Experimental and Numerical Performance Investigation of Solar Air Heater for Drying Agricultural Products and Space Heating for Brooding of chicken

Abstract

Solar Energy Is An Inexhaustible Source Of Energy And Nonpolluting. The Simple And Efficient Form Of Utilizing Solar Energy Is To Convert It Into Thermal Energy For Heating Application By Using Solar Air Heater. With The Increased Attention On This Renewable Energy Resource, The Efficiency Of Solar Heating Facilities Are Becoming Increasingly Important. In This Thesis Work The Performance Of Enhanced Solar Air Heater Integrated With Longitudinal Fin, Gypsum Sensible Thermal Storage Material, Solar Reflector And Combination Of Them Was Separately Investigated Numerically As Well As Experimentally At Adama, Ethiopia Weather Condition. A 1.5 Mx1 Mx 0.12 M Convectional Sah That Integrated To Crop Dryer Was Constructed From Locally Available Material And Subsequently, Modified Using The Three Enhancement Techniques. The Performance Of Each Set Up Was Evaluated In Drying 5 Kg Of Injera, Tomato And Banana. The Results For Conventional And Finned Absorber Solar Air Heater Shows That, The Numerical And Experimental Average Efficiency Is Found To Be 40.3 And 38 % For Conventional, 42 And 40.2 % For Finned Absorber Plate, Respectively While The Pressure Drop Across The Finned Absorber Sah Increase Relative To The Convectional One. Whereas, The Integration Of Gypsum Sensible Thermal Storage Result In An Increase Of Operational Time And 6 % Efficiency Increment Compared To The Conventional One. When It Comes To Other Enhancement Technique Integrating Three Reflectors: Top, Left And Right Side Reflector Result In A Sharp Increase Outlet Temperature Of Fluid, About 15.1 Oc, Due To An Increasing In The Radiation On The Absorber By A Factor Of 2-3 Times Respect To The Solar Air Heater Without Reflector. Finally The Performance Study Of The Combined Effect Of Longitudinally Finned Absorber, Gypsum Sensible Thermal Storage And Reflector Is Conducted. The Study Shows That The Highest Average Efficiency Is Achieved By Combined Enhanced Solar Air Heater Which Is 68 And 71.3 % For Experimental And Numerical One, Respectively And The Average Drying Efficiency Also Increased By 20 % Compared To The Convectional Sah. Finally, For Poultry Farm, The Annual Heating Load And Ventilation Rate Required Was Estimated For Brooding 1000chickns. The Result Show That 5units Of Enhanced Solar Air Heater Was Demanded To Satisfy The Estimated Heating Load.