Experimental investigation for performance evaluation of solar air heater collector

In this study, a single pass flat plate solar air heater collector was experimentally investigated. Rectangular ribs of different heights (1 cm, 2cm, and 3cm) artificially roughened the absorber plate in the collector. The irradiation for Nassiriya climate was simulated using six halogen lamps of 500 watts. The solar irradiance was adopted for 28th December in the climate of Nasiriya city as 510W/m2 to 910 W/m2. The air mass flow rate was ranging from 0.01559 to 0.042 kg/s. It was found that as the mass flow rate increases, the outlet air temperature and absorber plate temperature decrease. The thermal efficiency and outlet air temperature increased with the increase of solar irradiance. The considered ribs turbulators gave an increase in thermal efficiency by about (11.981) % for 3cm rib high.