Experimental determination of the effect of change in relative roughness pitch on the thermo-hydraulic performance of air heater working with solar energy

Abstract Solar Air Heater has recently developed the effective utilization of renewable, natural and non-conventional energy for environmental sustainability. It is the most appreciating natural resource available for sustainable development. The current work deals with the analysis of thermo-hydraulic properties of solar air heater with specific parameter variation i.e. Relative Roughness Pitch (RRP). As already diagnosed the effect of relative roughness height, width, etc. using MATLAB. Here the authors have specifically focused on the effect of RRP on the solar air heater’s performance. The system utilized some fixed parameters such as, 0.88 emittance of the glass, 0.9 emittance of plate and transmittance- absorptance as 0.8. Also the 0.004 m single glass cover thickness is considered with thermal conductivity of insulation as 0.037 W/m-K. For the analysis purpose, the range of RRP is kept between 6 and 12. Related to operating parameters, Ambient temperature is kept 300 K (fixed) and Wind velocity 1 m/s (assumed fixed) whereas Insulation is kept in the variable range of 500–1000 W/m2. Finally, the results are recorded and the interpretations are made based on the validated data and the outcome results.