THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF A SOLAR AIR HEATER ROUGHENED BY RIBS an‎d GROOVES

In this study, thermal and thermohydraulic efficiencies of a solar air collector having a roughened absorber with rib-grooved artificial roughness elements have been investigated and compared with the flat plate solar air collectors. The system has been theoretically investigated for different geometrical roughness parameters by help of energy balance equations between the elements of collector. Geometrical roughness parameters such as ratio of the relative roughness height (RRH), relative roughness pitch (RRP), and groove positions to pitch (GP/PR) are examined for Reynolds number range from 3000 to 21,000.