Effect of the partial blockage in the exit of the mixing channel on thermo - Hydraulic performance of the multi – Pass jet plate solar air heater

Abstract

The present experimental work deals with the effect of partial blockage in the exit of the mixing channel on thermo-hydraulic performance of multi-pass jet plate solar air heater. This investigation is performed at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad campus (India) to obtain the results in terms of outlet temperature, collector efficiency, Temperature rise parameter (TRP), thermo - hydraulic performance parameter (THPP) and Nusselt number for double–pass cross and non–cross flow inline holes Jet Plate Solar Air Heater (JPSAH). Results for different ranges of operating and geometrical parameters such as, mass flow rate = 0.10–0.14 kg/s, Reynolds number, Re = 4741–10632, daily average solar flux incident on glass cover, Itavg. = 611–1113 W/m2 and blockage ratio (H/Z2) = 0, 0.33, 0.66 are presented. This work also compares the present results with simple double – pass solar air heater. It is found that the maximum percentage increments in THPP and Nu are 37 % and 79 % respectively at Re = 10247 and 9500 for BR = 0 compared to non-cross flow and simple double pass solar air heater. Based on the experimental data, correlations for the Nusselt number, friction factor and THPP have been developed.