052 kg/s

1000 800 600 400 200 0 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Time of day
Type I Type III Type II Type IV

Time of day
Type I Type III Type II Type IV

60

70

(c) m=0.0074 kg/s

50 40
o T, C o T, C

(d) m=0.0052 kg/s

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

30 20 10 0 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Time of day

Fig. 6. Variation of instantaneous solar radiation and temperature difference with time at different air ow rates.

09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Time of day

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the system boundary due to irreversibility [37]. Phrasing it another way, the exergy destruction is the actual change in exergy for the irreversible process minus the change in exergy that would have occurred if the process had been reversible. The exergy destruction due to the irreversibility generates when chemical reaction, heat transfer, pressure drop and mixing proceed in the process [37,38]. The dimensionless exergy destruction or loss is the result of dividing Eq. (20) by the energy gain value of Eq. (4) [29],

ExD

_ Exdest _ Qc

22

Van Gool [39] has also proposed that maximum improvement in the exergy efciency for a process or system is obviously _ _ achieved when the exergy loss or irreversibility Exin Exout is minimized. Consequently, he suggested that it is useful to employ the concept of an exergetic improvement potential when analyzing different processes or sectors of the economy. This improvement potential in the rate form, denoted [39]

  _ _ _ IP 1 gII Exin Exout

23

All physical properties of air were selected according to the following bulk mean temperature:

DT m T in T out =2
4. Results and discussions

24

Collector performance tests were conducted on days with clear sky condition. The collector slope was adjusted to 38, which is

considered suitable for the geographical location of Elazg. The collectors were instrumented with FeConstantan thermocouples for measuring temperatures of owing air at inlet and outlet of the collector, absorber surface temperature and the ambient temperature. Four SAHs (Types IIV) were investigated in this study. The experiments were carried out under climatic conditions of Elazig city in Turkey. The experiments were performed from July to August in 2008. Two air mass ow rates of 0.0074 and 0.0052 kg/s are also investigated at the experiments. The useful heat rate and collector efciency were calculated directly from the data obtained for each SAHs. The experimental results are presented in the form of graphs that describe temperature increase across the SAHs, insolation, thermal efciency, exergetic efciency and dimensionless as a function of time or (Tout Te)/I. Fig. 6a and b shows overall results of experiments including daily instantaneous solar energy levels. All the changes assume similar parabolic proles with a maximum at midday. Since the amount of instantaneous radiation is the most important parameter in solar collectors, these changes are expected. As expected, the instantaneous radiation energy increases in the morning to a peak value of 1016 W/m2 at noon and starts to decrease in the afternoon in all the days of experiments. The other parameters as air inlet and outlet temperatures exhibit parallel changes with the instantaneous radiation, i.e. they depend directly on the amount of direct solar radiation for two air ow rates. Information on the temperature rise of air with solar radiation is important when designing a SAHs. If the inlet temperature is close to the ambient temperature, the temperature rise varies almost linearly with solar radiation. The variation of temperature difference with time of day for all

Type I
0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 09:00

Type II

Type III

Type IV

(a) m=0.0074 kg/s

09:30

10:00

10:30

12:30

13:00

13:30

14:00

14:30

15:30

11:30

15:00

16:00

16:30
16:30

11:00

12:00

Time of day

Type I
0.7 0.6 0.5

Type II

Type III

Type IV

(b) m=0.0052 kg/s

0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 09:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:30 10:00 11:00 12:30 16:00 09:30 10:30 14:30 15:00 17:00

Time of day
Fig. 7. Variation of collector efciency versus time at different types of absorber plates, for (a) 0.0074 kg/s, (b) 0.0052 kg/s, different mass ow rates.

17:00

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Fig. 8. Variation of collector efciency versus parameter (Tout Te)/I at different mass ow rates for different types of absorber plates.

SAHs, presented in Fig. 6c and d, is in an agreement with this observation. Since the mass ow rates through the four SAHs and inlet temperatures were nearly the same, the outlet temperatures or the temperature differences between the inlet and outlet temperatures can be compared directly when determining the performance of the collectors. The highest temperature increase occurred at period of 12:0014:00. The maximum difference temperature increase through the four type SAHs (IIV) was 45.9, 50.5, 44.1, and 33.1 C for 0.0074 kg/s, 47.4, 55.4, 48.5 and 38.3 for 0.0052 kg/s, respectively. The highest difference temperature increase occurred through Type II, while the lowest through Type IV. Fig. 6ad shows that the intention of having the main heating of the air to occur when passing the collectors has been fullled. Fig. 6ad also presents almost the same pattern in the temperature increase across the four collectors. The thermal efciency improvements for SAHs were calculated using Eq. (8). Fig. 7a and b depicts the hourly variation of the ef-

_ ciency of collector at different types (IV) for m = 0.0074 kg/s and _ m = 0.0052 kg/s, respectively. The mean efciencies for Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV are varied between 37% and 67%, 35% and _ 82%, 34% and 45%, and 26% and 35%, at m = 0.0074 kg/s, respectively. The mean efciencies for Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV are varied between 26% and 49%, 33% and 58%, 27% and 38%, _ and 20% and 31%, at m = 0.0052 kg/s, respectively. It is also interesting to show the efciency variation of these four collectors as a function of the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I. The different results obtained from the studied congurations can be compared and the conguration giving a high thermal performance can be selected. Fig. 8ad shows the variation of the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I with efciencies of Types (IIV) at mass ow rate of 0.0074 and 0.0052 kg/s. The scatter of the data around the straight line is mainly attributed to the angle of incidence variations, wind speed and the dependence of the heat loss on the plate temperature. Also, the variations of the relative proportions of

Table 2 The empirical relations and regression coefcients for the variation of the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I with rst law efciencies of Types (IIV). _ m, kg/s Type I R 0.0074 0.0052 Type II R =1.018715.384 [(Tout-Te)/I] =0.6637.6648 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.8533 0.7894 =0.46762.4173 [(Tout-Te)/I] =0.37941.8587 [(Tout-Te)/I] Type III R 0.4107 0.4074 =0.2990.529 [(Tout-Te)/I] =0.27560.9175 [(Tout-Te)/I] Type IV R 0.1389 0.2133

gI gI

=0.94069.5043 [(Tout-Te)/I] =0.895115.176 [(Tout-Te)/I]

0.9116 0.9182

 E.K. Akpinar, F. Koyigit / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 34383450 Table 3 Exergy analysis of tested SAHs. Solar air heater Type I Type II Type III Type IV Mass ow rate, kg/s 0.0074 0.0052 0.0074 0.0052 0.0074 0.0052 0.0074 0.0052 Exergy input, _ (Exi ), kW 0.02470.1495 0.02450.1618 0.01920.1696 0.03080.1806 0.02200.1596 0.03550.1657 0.02670 0.16634 0.01990.161 Exergy output, _ (Exo ), kW 0.00980.0280 0.007810.0218 0.00840.034 0.01040.0298 0.00500.0283 0.00560.0240 0.00340.0180 0.002890.0171 Irreversibility, exergy loss, _ (Exloss ), kW 0.01440.1229 0.01670.1415 0.01070.1366 0.02030.1512 0.01700.1325 0.02990.1419 0.02270.1498 0.01700.144 Dimensionless exergy loss, % 0.07420.3727 0.11580.6106 0.05880.3806 0.11430.5282 0.11880.4171 0.23520.5651 0.19540.6652 0.19470.7283 Improvement _ potential (IP), kW 0.00830.1013 0.01140.1237 0.00600.1108 0.01340.1273 0.01310.1102 0.02520.1223 0.01930.1357 0.01450.1290 Second law efciency, (gII),% 0.16520.4174 0.12310.3179 0.15680.4400 0.14860.3396 0.14420.2298 0.12920.1717 0.08320.1483 0.08460.1449

3447

beam diffuse and ground reective components of solar radiation are participating in the data scattering. The empirical relations and regression coefcients for the variation of the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I with efciencies of Types (IIV) which are shown in Table 2 are constructed by the least square method. The ndings from Figs. 68 and Table 2 can be summarized as: 1. The collector efciency increases with increasing air mass ow rate of air, time and decreases with increasing the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I. That means, at higher temperature parameters, the overall loss is lower. 2. The efciency of Type II (great turbulence) is higher than that of Type I (middle turbulence), than that of Type III (little turbu-

lence) and also that of Type IV (no turbulence, without obstacles), respectively. Moreover, it was show that the efciencies values of Type II and Type I are very close to each other. As expected, the hourly measured solar radiation increases in the morning to a peak value of 1016 W/m2 at noon and starts to decrease in the afternoon. The study has shown that the solar collector supplied with Type II than Type I and Type III leads to a very signicant improvement in the efciencytemperature rise couple. Its because Type II leads to very great turbulence in the collector unit. The heat transfer rate has largest value in Type II due to this collector have more efcient heat transfer rate than the other three collectors. 3. As expected, Type IV is the least efcient than the other SAHs with obstacles. The absorber temperature must be reduced in

Type I
0.5

Type II

Type III

Type IV

(a) m=0.0074 kg/s

0.4 0.3

0.2 0.1 0
10:30 13:30 14:00 15:00 15:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 12:30 13:00 14:30 16:00 16:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 17:00

Time of day

Type I
0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25

Type II

Type III

Type IV

(b) m=0.0052 kg/s

0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0

09:00 09:30 10:30 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 16:00 16:30 13:30 17:00

Time of day
Fig. 9. Variation of exergetic efciency versus time at different types of absorber plates, for (a) 0.0074 kg/s, (b) 0.0052 kg/s, different mass ow rates.

3448

E.K. Akpinar, F. Koyigit / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 34383450

order to lower the forward heat loss by radiation from the absorber to the environment. There are no ns, obstacles, or turbulence promoters in Type IV, and the uid ow is less developed. The absorber temperature remains higher than the collectors with obstacles, generating thermal heat loss by radiation, and thereby reducing the efciency. 4. SAHs with obstacles had been introduced for increasing the heat-transfer area, leading to improved efciency. Irreversibility of each of SAH has been calculated and the results have been shown in Table 3. The exergy analysis was carried out in period 10.07.200710.08.2007 in Elazg for different mass ow rates, different types of absorber plates. It can be seen that Type IV is the collector in which the dimensionless exergy loss and improvement potential is the highest (0.19540.6652% and, 0.01930.1357 kW for 0.0074 kg/s, 0.19470.7283% and 0.0145 0.1290 kW for 0.0052 kg/s, respectively). In Type II, absorber plate with the leaf shaped obstacles, dimensionless exergy loss and improvement potential is the lowest (0.05880.3806% and, 0.00600.1108 kW for 0.0074 kg/s and 0.11430.5282% and 0.01340.1273 kW for 0.0052 kg/s). Furthermore, the second law efciency or exergetic efciency of each of SAHs has been calculated. It is clear from Table 3 that the point of the lowest gII typically occurs in Type IV (8.4614.49%, for 0.0052 kg/s). The maximum gII occurs in Type II (15.68 44.00%, for 0.0074 kg/s). As seen in Table 3, the lowest exergy loss occurred in Type II, there is a reverse relationship between dimensionless exergy loss and collector efciency, as well as temperature difference (DT). It is clear that when the exergetic efciency is maximum, the exergy loss is minimum.

Fig. 9a and b depicts the hourly variation of the exergetic ef_ ciency of collector at different types (IV) for m = 0.0074 kg/s and _ m = 0.0052 kg/s, respectively. The mean efciencies for Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV are varied between 16.5241.74%, 15.68 _ 44.00%, 14.4222.98%, and 8.3214.83%, at m = 0.0074 kg/s, respectively. The mean efciencies for Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV are varied between 12.31% and 31.79%, 14.86% and _ 33.96%, 12.92% and 17.17%, and 8.46% and 14.49%, at m = 0.0052 kg/s, respectively. Fig. 10ad shows the variation of (To Te)/I with exergetic efciencies of Types (IIV) at mass ow rate of 0.0074 and 0.0052 kg/s. The empirical relations and regression coefcients for the variation of (Tout Te)/I with of Types (IIV) which are shown in Table 4 are constructed by the least square method. The results show that the collector exergetic efciency increases with increasing air mass ow rate of air, time and (Tout Te)/I. The range of variation of the resulting values is due to mainly variations of climatic conditions and conguration of the collectors. The obtained results in this study are very similar to those shown in Ref. [17,29,33]. According to these references, from the results obtained for the different solar collector types examined, we deduce that the introduction of the obstacles in the air channels is a very important factor for the improvement of collector efciency. However, we have observed that the form, dimensions, orientation, and disposition of the obstacles considerably inuence the collector efciency. To make a comparison of the performance of the Type II, congurations of SAHs reported by Esen [33] in the literature were selected. Esen [33] presented a comparison between the results obtained in the case of the double-ow solar air collector supplied with obstacles (Types IIIV) and those of

Fig. 10. Variation of exergetic efciency with (Tout Te)/I at different mass ow rates.

 E.K. Akpinar, F. Koyigit / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 34383450 Table 4 The emprical relations regression coefcients for the variation of the temperature parameters (Tout Te)/I with second law efciencies of Types (IIV). _ m, kg/s Type I R 0.0074 0.0052 Type II R =8.9125 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.075 =7.9802 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.1169 0.9910 0.8950 =6.9529 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.0255 =3.5199 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.0269 Type III R 0.8395 0.9443 =3.7591 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.015 =3.3576 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.0081 Type IV R

3449

gII gII

=9.3461 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.0654 =7.839 [(Tout-Te)/I] 0.0988

0.9862 0.9633

0.6561 0.7374

Table 5 Comparison between the energy and exergy efciency of the Type II at present study and Type III the reported by Esen [33]. Type of SAH Esen [33] Type III, State-I Type III, State-II _ m, kg/s 0.025 0.015 0.2 0.025 0.025 0.0052 0.0074

gI, Energy efciency, %

4152 2840 3553 4867 4461 3358 3582

gII, Exergy efciency, %

49.34 51.83 56.08 60.97 57.33 33.96 44.00

Type III, State-III Present work Type II

the collector without obstacles (Type I). Experiments had been performed for air mass ow rates of 0.015 kg/s, 0.020 and 0.025 kg/s, different types of collectors (Types IIV), and the different states (IIII) of absorber plate. The mean efciencies of Type III collector for State-I, State-II and State-III had been found to be 46%, 58%, and 53%, respectively. The optimal value of efciency was middle level (State-II) of the collector for all operating conditions. The highest efciency had been obtained for Type III (great turbulence) at 0.025 kg/s and State-II. The lowest efciency had been determined in Type I (no turbulence, without obstacles) for 0.015 kg/s and State-I. Table 5 depicts a comparison of the energy and exergy efciencies for the Type II at this study and Type III conducted by Esen [33]. 5. Conclusions In the present study, four solar air collectors were tested and a comparison was made among them on the basis of rst and second law efciencies. It was shown that the efciency of the solar air collectors depended signicantly on the solar radiation, surface geometry of the collectors and extension of the air ow line. The efciency of the collector improved with increasing mass ow rates due to an enhanced heat transfer to the air ow. The efciency decreased as the temperature parameter increase, meaning, at higher temperature parameter, the overall loss was lower. The exergy loss of the system decreased depending on the increase of the collector efciency. There was a reverse relationship between dimensionless exergy loss and heat transfer. The more important parameters in order to decrease the exergy loss were the collector efciency, temperature difference of the air. New relations were proposed to evaluate of the energy and exergy analysis of SAH. It is concluded that the proposed procedure can be successfully employed for predicting the SAH performance. Consequently, given the different operative and atmospheric conditions that can happen in practice, it must be taken into account the possibility of scheming different experiences, in order to determine the inuence of the different variables on the collector efciency and the characteristic parameters of the solar collector. Important results can be gained to the literature as well, if SAH studies are performed on energy and exergy analysis by increasing parameters and variables.

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