article · Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Experimental research evaluated the performance of a baffled counter-flow double-pass solar air heater by altering its channel depth ratio and absorber plate setup. Testing kept the lower channel depth fixed at 50 mm while varying the upper channel depth between 100 mm, 150 mm, and 200 mm to achieve channel depth ratios of 2, 3, and 4. Three distinct absorber plate configurations were assessed: a standard flat plate, a baffled plate, and a baffled plate integrated with phase change material, all tested at an air mass flow rate of 0.07 kg/s. The best operational outcomes occurred with a channel depth ratio of 2 using the baffled plate containing phase change material. This combination achieved an average temperature rise of 15.3 degrees Celsius, 1075.2 W of useful heat gain, 76.2 percent energy efficiency, and 2.7 percent exergy efficiency, outperforming the larger ratio of 4 across all measured metrics.
Solar air heaters provide renewable thermal energy for heating and drying needs, but their efficiency depends heavily on internal airflow and heat storage design. By pinpointing optimal channel depths and integrating thermal storage materials, systems can capture and deliver significantly more usable heat from the sun without requiring supplementary power inputs.
This research provides applied and experimentally tested design parameters for solar thermal equipment manufacturers and agricultural engineers. The findings directly support hardware development for agricultural product drying and space heating systems. The technology has been demonstrated on an experimental prototype, suggesting an applied stage of development that requires system-level engineering and field trials before full commercial deployment.
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An experimental evaluation of the effect of channel depth ratio and absorber plate configuration on the performance of a baffled counter flow double-pass solar air heater (BCDSAH) is main objective of current work. The BCDSAH was constructed so as to permit adjustments of channel depth ratio (CDR) to 2, 3 and 4. During experimentation, the lower channel depth was kept at 50 mm while the upper channel depth was adjusted to 100 mm, 150 mm and 200 mm, yielding various channel depth ratios. The assessments were conducted for three configurations of absorber plate: (i) flat absorber plate, (ii) baffled absorber plate and (iii) baffled absorber plate with phase change material (PCM). The performance of the BCDSAH was evaluated at an air mass flow rate of 0.07 kg/s for temperature rise, useful heat gain (UHG), energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency. For CDR = 2 and a baffled absorber plate with PCM, the obtained average values of temperature rise, UHG, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency were 15.3 °C, 1075.2 W, 76.2 % and 2.7 % respectively. For the baffled absorber plate with PCM, increases of 8.5 %, 9.4 %, 10.1 % and 10.9 % were obtained in temperature rise, UHG, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency respectively for CDR = 2 compared to CDR = 4. Finally, a value of CDR = 2 and a baffled absorber plate with PCM are suitable for applications like drying of agricultural products and space heating.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2024.104789
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