Design, manufacture and thermal analysis of a single pass solar air collector at different mass flow rates

Abstract

Solar air collectors are generally used for drying industrial and agricultural products or for space heating. Nowadays solar energy is paid more attention due to decrease in fossil fuels and increase in energy prices. In this study, a single pass, forced convective solar air collector has been designed, manufactured and analysed experimentally under climatic conditions of Konya/Turkey. Experiments have been conducted at three different mass flow rates, on different days and under clear weather conditions. Hourly variation of solar radiation, inlet and outlet air temperatures, glass cover temperature, absorber plate temperature and thermal efficiency of the solar air collector have been examined by using the experimental data obtained. It is seen that with the increase in mass flow rate, temperature of the air at the outlet of the collector decreases while thermal efficiency of the collector increases.