Thermo-hydraulic and exergy analysis of inclined impinging jets on absorber plate of solar air heater

Abstract

Abstract The challenge of heat transfer enhancement in a solar heat collector has been experimentally investigated by impingement of the air jet at an angle on the heated surface in the current study. The present technique employs the main air supply pipe connected to the perforated branch pipes that can supply air at an inclined angle for the air jet delivery. This novel technique is prolific as it provides the ambient cool air to the entire absorber plate surface as well as the inclined air jet impinging on the heated absorber plate proliferates the heat transfer coefficient. The relative stream wise pitch, angle of attack, relative jet diameter and relative jet spacing have been selected in the range of 0.095–0.285, 15°-90°, 0.09–0.027 and 0.4–0.8, respectively. The mass flow rate ranges from 0.0128 to 0.0544\xa0kg/s. The maximum thermohydraulic performance of 2.38 has been achieved at mass flow rate of 0.054\xa0kg/s, and geometric parameters of relative stream wise pitch of 0.285, angle of attack of 60°, relative jet diameter of 0.18 and relative jet spacing of 0.6. Whereas maximum exergy efficiency of 2.9 has been accomplished and it has been observed that the idea of inclining the air jet is prolific for enhancing heat transfer.