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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Oil Crisis of 1973
The year 1973 brought an end to the era of secure and cheap oil. In October of that
year, OPEC (Organization of Petrol Exporting Countries, founded in 1960) put an embargo
on oil production and started the oil pricing control strategy. Oil prices shot up fourfold
causing a severe energy crisis the world over. This resulted in price rise of various
commercial energy sources, further leading to global inflation.
Governments of all countries took this matter energy very seriously and for the first
time, a need for developing alternative sources of energy was felt. Alternate energy sources
were given serious considerations and huge funds were allocated for the development of
these resources.
Thus the year 1973 is considered as the year of the first oil shock. In the same
decade, one more oil shock jolted the world in 1979, which further focused the attention
on alternate energy sources. By the end of 1980, the price of crude oil stood at 19 times
what it had been just ten years earlier.
The main outcome of the 1973 'energy crisis' was efficiency. In the United States,
the fuel economy of the car fleet doubled between 1973 and 1980. Appliances also became
much more efficient the average new refrigerator in the United Sates by the late 1990's was
nearly 300% more 'efficient than in 1973. These changes, which look place relatively
rapidly, have shown great staying power.
The other big outcome was a shift away from oil as a fuel, particularly for power
generation. In 10 years, oil went from being 17% of US power generation to about 2.5%.
The shift was technically possible (coal and nuclear were the big winners, but once this
driving force was roved, nuclear growth slowed) and economically desirable. However, the
core technologies of how we generate and consume energy, and the fuels we use, did not
change Perhaps the biggest change on the generation side, the growth of combined cycle
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gas turbines, was less a technological breakthrough than the conscientious application of
basic principles of thermodynamics, made possible by a combination of materials science
and information technology. Refrigerators look and function in much the same way today
as they did 25 years ago.
1.2. Various Sources of Energy

1.2.1. Solar Energy
Solar energy can be a major source of power and can be utilized by using thermal and
photovoltaic conversion systems. The solar radiation received on the surface of the earth on
a bright sunny day at noon is approximately 1kW/m
2.
The earth continuously intercepts
solar power of 178 billion MW, which is about 10,000 times the worlds demand. But so
far, it could not be developed on a large scale. According to one estimate, if all the
buildings of the world are covered with solar PV panels, it can fulfil electrical power
requirements of the world. Solar PV power is considered an expensive source of power. At
present, the capital cost of a solar PV system is Rs.200.00 per Watt.
1.2.2. Wind Energy
The power available in the winds flowing over the earth surface is estimated to be
1.6 x 10
7
MW, which is far more than the present energy requirement of the world. Wind
power has emerged as the most economical of all renewable energy sources. The
installation cost of wind power is about Rs. 4 crores per MW. There has been remarkable
growth of wind-power installation in the world. Wind power generation is the fastest
growing energy source. It accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in
Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany.
1.2.3. Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is derived from huge amounts of stored thermal energy in the
interior of the earth, though its economic recovery on the surface of the earth is not feasible
everywhere. Its overall contribution in total energy requirement is negligible. However, it
is a very important resource locally. At the end of 2005, the worlds total installed
electrical power generating capacity was 28,266 MW. Globally, use of geothermal power is
growing annually at a rate of about 3 % electrical and 7.5 % thermal. The island of Hawaii
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procures 25% of its electricity production in EI Salvador is 23% of the countrys total
installed electricity-generation capacity.
1.2.4. Ocean Tidal Energy
Tidal energy is a form of hydro power that converts energy of ocean tides into
electricity or other useful forms of power. It is in the developing stage and although not yet
widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more
predictable than wind energy and solar power. There are presently only a few operational
tidal power plants. Many sites have been identified in USA, Argentina, Europe, India and
China for development of tidal power.

1.2.5. Ocean Wave Energy
Wave power refers to the energy of ocean surface waves and the capture of that
energy to do useful work. Good wave power locations have a flux of about 50 kilowatts per
meter of shoreline. As per an estimate, the potential for shoreline based wave power
generation is about 50,000 MW. Deep water wave power resources are truly enormous, but
perhaps impractical to capture.
1.2.6. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
OTEC technology is still in its infant stages. Conceptual designs of small OTEC
plants have been finalized. Their commercial prospects are quite uncertain. The potential is
likely to be more than that of tidal or wave energy.
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1.2.7. Bio Mass Energy
Energy resources available from animal and vegetation are called biomass energy
resources. This is an important resource for developing countries, especially in rural areas.
The principle biomass resources are:
Trees (wood, leaves and forest industry waste)
Cultivated plants grown for energy
Algae and other vegetarian from oceans and lakes
Urban waste (municipal and industrial waste)
Rural waste (agricultural and animal waste, crop residue, etc.)
Solar energy absorbed by plants (through the photosynthesis process) is estimated
to be 2 x 10
21
J/year. Biomass material may be transformed by chemical or biological
processes to produce intermediate bio-fuels such as biogas (methane), producer gas,
ethanol and charcoal. At present, there are millions of biogas plants in the world, and most
of them are in China.
1.2.8. Hydrogen Energy
Hydrogen may be considered as a secondary energy source, since it is not available
as a pure hydrogen gas. Pure hydrogen must be produced from its compound using another
energy source prior to its use. For example, the electricity that is produced from a primary
energy source can be used to produce hydrogen from water by electrolysis. The supply of
hydrogen on demand also requires a storage system. Hydrogen is abundant on the earth's
surface however it is mainly bound with other chemical compounds, such as water (H
2
0)
and organic compounds. Hydrogen is an energy carrier; it can store and deliver usable
energy. Hydrogen must be first dissociated from bound chemical compounds using a
primary energy source. Before using hydrogen as a fuel, its combustion properties should
be known and compared with other common fuels such as methane and gasoline to
determine its effectiveness.
Combustion related properties of hydrogen are compared with that of methane and
gasoline. Hydrogen can be used in any application in which fossil fuels are being used
today, except where carbon is specifically needed. Automobiles, buses, trains, ships,
submarines, airplanes and rockets can run on hydrogen. Hydrogen can also be converted
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directly to electricity by using fuel cells and can be fed directly to the grid or to operate
automobiles. Combustion of hydrogen with oxygen results in pure steam.
1.2.9. Hydro Power Energy
Among all the renewable energy sources, the contribution of hydropower to the
worldwide electricity generation is the highest. A hydropower system can be used to
generate a few kilowatt of electricity to about I 8,000MW. Although there are a number of
advantages and benefits of using hydropower systems, various environmental issues are
restricting their development. These issues include depletion of nutrients in the water body,
obstruction of the fish ladder for salmon, and fish shearing in turbine.

Hydropower generating plants capture the kinetic energy of falling water, such as
from a river and waterfalls, to generate electricity. A turbine and a generator convert the
kinetic energy from water, first to mechanical energy and then to electrical energy using a
generator. Hydropower is considered a renewable energy source since the water cycle, is a
continuous de. The first hydroelectric plant generating alternating current in the world was
located in the United States, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1882. Hydropower provided about
15% of the U.S. electrical generation in 1907, and its contribution increased to almost 40%
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in 1940. Currently, about 8-10% of the U.S. electricity comes from hydropower. There is
about 8 x 10
4
MW of conventional & 1.8 x 10
4
MW of pumped storage electrical power
generation capacity in the USA.
1.3. Consumption Trend of Primary Energy Resources
The average percentage consumption trend of various energy resources of the world
is indicated in fig. 1.3, though the trend differs from country to country. Looking at this
figure, the heavy dependence on fossil fuels stands out clearly. About 86% of the worlds
energy supply comes mainly from fossil fuels. The share of fossil fuels is more than 90% in
India.

1.4. Solar Energy - Basics
The Sun, which is the largest member of the solar system, is a sphere of intensely hot
gaseous matter having a diameter of 1.39 x 10
9
m, and, at an average distance of 1.495 x 10
11
m
fromthe Earth. The Sun radiates energy uniformly in all directions in the formof electromagnetic
waves. The sun provides the energy needed to sustain life in our solar system. It is a clean,
inexhaustible, abundantly and universally available source of renewable energy. It is available in
dilute formof energy, which is available intermittently and uncertainly, and not steadily and
continuously. However, it is more predictable than wind energy. Also, peak solar insolation often
coincides with peak day time demand; it can be well matched to suit commercial power needs. The
output of the sun is 2.8 x 10
23
kW/ year. The energy reaching the Earth is 1.5 x 10
18
kWh/year.

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1.4.1. Solar Radiation Geometry
The solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface through the atmosphere can be
classified into components: beam & diffuse radiation.
Beam radiation (I
b
): The solar radiation propagating along the line joining the receiving
surface & the Sun. It is also referred to as Erect radiation.
Diffuse radiation (I
d
): The solar radiation scattered by aerosols, dust & molecules. It does
not have any unique direction.
Total radiation (I
t
): The sum of the beam & diffuse radiation, sometimes known as global
radiation.

Sun - Earth Angles: The energy flux of beam radiation on a surface with arbitrary
orientation can be obtained by the flux either on a surface to the Sun rays or on horizontal
surface. The various Sun-Earth angles required to understand the solar energy received are
as:
Zenith Angle (
z
): It is the angle between the suns ray and the perpendicular (normal) to
the horizontal plane.
Solar Altitude angle (): is defined as the angle between the central ray from the sun, and
a horizontal plane containing the observer.
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Solar Azimuth angle (
s
): It is the angle in the horizontal plane, between the line due
south and the horizontal projection of the normal to the inclined plane surface. It is taken as
+ive when measured from south towards west.
Hour angle (): It is the angular distance between the meridian of the observer and the
meridian whose plane contains the sun.
The hour angle is zero at solar noon (when the sun reaches its highest
point in the sky).
Concept of the hour angle is used for describing the earth's rotation
about its polar axis.
Hour angle increases by 15 degrees every hour.
Solar time (t
s
): It is based on the 24-hour clock, with 12:00 as the time that the sun is
exactly due south.
Solar time is location (longitude) dependent and is generally different from local clock
time, which is defined by politically defined time zones and other approximations.
Concept of solar time is used in predicting the direction of sunrays relative to a point on
earth.
The Sun is, effectively, a continuous fusion reactor. It is estimated that 90% of the
Sun's energy is generated in the region 0 to 0.23R (R being the radius of the Sun =6.95 x
108m); the average density (p) & the temperature (T) in this region are 105 kgm3& about
8.40 x 106 K respectively. At a distance of about 0.7R from the Centre, the temperature
drops to about 1.3 x 105 K & the density to 70 kg m
3
. Hence for r >0.7R convection begins
to be important & the region 0.7R<r <R is known as the convective zone. The outer layer
of this zone is called the photosphere.
1.5. Application of Solar Energy
Warming the body during winter is perhaps the earliest use of direct solar heat that
man has made. Drying of clothes, timber, fodder, saltwater (to get salt) and agriculture
produce remain the most extensive use of direct solar energy in the history of mankind. All
other devices for harnessing direct solar energy are of fairly recent origin.
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The use of solar thermal energy is being promoted for water heating, cooking, drying and
space heating through various schemes. Bangalore has been declared a solar thermal city
with special attention to popularize solar water heaters, and Thane in Mumbai is to follow
soon.
1.5.1. Solar Heating
Solar heating systems have been in use for many years. Solar heat stored in iron
was used in 1877. Air blowing over the heated iron was then used to heat a home. One of
the FPC was patented by Bailer in 1910. Various technologies now arc involved for solar
heating and well understood. The components used are simple and reliable in performing
and relatively easy to install by the home owner.
Nowadays, the energy modeling codes make full use of hourly weather data
archives covering the weather and insolation for different locations around the world.
Normally around 20 years, or a longer period of time to average to find out the actual
possible climate conditions which have been occurring and affecting their weather to
increasing severity. These weather data archives are highly recommended for use. But, as
noted earlier, it should be ensured that the site or combination of two sites with the weather
archives match the local site. A brief discussion about the heat production from the
solarium is in order. The solarium must be south facing and most preferred to be below the
house floor level and at grade level. This permits the extensive use of vegetables and other
plants that are watered regularly on a timed drip system.
1.5.2. Solar Cooling
The concept of nocturnal (free) cooling, affected by site location issues, is similar to
the solarium, except that the cooler outside air is used. The air movement by natural
convection is driven by bringing in cool air low in the building at night and exhausting the
hotter air at the highest point to achieve cooling of the building. The vent opening needs to
be located on the north or east side of the house where the air and surroundings are the
coolest of the site. It is also helpful if the area is surrounded and shaded by plantings. The
object is to pull in the coolest air as much as pitiable to achieve the best cooling of the
house during hot summer days. The hot air cxhau.st should be at the highest location in the
building and this top vent opening should be as large as, or larger than, the lower opening.
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The largest possible height differences help the natural convection process work and cool
the house best.
1.5.3. Solar Cooking
Then, are a variety of solar cooker designs in use around the world. There are
basically three types of solar cookers- parabolic, box, net multi-reflector. Parabolic
reflector ovens focus solar energy on the cooking area, producing higher temperatures than
the other types of cookers. Simple solar .box cookers utilize well-insulated boxes, often
made from cardboard and covered with a piece of glass. Cooking pots are placed inside the
box, which can reach temperatures above 200 F on sunny days. These cookers have been
successfully used in many situations around the world, and have been one of the most
popular solar cooker designs for many years. Multi-reflector Cookers come in two
varieties, those that use an insulated box and those that use a plastic baking bag. Multi-
reflector box cookers achieve temperatures between 300F and 400F, depending upon the
model, location and sky conditions.
These cookers do not need to be re-positioned as often as box cookers, but
depending on the time of day and the type of food being cooked, its still a good idea to
reposition them every 60 to 90 minutes. The higher temperatures they achieve, they enable
themselves to cook a wide range of foods including beans, rice, meats, bread, baked goods
and vegetables. Plywood or shed metal laminated with a reflective material like aluminum
foil mirrors, polished aluminum or miler can also be used to increase the cooker's solar heat
gain.
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The cost of a solar cooker demands primarily on the materials with which it is
made. The simplest cookers can be made at home at a very low cost, while sophisticated
manufactured models cost over $200.
1.5.4. Solar Power Generation Systems
Of all the technologies being developed for Solar Thermal Power Generation,
Central Receiver Systems (CRS) are able to work at the highest temperatures and to
achieve higher efficiencies in electricity production The combination of this concept and
the choice of molten salts as the heat transfer fluid, both in the receiver and for heat
storage, enable solar collection to be coupled from electricity generation better than
water/steam systems, yielding high capacity factors with solar-only or low hybridization
ratios.
1.6. Solar Air Heater
Solar air heater is a type of energy collector in which energy from the sun is
captured by an absorbing medium and used to heat air. Solar air heating is a heating
technology used to heat or condition air for buildings or process heat applications, such as:
1. Spices Drying: Chillies, Coriander, Pepper, Turmeric, etc.
2. Fruits Dehydration: Mango, Sapota, Grapes, Banana, Papaya, Amla, etc.
3. Vegetables Dehydration: Carrot, Beetroot, potato, Bitter guard, Bell pepper, etc.
4. Herbs Drying: Tulsi, Aloe-vera, Neem, Sweet Neem, etc.
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5. Medicinal Plant Drying
6. Chemical Drying
7. Cashew Drying
8. Fabric Drying
9. Mushroom Drying
10. Tea leaves Drying
11. Coffee Beans Drying
12. Marine Foods (Fish) Drying
13. Leather Drying
14. Tobacco Drying
And many more applications wherever hot air is required.
1.7. Solar Energy Collectors
The simplest version of asolar collector is the flat plate collector. A typical flat plate
collector consists of an absorber plate that absorbs well over the range of the solar radiation
spectrum. Glazing is used to reduce heat losses by thermal convection and radiation while
keeping the absorber plate transparent to solar radiation. Thermal insulation is also used to
reduce losses. Flat plate collectors have a working temperature of less than 70C. To
achieve higher temperatures, evacuated tube collectors, which essentially have a vacuum
between the absorber and glazing tube, can be used. Because of the much reduced
conduction and convection losses across the vacuum, these collectors yield higher
efficiency at lower temperatures.
Concentrating collectors use optical concentration to increase the intensity of solar
radiation and, thereby, achieve higher temperatures. The simplest concentrating collector
can be made by using flat wall reflectors to concentrate solar radiation on a flat plate
collector. Concentrating collectors can be of tracking and non-tracking types. A tracking
concentrator has its orientation adjusted to account for the variation in the position of the
sun in the sky with time. For temperatures up to 350C, parabolic trough collectors are
used. These collectors focus solar radiation on a line focus where the absorber is located. A
reflecting spherical or paraboloidal bowl is used when temperatures on the order of 250 to
500C ant needed. For extremely high temperatures, a large field of tracking mirrors
(called heliostats) used to concentrate solar radiation on a receiver that is located on top of
a central tower. Solar collectors transform solar radiation into heat and transfer that heat to
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a medium (water, solar fluid, air). Then solar heat can be used for heating water, to back up
heating systems or for heating swimming pools.
1.8. Types of Collectors

1.8.1. Non Concentrating Type
The non-concentrating type absorbs the radiation as it is received on the surface of
the collector.

1.8.2. Flat Plate Collector
The flat plate collector is used for low temperature applications. Upper limit of temperature
is roughly 100 plus ambient temperature in 'C. A flat plate collector consists of an absorber.
a transparent cover, a frame, and insulation. Usually an iron - poor solar safety glass is used
as a transparent cover, as it transmits a great amount of the shortwave light spectrum. Heat
is removed from the plate by a gaseous or liquid heat transfer fluid such as air or water.
Thermal insulation prevents heat losses from the collector. Air or liquid, such as water,
flows through flat - plate collectors and is warmed by the heat stored in the absorbed plates.
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The air or water heated inside the solar collectors then heats air or water inside
the house. In an active solar air heater, a fan pushes the air heated inside the collector
into large bin full frocks under the house. The heat is stored there, so it can be used later.
In an active solar water heater, the water heated inside the collector is pumped through
pipes into a hot water tank. Typical frame materials include aluminum and galvanized
steel: sometimes fiberglass - reinforced plastic is used Insulation is usually of
polyurethane foam or mineral wool, though sometimes - mineral fiber insulating
materials like glass wool, rock wool, glass fiber or fiberglass are used. The surface coating
of the absorber plate may be black paint or a selective coating. Galvanic ally applied
selective coatings are including black chrome, black nickel, and aluminum oxides with
nickel. Relatively new is a titanium - nitride - oxide layer. While is applied via steam in a
vacuum process.
The flat plate collectors are basically of two types:
a. Liquid heating collector
b. Air heating collector
1.8.2.1.Liquid heating collector
The liquid heating collector consists of a glass covered metal box -containing an
absorber plate to which a number of tubes are attached and has thermal radiation beneath.
Liquid (e. g. water) from storage tank passes through the tubes made of metal embedded in
the absorber plate, where it picks up heat and flows back to the storage tank. Liquid heating
collectors are generally used for heating water.
1.8.2.2. Air Heating Collector
The air heater has an important place among solar heat collectors. The construction
is essentially similar to that of a liquid fiat-plate collector except for the passage through
which air flows. These passages have to be made larger in order to keep the pressure drop
across the collector within the manageable time. A conventional solar air heater generally
consists of an absorber plate with a parallel plate below forming a passage of high aspect
ratio. As in the case of liquid flat plate collector, a transparent sever system is provided
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above the absorber plate, while a sheet metal filled with insulation is provided at the
bottom and sides.
1.8.3. Advantages
The solar air heaters have certain advantages over the other solar heat collectors.
The advantages are as follows:
i. The need to transfer heat from the working 'mid to another fluid is
eliminated as air is being used directly as the working substance. Hence the
system is compact and lots complicated.
ii. Corrosion, which can Cause serious problems in solar water heater, is
completely eliminated.
iii. Leakage of air from the duet does not pose any major problem.
iv. Freezing, of working fluid virtually does not exist.
v. The pressure inside the collector does not become very high.
1.8.4. Disadvantages
Air heaters have certain disadvantages also. The first and foremost being the poor
heat transfer properties of air. Special care is requited to improve the heat transfer. Another
disadvantage is the need for handling large volumes of air due to its low density. Also, the
thermal capacity of air being low, it cannot be used as storage fluid. In the absence of
proper design the cost of air heater can be very high.
1.8.5. Concentrating Solar Collectors
By using reflectors to concentrate sunlight on the absorber of a solar collector, the
size of the absorber can be dramatically reduced, which reduces heat losses and increases
efficiency at high temperatures. Another advantage is that reflectors can cost substantially
less per unit area than collectors. This class of collector is used for high-temperature
applications. It achieves temperature range for 120C to 320C or even higher. These
collectors are best is suited to climate that has an abundance of clear sky days. List of some
of the known popular types of solar collectors is high-lighted as below:
i. Glazed flat-plate collectors
ii. Unglazed flat-plate collectors
iii. Unglazed perforated plate collectors
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iv. Back-pass solar collectors
v. Concentrating solar collectors
vi. Air based solar collectors
vii. Batch solar collectors
viii. Solar cookers
ix. Liquid-based solar collectors
x. Parabolic dish systems
xi. Parabolic trough systems
xii. Power tower systems
xiii. Stationary concentrating solar collectors
xiv. Vacuum tube solar collectors

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1.9. Types of Solar Air Heater
Different types of solar air heater systems are discussed as under:
1.9.1. Active Solar Systems
Active solar systems use external sources of energy to power blowers, pumps and other
types of equipment to collect, store and convert solar energy. Once energy from the sun is
absorbed, it is stored for later use. Small systems are used to furnish electricity for heating
and cooling systems in homes and other buildings, while large systems can furnish power
for entire communities.
1.9.2. Passive Solar Systems
A passive solar system does not involve mechanical devices or the use of conventional
energy sources beyond that needed to regulate dampers and other controls, if any. Classic
examples of basic passive solar structures are greenhouses, sunrooms and solariums -- as
the sun's rays pass through the glass windows, the interior absorbs and retains the heat.
Modeling this concept in your home can cut heating costs by half compared to heating the
same home by traditional means without the use of passive solar. In terms of design,
success of the passive solar system depends on orientation and the thermal mass of the
structure's exterior walls, which means their ability to store and redistribute heat.
1.9.3. Air heaters with Non Porous Absorber Plate
In this type of heaters, air stream does not flow through the absorber plate. Air may
flow above or / and behind the absorber plate. Air flow above the surface increases the
convection loss from the cover plate, and therefore is not recommended if the air inlet
temperature and/or size at the collector arc large. Selective coating can be applied to
improve collector efficiency. These are classified as:
a. Simple Air Heater
b. Air Heaters With Fins
c. Vee Corrugated Air Heater
d. Beer Cans Air Heater
1.9.3.1. Air Heater with fins
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To improve the heat transfer from the plate to air stream, and hence the efficiency
of the heater, tins arc added to the rear side of the absorber. This, however, introduces some
extra pressure drop. Also the number of fins and their depth cannot be increased beyond a
limit as in that case fan power requirements increase.
1.9.3.2. Vee-Corrugated air heater
This air heater is the parallel vee shaped grooves reflect the sunlight several times
down the "V". less light is allowed to reflect away from the surface and in this respect it is
markedly better than a normal flat plate absorber. The use of vee-corrugatcd absorber
obviously provides a large surface area for heat transfer to the air stream. The convective
heat transfer from plate to cover increase I this case but the loss is largely compensated by
the increased heat transfer to the flowing air. However this corrugated absorber requires at
least twice the amount of metal compared plate compared to the amount of metal needed
for a flat plate absorber of the sane size, but the better performance might justify it. The
acceptance angle for the Vee groove must be properly chosen, in designing the absorber, as
a large amount of radiation may be lost due to multiple reflections. Also, the effective
emissivity or the absorber increases. Selective coating cm the absorber with acceptance
angle of 55 in the groove is suggested.
1.9.3.3. Beer can Air Heater
The walls of the beer cans are painted black and they work to absorb light as well as
to reflect it down into the cups. Air is blown over the cups at high velocity, creating
turbulence and effecting better heat transfer in the cups and sucking heat out of the cups.
This system may operate at fairly good efficiencies, but is requires a large amount of
material (generally aluminum) for the absorber.
1.9.4. Air heaters with porous absorber
A major drawback of the nonporous absorber plate is the necessity of absorbing all
incoming radiation over the projected area froma thin layer over the surface which is of the
order of a few microns. Unless selective coatings are used, radiated losses from the
absorber plate are excessive and hence the collection efficiency is poor. The pressure drop
along the duct formed between the absorber plate and the rear insulation may also be
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prohibitive especially in the case of added fins to increase the heat transfer surface and
turbulence rate.
The advantages of air heater with porous absorber are as follows:
i. Radiation penetrates to a greater depth and is absorbed along its path. Thus the
radiation loss decreases. Air stream heats up as it passes through the matrix.
ii. The pressure drop is usually lower than the nonporous type.

It may he noted however, that an improper choice of matrix porosity and thickness may
cause reduction in efficiencies, as beyond an optimum thickness, matrix may not be hot
enough to transfer the heat to air stream.The porous absorber solar air heaters are classified
as:
a. Packed bed solar air heater
b. Over lapped glass plate air heater
c. Matrix air heater
d. Honey comb porous bed air heater
e. All plastic solar air heater

1.9.4.1. Packed bed solar air heater
These are of the following types:
a. Wire mesh
b. Silt and exported Aluminum foil matrix
c. Crushed glass
d. Iron chips and Iron shavings
e. Semi-transparent material
a. Wire Mesh
In this system, the heat is transferred by conduction between matrix layer in the
flow direction, top layers of bed appears to absorb relatively larger fraction of incoming
solar radiation as compared to lower portion of bed. In this type of collector thermal
efficiency depends upon the mass flow rate, depth of packed bed and screen geometry. By
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increasing the mass flow rate, the efficiency of the collector is also increased. Regarding to
the bed depth, efficiency has been found to be increased up to a certain bed depth and Mere
filler it falls quite rapidly. Also, it is found that the efficiency of packed bed collector is a
strong function of screen geometry. The performances of different absorbers are different
because of different values of thermal capacity of packing materials.
b. Silt and expanded Aluminum foil matrix
The bed of solar air heater can be packed with slit and expanded foil matrices to
improve its thermal performances. These aluminum foil matrices can be different sizes and
forms. These matrices are generally 0.002 to 0.006 inch thick. Arc slit into different
patterns and then stretched or expanded by machine. These are then thoroughly sprayed
with back paint having an absorptive of about 0.95 for wavelength range. Layers of each
type of foil are placed above the other resulting in a uniform void age ranging between;
16.2% to 98.3% depending upon foil used. It has been found that the energy absorption is
not only a function of surface but on exponential function or the depth of the matrix.
c. Crushed glass
Crushed glass can be used as heat absorbing medium in the heater because it is an
inexpensive material. Different combinations of crushed glass beds were studied and result
shows the bed with brown color glass as the top layer had high efficiency.
d. Iron chips and Iron shavings
Iron chips and Iron shavings scrap can be used as packing material. Thermal
efficiency is a function of thermal conductivity, density. Specific heat absorptivity and heat
transfer area. Hence materials with higher values of thermal conductivity and high
volumetric heat, capacity absorb heat efficiency. Tiled With iron chips was found to have
higher thermal efficiency than for the other.
e. Semi-Transparent material
Optically semitransparent materials have also been used for the packed bed solar air
heaters. The use of semitransparent material has accelerative effects on heat transfer rate
due to increase in the optical depth of the air layer and hear transfer area. Semitransparent
~ 21 ~

packing materials can also the useful for heat storage.
1.9.4.2. Overlapped Glass plate air heater
The overlapped glass plate air heater combines the advantages of low-pressure drop
and high efficiency for moderate temperature rise. The heater consists of a series of
overlapping parallel glass plates, the lower most being blackened. Airflow is parallel to the
glass plate and in between them. A honeycomb cell passage is used at the inlet in order to
direct the air and to ensure that its velocity is uniform. The system has a top glass cover
and bottom insulation: the whole system is encased in a sheet metal box. Due to the
absorption of solar radiation, the black portions of glass plate are heated and thus the air
flowing parallel to these plates get heated. Variation of the spacing between plates and
number of plates sign slightly influences the collection efficiency. Optimum values are
obtained for about 5 to 7 mm spacing between glass plates and glass thickness less than 3
mm. The cost or the heat collected decreases with the increasing collector length. However,
due to difficulties of fabrication and handling of collector units, a reasonable size is about
I.8 to 2 m. Area of the glass requirement is about four times the collector face area. In case
inlet air temperature is higher than the ambient. Men double glass covers may be needed
which increases the glass requirement five times as much as the absorber area. It is
observed that good efficiency is obtained for moderate temperature rise for example an.
efficiency of about 60% is obtained with an air outlet temperature of 40C.
1.9.4.3. Matrix air heater
In the matrix air heater the fluid flows through porous matrix on which solar
radiation is directly incident. The radiation thus penetrates the matrix and is gradually
absorbed. 'Ibis is quite unlike a conventionally non-porous absorber surface in which
radiation is only absorbed at the surface. The inlet air is introduced at the top and is heated
as it flows down through the matrix. This flow direction is preferred to the other possible
arrangement in which the air flows up through the matrix in the reverse manner. The reason
for this is that in the first arrangement both the glass cover and the top surface of the matrix
are in contact with the incoming air and are thus at the lowest possible temperatures. As a
result the top losses are reduced. The mesh size and porosity depends on the required
performance. The top surface behaves as a set of black cavities whose absorptive greatly
exceeds that of a regular solid surface. Selective coatings to reduce the long wave radiation
~ 22 ~

losses can also paint the matrix surface, the matrices used have been made by slacking wire
screen meshes or slit and expanded metallic foils. If the matrix is a loosely packed
semitransparent material than solar (mew is absorbed along the matrix depth. If it is a
closely packed mesh, then most of the absorption takes pint: at the top surface.
1.9.4.4. Honeycomb porous bed air heater
The use of honeycomb structure between the cover and the absorber to reduce the top
convective loss is an established fact. An air heater can also be built up by passing air
through honeycomb structure. Honeycomb can be transparent or opaque; and can be of
hexagonal or rectangular shape. The honeycomb structure can also be used along with
porous matrix material to reduce convection and radiation to cover glass. For normal
condition and for a rectangular honeycomb the efficiencies between: 67% to 78%. The
honeycomb used was selectively reflecting, the ratio of the depth of the honeycomb to the
smaller side of the rectangle was 7.1, while that of the two sides of the rectangle was 3.4.
1.9.4.5. All-plastic air heater
All plastic solar air heaters are capable of handling large volumes of air. The
heaters are fabricated from flexible plastic sheets and attain their shape because of the
pressure of the air blown through them. The absorber is a porous black textile of polestar. It
is attached at the edges to two transparent sheets of polyvinyl chloride and is covered by
them from both sides. Ring holes are provided at the edges for fixing the stretched heaters
and stand.
1.10. Single Pass Solar Air Heater
This simple collector generally consists of an absorber plate with a parallel plate
below forming a passage of high aspect ratio through which the air to be heated flows. As
in the east of liquid flat-plate collector, a transparent cover system is provided above the
absorber plate, while a sheet metal filled with insulation is provided at the bottom and
sides. In the first type, no separate passage is required and the air flows between the
transparent cover system and the absorber plate. In this heater, as the hot air flows above
the absorber, the cover receives much of the heat and in turn, losses it to the ambient. Thus
a substantial amount of heal is lost to the ambient and hence this air heater is not
~ 23 ~

recommended. The nonporous type air passage below the absorber is most commonly used.
A plate parallel to the absorber plate is provided in between the absorber and the insulation,
thus forming a passage of high aspect ratio for the air flow. In another variety of nonporous
type of air heater, the absorber plate is cooled by air stream flowing on both sides of the
plate.
1.11. Two Pass Solar Air Heater
In the two-pass solar air heater, it's collector air make two pass as through the
collector. This extra pass provides additional surface area for the air. The air can pick up
more heat with very little additional effort. Two pass designs maximize the use of surface
area of the absorber plate. The double pass means more heat can be collected by the same
number of cubic feet of air at virtually the same power requirement from the fan. This is
primarily because the time factor for heat transfer has been increased (double). However a
double pass will not allow one to reduce the amount of collector area needed, since the
amount of energy that can be collected depends on the level of the solar radiation and the
number of square feet one spreads out to intercept this radiation. The significance of the
double pass is that it reduces the amount of energy expended just to collect the heat for
later use. This reduction enhance the positive side of the overall energy balance which has
to detect the energy needed to run fans from the amount of usable energy collected. The
performance of the two pass mode is consistently an improvement of about 17% over the
single pass mode.






~ 24 ~

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction
An extensive review of the literature has been done on different renewable energy
systems in the present chapter. The main idea was to get thrust and scant area of energy
analysis of Renewable energy systems and have possible future direction of research.
2.2. Solar Heating Systems
This section deals with the literature survey on solar air heater for useful applications.
2.2.1. Solar Air Heater
For commercial applications, ability of the drier to process continuously is very important
to dry the end products for their safe storage to maintain the quality and nutrient values of
the product. Normally thermal storage systems are employed to store thermal energy,
which includes sensible heat storage, chemical energy storage and latent heat storage. The
solar drier is an energy efficient option in the drying processes. Use of forced convection
solar driers seems to be an advantage compared to traditional methods and improves the
quality of the product considerably. The common sensible heat storage materials used to
store sensible heat are water, gravel bed, sand, clay, concrete, etc. for different applications.
A Journal on Renewable and sustainable energy Review by V.V Tyagi, N.L.Panwar,
N.R.Ahim and Richa Kothari in 2012. In their research they conclude that Solar air heater
is a simple device which captures the solar energy, producing hot air by using solar air
heater is a renewable energy heating technology used to process heat generation. Such
systems produce heat at zero cost, using sun as energy source and it is freely available. It
requires minimum maintenance like cleaning of collectors.
They also found that mostly flat plate air heater produces hot air at low temperature and
found suitable for drying agricultural products.
~ 25 ~

A report on Solar air heater by Edward K. Summers, concluded that Built-in latent heat
storage has shown great promise to maintain a consistent temperature output throughout
entire day and night. Optimisation of surface roughness characteristic can lead to a greater
temperature stability, because energy penetrates deeper into the layer.
Mr Nitin Agarwal, Mr Abhishek Saxena and Mr Ganshyam Shrivastava(MIT Moradabad,
India) works on Design and performance of Solar air Heater with Long termHeat Storage.
In their study they used two solar heaters had been made(with and without thermal
storage,s1 and s2 respectively) with same specifications to supply hot air for drying and
space heating. Both air heaters were experimentally tested individually for their thermal
performance on different configurations.
On both the solar air heaters experiments were carried out under same condition and same
time and founded that S2 took a long duration of time to reach maximum temperature in
comparison to S1.
Work has been performed by using discrete types of ribs in solar air heaters by Munish
sethi(prof. IEET Baddi India), Mridul Srivastava and varun (NIT Hamirpur, India). The
concept was simple, they make a comparison of effective efficiency of solar air heaters
having different types of geometry of roughness elements (discrete ribs) on the absorber
plate. The effective efficiency has been computed by using the correlations for heat transfer
and friction factor developed by various investigators within the investigated range of
operating and system parameters.
From their work they that concluded that the presence of roughness on the absorber plate
yields considerable enhancement of heat transfer. This enhancement in heat transfer is
always along with the additional friction losses as compared to smooth surface. The
selection of roughness geometry should be such that the heat transfer increases
significantly but the increase in friction is to be very less.
B.K. Maheshwari, Rajendra Karwa, R. Singhvi, A. Goyal, R.N. Kumawat, A. Sharma, R.
Prajapat, D. Kumawat, M. Rankawat, N. Bhardwaj(J.N.V. University and JIET School of
Engineering & Technology, India) works on Performance Study of Solar Air Heater with
Baffled Duct , they founded that the mean temperature of the baffled absorber plate over
the ambient temperature has been found to be lower by 4-14
0
C as compared to the smooth
~ 26 ~

duct air heater. Thus, both the increase in the heat collection rate due to the enhancement in
the heat transfer coefficient and decrease in the heat loss from the collector due to the lower
working temperature of the absorber plate lead to an increase in the thermal efficiency of
the collector.
An experimental study on performance of a solar air heater having perforated baffles on the
air flow side of the absorber plate has been made for air mass flow rate of about 0.014-0.07
kg/s per m2 of the absorber plate area. A direct performance comparison of the
performance of the solar air heater with baffled duct with the smooth duct solar air heater
shows that
1. The thermal efficiency of the baffled duct solar air heater is about 22-33% higher than
the smooth duct solar air heater; highest thermal performance advantage is at the lowest
flow rate.
2. The heat transfer enhancement due to the baffles increases the heat collection rate and
reduces the mean temperature of the baffled absorber plate by 4-14oC as compared to the
smooth one.
3. The pumping power requirement is found to be a small fraction of the heat collection
rate in the range of the present study.
Kurtbas and Turgut investigated the solar air heater with free and fixed fins using energy
analysis. In this study each of the fins with rectangular shape was having two different
surface areas and located on the absorber surface in free and fixed manners. In the first
type, the fins were located on the absorber surface in a way that the fins are able to move
freely, while in the second type model fins were fixed to the absorber surface. The absorber
surface area was 1.64 m
2
while the fixed and free fins with 8 and 32 items were having
surface areas 0.048 and 0.012 m
2
respectively. Therefore the total fin area in the absorber
surface was equal to 0.384m
2
. They found that the fins located in flow area increases the
heat transfer coefficient and output temperature of air due to which collector efficiency
increases too. Also they found that there exists a reverse relationship between energy loss
ratio and collector efficiency as well as temperature difference of the fluid. Thus if there is
increase in the pressure drop, both heat transfer and energy loss were also found to be
~ 27 ~

enhanced, while it has been observed that the energy loss ratio was affected less because
heater has very little pressure drop.
Alta investigated the energy efficiency of three different types of solar air heaters, two
having fins and one without fins besides one heaters with fins has single glass cover while
the other two have double glass cover. The energy output rates of the solar air heaters were
evaluated at different air flow rates viz. 25, 50 and 100 m
3
/m
2
h, tilt angle at 0, 15 and 30
and temperature conditions versus time. They found that the heaters with double glass
covers and fins are more effective and the difference between the input and output air
temperature is higher than that of the other cases. It was also found that the lower air flow
rates will be beneficial in applications where higher temperature differences are more
important. Besides it has also been observed that using more transparent cover and fins
increases the values of temperature differences. While transparent cover decreases
convection heat losses, fins obtain more heat because of an increase in the heating time by
circulating air inside.
2.3. Conclusions of Literature Review
From the literature reviews, it has been found that already too much work had been
performed in the field of solar air heater, but many work will be required in this field to
increase the amount of output we get from the solar energy. The gaps in the literature
review helped in identifying the objectives and investigations of the proposed thesis.










~ 28 ~

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction to Specifications and Experimental Set-up
In the present study, at first mathematical model is obtained by the application of
the governing conservation laws. The heat balance is accomplished across each component
of given solar air heater i.e., the glass covers, the air stream and the absorber plate. The
heat balance for the air stream yields the governing differential equations and the
associated boundary conditions. The heat and fluid flow are assumed steady and one
dimensional. It is because of the radiation heat exchange terms that render the problem
non-linear hence making the exact solution cumbersome. So a numerical approach is
applied which would give a solution with a fairly good accuracy. The finite difference
method (FDM) will be used to solve the differential equations and hence to simulate a
given solar air heater. In IDM technique, the first step involves the transformation of the
actual physical domain into the computational grid. Second step is to transform the
differential equations into difference equations, which along with the equations obtained.
3.2. Specifications of Solar Air Heater
Specifications and attributes for the components of solar air heater are tabulated below:
1. Absorber Tray
Length 120 cm
Width 70 cm
Height 13 cm
Area 8400 cm
2

Side wall exposed angle 65
Thickness of Tin tray 1 mm
Material of Construction Aluminum
Color Painted Dull Black

~ 29 ~

2. Insulation
Insulator Glass Wool
Thickness (filling) 2 cm
Weight (total used) 3 kilo grams
Color Silver
3. Glazing
Material of Construction Single pane float glass
Length 124 cm
Width 5 cm
Area 620 cm
2

Color Transparent (98 % transmissivity)
4. Rigid Support Frame (Iron Angle)
Length 152 cm
Width 54 cm
Area 8316 cm
2

Angle 44
Height 60 cm (L1) & 300 cm (L2)
Thickness 2.5 mm
Material Galvanized Iron (GI)
Color Dull Black Painted
5. Condenser (Pre - Heater)
Size 365 x 348 x 16
Car Model Maruti Suzuki 800 MPFI
Flow Type Parallel
Material of Construction Aluminum
6. Pre-heater Box
Length 55cm
Breadth 45cm
Height 30cm
Area 2475cm
2
Glass Area 15 x 16
Glass Width 5 mm

~ 30 ~

7. Coolant
Brand Puroguard
Color Green
8. Fan
Voltage / Frequency 220 V / 50 Hz
Color Chronic Black
Diameter 20 cm
Power 60 W
Speed 2800 RPM
Weight 750 grams
9. Other Materials Used
Adhesives M-Seal (250 grams)
Fevi-quick (50 grams)
Clay 4 kilograms
Thread (Insulated) 15 meter
Sharp edge pins (Size 1 cm) 250 Nos
Fine Wire (To support fins) 3 meter
3.3. Components of solar air heater 1.
Absorber- The absorber should have as high absorptivity for solar radiation as
possible, and it should conduct the absorbed heat efficiently into the heat transfer fluid
Most absorber materials do not have a very high absorptive, and they need to be covered
with special solar coatings. A large number of combinations of coatings and traits
are possible. The absorber substrate must be compatible with the heat transfer fluid and it
must resist corrosion. It must be able to withstand not only the temperature swings of
normal operation, but also stagnation conditions (unless some other protection against
overheating is provided e.g., defocusing or shading in case of pump failure) How
important the thermal conductivity of the absorber material is depends vas much on the
design 01 the collector. In many flat plate collectors the fluid flaws through tubes that are
bonded to an absorber sheet. Since the tubes are some distance to the order of 10 cm apart,
good conductivity of the absorber sheet is important. For this design,copper is the
preferred material for its high conductivity and corrosion resistance, unfortunately it is
also expensive. In typical collectors the tin efficiency of thecopper plate is on the order
of 95% relative to a plate with infinite conductivity. Aluminum offers fairly high
~ 31 ~

conductivity at a lower cost, but most manufacturers have avoided it because of its
susceptibility to corrosion. Of course the bonding between tubes and plate should provide
good thermal contact.
The conductivity of the absorber material is not critical in designs where the fluid flow
readies the entire absorber area. For example, in a parabolic trough with tubular receiver
the heat needs to travel only through the wall of the tube, and with any reasonable
material the resistance across the tube wall is small compared to the resistance from the
inner tube surface to the bulk of the fluid (High circumferential conductivity may be
desirable to minimize differential heating of tube top and bottom; however, this can also
be achieved by making the fluid spiral through the tube.) Similarly the conductivity of the
absorber material does not matter in flat plate air collectors, where the air flows past the
entire absorber plate.
2. Class covers glazing- Most collectors have a transparent cover in front of or around
the absorber to reduce heat losses. In some collectors multiple glazing is used to reduce
heat losses even more. The heat loss could also be reduced by selective coatings,
evacuation. Or concentration, which approach is most cost effective depends on many
factors. In practice one rarely uses more than two covers. The ideal cover is a transparent
insulator; it has high transmittance for solar radiation, low transmittance for thermal
radiation from the absorber, high durability, sufficient strength and low cost Optical
losses of the glazing are due to reflection at the glazing surfaces and due to absorption
inside the glazing material The reflection loss depends on incidence angle and on index
of refraction and is given by Fresnels equation. Almost all giving materials for solar
collectors have an index of approximately 1.5 and the correspondin
g
reflective loss at
normal incidence is 4% per surface or 8% per glazing. Teflon has the lowest index of
refraction, 1.34, and the highest solar transmittance 96%.
Absorption losses depend on extinction coefficient and thickness according to
Bouguers law Ordinary window glass (soda lime glass) has high absorption losses because
of its iron content. Its overall solar transmittance or 84% for 3 nun thickness is undesirably
low. Low iron glass has almost no absorption loss but it is more expensive. Actually it is
not so much the iron content itself that matters as the nature of the iron bond since
Fe
2+
ions absorb much more strongly than Fe
3+
ions. Hence one can cut absorption losses by
reducing the concentration of Fe
2+
ions rather than eliminating iron altogether. E.g.,
~ 32 ~

Coming 0317 fusion glass has good transmittance despite high iron content. Many
plastics have some absorptivity for the infrared portion of the solar spectrum. Borosilicate
glass is excellent: it is stronger than soda lime glass and much more resistant to thermal
shock. Its absorption coefficient for solar radiation is very low. Unfortunately it is
relatively expensive.
3. Other materials-
Collector enclosures, collector support, insulation, seals, pipes, and heat transfer
fluids are vital parts or a collection system A serious failure any of these parts can cause
malfunction of the entire system In the past when energy was cheap, little attention was
paid to insulation Following that tradition many of the early collectors were insulated with
less than the economically optimal amount of insulation. Insulation is crucial if a collector
is to have good thermal performance. In flat plate collectors, e. g, both back and sides
should have adequate insulation. Hot pipes and ducts and storage tanks should or course
also be well insulated. Of course, insulating materials should have low thermal
conductivities and low cost. They must also withstand the highest expected operating
temperatures and thermal cycling. Insulation on outdoor pipes should be encased
with metal cladding or UV inhibited PVC jackets; simply painting it will usually not
provide sufficient protection. Moisture can cause severe problems. For example, if
fiberglass or open cell foam becomes wet, they can act like a heat pipe: water evaporates
near the absorber and condenses near the enclosure, creating a thermal short circuit from
absorber to ambient. Hence it is crucial to protect the insulation from external or internal
leaks. Closed cell insulation is preferable because it avoids this problem. However, Freon-
blown insulation releases corrosive hydrofluoric or hydrochloric vapors if heated above
180C. In fact many insulating materials outgas at elevated temperatures, and these gases
may condense on the inside of the glazing thereby reducing the transmittance even if they
are non-corrosive. Most conductivities increase rapidly with temperature.
Therefore heat losses must be calculated with the conductivity at operating temperature.
Glass-wool (fiber-glass) is the cheapest insulation and it can be used up to 370C lilt is
made with a minimum of organic binders and preheated to drive off volatiles.
The enclosure should keep the inside dry and clean. It should allow rain and
snow to run off Common materials for collector enclosures or support are galvanized
or painted steel, aluminum, fiberglass, plastics, wood and wood products, and
~ 33 ~

concrete. Compatibility of materials is important. For instance, different metals in close
contact with each other can cause severe electrolytic corrosion. Also the possibility of
differential thermal expansion must be taken into account to prevent warping or
breakage of glazing or absorber. In this context one might also emphasize the need for
expansion tanks and for expansion loops and/or bellows in the piping to accommodate
thermal expansion the materials and paints should be resistant to UV and other
environmental influences. Wood is a risky choice as collector enclosure; it may outgas,
warp, rot or ignite.
3. 4. Desi gn Consi derati ons
3.4.1. Space Pressure Relationships
Space pressure is determined by fan location and duct system arrangement. For
example, a supply fan that pumps air into a space increases space pressure; an exhaust fan
reduces space pressure. If both supply and exhaust fans are used. Space pressure depends on
the relative capacity of the fans. Space pressure is positive if supply exceeds exhaust and
negative if exhaust exceeds supply. System pressure variations due to wind can be
minimized by careful selection of intake air and exhaust vent locations.
3.4.2. Fire and Smoke Management
Because duct systems can convey smoke, hot gases, and fire fromone area to another and can
accelerate a lire within the system; fire protection is an essential part of air-conditioning
and ventilation system design. Generally, fire safety codes require complete with the
standards of national organizations. NFPA Standard 90A examines fire safety requirements for (1)
ducts, connectors, and appurtenances; (2) plenums and corridors; (3) air outlets, air inlets, and
fresh air intakes; (4) air titters; (5) fans; (6) electric wiring and equipment; (7) air-cooling
and -heating equipment; (8) building construction, including protection of penetrations; and
(9) controls, including smoke control. Fire safety codes often refer to the testing and labeling
practices of nationally recognized laboratories, such as Factory Mutual and Underwriters
laboratories. The Building Materials Directory compiled by UL lists fire and smoke dampers
that have been tested and meet the requirements of UL Standards 555 and 555S. This directory also
summarizes maximumallowable sizes for individual dampers and assemblies of these dampers.
Fire dampers arc 1.5 h or 3 h fire-rated. Smoke dampers arc classified by (1) temperature
degradation [ambient air or high temperature (120C minimum)] and (2) leakage at 250 Pa
~ 34 ~

and 1000 Pa pressure difference (2 kPa and 3 kPa classification optional). Smoke dampers
are tested under conditions of maximumairflow. UL's Fire Resistance Directory lists the lire
resistance of floor/roof and ceiling assemblies with and without ceiling fire dampers.
3.4.3. Materials
Galvanized steel, uncoated carbon steel, or aluminum are most frequently
used for industrial air handling. Aluminum ductwork is not used forsystems conveying
abrasive materials; when temperatures exceed 200C, galvanized steel is not
recommended. Ductwork material for systems handling corrosive gases, vapors, or mists
must he selected carefully. For the application of metals and use of protective coatings in
corrosive environments, consult, Accepted Industry Practice for Industrial Duct
Construction(SMACNA 1975), the Pollution Engineering Practice Handbook
(Cheremisixoff and Young 1975), and the publications of the National Association of
Corrosion Engineers (NACE) and ASM International.
In the smooth duct as well as matrix duct, the bottom is 31.25mm ply board, above
those two sheets of ply board 25 mm thick are placed. Finally 3 mm aluminum sheet is
implied. Absorber plate is painted black by the black board paint in order to
improve its absorptive. The sidewalls of the duct are made up of 25 mm thick softwood.
A4mm thick sheet of rubber having width 4cm is placed throughout the aluminum sheet.
Above that a wooden block of 2.5 cm thick and having 4cm width is placed. Then again
rubber sheet is placed as before. Above the rubber sheet a glass of 4mm thick, 60.3 cm
width and length 1.5m is placed. Glass is fixed by the aluminum beading. Finally a duct of
the dimensions 1.5 m x 0.55 in x 0.053 m is formed.
Transition section (Circular to Rectangular and vice versa)
It is made of tin material of 0.5mm thick. It is used for to convert the rectangular area in to
the circular area, through which MS pipe is connected .The range of the taper angle is vary
from10-15.We have taken the taper angle of 15 .According to this angle we have
calculated the slant height of the duct is 0.8 meter. It is connected at the both side (inlet and
outlet) of the duct through screw.



~ 35 ~

CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS
The experiments were conducted in the month of April 2014 in Moradabad (2821'
to 28
0
16' north latitude and 78
0
4' to 79 cast longitude). The collectors were located
with 42.5' angles with respect to south direction. The experiments were carried out at the
same time periods between 11.00 and 16.00 on the days for various mass flow rates and
performed for a week for each mass flow rate (airmass flow rate = outflow air density x
outflow duct area x average outflow air velocity). However, the days having approximately
the same radiation were used, when a comparison was made between collectors. The
air flow through the collector was supplied by a radial table fan and adjusted via a
sliding valve controller for different speeds, located at the bottom. The flow rate was
kept constant and same in both the collector designed and conventional flat-plate
collector. The experiments were carried out using three different mass flow rates and
the flow rates were adjusted via the sliding value of the radial ran. The mass flow rate of
the air was measured by anemometer. The collectors were tested according to ASHRAE
standard. Thermal efficiency of solar heating systems is defined as the ratio of useful
energy gain (Q
out
) by the air to solar radiation incident on the absorber (Q
in
) of solar air
collector.
p =

out

n
=
m C
p
(I
1u
I
Amb
)
I.A
1u

Where:
T
tray
=(T
1
+T
2
)/2
m - mass flow rate of fluid (air)
T
1
- Tray temperature at duct outlet in C
T
2
- Tray temperature at duct inlet in C
T
3
- outlet temperature in C
T
4
- inlet temperature in C
T
amb
=Ambient temperature in C
I =H =Solar radiation in W/m
2

~ 36 ~

W
s
- Wind speed in m/s
T
absor
, Aperture area of SAH
- Efficiency
4.2. Performance of solar air heater (without using preheater)
Day-1
Observations were recorded for solar air heater without using pre-heater for day-2 and are
tabulated as under:
Forced Convection:
Time T
a
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
out

13:30 25 31 50 48 38
14:30 24 30 49 47 37
15:30 23 29 47 45 37
16:30 21 22 32 29 26
Table 4.2.1. Experimental observations of solar air heater (without using pre-heater) for Day -1


~ 37 ~

Day 2
Observations were recorded for solar air heater without using pre-heater for day-2 and are
tabulated as under:
Forced Convection
Time T
a
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
out

12:00 20 23 38 33 30
13:00 21 29 43 39 34
14:00 20 27 40 37 31
15:00 19 22 32 29 27
Table 4.2.2. Experimental observations of solar air heater (without using pre-heater) for Day -2




~ 38 ~

4.3. Performance of Solar Air Heater (Using Pre-heater)
Day 1
Observations were recorded for solar air heater using pre-heater for day-1 and are tabulated
as under:
Forced Convection:
Time T
a
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
out

13:00 36 59 80 90 75
14:00 37 55 70 78 69
15:00 33 51 67 73 65
16:00 31 49 60 59 60
Table 4.3.1. Experimental observations of solar air heater (Using pre-heater) for Day -1



~ 39 ~


DAY 2
Observations were recorded for solar air heater using pre-heater for day-1 and are tabulated
as under:
Forced Convection:
Time T
a
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
out

13:00 37 55 80 84 76
14:00 38 57 81 86 77
15:00 35 52 76 79 69
16:00 32 49 68 74 61
Table 4.3.2. Experimental observations of solar air heater (Using pre-heater) for Day -2




~ 40 ~

4.4 EFFECT OF PARAMETERS ON THERMAL PERFORMANCE
4.4.1. System parameters:
4.4.1.1. Number of glass Covers
The number of covers (glazing) used in a collector is usually one or two. We
will study the effect of the number of covers on performance by again taking the example
of the GI collector with one, two and three covers. The situation studied the
efficiency goes through a maximum value of 43.3 per cent for the case of two covers. This
can be explained as follows.
4.4.1.2. Collector Tilt
Hat-plate collectors arc normally fixed in one position and do not track the sun. The
question of the amount of tilt one should give to themis therefore of considerable importance.
The basis for arriving at a minimum tilt will now be discussed. Annual insulation per unit
area by integrating the expression for a tilted surface first over the day length and then
summing up over the days of the year, taking = 0, so that the daily insolation is
maximized.
The effect of having surface azimuth angles other than zero, i.e. collectors
which do not slope precisely towards the south in the northern hemisphere (or the north in
the southern hemisphere) has also been considered by Morse and Czarnecki. In this case
also, it has been seen from their results that surface azimuth angles up to 5 result -
very small reductions (less than 1 per cent) in the relative insulation.
It has to be noted however that the optimum tilt would be different if the nature of
the energy demand is different. For example, for application like space heating,
the demand may be high in the winter months of December, J anuary and February.
On the other hand, if solar energy were to be used for running an absorption refrigeration
plant, the duty would be highest in months like April, May and J une having high
ambient temperatures. In such cases, it would obviously be desirable to use a tilt
greater than the latitude for a winter application and the reverse for a summer
application. The usual practice is to recommend values of ( + 10) or ( + 15
0
)
for the former and ( - 10) or ( - 15) for the latter.

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4.4.2. Plate spacing
The proper spacing to be kept between the absorber plate and the first
cover or between two covers has been the subject of considerable discussion. From
the point of view of the heat loss from the
.
top, it is evident that the spacing must be
such that the values of the convective head transfer coefficients are minimized. It is,
therefore, useful to examine the behavior of the correlating equations. Spacing
increases the value of h increases first sharply and then gradually. It goes through a
maximum and then gradually decreases. With large values of spacing, the value
drops below the previous maximum value.
It will be noted that the spacing at which the minimum and maximum values
occur vary with the temperature difference. They also vary with the tilt. Since collectors
are designed to operate at different locations with varying tilts and under varying service
conditions, an optimum value of spacing is difficult to specify. It appears best to use a
sufficiently large spacing away from the local minimum and maximum. Spacing from 4 to
8 cm has been suggested from this point of view by Buchberg et al. It has been shown that
by using the larger spacing, around 5 cm, collector area requirements can be reduced by 2
to 8 percent, the higher reduction being obtained with the collector having the selective
absorber plate.
4.4.3. Effect of Shading
The main problem associated with the use of larger spacing is that shading of the
absorber plate by the side walls of the collector casing increases. Some shading
always occurs in every collector and needs to be corrected for. The shading is
particularly important in the early morning and late evening hours. It is estimated that
for most designs using spacing of 2 to 3 cm between the covers, shading reduces the
radiation absorbed by about 3 per cent. Accordingly, it is recommended that the
absorbed flux S be calculated in the usual manner but with a multiplying factor of
0.97. With larger spacing of 5 cm, it would be necessary to use a smaller multiplying factor
around 0.95. Thus the gain obtained by using a larger spacing is offset by the reduction in
S. For this reason, spacing of 2 to 3 cm is generally used by all manufacturers. It
may be noted that in some collectors the inside or the side walls is lined with a reflecting
surface in order to alleviate the effects of shading.
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4.4.4. Selectivity of Collector Surfaces
Absorber surfaces which exhibit the characteristics of a high value of absorption for
incoming solar radiation and a low value of out-going re-radiation are called selective
surfaces. Likely surfaces are desirable, because they maximize the absorption of solar
energy and minimize the emission of the radiative heat loss. Obviously they would yield
higher collector efficiencies than that are obtained when the absorptivity and emissivity are
equal.
The possibility of having selective absorber plate surfaces for flat-plate collectors
was suggested first by Tabor and later by Gier and DuokIct. The basis for the suggestion can
be understood if one compares the spectral distribution of extra-terrestrial solar radiation with
the black body radiation from a source at 350K (which corresponds approximately to the
temperature of the absorber plate). It is immediately obvious that there is almost no
overlap between the two. Unlike solar radiation, which lies almost exclusively in the
wavelength region up to 4 m, the radiation coming off from the absorber plate
is of large wavelengths with a maximum at 83 pm. It follows therefor that if a
surface that has a high absorpt ivit y for wavelengt hs less t han 4 m and a low
emissivity for wavelengths greater than 4 m can be prepared, it would have
the characteristics desirable for an absorber plate surface to act in a selective
fashion. The characteristics desire for an ideal selective surface.
In most of these surfaces the selectivity is achieved by having a polished
and cleaned metal base and depositing on it a thin surface layer which is
transparent to large wavelengths, but highly absorbing for small wavelength
solar radiation. The surf ace layer is less than 1 m in thickness and is
deposited by a variety of methods. These include electroplating, chemical vapor
deposition, chemical conversion, anodic oxidation and rf-magetron sputtering. Some
of the successful developments in this field will now be described. Surface layers
of copper oxide and "nickel black" were the first selective surfaces found to be
suitable from a practical standpoint. The copper oxide layer was formed by
chemical conversion, by treating a cleaned and polished copper plate in a hot
solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium chlorite for a specified time.
Values of absorptivity and emissivity obtained for this surface were 0.89 and 0.17
respectively being the average value of

over the solar radiation wavelength range

~ 43 ~

and
p
being the average value of

for large wavelength radiation. The "nickel

black", surface was developed and commercialese in Israel. The process involved
the careful cleaning of a galvanized iron sheet and subsequent electroplating of a
"nickel black" coating by immersion of the sheet as the cathode in an aqueous
electrolytic bath of nickel sulphate, zinc sulphate, ammonium sulphate, ammonium
thiocyanate and citric acid. Values of =0.81 and
p
=0.14 to 0.18 were obtained for
this selective surface.

4.4.5. Effect on Collector Performance
The effect of a selective surface on the performance of a collector can be best
illustrated by taking a specific situation. The GI collector performance with and without a
selective surface at 1200 h (IST) calculated. The only changes made fromthe earlier data are
as follows:
It is assumed now that the tubes are clamped on the underside of the absorber plate
instead of being brazed. This is a cheaper method of fabrication but results in a bond
resistance which is assumed to be 0.15 m-C/W in this case.
The mean flow rate is taken as 60 kg/h.
The ambient air temperature is assumed to be 30C.
With the selective surface, two cases are considered. In one case, it isassumed that a =0.95
and
p
=0.12, while in the other, it is assumed that a =0.85 and
p
=0.11.

4.5. OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS
4.5.1. Fluid Inlet Temperature
The fluid inlet temperature is an operational parameter which strongly influences
the performance of a flat-plate collector. The effect is best illustrated by again doing
calculations for the case of the GI collector. The efficiency of the collector decreases
sharply at an increasing rate with increasing values of T
fi.
The value falling from 52.0
to 29.0 % as T
fi
increases from 40 to 90C. This decrease is because of the higher
temperature level at which the collector as a whole operates when the fluid inlet
~ 44 ~

temperature increases. Because of this, the top loss coefficient as well as the temperature
difference with the surroundings increases, the heat lost increases and the useful heat gain
decreases.
4.5.2. Mass flow rate
An increase in the mass flow rate of the carrier fluid increases the value of collector
efficiency. This is because of the increases in mass flow rate decrease the collector plate
temperature and thus decreases the heat losses to the surrounding. Also, at the same time the
pressure drop increases, which in turn increases the pumping power thus an optimum
value of mass flow rate would be one, which give maximum possible efficiency
without an unduly high-pressure drop.
4.6. METROLOGICAL PARAMETERS
4.6.1. Incident Solar Flux
It is seen that the efficiency increases with the flux, the increase being more
pronounced at lower values of flux. The fluid inlet temperature and the
ambient temperature essentially determine the losses from a collector. Hence, if
these quantities are constant and the incident flux increases, the useful heat gain
and the efficiency must increase. It should be noted that the incident flux is
composed of beam, diffuse and reflected radiation.
4.6.2. Ambient temperature
Ambient temperature affects the performance of collector indirectly
through the heat losses. For a given outlet temperature the efficiency decreases with a
decrease in ambient temperature.
4.6.3. Wind speed
Convective heat transfer from the cover plate to the ambient air is
significantly dependent on the wind speed. Higher the wind speed grater is the
thermal loss, which causes the collector efficiency to decrease. The relative
influence of wind speed on a one-cover system is larger as compared to that for two and
three cover systems.

~ 45 ~

4.6.4. Dust on the Top Cover
The preceding calculations of the flux transmitted through the covers of the
collector have been done under the assumption that the top cover is clean and
has no dust accumulated on it. This assumption is acceptable only if the cover is
continuously cleaned. However, in any practical situation, this is not possible. Cleaning is
generally done once every few days. There is, however, considerable difficulty in assigning
a value to the correction factor in a specific situation because of its dependence on a number
of parameters. The value depends obviously on the location o the collector and the Limo of
the year. It also depends upon the material of the cover (glass or plastic), the tilt of the
collector and the frequency of cleaning.









~ 46 ~

CHAPTER 5
EXPERIMENTAL CONCLUSIONS
The efficiency of flat plate solar air heater has been found to be low because of low
convective heat transfer coefficient between absorber plate and the flowing air which
increases the absorber plate temperature, leading to higher heat losses to the environment
resulting inlow thermal efficiency of such collectors. Several methods, such as the use of
fins, preheater have been proposed for the enhancement of thermal performance. Use of fins
in the repetition has been found to be a convenient method.
Several investigations have been carried out to study the effect of preheater and fins on heat
transfer. At last after comparing the design and fabrication of solar air heater with and
without the use of preheater, we have concluded that the solar air heater can raise the
temperature of forced air within the range 30-35C by using preheater.
We can use this hot air for the following purposes.
As a dryer for drying the crops such as: Wheat, Corns etc.
As a dryer for pickles
As a dryer in industries such as : textile industry, paper industry
As a space heating
Beside this it has been found the Metrological conditions have a good considerable
effect on the performance of solar air heater and likely applications. Apart this it can also be
operated on natural wind velocity (normally 1.05 m/s at ground level and increases with
height) but in this case we can't hope for an efficient operation of air heater because of low
ambient conditions and natural convection.





~ 47 ~


REFERENCES
1.Book:
a. Suhas P SUKHATME titled Principles of Solar Energy, Second Edition, 1999
b. B.H.Khan on Non-conventional energy resources, second edition,2013
c. O. Yogi GOSW317/1, Frank X rcith. and Jan F. Kreider, "Principles of Solar
Engineering", Second Edition-Taylor and Francis Press; 2 Sub edition (January I. 2000)
d. John A. Duffle, and William A. BeeLamy. "Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes".
John Wiley: 3 edition (August 25, 2006)
e. Soteris A. Kalogirou, "Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and Systems". Elsevier
Academic Press: 1 edition (July 7. 2009)
f. Robert Foster, Majid Ghassemi, and Alma Com. "Solar Energy: Renewable Energy
and the Environment", CRC Press: I edition (August 18. 2009)
g. Godfrey Boyle, "Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future, Second
Edition. Oxford University Presic 2nd edition (May 6. 2004)
h. William H. Kemp, "The Renewable Energy Handbook, Revised Edition: The
Updated Comprehensive Guide to Renewable Energy and Independent Living",
Aztext Press; Third Edition (October I, 2009)
i. J.P. Holman, 'Heat Transfer", McGraw-hill inc.. US; lath edition (June 1, 2011)
2.Journal paper:
a. Muneesh sethi, Mridul sharma and Varun Effective efficiency prediction for discrete
type of ribs used in Solar air Heater Volume 1, issue 2, 2010
b. Abhishek saxena ,Nitin Agarwal and Ghanshyam Srivastava Design and performance
of solar air heater with long term Heat storage issue 2013 PP 8-16.
c. B.K. Maheshwari, Rajendra Karwa, R. Singhvi, A. Goyal, R.N. Kumawat, A. Sharma,
R. Prajapat, D. Kumawat, M. Rankawat, N. Bhardwa Performance study of solar air
heater using Baffled DuctVolume 4, Issue 5 (Nov. - Dec. 2012), PP 52-56.