Abstract
Present study investigates the heat transfer, friction factor and fluid flow characteristics of fully developed turbulent flow in a rectangular duct of solar air heater having aerofoil shaped rib-roughness on underside of absorber plate. ANSYS 14.5 has been used to simulate air flow through roughened air heater duct. Effect of relative roughness height and roughness pitch on Nusselt number and friction factor of roughened duct have been investigated and compared with that of smooth duct. It is found that the Nusselt number improves by attaching the roughness. Maximum enhancement in Nusselt number has been found to be 3.15 times over the smooth duct for rib roughness pitch P=15 mm, rib height e=7 mm, relative roughness height e/Dh=0.128, and aspect ratio of duct W/H=10. It is observed that the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter for roughened duct is greater than that obtained for smooth duct.
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