Thermal performance enhancement of solar air collector using a novel V-groove absorber plate with pin-fins for drying agricultural products: an experimental study

An experimental investigation of a novel V-groove absorber plate with pin-fins on double-pass solar air collector was made to study the enhancement of thermal performance. The objective of this work is to develop a solar air collector for drying agricultural products with enhanced heat transfer rate by employing pin-fins on V-groove absorber plate under varied configurations. The parameters that influence the instantaneous thermal efficiency of the collector are discussed, and obtained results are compared with a conventional V-groove absorber plate for same mass flow rate values. Energy and exergy analyses were also carried out. The results show that the efficiency of the collector depends strongly on the flow rate. Also, it is noted that for a flow rate of 0.035 kg s(-1), the novel V-groove absorber plate with pin-fins installed on both sides exhibits extended heat transfer area, thereby a rise in average thermal efficiency by 17.4%.