Project Report

On

SOLAR AIR HEATER WITH ROUGHENED SURFACE AND

REFLECTORS

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Piyush Kumar Jain Manish Sharma (15/209)
Assistant Professor Chetan Jangid (15/090)
Monika Malav (15/561)
Bhupendra Mourya (15/070)
Neelam Meena (15/246)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

RAJASTHAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, KOTA

May 2019

i
 Department Of Mechanical Engineering

Rajasthan Technical University kota-324010

CERTIFICATE

This is certify that Manish Sharma (15/209), Chetan Jangid (15/090),

Monika Malav (15/561), Bhupendra Mourya (15/070), Neelam Meena
(15/246) have submitted the project report entitled “SOLAR AIR HEATER
WITH ROUGHENED SURFACE AND REFLECTORS” in partial fulfilment
for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology (Mechanical
Engineering). The report has been prepared as per the prescribed format and is
approved for submission and presentation. To the best of my knowledge, the
matter embodied in the project has not been submitted to my other
university/institute for the award of any degree or diploma.
The report has been prepared as per the prescribed format and is approved
for submission.

Signature of Guide

Piyush Kumar Jain

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Mechanical
Engg.
RTU, Kota-324010

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe my profound gratitude to our supervisor or guide Mr. Piyush

Kumar Jain for his valuable guidance, supervision, constant support and
encouragement which have made me as a constant oasis of ideas and passion in
science which exceptionally inspire and enrich our knowledge to complete this
report work.

I wish to acknowledge me gratitude to project coordinators (Mr. S. K.

Parashar and Mr. Gitesh Vijay) and HOD (Prof. V. K. Gorana) for his
valuable guidance and splendid supervision without which it would not have
been possible to complete the report.

Finally, We express our sincere gratitude to all the members of faculty and our
group members who contributed their valuable advice and helped to complete
the report successfully.

Date - Manish Sharma (15/209)

Chetan Jangid(15/090)
Monika Malav(15/561)
Bhupendra Mourya(15/070)
Neelam Meena(15/246)

iii
 List of Content
Abstract

Chapter-1
Introduction……………………………………………………1-3
1.1 Solar air heater………………………………………………1
1.2 Applications of solar air heater……………………………...2
1.3 Advantage of solar air heater………………………………..2
1.4 Disadvantage of solar air heater……………………………..3
Chapter-2
Methods to improve the efficiency of solar air
heater…………………………………………………………….4-7
2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………..4
2.2 Basics of artificial roughness………………………………...4
2.3 Ways of producing artificial roughness……………………...4
2.4 Convenient way of improve efficiency……………………....5
2.5 Geometrical parameters of artificial roughness……………...5
2.6 Effects of artificial roughness on flow….……………………5
2.7 Effect of geometrical parameters of ribs…………………….6-7
2.7.1 Effect of pitch on heat transfer…………………......6
2.7.2 Effect of roughness height on heat transfer………...7
2.7.3 Effect of inclination on heat transfer………...…......7
Chapter-3
Literature review………………………………………….…….8-17
3.1 Continuous transverse roughness…………………………8-10
3.1.1 Prasad and Mullick………………………..…8
3.1.2 Prasad and Saini………………………….….9
3.1.3 Gupta………………………………….……..9-10

iv
 3.1.4 Verma and Prasad………………….………..10
3.2 Transverse broken rib……………………………...……..10-11
3.3 Continuous inclined roughness………………………...…11-12
3.3.1 Dhananjay gupta………………………….….11-12
3.4 V- Shaped roughness……………………………………...12-13
3.4.1 Momin…………………………………..……12-13
3.5W-shaped roughness…………………………………….…13
3.5.1 Lanjewar………………………………………13
3.6 Outcome of Literature review…………………………..…17

Chapter-4
Objective & Scope of work…………………………………..….18-19

Chapter-5
Experimental setup details ……...……………………………....20-32

5.1 Parts name………………………………………………….20

5.2 List of materials………………………………………….…21
5.3 Description of parts…………………………..…………….21-22
5.4Details of fabricated Solar air heater…………………...…...22-31
5.4.1 Line diagram of setup……………………...…..22
5.4.2 Parts of setup…………………………..……....23-31
5.5 Effectiveness and outcome of setup………………………..32

Chapter-6
Conclusion………………………………………………………...39
References………………………………………………………...40

v
 List of table
Table 3.1 Outcome of literature review 14-16

vi
 List of figures

Figures:
1.1 Components of solar air heater……………………………….1

2.1 Effect of artificial roughness…………………………………..6

2.2 Effect of pitch on heat transfer………………………………..6

2.3 Effect of roughness height on heat transfer………………….7

2.4 Effect of inclination on heat transfer…………………………7

3.1 Continuous transverse roughness…………………………….8

3.2 Transverse broken ribs………………………………………..10

3.3 Continuous inclined roughness……………………………….11

3.4 V-shaped roughness…………………………………………...12

3.5 W-shaped roughness…………………………………………..13

6.1 Schematic diagram of solar air heater……………………….20

vii
 ABSTRACT

Solar air heaters form the major component of solar energy utilization
system which absorbs the incoming solar radiation, converting it into thermal
energy at the absorbing surface, and transferring the energy to a fluid flowing
through the duct. The efficiency and thermal performance of flat plate solar air
heater has been found to be low because of low convective heat transfer
coefficient between absorber plate and the flowing air which increases the
absorber plate temperature, leading to higher heat losses to the environment
resulting in low thermal efficiency of such collectors. Artificial roughness in the
form of repeated ribs is the most effective and economic way of improving the
thermal performance of solar air heater. Main objective of present work is to
increase the heat transfer rate and transmission of solar radiation using
reflecting mirrors and to review various studies, carried out on thermal
performance of artificial roughened solar air heater ducts. The use of an
artificial roughness on a surface is an effective technique to enhance the rate of
heat transfer to fluid flow in the duct of a SOLAR AIR HEATER. This report
presents a comparison of effective efficiency of solar air heaters having W-
shaped artificial roughness with cylindrical wire and a flat absorber plate. It also
presents the effect of tracking system (reflecting mirrors) on efficiency of
SOLAR AIR HEATER.

viii
 Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION
1.1Solar Air Heater:
Solar air heating is a solar thermal technology in which the energy from the sun,
insolation is captured by an absorbing medium and used to heat air. Solar air heaters is a
system that collect solar energy and transfers the heat to passing air, which is either stored
or used for space heating. The collectors are often black to absorb more of the sun's
energy and a conductive material, often metal, acts as a heat exchanger.

Solar air heater is the cheapest and extensively used solar energy collection device for
drying of agricultural products, space heating, seasoning of timber and curing of
industrial products. A conventional solar air heater is essentially a flat plate collector with
absorber plate, a transparent cover system at the top and insulation at the bottom and on
the sides. The working fluid is air, though the passage for its flow varies according to the
type of air heater. The transmission of solar radiation through the cover system and its
subsequent absorption in the absorber plate can be given by expressions identical to that
of liquid flat plate collectors. Selective coating on the absorber plate can be used to
improve the collection efficiency.

The most efficient way to utilize a solar air heater is to install it where it can blow or
diffuse warm air directly into a room that sees a lot of daytime use. Drawing on the
principle that warm air rises and cool air sinks, the solar air heater pulls cooled air from
the bottom of a room, circulates it through the solar collector where it picks up heat, then
blows the warmed air back into the room.

Figure 1.1 Components of solar air heater

1
1.2 Applications of solar air heater:

 Solar air heater provides ventilation and process air heating.

 Locations throughout world have solar energy available without any cost.
 Solar air heater serves weather cladding and feeds into conventional ventilation
system.
 Efficiency and cost are the biggest barriers for any solar product.
 In textile industry.
 SAH uses in agricultural field to drying of many cash crops.
 SAH uses in food industry.
 In room or space heating.
 In preheating of water.
 SAH uses in fruit drying. A number of investigations have been made with different
fruit products to conserve them through the drying process.
 The solar air heaters are employed to season timber for handicrafts, ammunition
boxes, furniture, doors and windows.

1.3 Advantage of solar air heater:

 The need to transfer heat from working fluids to another fluid is eliminated as
air is being used directly as the working substance. The system is compact and
less complicated.
  Leakage of air from the duct does not create any problem.
 Freezing of working fluid virtually does not exist.
 The pressure inside the collector does not become very high. 
 Thus air heater can be designed using cheaper as well as lesser amount
of material and it is simpler to use than the solar water heaters.
 SAH offers environmental benefits- reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces
electricity cost, fewer power outages.
 SAH offers financial benefits- free of cost energy availability, low installation
and operational cost, low maintenance cost.

2
 1.4 Disadvantage of solar air heater:
 Solar air heaters have certain disadvantages also the first and foremost are the
poor heat transfer properties of air. Special care is required to improve the heat
transfer. 
 Another disadvantage is the need for handling large volume of air due to its low
density. 
 Air cannot be used as a storage fluid because of its low thermal capacity. 
 In the absence of proper design the cost of solar air heaters can be very high. 

3
 Chapter-2
METHODS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF
SOLAR AIR HEATER
2.1 Introduction:
Different investigations have been made on SAHs either experimental or
theoretical in order to improve their performance.
One of the important improving theories is using fins to increase the heat transfer
area. Various types of fins achieved enhancement in the performance such as
longitudinal fins, corrugated fins and fins attached with baffles. The recycling process
also enhanced the performance of SAHs. Also it is found that to improve both the heat
transfer and thermo-hydraulic performance of SAH, artificially roughened absorbers
are used. Using artificial roughness, the results showed good enhancement of both
Nusselt number and friction coefficient for a wide range of Reynolds number. Using
heat storage materials especially phase change materials (PCMs), various types of
packing bed and selective coated absorbers give good improvement of the efficiency
of SAHs. The performance of solar air heater using racking system (Reflecting
mirrors) on either side of duct at the top of absorber surface also been tested.
2.2 Basics of artificial roughness:
The artificial roughness on the heating plate is found to be the best way to increase
the thermal efficiency of solar air heater by improving its heat transfer coefficient.
Several investigations have been carried out before by using different types of
artificial roughness. The main objective of this presentation is to take a review on the
latest work under this category of solar air heater to enhance the thermo-hydraulic
performance.
Artificial roughness was widely used for the enhancement of forced convection
heat transfer, which requires turbulent flow at the heat transfer surface. Therefore, it is
used to enhance heat transfer and hence improving thermo-hydraulic performance of
the heater. As the forced convection heat transfer requires energy coming from a fan or
a blower, the turbulent is preferred to occur close to the heat transfer surface to reduce
the power requirement. This can be achieved by keeping the element height to be
small compared to heater duct dimensions.

4
2.3 Ways of producing artificial roughness:
Artificial roughness can be produced on a surface by the following
ways:
 Blasting sand over the heat transferring surface.
 Fixing grooves and ridges.
 Fixing wires.
 Fixing three dimensional roughness geometries.
 Fixing ribs of different geometry such as round, rectangular, V-shaped, W-
shaped, broken ribs.
2.4 Convenient way of improve efficiency:
Artificial roughness is the most convenient way of improve thermal
efficiency. Fixing ribs of different geometry such as transverse ribs, broken
ribs, inclined ribs, V-shaped ribs & W-shaped ribs is convenient way of
artificial roughness.
2.5 Geometrical parameters of artificial roughness:
To characterize roughness, dimensionless geometrical parameters are used as
follows:
 Relative roughness pitch:
The ratio of the distance between two consecutive ribs and the rib height.
 Relative roughness height:
The ratio of rib height and equivalent air passage diameter.
 Angle of attack:
The inclination angle of the rib with the air flow direction in the duct.
 Aspect ratio:
The ratio of the duct width to its height.
 The shape of roughness element:
It may be two-dimensional ribs or three-dimensional elements, transverse or
inclined or V-shaped & W-shaped continuous or broken ribs with or without gaps.
The element may also be arc-shaped wire or cavity or dimple or compound rib
grooved. The most common shape of the ribs is square. Different shapes such as
semi-circular, circular and chamfered may be considered to study the
performance.

5
2.8 Effect of artificial roughness on flow:
Artificial roughness helps to increase the rate of heat transfer by creating
turbulent flow of air. It also helps in breaking of laminar sub boundary layer
which makes the better heat transfer because laminar sub boundary layer
works as an insulating layer which restrict the heat transfer.

Figure 2.1 Effect of artificial roughness on flow

2.7 Effect of geometrical parameters of ribs:

2.7.1 Effect of pitch on heat transfer:

The maximum heat convected from the absorbing plate in case of
considerable pitch distance because of maximum reattachment area found
between the pitch. If pitch is very short then there is absence of reattachment
point it means air will be flow over the wires and it can’t break the laminar sub
boundary layer and if pitch is too large then the laminar sub boundary layer
again formed by air between the wires because of that heat transfer will be less
and thermal efficiency will also decreases.

6
 Figure 2.2 Effect of pitch on heat transfer
2.7.2 Effect of roughness height on heat transfer:
The maximum heat transfer occurs with the minimum roughness height because
it covers maximum reattachment area between the two consecutive roughness
pitch. If the roughness height (h) is very less than the roughness will not be
effective as much it can and it also can’t break the laminar sub boundary layer, if
the roughness height is too large then it resist the suction of air and required power
of suction blower is very more and there is no reattachment point between pitch
because of that heat transfer will be less and thermal efficiency will also decreases.

Figure 2.3 Effect of roughness height on heat transfer

2.7.3 Effect of inclination on heat transfer:

As we can see in figure leading edge is a high heat transfer region because the
temperature difference at leading is high and because of suction some part of air will flow

7
 over the wire and some part of air will flow along the inclined wire that takes more time
and when it reaches at trailing edge then temperature difference will be less as compare to
leading edge that’s why trailing edge is low heat transfer region.

Figure 2.4 Effect of inclination on heat transfer

Chapter-3

LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Continuous Transverse roughness:

Transverse roughness is produced by placing parallel copper wires, of some
specific diameter and with specific pitch, perpendicular to direction of flow of
air on flat absorber plate. There is some improvement in thermal efficiency of
solar air heater due to making of transverse artificial roughness.

Figure 3.1 Continuous transverse roughness

8
3.1.1 Prasad and Mullick[1] were the first to apply small diameter wire as roughness
in solar air heater. The parameters for study were relative roughness height as 0.019
and relative roughness pitch as 12.7. They reported application of protruding wires led
to improvement in plate efficiency factor from 0.63 to 0.72.

Mullick employed a corrugated galvanised iron sheet on the top of the air heater in
place of a plane sheet. They compared friction factors and Nusselt numbers for a
corrugated galvanised iron with a plane sheet for turbulent flow in the duct. In the
present work the heat transfer coefficient has been further enhanced by the
incorporation of protrusion wires.
Artificial roughness has been widely used to increase the heat transfer coefficient in
turbulent boundary layers.

3.1.2 Prasad and Saini[2] used small diameter wire as roughness in solar air heater.
They investigated effect of relative roughness height and relative roughness pitch on
heat transfer and friction factor. Range for relative roughness height was 0.020–0.033
and for relative roughness pitch was 10–20. Maximum value of Nusselt number and
friction factor were reported as 2.38 and 4.25 respectively for relative roughness pitch
of 10.
Both the average Nusselt number and friction increase with increasing relative
roughness height. But 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.
Law of the wall similarity can be assumed for correlating heat transfer and friction
data in an artificially roughened solar air heater duct. Geometrically similar roughness
(for a given p/e, e/D) produce the same effect on heat transfer and friction. Increase in
the relative roughness height results in a decrease of the rate of heat transfer
enhancement although the rate of increase of friction factor increases. Increase in the
relative roughness pitch results is a decrease in the rate of both heat transfer and
friction factor.
3.1.3 Gupta et al.[3] utilized transverse wires in solar air heater for transitionally
rough flow regime. Range of parameters were relative roughness height as 0.018–
0.052, aspect ratio (W/H) as 6.8–11.5, relative roughness pitch as 10 and Reynolds
number varied from 3000–18000. They reported that for transitionally rough flow

9
 regime Stanton number increases with increase in Reynolds number and Stanton
number achieved maximum value for Reynolds number of 12,000.
Roughened solar air heaters are thermo-hydraulically advantageous for lower
Reynolds numbers, whereas a smooth solar air heater will perform better thermo-
hydraulically, although the thermal efficiency of a roughened solar air heater may be
more than that of a smooth heater, beyond a certain limiting value of Reynolds
number; this limiting Reynolds number has been found to lie in the range of 13,000-l
9,000, the actual value depending upon the actual relative roughness height and
insolation. The optimum design conditions for roughened solar air heaters have been
determined for varying relative roughness height and insolation and for a relative
roughness pitch of 10 and for an angle of attack of roughness elements of 60”.

3.1.4 Verma and Prasad[4]did outdoor experimental study using transverse wire
roughness. Parameters for study were relative roughness height as 0.01–0.03, relative
roughness pitch as 10–40, roughness Reynolds number as 8–42 and Reynolds number
varied from 5000 to 20,000. They reported optimal thermo-hydraulic performance of
71% corresponded to roughness Reynolds number of 24.
Thermal performance is enhanced because of the turbulent flow induced by the
roughness elements, thereby breaking the laminar sub-layer which results in increased
values of heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and flowing air.
However, fluid pressure also increases in such cases. Heat transfer and fluid pressure
both are dependent upon the roughness pitch and roughness height provided on the
absorber plate together with the flow Reynolds number.
The experimental results compared reasonably well with the referred ones with
respect to heat transfer and friction factor as well, as can be seen in these Figs. Based
on the experimental results correlations for heat transfer and friction factor were
developed.

3.2 Transverse broken rib:

These are some specific data of transverse broken rib from some literature
review:
 By Sahu and Bhagoria et al.[5]
 Roughness height (e) as 1.5 mm.
 Roughness pitch (P) as 10 to 30 mm.

10
  Maximum Nusselt Number attained for the pitch 20 mm.
 Roughened absorber plate increased heat transfer coefficient by 1.25–1.4
times as compared to smooth duct operating under similar conditions.

Figure 3.2 Transverse broken ribs

3.3 Continuous inclined roughness:

Inclined roughness (continuous) is produced by placing parallel copper wire
at some angle, which is known as angle of attack(α), to the direction of flow of air.
Due to inclined roughness the required suction power of blower will be less and
thermal efficiency will increase as compare to transverse rib.

Figure 3.3 Continuous inclined roughness

 The inclination of rib creates a high heat transfer region at the leading
edge and a low heat transfer region at the trailing edge.
 It means that the temperature difference at the trailing edge is lower than
the temperature difference at leading edge.
3.3.1 Dhananjay Gupta[6], An improvement proposed over transverse ribs was
inclined rib that was investigated to study effect of rib inclination on heat
transfer and friction factor by Gupta et al. [8]. They used inclined circular ribs
as artificial roughness for Reynolds number as 3000–18000, duct aspect ratio as

11
 6.8–11.5, relative roughness height as 0.018–0.052 for relative roughness pitch
of 10. They reported enhancement in thermal efficiency by 1.16–1.25 as
compared to smooth plate in range of parameters investigated.
The efficiencies are improved by using roughened geometries in the duct of solar air
heater. The thermal efficiency based criterion suggests to use the roughened
geometries for very large value of Reynolds number.

3.4 V-shaped roughness:

V-shaped roughness is nothing but double inclination. V-shaped rib results
in better performance as compare to the inclined one because of the
development of secondary turbulence. Due to V-shaped roughness thermal
efficiency will increase more as compare to inclined ribs roughness.

Figure 3.4 V-Shaped roughness

3.4.1 Momin[7], Inclined rib resulted in better performance than transverse ribs due
to increase in secondary vortices. The number of secondary vortices was increased by
V-shaping of angled rib by Momin et al. [14]. They investigated V-shape rib
roughness and studied thermo hydraulic performance of solar air heater for Reynolds
number as 2500–18,000, relative roughness height as 0.02–0.034, angle of attack of
flow (α) as 30–901 for fixed relative roughness pitch of 10. Maximum enhancement
of Nusselt number and friction factor was reported as 2.30 and 2.83 times that of
smooth plate for angle of attack of 600.
In general, Nusselt number increases whereas the friction factor decreases
with an increase of Reynolds number as expected. However, the values of Nusselt
number and friction factor are distinctly different as compared to those obtained for
smooth absorber plates. This is due to a distinct change in the fluid flow

12
 characteristics as a result of roughness that causes flow separations, reattachments and
the generation of secondary flows.
The Nusselt no. and friction factor as function of angle of attack of flow.
The maximum enhancement of Nusselt no. and friction factor as a result of providing
artificial roughness has been found to be respectively 2.30 and 2.83 times that of
smooth duct for an angle of attack of 60 0. It is seen that there exists an angle of attack
that corresponds to the maximum values of both Nusselt no. and the friction factor. It
appears that the flow separation in the secondary flow resulting from the presence of
V-shaped ribs and the movement of resulting vortices combines to yield an optimum
value of the angle of attack. The reasons for the occurrence of this maxima at 60 0 have
not been yet investigated in detail. However the results are in broad agreement with
previous investigations both on angled straight ribs and V-shaped ribs.

3.5 W-shaped roughness:

The cross section of roughness can be described by the values of rib height, e, rib
pitch, p, and angle of attack α. The range of parameters for this study has been decided on
the basis of practical considerations of the system and operating conditions of the solar air
heater. The minimum rib height was chosen such that the laminar sub-layer would be of
the same order as roughness height at the lower flow Reynolds number. The maximum
rib height was 2 mm so that the flow passage blockage effects are negligible. By splitting
the long angled rib into a V-shape to form two leading ends and a single trailing end
(apex of V), a much larger (about double) region of high heat transfer is produced. It is in
fact the formation of two secondary flows cells instead of one as in the case of transverse
rib that results in higher overall heat transfer in the case of V-shaped ribs. Discretization
further increases the number of heat transfer regions. Therefore a new roughness
geometry discrete W-shaped is proposed for better performance as compared to discrete
V-shaped ribs.

13
 Figure-3.5 W-shaped roughness
Lanjewar et. Al.[8], Nusselt number increases with an increase of Reynolds number.
The maximum enhancement of Nusselt number was found to be 1.44, 1.54, 1.67 and 1.61
times that for smooth duct for angles of attack of 30°, 45°, 60° and 75° for relative
roughness height of 0.0168. Whereas for relative roughness height of 0.0338, the
maximum enhancement in Nusselt number was found to be 1.88, 1.99, 2.16 and 2.08
times for corresponding angles of attack of 30°, 45°, 60° and 75°.
The maximum enhancement of Nusselt number and friction factor as a result of providing
artificial roughness has been found to be 2.16 and 2.75 times that of smooth duct for an
angle of attack of 60°.
The comparison of experimental values of Nusselt number and friction factor and those
predicted by the correlation shows that all 140 data points lie within the deviation range
of ±10%.

S.N INVESTIGAT ROLE GEOMETRY PARAMETE OUTCOM

O OR RS E
1. Prasad and Relative i)Plate
Mullick[1] roughness efficiency
height = 0.019, factor
Relative varies from
roughness pitch 0.63 to
= 12.7 0.72
2. Prasad and Relative i)Nusselt
Saini[2] roughness no. is 2.38
height = 0.020- ii)Friction
0.033, factor is
Relative Pitch= 4.25

14
 10-20
3. Gupta[3] Relative i)Reynolds
roughness no. varies
height = 0.018- from 3000-
0.052, 18000
Relative ii)Stanton
roughness pitch no.
= 10 increases
Aspect ratio with
(W/H) = 6.8- increase in
11.5 Reynolds
no.
4. Verma and Relative i)Reynolds
Prasad[4] roughness no. varies
height = 0.01- from 5000-
0.03, 20000
Relative ii)Thermo
roughness pitch hydraulic
= 10-40, performanc
Roughness e is 71%
Reynolds no. = Correspond
8-42 s to
roughness
Reynolds
no. of 24
5. Gupta[6] Relative i)Reynolds
roughness no. varies
height = 0.018- from 3000-
0.052, 18000
Relative pitch ii)Thermal
= 10, efficiency
Aspect ratio increases
(W/H) = 6.8- from 1.16
11.5 to 1.25

15
6. Momin et. Al. Relative i)Reynolds
[7] roughness no. varies
height =0.02- from 2500
0.034, to 18000
Relative ii)Nusselt
roughness no. will be
Pitch = 10, 2.30times
Angle of attack iii)Friction
of flow (α)= factor will
30–900 2.83times
of flat
absorber
plate

7. Lanjewar et. Relative Nusselt

Al.[8] roughness number
height= 0.0168, was found
Relative to be 1.44,
roughness 1.54, 1.67
pitch= 10-20 and 1.61
times that
for smooth
duct

Table 3.1 Outcome of literature review

16
 3.5 OUTCOMES OF LITERATURE REVIEW:
1. To improve the thermal performance of solar air heater rib roughness of various
geometrical parameters is conveniently using.
2. The heat transfer enhancement dependents on the relative roughness pitch (P/e) and
relative roughness height
3. Pitch of wires or gap between wires should be around 10mm by some
experimental solutions.
4. The accepted height or diameter of wire by various earlier reported research
should be 2mm.
5. Efficiency of SAH is low because of formation of laminar sub boundary layer near the
heated surface which is acting as a layer insulate the surface which is not allowed the
heat exchange.
6. SAH should not be used in cloudy weather and night.
7. The optimum value of angle of attack reported by various investigators as 60 degree.

17
 Chapter-4
Objectives & Scope of work

4.1 Objectives:

 Main objective of the research work is to increase the heat transfer rate with minimum
pressure drop inside the duct.
 To fabricate a working model of modified solar air heater with W-shaped roughened
absorber surface.
 To analyse a modified solar air heater with V-shaped artificial roughness geometry
and reflecting surfaces.
 Comparison of the efficiency of flat absorber plate and absorber plate with W-
SHAPED artificial roughness of solar air heater.
 Our additional objective is improvement in efficiency with the help of tracking system
(Reflecting mirrors).

4.2 Scope of work:

Based on the literature review discussed in this work, following suggestions and
recommendations have been made for the development of SAHs:
 Using SAH with azimuth sun tracking and just adjusting of the optimum elevation of
the day.
 More researches may be carried out for SAH with reflectors as the sun tracking
system is more effective and it is capable of improving the efficiency of the heater
with reflectors compared to fixed solar heater.
 Further studies should be conducted to improve heat transfer efficiency through new
materials and geometry for the aim of selecting cheaper and scalable fabrication
methods to reduce manufacturing costs, in addition trying to obtain simple
configurations.
 More research works are required in the area of artificially roughened of double pass
SAHs duct as few studies are available on this aspect either experimentally and
theoretically.

18
 It is recommended that the double pass SAHs with single glazing can be used for
space heating, solar drying and timber seasoning applications. So, these benefits must
be studied.
 Different packing materials such have gravel in case of packed bed double pass SAHs
should be investigated.
 Effect of coating absorber plate of SAHs with black Nano-fluids (black paint mixed
with nano materials) on the thermal efficiency should be studied for different nano
materials. The nano materials increase the surface area of the absorber plate and acts
as thermal storage material.
 The following geometries of the artificial roughness is relatively limited and may
attract more interest in the future research:
o Combination of transverse I-shaped and V-up (or V-down) wire rib roughness
o Chamfered and Circular rib-semi-circular grooved roughness.
 Performed a computer simulation models to simulate the short and long terms
performance of the drying systems with and without the Cross-sectional view of the
collector.

19
 Chapter-5
Experimental setup details

Figure 6.1 Schematic diagram of solar air heater

6.1 Parts names:

1. Inlet section
2. Outlet section
3. Absorber plate
4. Cover glass
5. Tracking mirror
6. Converging duct
7. Plastic pipe
8. Valve
9. Forced fan
10. Test section

20
6.2 List of materials:

These are required materials which are needed to fabricate our model of project:

 Wooden ply
 Reflecting Glasses
 Mirrors
 Thermocol
 Plastic (PVC) pipe
 Gi-sheet
 Copper wire
 Forced fan
 Thermometers
 Manometer

6.3 Description of parts:

1. Inlet section:
It is the path by which air is flow to the heater. It is used for fully developed flow.
It is made up of wooden.
2. Outlet section:
It is the path from which heated air is moves outside through the mixer which is
made of Aluminium blade.
3. Absorber plate:
Its main function to absorb the heat from the sun and heat the air which is coming
from the inlet section. It is made up of GI Sheet. It also consists of artificial
roughness plate by V-shaped cylindrical wire helps to heat the air more and
improves the efficiency.
4. Reflecting glass:
It does not allow to transmit the rays again to the atmosphere. Also prevents
absorber plate from dirt, and protects form damage.

21
 5. Tracking system (Reflecting mirror):
Its main function to reflect the scattered rays on the absorber plate.
6. Converging duct:
It converges the heated air and increases the velocity of air.
7. Plastic pipe:
It is made up of PVC and directs the flow of air.
8. Forced fan:
It forces the air towards test section and pass the regulated flow of air to test
section.
9. Test section:
It is the section in which all heat (comes from sun rays) exchange through
absorber plates takes place and increase the temperature of atmospheric air. Test
section is made of wooden frame.

6.4 Details of fabricated Solar Air Heater:

6.4.1 Line diagram of setup:

30inch

Figure-6.2 Line diagram of setup with dimensions

22
6.4.2 Parts of setup:

i. Absorber plate:
Absorber plate are made of galvanized iron sheet. The upper surface is coated
with black color which increase the thermal conductivity. There are two types
absorber plates are used one is smooth and second is containing the artificial
roughness. The lower surface of second absorber plate has W- shaped artificial
roughness at an angle of 30o and pitch 2cm. By adding this roughness the heat transfer
coefficient is increases and it also breaks the laminar sub boundary layer.

Upper surface of absorber plate

23
 Lower surface of smooth absorber plate

Lower surface of absorber plate with W-shaped artificial roughness

24
ii. Converging duct:

The converging duct is made of wooden ply. It converges the air which comes
from outlet section to pipe. It is tapered in shape and a hole is on one face which is
connected to the pipe.

25
iii. Copper wire:
The main function of copper wire is used to make the W- shaped artificial
roughness on the lower surface of the absorber plate. Copper is preferred because of
its extremely high thermal conductivity and resistance to corrosion.

iv. Reflecting mirrors:

The main function of reflecting mirrors:
i. To transmit as much as solar energy as possible to the absorber plate.
ii. To minimize the loss from the absorber plate to the environment.
iii. To collect the all scattered radiation and increase thermal conductivity.

26
v. Forced fan:

The forced fan is placed on inlet section of the set up to provide air
from outside. Regulator is attached to it which increases or decreases the
velocity of air.

27
vi. Orifice plate:

Orifice plate is made of wooden ply. It is used for measuring the flow
rate for reducing the pressure. The diameter of orifice plate hole is half the
pipe diameter. The inner surface of orifice plate hole is flat and other one is
inclined to it. The length of pipe, which joints the converging duct and orifice
plate, is 30 inch. We also connect the manometer around orifice plate.
Distance between orifice plate and that place, where we connect the
manometer, is 3 inch towards converging duct and 1.5 inch.

28
vii. SAH duct:

Main section is made of wooden ply and coated with brown colour
provides smoothness in the set up. It consists of three section:
1. Inlet section:
It is used for making the air fully developed.
2. Test section:
Absorber plate is places over the test section.
3. Outlet section or mixing section
It mixes the air comes from test section.

29
viii. Outlet section:

The main function of outlet section to mixes the air which comes from
test section. The section consists of fins on the lower and upper surface of the
section and mixes the overall air passing through it.

ix. Thermocol:

It is used for insulate the PVC pipe and the outer surface. It is
thickness of 1 inch to prevent the heat loss.

30
x. Manometer:

It is a device used for measuring the pressure difference. The

mercury fluid is used for measurement of pressure. It is basically
the modified from of the piezometric tube.

31
 5.4.3 Effectiveness and outcome of setup:
i. We found enhanced thermal efficiency with W-shaped artificial roughness
onabsorber plate.
ii. We observed that there was around 10 0C temperature difference with
smooth absorber plate and W-shaped artificial roughened surface.
iii. We got more transmission of solar radiation on absorber plate with using
reflecting mirrors and found increased temperature of outlet air.
iv. By using W-shaped ribs we made more leading edges than V-shaped
therefore we found more heat transfer than V-shaped roughened surface
also.

32
 Chapter-6
Conclusion
The report shows the feasibility of heat transfer enhancement using W-rib
roughened plate in solar air heater for turbulent flow with uniform heat flux. Heat
transfer coefficient and friction factor are determined experimentally using air as
working fluid for Reynolds number range of 2300–14,000. Based on the results
following conclusions are drawn from this work:

i. Nusselt number increases with increasing Reynolds number and get maximum
value at higher Reynolds number.
ii. W- ribs give better thermo-hydraulic performance than V-ribs because of
secondary flow generation.
iii. Multi inclination in the geometry increases the intensity of secondary flow.
iv. Maximum enhancement in the heat transfer by using W-shaped of roughness
geometry is found to be 1.3 times as compare to the smooth surface.

REFERENCES

33
1. Prasad, K., and S. C. Mullick. "Heat transfer characteristics of a solar air heater used
for drying purposes." Applied Energy13.2 (1983): 83-93.

2. Prasad, B. N., and J. S. Saini. "Effect of artificial roughness on heat transfer and
friction factor in a solar air heater." Solar energy 41.6 (1988): 555-560.

3. Gupta, Dhananjay, S. C. Solanki, and J. S. Saini. "Thermohydraulic performance of

solar air heaters with roughened absorber plates." Solar Energy 61.1 (1997): 33-42.

4. Verma, S. K., and B. N. Prasad. "Investigation for the optimal thermohydraulic

performance of artificially roughened solar air heaters." Renewable Energy 20.1
(2000): 19-36.

5. Sahu, M. M., and J. L. Bhagoria. "Augmentation of heat transfer coefficient by using

90 broken transverse ribs on absorber plate of solar air heater." Renewable
energy 30.13 (2005): 2057-2073.

6. Gupta, M. K., and S. C. Kaushik. "Performance evaluation of solar air heater for
various artificial roughness geometries based on energy, effective and exergy
efficiencies." Renewable Energy 34.3 (2009): 465-476.

7. Momin, Abdul-Malik Ebrahim, J. S. Saini, and S. C. Solanki. "Heat transfer and

friction in solar air heater duct with V-shaped rib roughness on absorber
plate." International journal of heat and mass transfer 45.16 (2002): 3383-3396.

8. Lanjewar, A. M., J. L. Bhagoria, and M. K. Agrawal. "Review of development of

artificial roughness in solar air heater and performance evaluation of different
orientations for double arc rib roughness." Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews43 (2015): 1214-1223.

9. Prasad, B. N., and J. S. Saini. "Optimal thermohydraulic performance of artificially

roughened solar air heaters." Solar energy 47.2 (1991): 91-96.

10. Bisht, Vijay Singh, Anil Kumar Patil, and Anirudh Gupta. "Review and
performance evaluation of roughened solar air heaters." Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews 81 (2018): 954-977.

34
11. Kabeel, A. E., et al. "Solar air heaters: Design configurations, improvement
methods and applications–A detailed review." Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews 70 (2017): 1189-1206.

35