Energy and exergy analysis in double-pass solar air heater

In this study, an attempt is made to improve the energy and exergy performance of solar air heater by employing double pass with different absorber surface geometries (roughened, finned, and v-corrugated wire mesh) in the second pass, and also by mounting longitudinal fins in the back side of the absorber plate (first pass). The effect of varied mass flow rate and solar intensity on temperature rise of air, energy efficiency, exergy gain and pressure drop at steady state condition was determined for different types of solar air heaters utilizing an indoor solar simulator. The temperature rise of air, thermal efficiency and exergy gain depends on mass flow rate, surface geometries of absorber and solar intensity, whereas the pressure drop depends on mass flow rate and surface geometries of absorber.