Performance of a Natural Convection Solar Air Heater

摘要

The performance of a solar air heater operating under natural convection and at varying angles of inclination to the horizontal was considered and a theoretical model was proposed. Theoretical predictions of the surface temperatures of the glass cover, the heat absorbing wall and the air flow and also the induced air flow velocity were obtained. An experimental model was constructed and tested under outdoor conditions. The experimental data were compared with the simulated values. Satisfactory agreement was obtained between predicted and experimental results for the air flow temperature and velocity The wall and glass surface temperatures were over predicted