Heating performance enhancement of a new design trombe wall using rectangular thermal fin arrays: An experimental approach

Abstract

Abstract It has been nowadays recognized that addressing energy use in buildings can reduce the fossil fuels usage and CO2 emission. Trombe wall is a widely applicable passive solar design option that can significantly reduce the fossil fuel consumption in buildings. This paper experimentally dealt with the effect of applying vertical thermal fin on the absorber of Trombe wall with new design. Three types of aluminum, brass and copper fins were investigated. The experiments were carried out at arid climate of Yazd, Iran. The results showed that when the thermal fin is used the performance efficiency of the Trombe wall increases up to 3% in terms of stored energy within the Trombe wall and 6% in terms of natural convection heat transfer rate inside the channel. However, adopting more thermal fins on the absorber could not ensure higher heating efficiency in terms of stored energy for all cases. Furthermore, copper fin led to maximum heating efficiency and highest average room temperature among three fin types.