Journal Pre-proof

Experimental analysis and comparison of flat plate solar air heater with and without
integrated sensible heat storage

G. Kalaiarasi, R. Velraj, M.N. Vanjeswaran, N. Ganesh Pandian

PII: S0960-1481(19)31988-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.12.116
Reference: RENE 12825

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 7 September 2019

Revised Date: 10 December 2019
Accepted Date: 24 December 2019

Please cite this article as: Kalaiarasi G, Velraj R, Vanjeswaran MN, Ganesh Pandian N, Experimental
analysis and comparison of flat plate solar air heater with and without integrated sensible heat storage,
Renewable Energy (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.12.116.

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 1 Experimental analysis and comparison of flat plate solar air heater with and
2 without integrated sensible heat storage

3 Kalaiarasi Ga,1,∗, Velraj Ra,2 , Vanjeswaran M.Nb,3 , Ganesh Pandian Nc,4

4
a Institute for Energy studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India-600025
5
b Thermal Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India-600025
6
c Assistant Consultant, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Chennai-600096

7 Abstract
8 In the present work, a novel flat plate solar air heater (SAH) has been designed to yield a good outlet air temper-
9 ature irrespective of fluctuations in solar radiation. It was achieved with the help of a specially designed, integrated
10 absorber plate cum storage unit, together acted as a single component. The integrated unit consists of a set of cop-
11 per tubes with black painted copper foil, welded longitudinally on two main header tubes. High quality synthetic
12 oil (Therminol-55) had been contained in those copper tubes, which acted as a sensible heat storage medium. To
13 understand the characteristics of the novel SAH, a comparison study was made with a conventional SAH of similar
14 dimensions experimented without any thermal storage. Both the SAHs were tested for three different mass flow rates
15 (0.017 kg/s, 0.02 kg/s and 0.028 kg/s) at one of the hottest cities in India, Madurai. The results show that the novel
16 SAH had operated at a maximum efficiency of 67.7% when the mass flow rate was 0.028 kg/s, before the solar radi-
17 ation started to decrease around 14:00 hour Indian standard time. It also concluded that sensible heat storage at the
18 absorber plate improves the thermal output, therefore leads to a consistent performance.Thus, the SAH with integrated
19 storage unit performed with better efficiency compared to the conventional SAH with no storage.
20 Keywords: Flat plate solar air heater, Integrated storage unit, Sensible heat storage, Thermal performance analysis.

21 1. Introduction

22 With the recent advances in the economic and industrial sectors in India, the energy demand is rapidly reaching
23 its all-time maximum. The conventional methods of power generation using fossil fuels are not only inadequate,
24 but also leading to environmental pollution. The predominance of fossil fuels in Indian electric power generation
25 leads to 40 percent contribution to the total carbon emissions [1]. So, to meet the growing energy demand with
26 minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, the renewable energy technologies are identified as the best alternative
27 [2, 3]. Moreover, they are pollution-free, naturally available and therefore, the standard of living could be improved.
28 Among the various renewable resources, solar energy is always considered special due to its added benefit of abundant
29 availability around the globe. It could be harvested almost anywhere, avoiding transmission losses [2–4]. Because of
30 its geographical location, India is gifted with an annual solar radiation of 5000 TWh. Utilization of a small fraction
31 of this energy could resolve the entire energy demand in India. Studies on energy demands of the commercial and
32 industrial sectors in India shows that the low and moderate temperature thermal applications are the significant energy
33 consumers, which accounts for 40-50 % of the total thermal energy consumption, which could potentially be replaced
34 with the help of solar thermal technologies [2, 4]. Solar air heaters (SAH) are one of the promising solar thermal

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.:+1-904-704-7237

Email address: gkalaieee@gmail.com (Kalaiarasi G)
1 Doctor of Philosophy
2 Professor
3 Master of Engineering
4 Bachelor of Engineering

Preprint submitted to Elsevier December 27, 2019

35 technologies as they are simpler in design, easy to install and cheaper to operate [4–6]. Unlike solar photo-voltaic, the
36 SAHs produce heated air directly from solar radiation with no complex energy conversion.
37 The main drawback of conventional flat plate SAHs is its poor thermal efficiency [7]. It is mainly because of
38 the low convective heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and the passing air medium, which leads to
39 higher plate temperature and thereby causes thermal losses [6, 8]. Saxena et al. [9] reviewed many literatures on
40 the performance improvement of solar air heating system since 1877. The study covered various factors which are
41 impacting the performance of the SAH such as; geometry, use of extended surface, use of sensible or latent storage
42 media, use of concentrators, solar PV integrated with the heaters and so on. In a flat plate SAH, air outlet temperature
43 of above 60 ◦ C could be possible only with these add-on features [9–11]. Among them, thermal energy storage (TES)
44 is the most commonly preferred method. It has not only improved the thermal output during sunshine hours, but also
45 improved system efficiency and partially supplied the stored energy during poor climatic conditions and off-sunshine
46 hours. Besides, integrating such energy storage in SAH design as one product would reduce the design complexity
47 and cost of the system [12]. The integrated TES is majorly classified into latent heat storage (LHS) and sensible heat
48 storage (SHS) [12, 13]. Many researches are in progress to improve the efficiency with different SAH design and
49 energy storage options [14–32].
50 H.E.S. Fath et al.[14] performed a study on flat plate solar air heater (FP-SAH) with its absorber plate replaced
51 by tubes filled with different thermal storage materials, such as sand, paraffin and Glauber’s salt. From this study, a
52 maximum thermal efficiency of 63.5% was observed for PCM storage. Enibe et al.[15] presented the experimental
53 results of a single glazed, FP-SAH with paraffin wax based LHS. The maximum system efficiency was reached up to
54 50%. Alkilani et al.[16] conducted experiments on single glazed FP-SAH with two different phase change material
55 (PCM) LHS, such as pure paraffin wax and paraffin wax aluminium composite and observed the latter performed better
56 than the former. Krishnanath et al.[17] experimented on a double pass SAH with and without integrated thermal
57 storage(paraffin wax) and compared their performances. The maximum outlet temperature recorded was 55 ◦ C in
58 SAH with LHS. Bouadila et al.[18] experimentally derived the energy and exergy efficiencies of a hybrid flat plate
59 SAH with PCM capsules as LHS in closed and opened cycle mode. The results showed that the energy efficiency
60 varied between 32% and 45%, whereas the exergy efficiency varied between 13% and 25%. Esakkimuthu et al.[19]
61 examined the double pass and v-corrugated flat plate SAH with Inorganic salt (HS 58) as LHS. The charging and
62 discharging characteristics of the storage unit for different mass flow rates was analyzed. The maximum thermal
63 efficiency was observed as 60 %. Charvat et al.[20] conducted experiments in a lab environment, considering an
64 electric air heater as SAH with Rubitherm (RT42) contained in 100 aluminium panels as LHS. It produced a maximum
65 outlet air temperature of 57 ◦ C. Tyagi et al.[21] performed a study on a FP-SAH with PCM filled in evacuated tubes.
66 Both, paraffin wax (latent heat) and hytherm oil (Sensible heat) was used as thermal storage medium. The comparison
67 of the results showed that SAH with paraffin wax showed better performance than hytherm oil. The thermal efficiency
68 seems to be improved from 20% to 53%. Bhagat et al.[33] has conducted a numerical study on the transient response
69 of packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTES) in removing fluctuations in the heat transfer fluid
70 (HTF) temperature during the charging and discharging period. It is found that the ability of the LHTES to store
71 and release energy is significantly improved by increasing mass flow rate and inlet charging temperature. SunilRaj
72 et al.[34] has conducted an experimental study on a solar air heater with V-trough solar thermal collector embedded
73 with Phase Change Materials (PCM) blended Al2 O3 nano materials with fill ratio of 0.90 and a drying chamber. The
74 thermal efficiency of the air heater was observed to be varied from 12% to 65% per day in this study.
75 From the literature on SAH with integrated LHS, it is evident that LHS are suitable for long term heat storage.
76 They act as energy supply during off sunshine hours efficiently. Apart from the benefits of yielding higher and more
77 stable thermal output, the latent heat storage also has some limitations. The container should able to withstand the
78 volume and pressure variations and the corrosion during the phase change happens. Besides the PCM are costlier
79 (material and encapsulation cost) and instable because of chemical decomposition. Considering the practical limits
80 of LHS, the SHS could be better option as an alternative energy storage for air heating system. On comparing the
81 charging and discharging cycles, the LHS materials have longer cycle duration compared to SHS[22]. So, the SHS
82 acts as a temporary heat storage for solar heating system . Though it could not yield a stable thermal output as high
83 as latent heat storage, it has other benefits, including easy design with installation, cheaper cost, and no need for any
84 special arrangement.
85 Several researchers are still focusing in optimal usage of integrated SHS for solar drying applications. Sodha
86 et al. [23] experimented a SAH with glazed and blackened rectangular metallic tray filled with water. The air was
2
 87 allowed to pass underside of this tray, exchanging heat stored. It yielded an outlet temperature ranged from 33◦ C to
88 61◦ C. Bhargawa et al.[24] theoretically and experimentally investigated a double glazed SAH in series with rock bed
89 collector cum storage unit. The outlet air temperature of the heater reached up to 46◦ C. Sharma et al.[25] presented
90 the experimental results of a double pass, FP-SAH with packed bed (blackened wire screen matrices) collector, which
91 improved the system efficiency up to 61%. Chauhan et al.[26] conducted a comparison analysis of performance of
92 a coriander drier coupled to SAH and SAH cum rock bed storage. The drier with rock bed storage showed better
93 efficiency with decrease in drying rate. Enein et al.[27] experimentally compared the performance of a single pass,
94 FP-SAH with three different storage material, such as sand, granite and water. The system performed better when
95 using sand compared to granite and water. El-Sebaii et al.[28] conducted a study on a double glass, double pass SAH
96 with limestone and gravel mixture as packed bed sensible thermal storage. The thermal performances of the SAH were
97 compared without and with the packed bed, either under or above the absorber plate. The maximum thermal efficiency
98 observed from this study was 80%. Prasad et al.[29] experimented a double glazed FP-SAH with packed bed wire
99 mesh as a sensible packed bed thermal storage. The performance evaluation showed an improvement in the thermal
100 efficiency (53.3% - 68.5%) compared with conventional SAH. Saravanakumar et al.[30] experimentally analyzed a
101 FP-SAH with various SHS materials especially for vegetable drying purpose. Gravel with iron scraps was noted as a
102 better sensible heat storage among others. With this storage, the thermal efficiency of the system found to be increased
103 from 10 to 20%. Aissa et al.[31] conducted an experimental study on a single glazed hybrid FP-SAH, with granite
104 stone as a SHS using forced convection. From the results the exit air temperature was observed 10-25 ◦ C greater than
105 ambient temperature. Saxena et al.[32] presented the experiment result of a novel flat plate hybrid SAH with integrated
106 sensible thermal storage (mixture of desert sand and granular carbon in the ration of 4:6). The results showed that
107 the novel SAH performed better than the conventional SAH. The thermal efficiency was improved from 18.43 % to
108 20.78 % with natural convection and 52.21 % to 80.5% with forced convection. Wang et al. [35] experimented the
109 performance of solar air heater with an integrated latent heat storage and flat micro heat pipe arrays to demonstrate its
110 feasibility for energy storage and air heating. The integrative device exhibited 59% and 91.6% efficiencies for solar air
111 charging and discharging at 393 and 344 W power, respectively. Lakshmi et al. [36] has conducted an experiment on
112 energy and exergy analysis of solar air heater with gravel as sensible heat storage. From this experiment, the average
113 daily thermal efficiency and exergy of flat plate solar air heater without storage were 8.5% and 12.2%, respectively,
114 while trapezoidal corrugated absorber with sensible heat storage material shows the energy and exergy efficiency of
115 36.6% and 12.56%, respectively. Ojike et al. [37] demonstrated the solar air heaters with different storage medium
116 such as palm oil and paraffin wax. The peak cumulative efficiencies were calculated as 57.3% and 46%, respectively.
117 The mean efficiencies were calculated as 38.4% and 41%, respectively. This study clearly depicts that the palm oil
118 stored system is a great substitute for the system with paraffin wax which is nonrenewable medium. Murali et al. [38]
119 has conducted an experimental investigation on solar-LPG hybrid dryer for shrimp drying, with water as sensible heat
120 storage. The study showed a maximum solar collector water outlet temperature of 73.5◦ C was observed at 01:30 p.m.
121 The solar system with water as SHS supplied 73.93% of the energy requirement of the hybrid dryer.
122 Over the past decades, a literature gap is remained in the field of solar air heating system with integrated SHS
123 using various synthetic oil mixtures. It is a field that needs more exploration with different climatic conditions. In the
124 current work, a novel flat plate SAH is designed and experimented. It could perform with improved thermal efficiency
125 for an optimal mass flow rate without compromising the conventional simpler design benefits. It is achieved with
126 the help of a high quality synthetic oil called Therminol-55 which acts as a sensible heat storage medium [39]. The
127 synthetic oil is contained in a set of the nine copper tubes, attached to the black painted copper fins act as an integrated
128 absorber plate cum storage unit. It helps in improving the heat absorption rate and exchange rate of the energy to the
129 passing air medium effectively irrespective of poor climatic conditions. To further understand the characteristics of
130 the novel design, a conventional SAH without storage unit is fabricated with similar dimensions and tested under same
131 climatic condition. A series of experiments were conducted with different mass flow rates in Madurai geographical
132 location for the first time, one of the hottest cities in India. The thermal performance of novel SAH with integrated
133 storage unit (type-II) is compared with conventional SAH without thermal storage (type-I). A significant improvement
134 in the thermal efficiency is observed in case of the novel design when compared with the conventional heater. With
135 the optimal incident angle and mass flow rate, the type-II SAH operated with better efficiency than type- I SAH. Thus
136 it will extend the scope of the SAH to more thermal applications.

3
 Nomenclature

α Absorptance of absorber plate T out−2 Collector outlet air temperature of type-II

ṁ Mass flow rate of air (kg/s) SAH (◦ C)
η Thermal efficiency of Solar Air Heater (%) To Collector outlet air temperature (◦ C)
τ Transmittance of glass cover T top−2 Top glass temperature of type-II SAH (◦ C)
Ac Collector aperture area (m2 ) UL Collector total loss coefficient (W/m2 K)
Cp Specific heat of air (J/kgK)
X1 ,..,Xn Uncertainty factors
l
F Collector efficiency factor
Xρ Uncertainty in air density
FR Heat removal factor of solar collector
XD Uncertainty in air duct cross sectional area
IT h Threshold level radiation of collector (W/m2 )
IT Radiation over tilted surface (W/m2 ) XI Uncertainty in solar insolation
2 XT Uncertainty in air temperature measurement
QU Useful energy gain of collector (W/m )
T abs−1 Absorber plate temperature of type-I SAH Xt Uncertainty in time measurement
(◦ C)
XV Uncertainty in air velocity
T abs−2 Absorber plate temperature of type-II SAH
(◦ C) Xṁ Uncertainty in air mass flow rate
T abs Absorber plate temperature (◦ C) Xη Uncertainty in energy efficiency
◦
T amb Ambient temperature ( C) XAc Uncertainty in absorber plate surface area
T bot−2 Bottom sheet temperature of type-II SAH XC p Uncertainty in air specific heat capacity
(◦ C)
X Qu Uncertainty in useful energy gain
Ti Collector inlet air temperature (◦ C)
SAH Solar Air Heater
T out−1 Collector outlet air temperature of type-I
SAH (◦ C) t1, t2 Time intervals (s)

137 2. Experimental setup

138 A cross sectional view of conventional (type-I) and novel (type-II) SAHs are shown in the Fig. (1) and Fig. (2).
139 The dimensions of the solar heaters are 2 m x 1 m x 0.180 m and fabricated using 12 mm thick plywood box. The
140 type-I solar collector consists of a black coated aluminium sheet of thickness 0.4 mm as an absorber plate without any
141 packed bed storage, whereas the type-II collector consists of an integrated absorber cum sensible heat storage unit (a
142 set of copper tubes with copper fins attached together) as shown in Fig. (2). The schematic view of complete setup of
143 type-II SAH with dimensions is shown in the Fig. (3). To enhance the absorption of solar radiation, a selective coating
144 of black chrome is painted over the absorber plate. The copper fins of the type-II SAH are of 0.4 mm thickness; they
145 are attached to copper tubes of 10 mm diameter and 0.4 mm wall thickness. Each copper fins is welded to its adjacent
146 fins, forms the absorber plate and maintains a stagnate air layer on top of it. A set of nine such copper fin-copper
147 tube structures are equispaced in parallel and welded at both the ends to main copper header tubes. It has the wall
148 thickness of 0.4 mm and the diameter of 25 mm. These copper tubes are filled with the sensible heat storage medium,
149 a high quality synthetic oil called Therminol-55. It acts as a buffer and helps to achieve better temperature profile,
150 irrespective of the radiation fluctuations. Both the absorber plate and the copper tubes are painted black to maximize
151 the heat absorption. As the absorber plate material varies between type-I & type-II SAHs, the significant impact on
152 their thermal performance has been studied under same operating conditions. The Table. (1) provides the details of
153 the type-I and type-II SAH design parameters and also the property of the synthetic oil, Therminol-55.
154 To reduce the conductive heat losses, 50 mm thick rock wool layer with a density of 48 kg/Cu.m is filled at the

4
 Fig. 1: Cross sectional view of type-I SAH

Fig. 2: Cross sectional view of type-II SAH

155 bottom and lateral sides of the collector. To reduce convective heat losses and solar radiation reflection, a 4 mm thick
156 toughened clear glass is placed, 30 mm above the absorber plate on both the SAHs (type-I & II).Thus, the optical
157 properties remain the same for both the SAHs. Air is passed below the absorber unit uniformly using a blower. The
158 dimensions of the air duct were 2 m x 1 m x 0.1 m. A rectangular conical shaped inlet and exit section made up of GI
159 sheet is used to maintain a uniform air distribution inside the heater. A 3-speed, 0.5 HP blower is used to circulate the
160 air through the duct. It is connected to the inlet with a gate valve. The gate valve is used to control the air flow rate,
161 which could be further controlled with the blower regulator. The entire setup is mounted on an iron frame with a tilt
162 angle of 12◦ facing towards south side. The Fig. (4) and Fig. (5) shows the integrated absorber cum storage unit of the
163 type-II SAH with a set of copper tubes at the bottom.
164 A high quality synthetic oil (Therminol-55), comprised of synthetic hydrocarbon mixtures is used as a sensible
165 heat storage medium. It is designed to work in non-pressurized, indirect heating systems. It stores excessive heat
166 energy which then acts as a backup source during any fluctuations in the solar radiation. The properties of Therminol-
167 55, such as higher boiling temperature and high flash point, make it a suitable indirect heating medium with no need
168 for complex solar collector designs. It could maintain the atmospheric pressure up to its boiling temperature of 300
◦
169 C, which is far higher than the maximum operating temperature of the type-II SAH. Such high thermal stability of
170 therminol-55 enables the SAH to operate with simple design and no need for any pressure regulators. It also covers
171 other benefits, such as minimum investment (capital, operational and maintenance)and so on. Moreover, the copper
172 tubular structures act as longitudinal fins in the air channel, which help in increasing the air flow contact surface area
173 and heat transfer rate.
174 The air velocity and in turn the mass flow rate was measured using testo-425 hot-wire anemometer. To measure the

5
 Fig. 3: Schematic view of the type-II SAH

Fig. 4: Experimental setup of type-I and type-II SAH Fig. 5: Air channel and integrated absorber-cum-SHS of type-II
SAH

175 temperature distribution at different state points, K-type thermocouples, made of Nickel-Chromium with a temperature
176 range of -270 to 1,260 ◦ C were used. There were ten such thermocouples used in each of the systems (type-I & type-
177 II) to measure the temperature at different state points (locations). In both the SAHs, one sensor was placed at the air
178 channel inlet and three sensors were placed to measure the outlet temperature at different locations. Similarly, another
179 set of four thermocouples was used to measure the temperature of the absorber plate at various points including the
180 inlet and outlet section. The outputs from all the sensors were connected to a 34972A Agilent data logger, which
181 in turn stored the measurements to a computer. SP-110 model apogee pyranometer was used to measure the solar
182 irradiation falling over the experimental setup. It was carefully mounted to prevent any shadows or reflected radiations
183 fall on it.

184 3. Energy Analysis

185 Energy analysis is an essential tool to understand the basic design & performance of any thermal system. The 1st
186 law of thermodynamic efficiency has been calculated by subjecting the measured readings from the experiment. It is

6
 Table 1: Design parameters of type-I & type-II SAHs

Specification of the Solar Air Values

Heater Components

Collector (Type-I&II)
Dimension 2 m x 1 m x 0.180 m
Tilt angle 12◦ (South Facing)
Collector top glazing 4 mm thick toughened clear glass
Glass area 2 m2
Absorber plate Length - 2 m Width - 0.96 m
Bottom Insulation 50 mm thick rockwool
Side Insulation 20 mm thick rockwool
Storage unit (Type-II)
Copper pipe inner diameter 10 mm
Copper pipe outer diameter 10.8 mm
Pipe Length 1.8 m
Total no. of pipes 9
Copper Header pipe diameter 25 mm
Header Pipe Length 1m
Volume of Therminol oil filled 2.54 Liter
Properties of Therminol 55
Optimum Use Range -25 ◦ C to 315 ◦ C

187 defined as the ratio of the useful thermal gain to the total incident solar radiation over the collector area, averaged for
188 the same interval, which is expressed by Eqn. (1) [6].

R t2
ṁC p (T o − T i )dt
η= t1
R t2 (1)
Ac t1 IT dt

In steady state, thermal performance of solar Air heater is expressed by the Hottel-Whillier-Bliss equation [Eqn. (2)].

QU (T i − T o )
η= = FR (τα) − FR U L (2)
Ac IT IT
where
" −Ac U L F l
#
ṁC p
FR = 1 − e ṁC p (3)
Ac U L

From Eqn. (1) and Eqn. (2), the rise in the temperature of the air can be expressed as,
Ac FR (τα)IT Ac FR (T i − T amb )U L
(T o − T i ) = − (4)
ṁC p ṁC p

7
 Ac FR (τα)IT Ac FR (τα)IT h
(T o − T i ) = − (5)
ṁC p ṁC p

where
(T i − T amb )
IT h = U L (6)
τα
189 The temperature rise equation [Eqn. (5)] is helpful to design an air collector for the given meteorological condition.

190 4. Experimental Procedure

191 To understand the impact of various parameters over the thermal performance, experiments were conducted on
192 both the type-I and type-II SAHs at same test location for three different mass flow rates. All the tests were conducted
193 at Madurai climatic condition (9◦ 9’ N latitude 78◦ 1’ E longitude), India. It ensures an identical meteorological
194 condition and helps in precise comparison of the results. Considering the geographical location, the collector was
195 inclined towards the south side at an angle of 12◦ to receive maximum solar radiation. The mass flow rate was
196 adjusted and kept uniform with the help of regulators and gate valve. To warm-up the collectors, they were operated
197 for at-least one hour before tests were started. The experiments were conducted during the month of June, from 10:00
198 hour till evening 18:00 hour Indian standard time (IST). The experimental readings of three sunny days with clear
199 sky condition were taken for the analysis. Parameters such as inlet, outlet and intermediate temperature of both air
200 channel and absorber plate, mass flow rate of air and solar radiation were recorded. The measurements from all the
201 sensors were monitored and recorded for every 15 minutes using the data logger connected to a computer.

202 5. Uncertainty Analysis

Table 2: Measurement of Uncertainty

Parameter Error Limits

Uncertainty in the temperature measurement
Collector inlet temperature ±1◦ C
Collector outlet temperature ±1◦ C
Absorber surface temperature ±1◦ C
Ambient air temperature ±1◦ C

Uncertainty in time measurement of temperature values ±1 min

Uncertainty in the air velocity measurement ±0.03 m/s
Uncertainty in the measurement of solar energy ±5 %
Uncertainty in the measurement of pressure loss ±0.03 psi
Uncertainty in reading values of table ±1-2 %

203 Uncertainty in experiments could be categorized into two types, one from direct measurements and the other from
204 indirect derivations. The direct measurements include the errors in the measurement of mass flow rate, temperature,
205 pressure and solar radiation whereas the indirect uncertainty includes the deviations of the energy and exergy efficien-
206 cies. Uncertainty occurs mainly due to the choice of measuring instrument, its calibration, experimental condition,
207 observation of readings, surrounding and test plan. The readings from the experiment were measured and recorded

8
208 with the help of suitable instruments and their uncertainties are listed in Table. (2). Denoting the relative uncertainties
209 in the individual factors as Xn , the total uncertainty could be represented as in Eqn. (7).

1
W = [(X1 )2 + (X2 )2 + ......(Xn )2 ] 2 (7)

210

211 5.1. Uncertainty in Mass Flow Rate (Xṁ )

212 The mass flow rate of air is measured considering the cross sectional area of the flow, the density of air and the
213 velocity of air. The errors in the measurement of the mass flow rate of air are represented in Eqn. (8).

1 1
Xṁ = [(XD )2 + (Xρ )2 + (XV )2 ] 2 = [(0.025)2 + (0)2 + (0.05)2 ] 2 = 0.056 = 5.6% (8)

214

215 5.2. Uncertainty in Useful Energy Gain (XQu )

216 The cumulative heat energy gain is derived with the help of air mass flow rate, air specific heat capacity, difference
217 in the air inlet and outlet temperature with respect to the overall test duration. Hence, the uncertainty in the energy
218 gain can be computed as per Eqn. (9).

1 1
XQu = [(Xṁ )2 + (XC p )2 + (XT )2 + (Xt )2 ] 2 = [(0.056)2 + (0)2 + (0.0075)2 + (0.00167)2 ] 2 = 0.0565 = 5.65% (9)

219

220 5.3. Uncertainty in Energy Efficiency (Xη )

221 Collector efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful energy gain to the amount of solar insolation absorbed in
222 the surface area of the absorber plate. Therefore, the uncertainty in collector efficiency can be represented as per
223 Eqn. (10).

1 1
Xη = [(XQu )2 + (XAc )2 + (XI )2 ] 2 = [(0.0565)2 + (0)2 + (0.005)2 +] 2 = 0.0754 = 7.54% (10)

224

225 6. Results and Discussion

226 The similar dimensional SAHs (type-I and type-II) were experimentally analyzed for their thermal performance
227 with three different mass flow rates, such as 0.017 kg/s, 0.02 kg/s and 0.028 kg/s. They were tested in Madurai climatic
228 conditions during the summer months, from 25th May to 7th June with clear sky condition. They were installed at
229 an inclination of 12◦ facing the south side. Solar radiation intensity, anemometer and temperature readings were
230 observed and recorded for every 15 minutes, throughout the entire test period (10:00 - 18:00 h IST). The graphs
231 Fig. (7), Fig. (9) and Fig. (11) show the variation in the ambient temperature between 32 ◦ C and 41 ◦ C with the
232 maximum value reached around 13:00 h. On computing the mean solar intensity for each day of the experiments(2nd ,
233 3rd and 5th of June month), the values were found to be in the narrow range of 573 - 652 W/m2 . It shows that almost
234 a stable solar radiation was received during each day of the experiment.
235 During the first day of the experimental study (2nd June), both the type-I and type-II solar air heaters were oper-
236 ated under forced convection with the mass flow rate of 0.028 kg/s. Figure. (6) depicts the characteristics of average
237 solar radiation intensity and other temperature profiles, including ambient, bottom plate, absorber and top glass tem-
238 peratures of both type-I and type-II SAHs with respect to time. At the beginning of the experiments, the ambient
239 temperature was observed as 32 ◦ C with 518 W/m2 of solar intensity and ended at 33 ◦ C with 52 W/m2 at 18:00 h. It
9
 Fig. 6: Temperature variations in type-I absorber plate & different layers of type-II SAH @ ṁ = 0.028 kg/s

240 was observed that the highest solar radiation received was 895 W/m2 at 12:45 hr. The daily mean solar intensity and
241 ambient temperature were computed as 573 W/m2 and 36.5 ◦ C.
242 From the Fig. (6), it was found that the absorber plate is the hottest part in both the air heaters and it reached above
243 100 ◦ C in type-II and above 65 ◦ C in type-I during the experiment. For type-II system, it was recorded as 138 ◦ C
244 at morning 10:00 h and 113 ◦ C at evening 18:00 h. The absorber plate temperature increased with increasing solar
245 intensity with respect to time and reached its peak values of 139.9 ◦ C, 141 ◦ C and 142.5 ◦ C at 11:30 h, 12:45 h and
246 13:45 h respectively. With the help of the integrated SHS unit, the absorber plate maintained its temperature till 16:15
247 h even after the solar radiation decreased gradually beyond 13:45 h. So it could extend its operating hours unlike
248 type-I heater. In case of type-I SAH, the absorber plate reached its peak temperature of 80.5 ◦ C, 81.1 ◦ C and 81.3 ◦ C
249 at 12:00 h, 12:45 h and 13:00 h. The daily average of the absorber plate temperature of type-I and type-II systems
250 were calculated as 67.4 ◦ C and 132 ◦ C respectively. Also, the graph illustrates the variations of top glass and bottom
251 sheet temperature whose daily average values were 47 ◦ C and 43 ◦ C respectively.
252 The Fig. (7) shows the hourly variations in inlet and outlet temperature of air heaters (type-I, type-II) for the mass
253 flow rate of 0.028 kg/s. It mainly compares the exit air temperature of both the systems which was closely varied with
254 the surface temperature of the absorber unit. It was observed that at noon 12:45 h, the exit temperatures of both the
255 type-I and type-II systems were reaching their peak value of 63.5 ◦ C and 81.7 ◦ C respectively. As there was no energy
256 storage in type-I SAH, the maximum temperature reached by the air was comparatively less than type-II. During the
257 evening hours, the type-I SAH showed a higher downfall rate in the outlet temperature, whereas the type-II SAH
258 maintained it in a better way with the help of storage. The daily average outlet temperatures of type-I and type-II were
259 calculated as 55.7 ◦ C and 71.6 ◦ C respectively.
260 The Fig. (8) shows the hourly variations in thermal efficiency of type-I and type-II for the mass flow rate of 0.028
261 kg/s. The thermal efficiency of type-I SAH increased as the time increases and attained its peak value around noon
262 and decreased gradually towards late evening hours. On the other hand, the efficiency of the type-II system reached
263 its first peak around noon and the second peak towards the evening hours as the solar intensity decreased steeply. It
264 is because of the thermal input supplied by the storage unit. Thus, the type-II SAH not only aided in the efficiency
265 improvement, but also ensured the supply of hot air for a comparably extended duration than type-I heater.

10
Fig. 7: Thermal performance comparisons of type-I & type-II SAH Fig. 8: Hourly variations in thermal efficiency of type-I & type-II
@ ṁ = 0.028 kg/s SAH @ ṁ = 0.028 kg/s

Fig. 9: Thermal performance comparison of type-I & type-II SAH Fig. 10: Hourly variations in thermal efficiency of type-I & type-II
@ ṁ = 0.020 kg/s SAH @ ṁ = 0.020 kg/s

11
 Table 3: Performance calculation of type-I & II SAH on 2nd June (ṁ=0.028 kg/S)

Type-I Type-II
Solar Ambient Inlet Air Outlet Outlet Input Output Output Stored Type-I Type-II
Time Intensity Temp Temp Air Temp Air Temp Energy Energy-I Energy-II Energy-II Efficiency Efficiency
Hours I T a (K) T i (K) T o1 (K) T o2 (K) Qc (kJ) Qo1 (kJ) Qo2 (kJ) Q s2 (kJ) ηI (%) ηII (%)
(W/m2 )
10:00 518.39 32.619 35.619 43.03 57.05 1.03678 0.20770 0.60166 0.4931 20.0332 58.0315
12

11:00 788.13 34.899 37.899 60.29 73.50 1.57625 0.63019 1.00181 0.4418 39.9805 63.5564
12:00 853.85 36.515 39.515 63.38 76.58 1.70771 0.67156 1.04301 0.4564 39.3253 61.0766
13:00 818.75 40.198 43.198 63.43 80.06 1.63750 0.56955 1.03561 0.469 34.7819 63.2432
14:00 695.91 39.952 42.952 61.10 78.07 1.39182 0.51088 0.98625 0.4632 36.7059 70.8603
15:00 573.57 37.437 40.437 58.84 80.05 1.14713 0.51800 1.11330 0.4757 45.1563 97.0511
16:00 476.01 35.564 38.564 54.25 76.08 0.952 0.44148 1.05344 0.4952 46.3748 110.6564
17:00 233.04 35.012 38.012 49.24 57.05 0.466 0.33582 0.53432 0.3671 72.065 114.6614
18:00 51.12 33.471 36.471 38.04 57.01 0.10223 0.04303 0.57769 0.3677 42.0848 565.0477
266 The Table. (3) depicts the energy efficiency calculation of type-I&II SAHs from the data collected on 2nd of June.
267 For a detailed thermal analysis, the experiments were further conducted for two different mass flow rates, i.e. 0.02
268 kg/s and 0.017 kg/s, on 3rd and 5th of June month. Figures. (9) to (12) show the hourly variations in temperatures and
269 efficiency of type-I and type-II systems for the other two mass flow rates. On comparing the outlet air temperature
270 of the SAHs, the value of type-II heater was always observed higher than type-I. Consequently, the efficiency of
271 the type-I heater was found to be lesser than type-II in all the mass flow rates. From the Fig. (10), during morning
272 hours, the efficiencies of type-I and type-II air heaters were observed to be 22 - 32% and 32-54% respectively. After
273 12:30 noon to 17:00 evening hours, the efficiency of the type-I heater was in the range of 29-40% whereas the type-II
274 efficiency was in the range of 60-70 %. The Fig. (12) shows the hourly variations of the efficiencies at the mass flow
275 rate of 0.017 kg/s. It shows the range of efficiency during the morning hours as 10-20% in case of type-I and 30-49%
276 in case of type-II. During the afternoon hours, the efficiency was recorded in the range of 15-30% for type-I and above
277 40% for type-II SAH. The steep increase in the efficiency of the type-II air heater is because of energy storage, which
278 stored the excess energy at the morning hours and released them during evening hours.

Fig. 11: Thermal performance comparison of type-I & type-II SAH Fig. 12: Hourly variations in thermal efficiency of type-I & type-II
@ ṁ = 0.017 kg/s SAH @ ṁ = 0.017 kg/s

279 The Fig. (13) shows the comparison of outlet air temperatures of type-II system for three different mass flow rates.
280 For the mass flow rates 0.028 kg/s, 0.02 kg/s and 0.017 kg/s, the maximum outlet air temperatures observed were 81.7
◦
281 C, 90 ◦ C and 97 ◦ C, respectively. Similarly, the average daily outlet temperatures were recorded to be 71.6 ◦ C, 77.6
◦
282 C and 82.5 ◦ C, respectively.
283 It could be noted that the outlet air temperature was increased with decreasing mass flow rates. This is because
284 the travel time of the air inside the duct was longer at lower mass flow rates compared to higher rates. In case of lower
285 mass flow rates, the convective heat transfer coefficient between the air and the absorber plate has a lower order of
286 values which in turn could lead to higher absorber plate temperature. The higher absorber plate temperature could
287 cause top heat losses due to convection and radiation. Hence, the optimal mass flow rate is necessary to achieve the
288 better efficiency of the system. Besides, the increased surface area and roughness due to the presence of parallel
289 copper tubes helps in improving the heat transfer ratio and thereby limits the heat loss. The Fig. (14) shows the hourly
290 variations of thermal efficiencies of the type-II system for three different mass flow rates. It mainly compares the
291 thermal efficiency for three different mass flow rates from 0.028 kg/s, 0.02 kg/s and 0.017 kg/s. The thermal efficiency
292 of solar air heater was calculated from the Eqn. (1). It increases with increasing solar intensity and mass flow rate as
293 a function of time. The efficiency of the mass flow rate 0.028 kg/s are higher than other two lower mass flow rates.
294 From 10:00 h to 14:00 h, the average highest thermal efficiency at a solar intensity of 797.5 W/m2 with the mass flow
295 rate of 0.017 kg/s was 48.3%. On the other hand, for the mass flow rates of 0.02 kg/s and 0.028 kg/s, the average
296 highest thermal efficiency was found to be 52.8% and 70.8% respectively during the testing interval of 10:00 h to
297 14:00 h. The efficiency of the system at mass flow rate, 0.028 kg/s is higher than the other mass flow rates by 22 -
298 28% depending on the air flow rate and solar intensity.Beyond the sunshine hours of 17:00 h, the thermal efficiencies
299 were observed to be more than 100 % in case of both type-I & II SAH. In case of conventional SAH, the reason
300 for higher efficiency post sunshine hours is due to the presence of residual heat in the absorber plate, which helps
13
 Fig. 13: Comparison of outlet air temperature of type-II SAH for Fig. 14: Variations in efficiency of type-II SAH for different mass
different mass flow rates flow rates

301 the system to operate without significant solar input until the thermal equilibrium is reached. The same reason also
302 justifies the higher efficiency in case of type-II SAH post 18:00 h, but only the efficiency was maintained greater than
303 100 % for longer duration due to the presence of thermal storage.

304 7. Conclusion

305 This study, conducted the experiments on two types of SAHs (type-I and type-II) and evaluated their performance.
306 The tests were conducted for different mass flow rates, ranging from 0.017 kg/s to 0.028 kg/s. It was found that the
307 efficiency of solar air heaters depends on the solar radiation, mass flow rate, geometry of collector. The performance of
308 both the air heaters were compared and analyzed. It revealed that the thermal output of the type-II SAH was recorded
309 higher in all the test cases compared to the type-I SAH. The thermal efficiency increased with increasing mass flow
310 rates from 0.017 kg/s to 0.028 kg/s. The type-II heater yielded a maximum thermal efficiency of 70.8% for the mass
311 flow rate of 0.028 kg/s at 14:00 h IST before the solar radiation starts to fall down. Because of energy storage, the
312 outlet air temperature of type-II heater was maintained at a higher value even after the sunshine hours. But in case
313 of type-I heater, it dropped with decreasing solar radiation with respect to time. For both types of air heaters, it was
314 found that the outlet temperature increased with decreasing mass flow rate. It is because the working fluid (air) got
315 more time to extract heat energy compared to the higher mass flow rates.From the thermal efficiency graphs, it could
316 be noted that type-II heater produced better output in all the three mass flow rates compared to type-I. With the help
317 of the storage unit, the type-II air heater withstood the fluctuations in solar radiations from not impacting the output.
318 Thus, it maintained the outlet temperature even during late evening hours and led to higher efficiency.
319 From the findings, the study concludes that SAH with energy storage is an effective design to yield a higher and
320 more stable output compared to conventional heater. The usage of synthetic oil as a sensible heat storage medium was
321 proven to be effective. The study will be further carried out with different synthetic oils available in the market and
322 their performance will be observed in future works.

323 Acknowledgement

324 The authors wish to thank Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), India for their financial support for
325 this research.

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15
 Author Name CRediT
Kalaiarasi G Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation
Velraj R Supervision, Resources
Vanjeswaran M.N Formal analysis, Project administration
Ganesh Pandian N Software, Writing - Original Draft, Writing- Reviewing and Editing
Highlights:

• New design of the FP-SAH with Therminol-55 as SHS is presented experimentally.

• Three mass flow rates (0.017, 0.02 & 0.028 kg/s) were considered for the study.

• The proposed SAH design achieves maximum air temperature rise of 97°C at 0.017 kg/s.

• Average daily efficiency of novel SAH has been recorded as 70.8% at 0.028 kg/s.

• Efficiency of proposed SAH design is greater than efficiency of conventional SAHs

Declaration of interests

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests: