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Thermohydraulic Performance of Packed Bed Solar Air Heater

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Advances in Energy Research, Vol. 2

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Energy ((SPE))

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Abstract

An experimental investigation is carried out as per ASHRAE standards on a high porosity packed bed solar air heater. Packed bed is generally used to enhance the heat transfer area and also for storage of thermal energy. The work covers a particular range of design and operating parameters. Design parameters include the colour of packing material (black and normal metal colour), packing Reynolds number (900–8000), porosity (0.9 and 0.8) and equivalent diameter of packing material (1.55 mm). Operating parameter includes a wide range of mass flow rate ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 kg/s. It is found that black-coated wool gives a better thermal efficiency. Further, both heat transfer coefficient and friction factor are strong functions of geometrical parameters of the porous packed bed. A decrease in porosity level increases the volumetric heat transfer coefficient. A maximum of 91.7% thermal efficiency is achieved at a mass flow rate of 0.04 kg/s and at a porosity of 0.8.

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Abbreviations

A :

Effective heat transfer area (m2)

A c :

Collector plate area (m2)

A f :

Frontal area (m2)

A o :

Cross-sectional area of pitot tube (m2)

a v :

Specific surface area per unit volume (m−1)

c p :

Specific heat of air (J/Kg K)

C v :

Coefficient of velocity for pitot tube

D :

Depth of rectangular duct (m)

d e :

Equivalent diameter of aluminium wool (m)

f p :

Friction factor of packed bed

G o :

Relative mass flow rate of air in the duct (kg/s m2)

g :

Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)

h :

Average heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

h v :

Volumetric heat transfer coefficient, h × av

I :

Intensity of solar radiation (W/m2)

L :

Length of rectangular duct (m)

m :

Mass flow rate of air (kg/s)

P :

Porosity

∆P :

Pressure drop across the duct (N/m2)

Re p :

Reynolds number of packed bed, 4rhGo/μ

r h :

Hydraulic radius, Pde/4(1−P)

t f :

Average air temperature (K), (ti + to)/2

t i :

Air inlet temperature (K)

t o :

Air outlet temperature (K)

t p :

Average packed bed temperature (K)

u :

Air velocity in the packed duct, u = G0/ρ

V :

Volume of packed bed (m3)

V e :

Volume of material element (m3)

V s :

Total volume of storage material packed in the duct (m3)

W :

Width of rectangular duct (m)

Q :

Heat transfer rate (W)

x :

Manometer reading (m)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity of air (N s/m2)

ρ :

Density of air (kg/m3)

ρ m :

Density of manometer fluid (kg/m3)

η :

Thermal efficiency

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Acknowledgements

The work is supported by the Department of Science & Technology, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Napaam, 784028, India

    Parag Jyoti Bezbaruah, Doljit Borah, Rupam Patowary & Debendra Chandra Baruah

Authors
  1. Parag Jyoti Bezbaruah
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  2. Doljit Borah
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  3. Rupam Patowary
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  4. Debendra Chandra Baruah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Debendra Chandra Baruah .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Suneet Singh

  2. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Venkatasailanathan Ramadesigan

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Bezbaruah, P.J., Borah, D., Patowary, R., Baruah, D.C. (2020). Thermohydraulic Performance of Packed Bed Solar Air Heater. In: Singh, S., Ramadesigan, V. (eds) Advances in Energy Research, Vol. 2. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2662-6_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2662-6_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-2661-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-2662-6

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