Experimental Investigation of Thermohydraulic Performance of a Rectangular Solar Air Heater Duct Equipped with V-Shaped Perforated Blocks

Abstract

This paper presents the thermohydraulic performance of rectangular solar air heater duct equipped with V-shaped rectangular perforated blocks attached to the heated surface. The V-shaped perforated blocks are tested for downstream (V-down) to the air flow at Reynolds number from 2000 to 20000. The perforated blocks have relative pitch ratio ( P/e) from 4 to 12, relative blockage height ratio ( e/H) from 0.4 to 1.0, and open area ration from 5% to 25% at a fixed value of angle of attack of 60∘ in a rectangular duct having duct aspect ratio ( W/H) of 12. Thermohydraulic performance is compared at different geometrical parameters of V-shaped perforated blocks for equal pumping power which shows that maximum performance is observed at a relative pitch of 8, relative rib height of 0.8, and open area ration of 20%. It is also observed that the performance of V-shaped perforated blocks was better than transverse-perforated blocks.