Review

Performance evaluation of solar air heater for various articial roughness

geometries based on energy, effective and exergy efciencies
M.K. Gupta
*
, S.C. Kaushik
Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 21 March 2008
Accepted 5 June 2008
Available online 24 July 2008
Keywords:
Solar air heater
Articial roughness geometries
Energy efciency
Effective efciency
Exergy efciency
Reynolds number
a b s t r a c t
A comparative study of various types of articial roughness geometries in the absorber plate of solar air
heater duct and their characteristics, investigated for the heat transfer and friction characteristics, has
been presented. The performance evaluation in terms of h
I
, h
ef
and h
II
has been carried out, for various
values of Re, for some selected articial roughness geometries in the absorber plate of solar air heater
duct. The six roughness geometries as per the order of ability to create turbulence and a smooth surface
have been selected. The correlations for heat transfer and coefcient of friction developed by respective
investigators have been used to calculate efciencies. It is found that articial roughness on absorber
surface effectively increases the efciencies in comparison to smooth surface. The h
I
in general increases
in the following sequence: smooth surface, circular ribs, V shaped ribs, wedge shaped rib, expanded
metal mesh, rib-grooved, and chamfered ribgroove. The h
ef
based criteria also follows same trend of
variation among various considered geometries, and trend is reversed at very high Re. The h
II
based
criteria also follows the same pattern; but the trend is reversed at relatively lower value of Re and for
higher range of Re the h
II
approaches zero or may be negative. It is found that for the higher range of Re
circular ribs and V shaped ribs give appreciable h
II
up to high Re; while for low Re chamfered ribgroove
gives more h
II
.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The heat transfer between the absorber surface (heat transfer
surface) of solar air heater and owing air can be improved by
either increasing the heat transfer surface area using extended
and corrugated surfaces without enhancing heat transfer
coefcient or by increasing heat transfer coefcient using the
turbulence promoters in the form of articial roughness on
absorber surface. The articial roughness on absorber surface may
be created, either by roughening the surface randomly with
a sand grain/sand blasting or by use of regular geometric rough-
ness. It is well known that in a turbulent ow a laminar/viscous
sub-layer exists in addition to the turbulent core. The articial
roughness on heat transfer surface breaks up the laminar
boundary layer of turbulent ow and makes the ow turbulent
adjacent to the wall. The articial roughness that results in the
desirable increase in the heat transfer also results in an undesir-
able increase in the pressure drop due to the increased friction;
thus the design of the ow duct and absorber surface of solar air
heaters should, therefore, be executed with the objectives of high
heat transfer rates and low friction losses. To balance useful
energy and friction losses, second law considerations are suitable,
and exergy is a suitable quantity for the optimization of solar air
heaters having different design and roughness elements.
Exergy is maximumwork potential which can be obtained from
a form of energy [1,2]. Exergy analysis is a useful method, to com-
plement not to replace the energy analysis. Exergy analysis yields
useful results because it deals with irreversibility minimization or
maximum exergy delivery. Exergy analysis can indicate the possi-
bilities of thermodynamic improvement of the process under
consideration. The exergy analysis has proven to be a powerful tool
in the thermodynamic analyses of energy systems. Recently, the
concept of exergy has received great attention from scientists,
researchers and engineers, and exergy concept has been applied to
various utility sectors and thermal processes. In general, more
meaningful efciency is evaluated with exergy analysis rather than
energy analysis, since exergy efciency is always a measure of the
approach to the ideal. Ozturk and Demirel [3] experimentally
evaluated the energy and exergy efciencies of the thermal per-
formance of a solar air heater having its ow channel packed with
Raschig rings. Kurtbas and Durmus [4] experimentally evaluated
the energy efciency, friction factor and dimensionless exergy loss,
of a solar air heater having ve solar sub-collectors of same length
and width arranged in series in a common case, for various values
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 91 11 26591253; fax: 91 11 26862037.
E-mail addresses: mkgupta1969@indiatimes.com, mk_gupta70@rediffmail.com
(M.K. Gupta), kaushik@ces.iitd.ac.in (S.C. Kaushik).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Renewable Energy
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ renene
0960-1481/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2008.06.001
Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476
of Reynolds number. The popularity of exergy analysis method has
grown consequently and is still growing [1,57].
2. Fluid ow and heat transfer characteristic of
various type of articial roughness geometry
The geometry of the articial roughness has, therefore, to be
such that it should break the laminar sub-layer only without
disturbing the core to keep the pressure drop within range. The
regular geometric roughness may be classied on the basis of shape
of rib (rectangular, circular, wedge, chamfered), orientation
(transverse, inclined, V shape), arrangement on surface (continu-
ous, discrete, staggered), cavity (groove, pits/dimples) and imper-
meable or porous rib. The porous rib offers lower drag force in
comparison to solid rib. Many investigators analysed various
roughness geometry [813] and attempted to develop accurate
predictions of the heat transfer coefcient and friction factor of
a given roughness geometry, and to dene a roughness geometry
which gives the best heat transfer performance for a given ow
friction. Webb et al. [9] developed friction and heat transfer
correlations, for turbulent ow in tubes having repeated rib-
roughness, based on law of the wall similarity and application of
the heatmomentum transfer analogy to ow over a rough surface,
respectively. They veried the correlations with experimental data,
and argued against a single correlation for all roughness geome-
tries. Han et al. [10] investigated the rib-roughened surface for
effects of rib shape, angle of attack, spacing and pitch to height
ratio. They developed the correlation for friction factor and heat
Nomenclature
A
c
Collector area (m
2
)
C
f
Conversion factor
C
p
Specic heat (J/kg K)
d
e
Equivalent hydraulic diameter of collector duct (m)
e Rib height
e

Roughness Reynolds number

Ex Exergy (W)
Ex
c,S
Exergy of solar radiation incident on glass cover (W)
Ex
u
Exergy output rate ignoring pressure drop (W)
Ex
u,p
Exergy output rate considering pressure drop (W)
Ex
d,p
Exergy destruction due to pressure drop (W)
F
0
Collector efciency factor
F
r
Collector heat removal factor
f Coefcient of friction
g Groove position (m)
h Enthalpy (J/kg)
h
c,fb
Convective heat transfer coefcient between air and
bottom plate (W/m
2
K)
h
c,fp
Convective heat transfer coefcient between air and
absorber plate (W/m
2
K)
h
e
Equivalent heat transfer coefcient (W/m
2
K)
h
r,pb
Radiative heat transfer coefcient between absorber
and bottom plate (W/m
2
K)
h
w
Wind heat transfer coefcient (W/m
2
K)
H Solar air heater duct depth (m)
I Radiation intensity (W/m
2
)
I
T,c
Radiation incident on glass cover (W/m
2
)
IR Irreversibility (W)
k
i
Thermal conductivity of insulation (W/mK)
k
a
Thermal conductivity of air (W/mK)
l Long way of mesh
L Spacing between covers (m)
L
1
Collector length (m)
L
2
Collector width (m)
L
3
Collector depth (m)
m Mass ow rate (kg/s)
M Number of glass cover
p Pressure (N/m
2
)
P Roughness pitch
Pr Prandtals number
Q Heat (J)
q Heat per unit area (J/m
2
)
Re Reynolds number
s Short way of mesh
S Absorbed ux (W/m
2
)
S
gen
Entropy generation (J/K)
St Stanton number
T Temperature (K)
T
bm
Mean bottom plate temperature (K)
T
fm
Mean uid temperature (K)
T
pm
Mean absorber plate temperature (K)
U
b
Bottom heat loss coefcient (W/m
2
K)
U
l
Overall heat loss coefcient (W/m
2
K)
U
s
Side heat loss coefcient (W/m
2
K)
U
t
Top heat loss coefcient (W/m
2
K)
V Velocity of air through collector duct (m/s)
V
N
Wind velocity (m/s)
W
P
Pump work (W)
Greek symbols
a
A
Angle of attack for V shaped rib
a
C
Chamfer angle of rib
a
R
Rib wedge angle
b Tilt angle of collector surface
d
b
Bottom insulation thickness (m)
d
s
Side insulation thickness (m)
Dp Pressure drop (N/m
2
)
h
I
Energy efciency
h
II
Exergy efciency
h
ef
Effective energy efciency
h
pm
Pumpmotor efciency
m Viscosity of air (Ns/m
2
)
r Density of air (kg/m
3
)
s Transmissivity
sa Transmissivityabsorptivity product
j Exergy efciency of radiation
s Stefans constant
3
c
Emmisivity of cover
3
p
Emmisivity of absorber plate
Subscripts
a Ambient
f Fluid (air)
fb Fluid (air) to bottom plate
fp Fluid (air) to absorber plate
g glass
i Inlet
l Lost
o outlet/exit
p Plate
r Rough
s Smooth
S Sun
T Tilted surface
u Useful
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 466
transfer, in order to dene a roughness geometry which gives the
best heat transfer performance for a given ow friction. The use of
articial roughness in solar air heaters owes its origin to several
investigations carried out in connection with the enhancement of
heat transfer in nuclear reactors [10], cooling of turbine blades and
electronic components. As in solar air heater the solar radiation is
absorbed by absorber plate, which is the main heat transfer surface;
therefore, the solar air heaters are modeled as a rectangular
channel having one rough wall and three smooth walls.
Prasad and Mullick [14] recommended protruding wires on the
underside of the absorber plate of an unglazed solar air heater used
for cereal grains drying to improve the heat transfer characteristics
and hence the plate efciency factor.
Prasad and Saini [15] developed the relations to calculate the
average friction factor and Stanton number for articial roughness
of absorber plate by small diameter protrusion wire. They used
these relations to compare the effect of height and pitch of
roughness element on heat transfer and friction factor with already
available experimental data. The friction factor for one side rough
duct is determined by assuming that the total shear force in the one
side rough duct is approximately equal to the combined shear force
from three smooth walls in a four-sided smooth duct and the shear
force fromone rough wall in a four-sided rough duct. They used the
friction similarity law and heatmomentum transfer analogy.
Saini and Saini [16] carried out experimental investigation for
fully developed turbulent ow in a rectangular duct having
expanded metal mesh as articial roughness, and developed
correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor in terms of
geometry of expanded metal mesh.
Karwa et al. [17] carried out experimental investigation, to
develop the correlation of heat transfer and friction, for ow of air
in rectangular ducts with integral and repeated chamfered rib-
roughness on one broad uniformly heated wall, and remaining
walls insulated. They observed that the Stanton number and
friction factor take their maximum values at the chamfer angle
of 15

.
Verma and Prasad [18] developed the heat transfer and friction
factor correlation for roughness elements consisting of small
diameter wires, and evaluated the thermo-hydraulic performance
using the efciency index suggested by Webb and Eckert [20]. The
criterion for efciency index, which is St
r
=St
s
=f
r
=f
s

1=3
, is heat
transfer of roughened duct to smooth wall duct for same pumping
power.
Jaurker et al. [19] developed the correlations for Nusselt number
and friction factor, for rib-grooved articial roughness on one broad
heated wall. They carried out the thermo-hydraulic performance
analysis of air duct (solar air heater), based on efciency index [20],
and concluded that rib-grooved arrangement is better than rib only.
Similar investigations for heat transfer and uid ow charac-
teristics have been carried out by Gupta et al. [21] for transverse
wire roughness; Momin et al. [22] for V shaped ribs; Bhagoria et al.
[23] for wedge shaped rib; Sahu and Bhagoria [24] for broken
transverse ribs; and Layek et al. [25] for chamfered ribgroove
roughness.
Gupta et al. [26] investigated the thermo-hydraulic performance
in terms of effective efciency [27] of solar air heater with rib-
roughened surface by using the heat transfer and friction factor
correlation developed by them. The effective efciency is ratio of
net thermal energy gain to the incident radiation. The effective
efciency takes in account the pump work by subtracting the
equivalent thermal energy fromuseful heat gain by air heater to get
net thermal energy gain. The equivalent thermal energy is the
amount of thermal energy that will be required to produce the
friction power/ pump work after considering the various efcien-
cies (thermal power plant efciency; transmission efciency; mo-
tor efciency; efciency of the pump) of conversion from a typical
thermal power plant to the site of collector installation. Though the
effective efciency takes in account the pump work/equivalent
thermal energy, but it does not distinguish the quality of thermal
energy. The quality of thermal energy required in thermal power
plant is superior than obtained by air heater. For a given duct
roughness geometry they computed the effective efciency by
varying relative roughness height and mass ow rate for different
insolation, an angle of attack 60

, ambient temperature equals to

300 K and wind velocity 1 m/s. They concluded that effective
efciency attains a maximum as ow rate is varied and effective
efciency is found to decrease with roughness height.
Karwa et al. [28] carried out the experimental investigation for
the performance of solar air heaters with chamfered repeated rib-
roughness on the airow side of the absorber plates, and reported
substantial enhancement in thermal efciency over solar air
heaters with smooth absorber plates. They theoretically evaluated
the thermal efciency using correlations [17] and concluded that
these correlations can be utilized with condence for prediction of
the performance of solar air heaters with absorber plates having
integral chamfered rib-roughness. Based on effective efciency,
they reported that at lower Reynolds numbers relative roughness
height should be high while at higher Reynolds numbers (>14,000)
either smooth duct or roughened duct with less relative roughness
height performs better.
Mittal et al. [29] evaluated and compared the effective
efciency, of solar air heaters having different roughness geometry
on absorber plate, for a set of xed system and operating param-
eters. They determined the effective efciency by using the corre-
lations for heat transfer and friction factor developed by various
investigators. They plotted the variation of the effective efciency
with Reynolds number for smooth absorber plate, as well as
roughened absorber plate solar air heaters for different relative
roughness height. They reported that at higher Reynolds numbers
either smooth duct or roughened duct with less relative roughness
height performs better, and reverse for lower Reynolds number.
The Reynolds number for maximum effective efciency was in the
range 10,00014,000 for the set of parameters investigated.
Layek et al. [30] numerically calculated the augmentation
entropy generation number [31] in the duct of solar air heater
having repeated transverse chamfered ribgroove roughness on
one broad wall [25]. They evaluated the entropy generation during
heat exchange between owing air and absorber plate.
It is evident that various investigators have developed correla-
tions for heat transfer and friction factor for solar air heater ducts
having articial roughness of different geometries. Several
researchers carried out the thermo-hydraulic performance evalu-
ation on the basis of efciency index or effective efciency; but the
exergy based performance evaluation of solar air heater duct
having articial roughness on absorber plate has not been reported
so far. Thus the aim of present investigation is to carry out the
performance evaluation of the some selected articial roughness
geometry (Fig. 1) on the basis of exergy analysis.
2.1. Effect of Reynolds number and roughness geometry
on heat transfer and friction characteristics
There are several parameters that characterize the roughness
elements, but for heat-exchanger and solar air heater the most
preferred roughness geometry is repeated rib type, which is
described by the dimensionless parameters viz. relative roughness
height e/d
e
and relative roughness pitch P/e. The friction factor and
Stanton/Nusselt number are function of these dimensionless
parameters, assuming that the rib thickness is small relative to rib
spacing or pitch. Although the repeated rib surface is considered as
roughness geometry, it may also be viewed as a problem in
boundary layer separation and reattachment [9]. The rib creates
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 467
turbulence, by generating the ow separation regions (vortices)
one on each side of the rib, which results in enhancement in heat
transfer as well as friction. Fig. 2 shows the various possible ow
patterns downstream from a rib, as a function of the relative
roughness pitch P/e [9]. Flowseparates at the rib, forms a widening
free shear layer, and reattaches at a distance of 68 times rib-
roughness height downstreamfromthe rib. Reattachment does not
occur for P/e less than about eight except for chamfered rib or rib
groove roughness. The local heat transfer coefcients in the sepa-
rated ow region are larger than those of an undisturbed boundary
layer and wall shear stress is zero at the reattachment point; the
maximum heat transfer occurs in the vicinity of the reattachment
point. A reverse ow boundary layer originates at the reattachment
point and tends toward redevelopment downstream from the
reattachment point. The effect of various parameters of articial
roughness geometry on heat transfer and friction characteristics
based on the literature is given below:
1. Effect of Reynolds number: as the Reynolds number increases,
the friction factor decreases due to the suppression of viscous
sub-layer and approaches a constant value; whereas the
Nusselt number increases monotonously with Reynolds
number.
2. Effect of relative roughness height e/d
e
: the enhancement of
heat transfer coefcient depends on the ow rate and the
relative roughness height. As e/d
e
increases, both the friction
factor and Nusselt number increase. The rate of increase of
average friction factor increases whereas the rate of increase of
average Nusselt number decreases, with the increase of relative
roughness height. At very low Reynolds number the effect of e/
d
e
is insignicant on enhancement of Nusselt number. If the
roughness height is less than thickness of laminar sub-layer
then there will not be any enhancement in heat transfer, hence
the minimum roughness height should be of same order as
thickness of laminar sub-layer at the lowest ow Reynolds
number. The maximum rib height should be such that the n
and ow passage blockage effects are negligible.
3. Rib cross-section: it is reported that by changing the rib cross-
section from rectangular to trapezoidal the friction factor is
reduced; while there is minor effect on reduction of Nusselt
number and this effect disappears at higher values of Reynolds
number.
4. Effect of relative roughness pitch P/e: the behavior has been
explained on the basis of owseparation. For small P/e the ow
which separates after each rib does not reattach before it
reaches the succeeding rib. For larger relative roughness pitch
at a P/e value of about 10 the reattachment point is reached and
a boundary layer begins to grow before the succeeding rib is
encountered. However, enhancement decreases with an
increase in P/e beyond about 10.
5. Effect of angle of attack: the induced form drag is reduced due
to change in angle of attack for ribs from 90

(transverse), and
a better thermal to hydraulic performance is obtained by hav-
ing optimum angle of attack. As the angle of attack decreases,
the friction factor reduces rapidly; however, there is marginal
decrease in Nusselt number with change in angle of attack from
90

to 45

. Both the heat transfer and the friction approach the

smooth wall case as the angle of attack is decreased further. The
two uid vortices immediately upstream and downstream of
a transverse rib are essentially stagnant relative to the
mainstream ow. The span wise secondary ow created by
inclination of the rib, and movement along the rib to
subsequently join the mainstream, is responsible for the
signicant span wise variation of heat transfer coefcient.
The same concept also applies in V shape arrangement of the
ribs and it has been reported that such arrangement enhances
Fig. 1. Roughness geometry investigated by: [a] Saini and Saini [16], [b] Verma and
Prasad [18], [c] Momin et al. [22], [d] Bhagoria et al. [23], [e] Jaurker et al. [19], [f] Layek
et al. [30].
Fig. 2. Flow pattern as a function of relative roughness pitch.
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 468
the heat transfer more. The apex of such rib may be up or
downstream to ow. It can be said, on the basis of ow be-
havior, that both Stanton number and friction factor are higher
for apex down. It may be pointed out that the expanded metal
mesh is a combination of apex up and down V shape ar-
rangement of the ribs.
6. Chamfering of the rib: chamfering of the rib decreases the
reattachment length by deecting the ow and to reattach it
nearer to the rib. The decrease in reattachment length permits
to organize the ribs more closely. Chamfering of the rib also
increases the shedding of vortices generated at the rib top that
results in increase turbulence. The optimum chamfering angle
on the basis of thermodynamically performance has been
reported equal to 1518

. For higher chamfer angle ow

separates from the rib top surface and generates boundary
layer, which decreases the heat transfer. The friction factor
increases monotonously due to the creation of vortices.
7. Combined turbulence promoter: the groove in inter rib space
and nearer the reattachment point of heat transfer surface
induces vortices in and around the groove. These vortices
increase the intensity of turbulence. The optimum relative
roughness pitch is less in comparison to simple ribbed
surface; the reported optimum relative groove position g/P is
about 0.4.
3. Thermodynamic modeling
3.1. Analysis of solar air heater
The collector under consideration consists of a at glass cover
and a at absorber plate with a well insulated parallel bottom plate
forming a passage of high duct aspect ratio through which the air to
be heated ows as shown in Fig. 3. The heat gain by air may be
calculated by following equations
Q
u
A
c
_
S U
l
_
T
pm
T
a
_
A
c
_
s
g
a
p
I
T;c
U
l
_
T
pm
T
a
_
(1)
Q
u
mc
p
T
o
T
i
(2)
Q
u
A
c
F
r
S U
l
T
i
T
a
(3)
where F
r
is collector heat removal factor and is given by
F
r

mc
p
U
l
A
c
_
1 e
_

U
l
AcF
0
mcp
_
_
(4)
The collector efciency factor F
0
is
F
0

_
1
U
l
h
e
_
1
(5)
and the equivalent heat transfer coefcient h
e
is
h
e
h
c;fp

h
r;pb
h
c;f b
_
h
r;pb
h
c;fb
_ (6)
The h
c,fp
and h
c,fb
are heat transfer coefcient due to convec-
tion from absorber plate to owing air, and from bottom plate to
owing air, respectively. The h
r,pb
is heat transfer coefcient due to
radiation from absorber plate to bottom plate.
The mean absorber plate temperature from Eqs. (1) and (3) is
given by
T
pm
T
a

Q
l
U
l
A
c
T
i

Q
u
A
c
F
r
U
l
1 F
r
(7)
where Q
l
SA
c
Q
u
is heat loss from the air heater.
The mean uid temperature is given by
T
fm

1
L
1
_
L1
0
T
f
dx T
i

Q
u
A
c
F
r
U
l
_
1
F
r
F
0
_
(8)
Considering solar air heater (Fig. 3) as a control volume (CV), the
law of exergy balance [2] for this CV can be written as
Ex
i
Ex
c;S
Ex
W
Ex
o
IR (9)
where Ex
i
and Ex
o
are the exergy associated with mass ow of
collector uid entering and leaving the CV; Ex
c;S
I
T;c
A
c
j
S
[32] is
exergy of solar radiation falling on glass cover; Ex
W
is exergy of
work input required to pump the uid through FPSC, and IR is ir-
reversibility or exergy loss of the process. The exergy balance (Eq.
(9)) can be written as
IR Ex
c;S
Ex
o
Ex
i
Ex
W
(10)
The term in the bracket (Eq. (10)) represents the useful
exergy or exergy output rate delivered by the solar collector. As
the Ex
c,S
, exergy of solar radiation falling on glass cover, is
xed for a particular instant; thus minimization of entropy
generation or irreversibility is equivalent to maximization of
exergy output rate delivery of collector. Thus our aim in FPSC
must be to increase the exergy output rate delivered to
collector uid out of the solar radiation/heat absorbed by the
absorber. The useful exergy or exergy output rate Ex
u

delivered by a solar collector using exergy balance equation for

collector uid, ignoring pressure drop/pumping work W
p
or
Ex
W
, is given by
Ex
u
mh
o
T
a
s
o
h
i
T
a
s
i
mh
o
h
i
T
a
s
o
s
i

(11)
For an incompressible uid or perfect gas it can be written as
Ex
u
mc
p
T
o
T
i
T
a
lnT
o
=T
i
Q
u
mc
p
T
a
lnT
o
=T
i

(12)
The Ex
u,p
, actual exergy rate delivered considering pressure drop
of collector uid, is
Ex
u;p
Ex
u
Ex
d;p
(13)
where the exergy destruction due to pressure drop Ex
d,p
is
Ex
d;p

T
a
T
i
W
p
(14)
The W
p
, pump work, is
W
p
mDp=
_
h
pm
r
_
(15)
where h
pm
, the pumpmotor efciency, is taken equal to 0.85.
Fig. 3. Flat plate solar air heater.
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 469
Table 1
Correlations for heat transfer and coefcient of friction
Authors Types of
roughness
Correlations Range of parameters
Nusselt number Coefcient of friction
Saini and
Saini [16]
Expanded
metal mesh
Nu 4:0 10
4
Re
1:22
_
e
de
_
0:625_
s
10e
_
2:22
_
l
10e
_
2:66
exp
_
1:25
_
ln
s
10e
_
2
_
exp
_
0:824
_
ln
l
10e
_
2
_
f 0:815Re
0:361
_
10e
de
_
0:591
_
l
e
_
0:266_
s
10e
_
0:19
e=de : 0:0120:039f0:039g
l=e : 25:071:87f46:87g
s=e : 15:6246:87f25g
Re : 190013; 000
Verma and
Prasad
[18]
Circular
ribs
Nu 0:08596Re
0:723
_
e
de
_
0:072
_
P
e
_
0:054
for e

24
Nu 0:02954Re
0:802
_
e
de
_
0:021
_
P
e
_
0:016
for e

> 24
_
_
_
where e

e
de

f
2
_
Re
f 0:245Re
1:25
_
e
de
_
0:243
_
P
e
_
0:206
e=de : 0:010:03f0:03g
P=e : 1040f10g
Re : 500020; 000
e

: 842f24g
Momin
et al. [22]
V shaped
ribs
Nu 0:067Re
0:888
_
e
de
_
0:424_
a
A
60
_
0:077
exp
_
0:782
_
ln
a
A
60
_
2
_
f 6:266Re
0:425
_
e
de
_
0:565_
a
A
60
_
0:093
exp
_
0:719
_
ln
a
A
60
_
2
_
e=de : 0:020:034f0:034g
P=e : 10
a
A
: 3090

f60

g
Re : 250018; 000
Bhagoria
et al. [23]
Wedge
shaped rib
Nu 1:89 10
4
Re
1:21
_
e
de
_
0:426
_
P
e
_
2:94_
a
R
10
_
0:018
exp
_
0:71
_
ln
P
e
_
2
_
exp
_
1:5
_
ln
a
R
10
_
2
_
f 12:44Re
0:18
_
e
de
_
0:99
_
P
e
_
0:52_
a
R
10
_
0:49
e=de : 0:0150:033f0:033g
P=e : P=e < 12:12f7:57g
P=e > 60:17a
1:0264
R
a
R
: 8; 10; 12 and 15

f10

g
Re : 300018; 000
Jaurker et al.
[19]
Rib-
grooved
Nu 0:002062Re
0:936
_
e
de
_
0:349
_
P
e
_
3:318
exp
_
0:868
_
ln
P
e
_
2
_
exp
_
2:486
_
ln
g
P
_
2
1:406
_
ln
g
P
_
3
_
_
g
P
_
1:108
f 0:001227Re
0:199
_
e
de
_
0:585
_
P
e
_
7:19_
g
P
_
0:645
exp
_
1:854
_
ln
P
e
_
2
_
exp
_
1:513
_
ln
g
P
_
2
0:862
_
ln
g
P
_
3
_
e=de : 0:01810:0363
f0:0363g
P=e : 4:510f6g
g=P : 0:30:7f0:4g
Re : 300021; 000
M
.
K
.
G
u
p
t
a
,
S
.
C
.
K
a
u
s
h
i
k
/
R
e
n
e
w
a
b
l
e
E
n
e
r
g
y
3
4
(
2
0
0
9
)
4
6
5

4
7
6
4
7
0
3.2. Heat transfer and pressure drop
The overall heat loss coefcient U
l
is sum of U
b
, U
s
and U
t
of
which U
b
and U
s
for a particular collector can be regarded as con-
stant while U
t
varies with temperature of absorber plate, number of
glass covers and other parameters. The top heat loss coefcient U
t
is
evaluated empirically [33] by
U
t

_

_
M
_
C
T
pm
__
T
pm
T
a
M f
0
_
0:252

1
h
w
_

_
1

s
_
T
2
pm
T
2
a
_
_
T
pm
T
a
_
1
3
p
0:0425M
_
1 3
p
_
2M f
0
1
3
c
M
_

_
_

_
16
In which f
0
9=h
w
9=h
2
w
T
a
=316:91 0:091M,
C 204:429cos b
0:252
=L
0:24
and the heat transfer coefcient
due to convection at the top of cover due to wind is
h
c;ca
h
w
5:7 3:8V
N
(17)
The overall loss coefcient is given by
U
l
U
b
U
s
U
t
In which U
b

k
i
d
b
and
U
s

L
1
L
2
L
3
k
i
L
1
L
2
d
s
18
The radiation heat transfer coefcient h
r,pb
between absorber
plate and bottom plate is given by
h
r;pb
_
T
pm
T
bm
_

s
_
T
4
pm
T
4
bm
_
_
1
3
p

1
3
b
1
_ (19)
For small temperature difference between T
pm
and T
bm
on ab-
solute scale the above equation can be written as
h
r;pb
y4sT
3
av
=1=3
p
1=3
b
1, where T
av
T
pm
T
bm
=2
and T
av
is takenequal toT
fm
initerative calculationusing the same logic.
For smooth duct the convection heat transfer coefcients be-
tween owing air and absorber plate h
c,fp
, and owing air and
bottom plate h
c,fb
are assumed equal. The following correlation for
air, for fully developed turbulent ow (if length to equivalent di-
ameter ratio exceeds 30) with one side heated and the other side
insulated [34] is appropriate:
Nu
h
c;f p
d
e
k
a
0:0158Re
0:8
(20a)
If the ow is laminar then following correlation by Mercer from
Dufe and Beckman [35] for the case of parallel smooth plates with
constant temperature on one plate and other plate insulated is
appropriate:
Nu
h
c;f p
d
e
k
a
4:9
0:0606
_
Re Pr
d
e
L
1
_
0:5
1 0:0909
_
Re Pr
d
e
L
1
_
0:7
Pr
0:17
(20b)
The characteristic dimension or equivalent diameter of duct is
given by
d
e

2L
2
H
L
2
H
(21)
L
a
y
e
k
e
t
a
l
.
[
3
0
]
C
h
a
m
f
e
r
e
d
r
i
b

g
r
o
o
v
e
N
u

0
:
0
0
2
2
5

R
e

0
:
9
2
_
e
d
e
_
0
:
5
2
_
P e
_
1
:
7
2
_
g P
_

1
:
2
1
a
1
:
2
4
C

e
x
p
_

0
:
4
6
_
l
n
P e
_
2
_
e
x
p
_

0
:
2
2

l
n
a
C

2
_
e
x
p
_

0
:
7
4
_
l
n
g P
_
2
_
f

0
:
0
0
2
4
5

R
e

0
:
1
2
4
_
e
d
e
_
0
:
3
6
5
_
P e
_
4
:
3
2
_
g P
_

1
:
2
4

e
x
p

0
:
0
0
5
a
C
e
x
p

1
:
0
9

l
n
P e

2
e
x
p

0
:
6
8

l
n
g P

_
_
e
=
d
e
:
0
:
0
2
2

0
:
0
4
f
0
:
0
4
g
P
=
e
:
4
:
5

1
0
f
6
g
g
=
P
:
0
:
3

0
:
6
f
0
:
4
g
a
C
:
5

3
0

f
1
8

g
R
e
:
3
0
0
0

2
1
;
0
0
0
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 471
For a particular Reynolds number Re, the velocity of ow is
calculated by
V
mRe
rd
e
(22)
While the mass ow rate is calculated by
m L
2
HVr
mL
2
HRe
2
(23)
The pressure loss Dp through air heater duct is
Dp
4fL
1
V
2
r
2d
e
(24)
If Re rVd
e
=m 2300, i.e. laminar ow, then coefcient of
friction for smooth duct is calculated by
f
16
Re
(25)
otherwise the coefcient of friction f for the turbulent ow in
smooth air duct is calculated from Blasius equation, which is
f 0:0791Re
0:25
(25b)
The correlations developed for heat transfer and friction
factor, for articially roughened solar air heater of some selected
roughness geometries by their investigators are given in Table 1.
The equivalent heat transfer coefcient for roughened solar air
heater is calculated from h
e
k
a
Nu=d
e
, using the Nusselt
number relation of that particular roughness geometry; similarly
the coefcient of friction f is calculated using the relation of that
particular roughness geometry. Table 1 also shows the range of
parameters investigated by the respective investigators. For Re
less than the lowest value of investigation, the correlations for
smooth duct are used even though the duct is roughened. As at
lower Re the variation in Nu with roughness parameters i.e. P/e, e/
d
e
is insignicant, hence, for Re less than the lowest value of
investigation, the heat transfer and coefcient of friction corre-
lation for smooth duct are used. Also for laminar ow and
turbulent ow at low Re, as f does not depend on roughness, thus
as per Nuners law the correlation for smooth duct can be used
even though the duct is roughened.
3.3. Energy efciency, effective efciency and exergy efciency
The energy efciency of solar air heater based on rst law of
thermodynamics is calculated by
h
I

Q
u
I
T;c
A
c
(26)
The effective efciency [27] of solar air heater is calculated by
h
ef

Q
u

_
W
p
=C
f
_
I
T;c
A
c
(27)
The conversion factor C
f
takes in account various efciencies
(thermal to mechanical) and is taken 0.2.
The exergy collection efciency based on second law of
thermodynamics, by taking exergy of sun radiation [32], can be
written as
h
II

Ex
u;p
A
c
I
T;c
j
S

Ex
u;p
A
c
I
T;c
_
1
4
3
_
T
a
T
S
_

1
3
_
T
a
T
S
_
4
_ (28)
4. Numerical calculations
Numerical calculations have been carried out to evaluate the
energy efciency, effective efciency and exergy efciency, for
a collector conguration, system properties and operating condi-
tions. The thermal behavior of articially roughened solar air heater
is similar to that of usual at plate conventional air heater; there-
fore, the usual procedures of calculating the absorbed irradiation
and the heat losses are used. The set of system roughness param-
eter (shown in bracket of Table 1, column-5) for particular rough-
ness geometry, at which thermo-hydraulic behavior has been
reported best, is selected for the analysis.
In order to evaluate the efciencies for a particular Re rst
initial values of T
pm
and T
fm
are assumed according to inlet
temperature of air and various heat transfer coefcients are
calculated; and new values of T
pm
and T
fm
are calculated using Eqs.
(16)(23) and (3)(8). If the calculated new values of T
pm
and T
fm
are different than the previously assumed values then the iteration
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Reynolds number
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
II
x10
ef
I
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Fig. 4. Variation of energy, effective and exergy efciencies with Reynolds number for
wedge shaped roughness geometry.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Reynolds number
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
II
x10
ef
I
Momin et al. (2002)
Fig. 5. Variation of energy, effective and exergy efciencies with Reynolds number for
V shaped roughness geometry.
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 472
is repeated with these new values till the absolute differences of
new value and previous value of mean plate as well as mean uid
temperature are less than or equal to 0.05. Air properties are
determined at T
fm
by interpolation from air properties [36]. The
heat gain and outlet temperature of air are calculated from Eqs. (2)
and (3). The exergy output rate is calculated using the Eqs. (24), (25)
and (12)(15). The various efciencies are evaluated from the Eqs.
(26)(28).
In order to obtain the results numerically, codes are developed
in Matlab-7 using the following xed parameters:
L
1
2 m, L
2
1 m, A
c
2 m
2
, H3.0 cm, K
i
0.04 W/mK,
L 4 cm, d
b
6 cm, d
s
4 cm, 3
p
0.95, 3
c
0.88, 3
b
0.95,
a
p
0.95, s
g
0.88, sa 0.9, b 30

, T

30

C, T
a
30

C,
V
N
1.5 m/s, T
S
5600 K and I
T
1000 W/m
2
.
The performance evaluation has also been carried out for
various values of duct width (L
2
) and duct depth (H).
5. Results and discussion
Figs. 46 show the variation of efciencies (h
I
, h
ef
and h
II
) with
Reynolds number to show the difference in these efciencies. The
variation of h
I
with Re, for various considered geometries (rough or
smooth), is shown in Fig. 7. It is evident from Figs. 47 that the h
I
increases with Re for all type of geometries, and h
I
of any considered
rough surface is always higher than smooth surface. It is also clear
that h
I
of roughened surface, at a Re, depends on ability to create
turbulence. The h
I
, among the considered geometries, in general
increases in the following sequence: smooth surface, circular ribs, V
shaped ribs, wedge shaped rib, expanded metal mesh, rib-grooved,
and chamfered ribgroove. The h
I
of expanded metal mesh geom-
etry becomes greater than h
I
of rib-grooved and chamfered rib
groove geometry for higher values of Re; while at low Re the h
I
of V
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
Reynolds number
I

(
%
)
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 7. Variation of energy efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
x 10
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Reynolds number
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
II
x10
ef
I
Smooth duct
Fig. 6. Variation of energy, effective and exergy efciencies with Reynolds number for
smooth solar air heater duct.
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Reynolds number
e
f

(
%
)
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 8. Variation of effective efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries.
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Reynolds number
e
f

(
%
)
L
2
=0.5m, H=0.03m
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 9. Variation of effective efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries at duct width 0.5 m.
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 473
shaped ribs geometry is more than h
I
of wedge shaped rib
geometry.
It is evident from Figs. 46 that initially the h
I
is nearly equal to
h
ef
, and their difference increases with Re; though (h
I
h
ef
) is not
appreciable up to very high Re.
The variation of h
ef
with Re, for various considered geometries
(rough or smooth), is shown in Fig. 8. It is evident that h
ef
follows
the trend, of variation among various considered geometries,
indicated by variation of h
I
with Re (Fig. 7), up to very high value
(>20,000) of Re. The h
ef
attains maximum, and then decreases
with Re; though this is not clear from Fig. 8 with the taken value
of duct width (L
2
) and duct depth (H). As the frictional pressure
drop/pump work through a duct strongly depends on ow cross-
sectional area, thus the simulation has been done for various
reduced values of L
2
and H; and the variation of h
ef
with Re for
various reduced values of L
2
and H is shown in Figs. 911. It can
be concluded from Figs. 911 that effect, on h
ef
, of reduction in H
is more dominant than reduction in L
2
. The h
ef
, for lower duct
depth, reaches maximum value at reduced value of Re; for values
of Re greater than 12,00014,000 the roughness geometry which
creates less turbulence gives more h
ef
. The trend, of variation
among various considered geometries, for lower value of L
2
and H
is reversed even at low Re as pump work becomes signicant. It is
also evident that at higher Re only circular ribs and V shaped ribs
become effective, as there is no appreciable gain in effective
efciency (for Re 12,00018,000) from other geometries. The
maximum h
ef
of roughened geometries, which creates greater
turbulence, decreases with decrease in duct depth. The h
ef
of
roughened geometries creating greater turbulence becomes less
than that of smooth surface duct at higher Re.
The h
II
(Figs. 46) rst increases, reaches maximum value
corresponding to Re in laminar ow regime (for low inlet tem-
perature of air) and then decreases with Re. The useful heat gain
will be less corresponding to Re in laminar ow regime, thus the
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
Reynolds number
L
2
=0.5m, H=0.03m
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 13. Variation of exergy efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries at duct width 0.5 m.
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
Reynolds number
I
I
x
1
0

(
%
)
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 12. Variation of exergy efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries.
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Reynolds number
e
f

(
%
)
L
2
=0.5m, H=0.02m
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 10. Variation of effective efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries at duct width 0.5 m and duct depth 0.02 m.
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
Reynolds number
e
f

(
%
)
L
2
=0.3m, H=0.02m
Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
Fig. 11. Variation of effective efciency with Reynolds number for various roughness
geometries at duct width 0.3 m and duct depth 0.02 m.
M.K. Gupta, S.C. Kaushik / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 465476 474
ow may be made turbulent at the cost of decrease in h
II
. The h
II
decreases with Re in turbulent ow regime for low inlet tem-
perature of air, as quality of collected heat decreases and pump
work increases.
The variation of h
II
with Re, for various considered geometries
(rough or smooth), is shown in Fig. 12. It is evident that initially h
II
also follows the trend, of variation among various considered
geometries, indicated by variation of h
I
with Re (Fig. 7), but only up
to value of Re around 14,000. The trend, of variation among various
considered geometries, is reversed for value of Re higher than
around 14,000. For higher Re around 20,000 the h
II
of considered
geometries, except smooth duct, circular ribs and V shaped ribs,
approaches zero. The reason for this is that at higher Re the Ex
d,p
approaches Ex
u
due to increase in pumping power requirement.
Figs. 1315 show the variation of h
II
with Re for various reduced
values of L
2
and H. It is also evident fromFigs. 1315 that the h
II
may
be negative at even lower value of Re. The h
II
, for lesser duct depth,
decreases rapidly with Re for wedge shaped rib, expanded metal
mesh, rib-grooved, and chamfered ribgroove i.e. in the order of
ability to create turbulence. The h
II
also follows the trend, of
variation among various considered geometries, as indicated by
Figs. 911; but the trend is reversed at further low value of Re in
comparison to h
ef
trend. The maximum h
II
of roughened geome-
tries, which occurs at lowRe, increases with decrease in duct depth.
The h
II
of roughened geometries, creating greater turbulence, at
higher Re becomes less than that of smooth surface duct.
6. Conclusion
The efciencies are improved by using roughened geometries in
the duct of solar air heater. The h
ef
based criterion suggests to use
the roughened geometries for very large value of Re. The h
II
based
criterion shows that at very large value of Re the h
II
may be negative
or exergy of pump work required exceeds the exergy of heat energy
collected by solar air heater. Thus h
II
provides the meaningful cri-
terion for performance evaluation. There is not a single roughened
geometry which gives best exergetic performance for whole range
of Re. For larger owcross-section area of solar air heater duct along
with low Re the roughened geometry should create more turbu-
lence; while smooth surface, circular ribs and V shaped ribs are
suitable for smaller ow cross-section area of solar air heater duct
and high Re.
Acknowledgement
The rst author gratefully acknowledges Ujjain Engineering
College, Ujjain, M.P. (India) and IIT Delhi (India), for sponsorship
under quality improvement program of government of India.
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0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
x 10
4
-10
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0
5
10
15
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Reynolds number
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I
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(
%
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Saini and Saini (1997)
Verma and Prasad (2000)
Momin et al. (2002)
Bhagoria et al. (2002)
Jaurker et al. (2006)
Layek et al. (2007)
smooth duct
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