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The efficiency of solar air collectors, which are intended to convert solar energy into thermal energy, is the subject of numerous studies that aim to assess and improve it. Solutions for sustainable energy heavily rely on these systems. Making the right choice regarding the best method for absorbing solar radiation and reducing heat losses is what will ultimately lead to their improved performance. In this work, wavy and corrugated absorbers were suggested inside a solar air collector. The aim of this article is to study experimentally the thermal performance of the solar air collector when using wavy shape of absorber and corrugated shape of absorber instead of the flat shape of absorber under the same weather conditions of Sfax region central‐eastern of Tunisia. The suggested shapes of absorber augmented sun exposure and heating area. The results obtained from this experimental study show that switching from a flat plate absorber to both wavy and corrugated absorbers resulting significant performance gains. The absorber with waves showed a significant improvement in daily thermal efficiency of 22.89%, and the absorber with corrugations showed an even greater improvement of 40.56%. Comparable patterns were noted in daily exergy efficiency, where the corrugated absorber demonstrated an astounding 44.83% increase and the wavy absorber provided a 23.24% improvement. Notably, when total cost savings and monthly CO2 reduction were taken into account, the corrugated absorber turned out to be the best option. These findings highlight the importance of absorber form in optimizing thermal and energy efficiency, which may have positive effects on the economy and environment.
The efficiency of solar air collectors, which are intended to convert solar energy into thermal energy, is the subject of numerous studies that aim to assess and improve it. Solutions for sustainable energy heavily rely on these systems. Making the right choice regarding the best method for absorbing solar radiation and reducing heat losses is what will ultimately lead to their improved performance. In this work, wavy and corrugated absorbers were suggested inside a solar air collector. The aim of this article is to study experimentally the thermal performance of the solar air collector when using wavy shape of absorber and corrugated shape of absorber instead of the flat shape of absorber under the same weather conditions of Sfax region central‐eastern of Tunisia. The suggested shapes of absorber augmented sun exposure and heating area. The results obtained from this experimental study show that switching from a flat plate absorber to both wavy and corrugated absorbers resulting significant performance gains. The absorber with waves showed a significant improvement in daily thermal efficiency of 22.89%, and the absorber with corrugations showed an even greater improvement of 40.56%. Comparable patterns were noted in daily exergy efficiency, where the corrugated absorber demonstrated an astounding 44.83% increase and the wavy absorber provided a 23.24% improvement. Notably, when total cost savings and monthly CO2 reduction were taken into account, the corrugated absorber turned out to be the best option. These findings highlight the importance of absorber form in optimizing thermal and energy efficiency, which may have positive effects on the economy and environment.
This current investigation involves an experimental inspection of adding porous medium and phase change material (PCM) above the absorber surface to enhance the performance of a single slope and single basin solar water distiller system. To demonstrate the effectiveness of adding porous medium and PCM, the performance of the modified system and conventional system is compared under similar operating conditions. The system that uses porous medium and PCM is called MSS‐FPP, whereas the conventional system is called MSS‐F. Rectangular fins are fixed above the absorber plate for both models. For MSS‐FPP model, three different types of porous medium (stones, nuts, and black glass balls) are used in addition to paraffin wax filled inside circular tubes as a PCM. The data are collected in November and December 2023 in Mosul City, Iraq. The experiments are carried out under different water depths. The findings confirm that the performance of MSS‐FPP model is better than MSS‐F model by 41.32% (for water depth 3 cm) and 30.61% (for water depth 5 cm). The results also indicated that the water productivity of MSS‐FPP model is higher than MSS‐F model by 41.67% (for water depth 3 cm) and 30.65% (for water depth 5 cm). For MSS‐FPP model, the maximum water productivity and efficiency are obtained when using black glass balls as compared to nuts and stones types, where the highest water temperature and water productivity values are found equal 54°C and 1.01 kg/m2 for water depth 3 cm. The enhancement in the performance of modified solar water distiller system (MSS‐FPP) shows that using a porous medium and PCM has considerable impacts on the evaporation rate, heat exchange, and rate of heat transfer.
Solar air heaters (SAHs) are widely used for drying vegetables and fruits or for domestic heating. Certain sizing parameters are necessary to obtain the right dimensions for the required air temperature, flow rate, and thus useful thermal energy. The well‐known Hottel–Whillier–Bliss equation was used and made dimensionless by applying the collector longitudinal and transversal aspect ratios (rl and rt) of a double‐glazed flat plate solar air heater (DG‐FPSAH). The steady‐state equations are solved to determine the average temperatures. Thereafter, one could calculate the overall loss heat coefficient and efficiency factor, obtained analytically. A Matlab code was developed to estimate primarily unknown temperatures, useful energy, and the Nusselt number. An iterative numerical method is used until convergence occurs. The inlet cross‐sectional area and air flow velocity are defined as input data. The proposed sizing method depends on the output temperature required by the customer. This temperature can be determined from the plotted curves of the dimensionless ratios. Hence, the SAH‐needed dimensions are determined graphically depending on the functional requirements for construction planning, such as technology choice, work breakdown, and budgeting. In the present case study, based on the input parameters, an airflow rate of 1.2 kg/s entering a DG‐FPSAH with an output temperature of 41.5°C yields the dimensions of Lin = 3.824 m, Win = 2.735 m, and Hin = 0.1825, specifying the collector length, width, and air duct height. The gathered energy and thermohydraulic efficiency are: Qu = 7.91 kW, ηcol = 0.752, respectively.
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