THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF SOLAR AIR HEATERS - EXPERIMENTAL CORRELATION

A mathematical model and a solution procedure for predicting the thermal performance of four types of single-pass flat-plate solar air collectors were presented in an earlier paper by Ong (1995). Instead of resorting to complicated algebraic manipulations to solve the energy equations a matrix-inversion technique was employed. In this paper, theoretical predictions of surface and air temperatures were obtained for the Types II, III and IV collector designs. In addition, the Type II collector was considered with and without bottom insulation. Experimental data from previous studies were obtained and compared with the present theoretical predictions. Satisfactory qualitative and quantitative agreement was obtained between theoretical predictions and experimental data.