Solar Energy Vol. 61, No. 1, pp.

33-42, 1997
Pergamon 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
PLI: SOO3%092X( 97)00005-4 All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain
0038-092X/97 %17.00+0.00

THERMOHYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE OF SOLAR AIR HEATERS

WITH ROUGHENED ABSORBER PLATES
DHANANJAY GUPTA , * S. C. SOLANKI ** and J. S. SAINI **
* Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering College, Rawatbhata Road, Akelgarh, Kota-324009,
India and ** Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, University of Roorkee,
Roorkee-247667, India

Revised version accepted 15 January 1997

Communicated by BRIAN NORTON

Abstract-Artificial roughness has been found to enhance the heat transfer from the absorber plate to
the air in a solar air heater duct. However, this improvement is invariably accompanied by increased
pumping power. In this work, the effect of roughness and operating parameters on the thermal as well
as the hydraulic performance of roughened solar air heaters is discussed and the thermohydraulic perfor-
mance of roughened solar air heaters is compared with that of conventional smooth solar air heaters.
The optimum design and operating conditions have been determined. On the basis of thermohydraulic
considerations it has been found that the systems operating in a specified range of Reynolds number
show better thermohydraulic performance depending upon the insolation. A relationship between
the system and operating parameters that combine to yield optimum performance has been developed.
0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

1. INTRODUCTION were used by Prasad and Saini (1988) and

Cortes and Piacentini (1990) to evaluate the
The thermal performance of conventional solar
thermohydraulic performance of solar air heat-
air heaters has been found to be poor because
ers. Prasad and Saini (1988) used the correla-
of the low convective heat transfer coefficient
tions proposed by Webb et al. (1971) and Han
from the absorber plate to the air. Artificial rib
(1984) and the optimization technique proposed
roughness on the underside of the absorber
by Lewis (1975) to investigate the thermo-
plates has been found to considerably enhance
hydraulic performance and concluded that the
the heat transfer coefficient (Webb et al., 1971;
optimum operating condition for the operation
Han et al., 1978; Han, 1984; Vilemas and
of a solar air heater corresponds to a roughness
Simonis, 1985; Sparrow and Tao, 1983; Prasad
Reynolds number, e+, of 24.
and Saini, 1988; Prasad and Mullick, 1983;
Cortes and Piacentini (1990) included the
Cortes and Piacentini, 1990). However, the
effect of environmental parameters, such as
friction factor, and hence the power consumed insolation, to evaluate the thermal performance
to propel air through such solar air heaters, of an unglazed solar air heater. They used the
also increases substantially. It is, therefore, correlations developed by Sparrow and Tao
essential that the geometrical parameters of the (1983) for heat transfer and friction and eval-
artificial roughness employed to obtain the uated the thermohydraulic performance of
enhancement should be such that the maximum unglazed solar air heaters having artificial
possible gain in heat transfer is achieved with roughness on the absorber plates. They defined
minimum possible friction penalty. The effect the term “effective efficiency” which includes
of artificial roughness on the performance of the friction penalty due to rib roughness along
the heat transfer surface has been studied with the useful energy collection rate. The effec-
extensively (Webb ef al., 1971; Han et al., 1978; tive efficiency appears to be a more realistic
Han, 1984; Vilemas and Simonis, 1985; Sparrow performance parameter for a solar air heater as
and Tao, 1983; Prasad and Saini, 1988; Prasad compared to the conventional thermal effi-
and Mullick, 1983; Cortes and Piacentini, 1990). ciency. They discussed the effect of various
Correlations have been developed for the heat design and operating parameters on the effective
transfer coefficient and friction factor (Webb efficiency and concluded that an improvement
et al., 1971; Han et al., 1978). These correlations of 9-55% in this efficiency can be achieved by
using artificial roughness. They used transverse
wire roughness elements on the absorber plates
‘Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed. and the preferred conditions recommended by
33
34 D. Gupta et al.

them are smaller relative roughness height of plant, and qth is the efficiency of thermal conver-
the elements with lower flow velocities sion of the power plant.
(Reynolds numbers less than 35,000) and a The rate of useful thermal energy may be
minimum insolation of 600 W m-‘. Further, obtained from the equation:
the range of Reynolds numbers investigated by
qll = F’[Z(za) - UL(I~- ti)/2]A* (2)
them was very high (Reynolds numbers from
about 15,000 to 60,000) and not normally appli- where
cable to solar air heaters which generally oper- F’=h/(h+ U,).
ate at Reynolds numbers below 15,000 so as to
allow a sufficient rise in temperature. An extens- For solar air heaters with absorber plates having
ive investigation of heat transfer and fluid flow artificial rib roughness, the heat transfer coeffi-
in solar air heater ducts has been conducted by cient, h, is given by the equation (Gupta, 1994):
one of the present authors (Gupta, 1994). It
was observed that non-transverse ribs are For e+ ~35:
advantageous when compared with transverse h =0.0024(e/D)0~oo’(W/H)-0~06(Re)‘~084
ribs for the enhancement of the heat transfer
coefficient. Correlations for the heat transfer exp[ - 0.04( 1 - a/60)2](k/D) (3)
coefficient and friction factor for non-transverse and for e’ 235:
ribs developed by the present authors have
been used in this work to evaluate the thermo- h=0.0071(e/D)-0~24(W/H)-0~028(Re)0~88
hydraulic performance of solar air heaters. exp[ -0.475( 1 -a/6O)‘](k/D). (4)
The rate of useful energy gain in a roughened
2. THERMOHYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE solar air heater may also be calculated using
OF SOLAR AIR HEATERS the equations:

It is well known that the thermal efficiency 411=hA&,* - trnl) (5)

of a solar air heater increases as the flow rate or
increases. However, a higher mass flow rate also
results in higher friction loss. Under very high (6)
flow rate conditions, it is possible that the useful The mechanical power consumed is given by
gain may be even less than the energy expendi- the expression:
ture required to propel the air through the
pm = VAAP (7)
collector. It is, therefore, necessary that, while
evaluating the performance of a solar collector, where
the energy expenditure should also be taken AP = ( 2fLV2p)/D. (8)
into account along with the useful energy gain.
In order to compare the performance, the two Hence,
forms of energy involved, i.e. thermal and pm = VA2fzV2pJD
mechanical, should be considered appropriately;
the mechanical energy loss in friction must be = V( WH)2jZV2p/[2 WH/( W+ H)]
converted to the corresponding thermal energy =pfLV3(W+H). (9)
expenditure. Cortes and Piacentini (1990) pro-
posed “effective efficiency”, qeff, for the purpose The friction factor, f, for artificially roughened
of such a comparison, expressed as: solar air heaters is given by the equation (Gupta,
1994):
Veff= (4” -P&)Z~, (1) f=0.1911(e/D)0~‘96(W/H)-0~093(Re)-0~165
where c is the conversion factor to account for
exp[ -0.993( 1 -a/70)2]. (10)
the conversion of high grade mechanical energy
to thermal energy and is given by: By substituting for power consumption, Pm,
from eqn (9), and for the rate of useful energy
gain, qu, from eqn (2), into eqn (l), the
following equation for effective efficiency for a
where VF is the efficiency of the fan, Q,, is the
solar air heater can be obtained:
efficiency of the electric motor, qt, is the effi-
ciency of electrical transmission from the power 11,n= V’[Z(za) - K(& - ti)l2lA,
 Thermohydraulic peformance of solar air heaters with roughened absorber plates 35

absorber plate solar air heaters has been deter-

-pjZV3(W+ H&}/IA,. (11) mined on the basis of eqns (11) and (15)
eqn ( 11) can also be used for the determination respectively. The results obtained from these
of the effective efficiency for a solar air heater calculations are discussed below.
with a smooth absorber plate. The friction
factor and heat transfer coefficient for a smooth 3. I. Energy balance for solar air heaters
absorber may be obtained from the Blasius and Figure 2 shows the rate of useful energy gain
the Dittus-Boelter equations (Prasad and Saini, and the power required to propel air through
1988), respectively, which are reproduced below the collector to attain a desired flow as a
for ready reference: function of Reynolds number. It is observed
f, =0.079(Re)-0.25 that the rate of increase of useful energy gain
(12)
is relatively higher at lower Reynolds numbers,
h, =0.023(k/D)(Re)“.s(Pr)0.6. (13) whereas the curve somewhat flattens at higher
Thus for a solar air heater with smooth absorber Reynolds numbers. However, the rate of
plate: increase of power consumption is low for lower
Reynolds numbers and becomes relatively
c = &/(& + Q,) (14) steeper as Reynolds number increases. Although
rem = (1C”V(ru)- U~s(fo - GhPlAp in the range of Reynolds numbers investigated
the power consumption does not exceed the
-pf,LV3(W+ H)/c}/lA,. (15) rate of useful energy gain, i.e. the net energy
The values of the effective efficiency have been gain rate is positive, it is clear that, at higher
computed for a set of system and operating Reynolds numbers, as the rate of useful energy
parameters (relative roughness height, mass flow collected becomes almost constant and the
rates or Reynolds numbers, and insolation) for power consumption rises steeply, the net energy
a given duct geometry. The effect of various gain rate might eventually vanish. Such a case
parameters on the effective efficiency is discussed is shown in Fig. 3, which shows the energy
in subsequent sections. balance for a smooth absorber; the power con-
The analysis has been carried out for an angle sumption becomes equal to the rate of useful
of attack of 60” as it can be observed from energy collected as the mass flow rate is
eqns (3) and (4) that the heat transfer coefficient increased.
from a roughened surface attains a maximum
for this angle of attack and it is always desirable
to have the highest heat transfer coefficient in
solar air heaters. The test section duct used in I = 1000 W/m*
the investigation has a width of 20.0 cm, a depth Ti =300K
of 1.9 cm and a length of 1.5 m. Figure 1 shows “Ml ~1-0 m/s
the cross section of the solar air heater. A wind 350 - e/0=0.023
velocity of 1.Om s-l and an inlet air temper-
Insolation
ature of 300 K have been assumed. 300 -

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 250 -

As mentioned above, the thermohydraulic

performance of roughened as well as smooth

Absorber Plate

m
0 1

2 6 10 14 18
Re x 10e3
Fig. 1. Schematic layout of roughened solar air heater test Fig. 2. Energy balance for solar collectors having roughened
section. absorber plates.
 D. Gupta et al.

a Curve e/D
Rote of energy gain Rate of energy gain 1 O-023 1 ??lOOOW/m2
2 O-036 Ti = 300K
II lnrolotion
3 0.043 1-O m/s
0.7: 2- “W =
4 o-050
5 Smooth
0.613-

c-
efficiency maximum
)-
FLOW RATE, m

Fig. 3. Energy gain and losses for a solar air heater. 0.5t i-

0.5:2-
0.75 -
I = 1000W/m2
0-U9,
4 8 12 16 20 24
Re x 10’3

b Curve e/D
I = 500W/m2
1 O-023 = 300K
Ti
2 O-036
VW = l-Om/s
3 o-050
4 Smooth
0.68

2 6 10 14 18 22
Re x 10m3
Fig. 4. Efficiency versus Reynolds number.

3.2. Optimum conditions

The thermal as well as the effective efficiencies
of the collector have been plotted as a function Rex low3
of Reynolds number in Fig. 4, which shows that
the thermal efficiency increases monotonically
C
with Reynolds number, whereas the effective 1 = 1300W/m2
efficiency attains a maximum value and there- T; = 300K
after decreases with an increase in Reynolds
number. This shows that an optimum operating
condition exists for a given roughness configu-
ration at which the effective efficiency is
maximum.

1501 ’ I I 1 I I I
Fig. 5. Effect of relative roughness height on effective effi-
ciency: (a) insolation 1000 W m-‘; (b) insolation 4 8 12 16 20 24 28
500 W m-‘. (c) Effect of relative roughness height on useful
Re x 10’3
energy collected and power consumption.
 Thermohydraulic peforrnance of solar air heaters with roughened absorber plates 31

3.3. Efect of relative roughness height ness height. The effective efficiency increases
Figure 5(a,b) show that the effect of relative with an increase in insolation.
roughness height on the effective efficiency is Figure 6(c) shows a plot of the difference in
insignificant at lower Reynolds numbers (4000 the rate of the useful energy collected (qJ and
to about 7000) in comparison to that at higher the rate of thermal energy equivalent to the
Reynolds numbers. At higher Reynolds num- power consumption (Z’,,,/c) for different values
bers, the effective efficiency increases with a of insolation. It reveals that the maximum for
decrease in relative roughness height for a given the rate of net energy gain shifts to a lower
Reynolds number. It is observed that the Reynolds number as the insolation decreases
Reynolds number at which the effective effi- and hence the point of maximum effective effi-
ciency attains a maximum value depends on ciency also shifts to a lower Reynolds number,
the relative roughness height. The value of the as shown in Fig. 6(a,b). This appears to be due
Reynolds number corresponding to this condi- to a reduction in the plate temperature as the
insolation decreases, lowering the rate of heat
tion decreases as the relative roughness height
transfer to the air, whereas the power expendi-
increases. These figures show that the thermo-
ture remains the same.
hydraulic performance of roughened surfaces is
Figure 7 shows the effect of insolation on the
best if the relative roughness height is the lowest
effective efficiency for a given relative roughness
(e/D=O.O33) and the Reynolds number corre-
height and Reynolds number. The figure shows
sponding to the best thermohydraulic perfor-
that the effective efficiency of roughened solar
mance under a given set of conditions is
air heaters increases with the insolation at
moderate (Re= 14,000) in the range investi-
higher flow rates (Re > lO,OOO), whereas the
gated. At higher Reynolds numbers the perfor-
effective efficiency is constant for all insolation
mance of a smooth air heater is seen to be
values at Reynolds numbers of around 10,000.
better than that of a roughened solar air heater.
At lower flow rates (Re < 10,000) the effective
The reason for the fact that the Reynolds
efficiency decreases as the insolation increases.
number corresponding to the maximum effec-
Figure 7 also reveals that the effect of insolation
tive efficiency shifts to a lower value as the is more prominent at higher Reynolds numbers
relative roughness height increases, may be and the effective efficiency increases at a much
attributed to the decrease of the rate of useful faster rate with insolation as compared to that
energy collected as the relative roughness height at lower Reynolds number.
increases. The rate of useful energy collected
decreases, whereas the friction losses rise with 3.5. Efect ofjlow rate (Reynolds number)
increasing relative roughness height causing The variation of the effective efficiency with
increased energy consumption. Figure 5(c) Reynolds number for different values of the
shows the effect of the increase in relative rough- relative roughness height is shown for insolation
ness height on the rate of net energy gain, i.e. of 1000 and 500 W mm2 in Fig. 5(a,b), respec-
the difference of the rate of useful heat gain tively. The variation of the effective efficiency
and the thermal energy rate equivalent to for smooth solar air heaters is also shown.
mechanical power expenditure. Figure 5(c) These figures show that the effective efficiency
clearly shows that the maximum in the rate of for all the roughened and smooth solar air
the net energy gain shifts to a lower Reynolds heaters attains a maximum value at a particular
number as the roughness height increases for a Reynolds number and reveals the important
given set of environmental conditions. Thus, it fact that, beyond a particular Reynolds number,
can be concluded that an increase in roughness the smooth solar air heater becomes thermohy-
height will result in the shift of the point of draulically more efficient than the roughened
maximum effective efficiency towards a lower solar air heater even though the thermal effi-
Reynolds number. ciency of the roughened solar air heater will
always be higher. Figure 8(a,b) show the ratio
3.4. Efiect of insolation of the effective efficiency of a roughened solar
Figure 6(a,b) show the effect of insolation on air heater to that of a smooth one plotted
the effective efficiency. It is observed that the against Reynolds number for different relative
effective efficiency attains a maximum value for roughness heights at a given insolation. These
each value of insolation and these maxima figures show that the values of the ratio are
correspond to lower Reynolds numbers as the nearly the same for all relative roughness heights
insolation decreases for a given relative rough- for Reynolds numbers between 4000 and about
38 D. Gupta et al.

a b
Curve I (W/m*)
1 1300 T; =300K
2 1100 “;, = 1-O m/s Curve I (W/m*)

I
3 1000
e/D = 0.023
4 800 1 1300 Ti = 300K
5 600 23 1100
1000 VW = 1.Om/s
6 400 0.70 e/D= O-043
O-7( 4 800
5 600

O-6! 0.65 -

E
t
P
O-6(
2 0.60 -

0.55 -

0.50 1 \ 6
I I 1 I I I
8 12 16 20 i 4 8 12 16 20 24
Re x 10’3 Re x 10m3

C = 300K
Ti
VW = l*Om/s
320
e/D = DO36 For I =1300W/m*
280

240

200 t/ For 1=700W/m*

40- pm/c

o-. I I
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32

Re x 10B3
Fig. 6. Effect of intensity of solar radiation on effective efficiency: (a) relative roughness height 0.023; (b) relative roughness
height 0.043. (c) Effect of intensity of solar radiation on energy balance for a roughened solar air heater.

9000 and thereafter the values start to differ for always be thermohydraulically less efficient than
different relative roughness heights. The limiting a smooth air heater.
value of Reynolds number at which the rough- Thus, it is seen that roughened solar air
ened solar air heater becomes thermohydrauli- heaters are thermohydraulically more efficient
tally less efficient than the smooth solar air if they operate in a given range of Reynolds
heater is indicated by the point where the ratio numbers (say 3500 to 19,000 for a relative
of effective efficiencies attains a value less than roughness height of 0.023 and insolation of
unity. A roughened solar air heater operating 1000 W m-3. However, this range of enhanced
at Reynolds numbers higher than this value will operation depends on the system and operating
 Thermohydraulic peformance of solar air heaters with roughened absorber plates 39

a
I Ti =300K l-Re= 4000 Curve e/D I =1000W/m2
Vw =l.Om/s 2-Re = 7000 1 0.023
e/D = O-023 3 -Re = 10000 2 0.036
1.20 4-Re = 14000 3 0.043
5-Re = 18000 4 0.050

I
III I
I
II

8 12 16 20 24

Re x 10e3
1
0.60 -
b Curve e/D I =500 W/m2
1 0.023
2 0.036
*
0.404 -k 3 O-050
500 700 900 1100 1300 c” 1.1
i
INSOLATION, W/m2

Fig. 7. Effective efficiency versus intensity of solar radiation

for various flow rates.

parameters, i.e. the relative roughness height 0.81 iI i

and the insolation. Figure 8(a) shows that, as 4 8 12 16 20 24
the roughness height increases from 0.023 to
Re x 10m3
0.050, the higher limiting value of Reynolds
number decreases from 19,000 to 16,000. Fig. 8. Comparison of the effective efficiencies of roughened
Further, the effect of insolation on this higher and smooth solar air heaters: (a) insolation 1000 W m-2;
(b) insolation 500 W m-*.
limiting value can be estimated by comparing
Fig. 8(a,b). It was found that, for a given
roughness height, the limiting value of Reynolds
number shifts to a lower value as the insolation
decreases. These limiting values of Reynolds
numbers for different insolation values have
been plotted in Fig. 9 for different relative
roughness heights.
Figure 8 also reveals that a maximum 0.02 -
enhancement of about 5.7% in the effective I I I I I I
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
efficiency of roughened solar air heaters over
smooth heaters can be achieved at a Reynolds Re x 10m3
number of around 8000 for an insolation of Fig. 9. Higher limiting value of Reynolds number beyond
1000 W rne2. This enhancement can be even which a smooth solar air heater is always thermohydrauh-
tally more efficient.
greater if the insolation is increased. Altfeld
et al. (1988a,b) have shown that, for optimized
transverse rib roughness, the enhancement effect on roughness parameters and insolation. The
is small (3%), whereas with inclined ribs it is Reynolds number values corresponding to opti-
comparatively larger (about 5.7%). mum conditions change with roughness parame-
ters and insolation.
The effective efficiency is a function of the
4. OPTIMUM DESIGN CONDITIONS
plate efficiency factor, overall heat loss coeffi-
It has been demonstrated that the point of cient, friction factor and the intensity of solar
maximum effective efficiency depends strongly radiation. Further, the plate efficiency factor
40 D. Gupta et al.

and friction factor depend on several parameters

including relative roughness height, aspect ratio, I (W/m21
1 1300
angle of attack, and Reynolds number. The loss
coefficient also depends on several parameters
including wind velocity, surface emissivity,
absorptivity, and number of glass covers. In the
present investigation, simple blackboard paint
on the absorber plate, a single glass cover, an
average wind velocity of 1.Om s-i, a relative
roughness pitch (p/e) of 10 and a 60” angle of
attack of ribs have been assumed. The relative
roughness height, Reynolds number and insol-
ation have been taken as independent variables
for the given system. The performance plots
were prepared for a wide range of relative
roughness heights (0.02-O.OS), Reynolds
number (4000-18 000) and insolation values
(400-1300 W m-‘). The values of the Reynolds
number that correspond to the maximum effec- o~“:oOOoO 00
tive efficiency have been determined for given REYNOLDS NUMBER
relative roughness height and insolation values
Fig. 10. Optimum conditions for a roughened solar air
using eqns (9) and (15). These values of heater.
Reynolds number for a given insolation versus
the relative roughness height are tabulated in
Table 1 and shown in Fig. 10. The figure shows
0.055 -
that, as the insolation increases for a given
roughness height, the Reynolds number that
corresponds to the maximum effective efficiency
increases. The data of Table 1 have been used
to yield the following equation which relates
the system and operating parameters that com-
bine to yield the optimum conditions:
(Re),,,=1311.2(Z)0~281(e/D)-0~‘2’. (16)
The above equation correlates the data for
optimum conditions with a standard deviation
of 0.57% and a regression coefficient of 0.998.
The values of the parameter Re/1311 .2(Z)“.2s1
obtained from eqn (16) have been plotted in
Fig. 11 and compared with the data of Table 1.
It is found that the agreement between the two
sets of values is quite close and hence eqn (16)
Fig. 11. Optimum condition curve for a roughened solar air
can be recommended for determining the set of heater.
values of the system and operating parameters

Table 1. Optimum conditions

Reynolds number

elD I= 1300 1100 1000 800 600 400

0.023 15,500 15,000 14,500 13,500 12,600 11,100
0.0305 15,000 14,400 13,900 13,100 12,100 10,800
0.036 14,600 14,000 13,600 12,800 11,800 10,600
0.043 14,400 13,800 13,400 12,600 11,600 10,400
0.050 14,200 13,600 13,200 12,400 11,300 10,200
 Thermohydraulic peformance of solar air heaters with roughened absorber plates 41

which yield optimum conditions to achieve max- C, specific heat of air, J kg-’ K-’
c constant = rhhtlm~tr~F
imum effective efficiency. D equivalent diameter of duct, m
e height of roughness element, m
F plate efficiency factor
5. CONCLUSIONS f friction factor
friction factor for smooth uassages
On the basis of the above discussion the height of the duct, m _ -
following conclusions can be drawn: convective heat transfer coefficient. W m-’ K-’
intensity of solar radiation, W mei
(1) For each value of the relative roughness thermal conductivity of air, W m-l K-’
height, the effective efficiency attains a max- length of collector, m
imum as the operating flow rate is varied, mass flow rate, kg s-i
mechanical energy consumed for propelling air
and the numerical value of the maximum through collector, W
effective efficiency is found to decrease with pressure drop across collector length, N m-’
an increase in relative roughness height. useful heat gain, W
ambient temperature, K
The optimum operating flow rate shifts to inlet air temperature, K
a lower value as the relative roughness outlet air temperature, K
height increases. plate temperature, K
mean fluid temperature, K
(2) The effective efficiency of a roughened solar mean plate temperature, K
air heater increases as the insolation overall heat loss coefficient, W mm2 K-’
increases for Reynolds numbers higher than velocity of air in solar air heater duct, m s-i
wind velocity, m s-’
10,000. However, at lower Reynolds num- W width of the solar air heater duct, m
bers (Re c 10,000) the thermohydraulic
efficiency decreases with increasing Greek letters
insolation. a angle of attack of roughness elements
(3) An optimum operating condition exists for ncrr effective efficiency
a given insolation and this optimum condi- Y kinematic viscosity of fluid, m* s-i
p density of fluid, kg md3
tion shifts to a higher value of Reynolds (ra) transmittance-absorptance product for absorber cover
number as insolation increases. combination
(4) Roughened solar air heaters are thermohy-
draulically advantageous for lower Dimensionless parameters
Reynolds numbers, whereas a smooth solar e/D relative roughness height
air heater will perform better thermo- P/e relative roughness pitch
e+ roughness Reynolds number [ = (e/D)(m)( Re)]
hydraulically, although the thermal effi- Nu Nusselt number = hD/k
ciency of a roughened solar air heater may Pr Prandtl number = pC,lk
be more than that of a smooth heater, Re Reynolds number = p VD/p
beyond a certain limiting value of Reynolds
number; this limiting Reynolds number has
REFERENCES
been found to lie in the range of
13,000-l 9,000, the actual value depending Altfeld K., Leiner L. and Fiebig M. (1988) Second law
optimization of flat plate solar air heaters-Part I. Solar
upon the actual relative roughness height Energy 41, 2, 127-132.
and insolation. Aftfeld K., Leiner L. and Fiebig M. (1988) Second law
(5) The optimum design conditions for rough- optimization of flat plate solar air heaters-Part II. Solar
Energy 41, 4, 309317.
ened solar air heaters have been determined Cortes A. and Piacentini R. (1990) Improvement of the
for varying relative roughness height and efficiency of a bare solar collector by means of turbulence
insolation and for a relative roughness pitch promoters. Appl.Energy 36,253-256.
Gupta D. (1994) Investigations on fluid flow and heat
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cal relationship relates the system and Han J. C., Glicksman L. R. and Rohsenow W. M. (1978)
Heat transfer and friction for rib roughened surfaces.
operating parameters that combine to yield ht. J. Heat Mass Transfer 21, 1143-1156.
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two opposite rib roughened walls. Trans. ASME, J. Heat
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