Experimental Investigation of One Glass Cover and Three Absorber Plates Two-Pass Solar Air Collector with Thermal Storage

Objective: Improvement of the thermal efficiency of solar air collector is a major issue in researcher's community. Therefore novel design of solar air collector is constructed. The objectives of this research paper are to obtained the results of novel solar air collector and compare it with conventional type solar air collector. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The experiments are carried out at the different mass flow rate of air on novel design of one glass cover and three absorber plates two-pass solar air collector (OGT_hA_pTPSAC) and one glass cover and two absorber plates single-pass solar air collector (OGT_wA_pSPSAC) operating on the same atmospheric conditions. The various thermal parameters such as heat gain, heat loss and thermal efficiency are determined with respect to time of the day. Findings: Major heat loss in any type of solar air collector is due to convection. To minimise this convection loss, vacuum is formed on top portion of novel designed solar air collector. Both solar air collectors taken for the comparison also has a unique feature of thermal storage. Comparative results show that the novel designed two-pass solar air collector is more thermally efficient than conventional single pass solar air collector. Application/improvements: Such type of solar air collector can be used in drying of fruits, crops; space heating for greenhouse, residential building etc.