Performance evaluation of a natural-convection solar air-heater with a rectangular-finned absorber plate

This paper deals with an experimental investigation to evaluate different thermal characteristics of a natural-convection flat-plate solar air-heater with longitudinal rectangular fins array. Having determined the thermal performance of the system a Nusselt number correlation is presented for such finned duct devices. In the presented empirical model which may have industrial applications, solar radiation and ambient temperature have been considered as independent parameters. Other characteristics of the system such as different dimensionless variables, plates and outflow temperatures, efficiency, and mass flow rate have been empirically modeled based on these variables. The particular difference in this study in comparison with the other similar studies is the presentation of an empirical model for rectangular-finned solar air-heaters. This model proposes design concepts and rules of thumb, and demonstrates the calculations of the design parameters. Based on the order of magnitude analysis, solar radiation has been found to be the main parameter which characterizes the thermal behavior of the system. Besides, exergy analysis has been carried out, and optimum conditions in which the system has the highest performance have been determined. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.