Abstract—The low value of convective heat transfer coefficient between the air and absorber plate is a major factor for low thermal efficiency of solar air heater. It can be enhanced by application of artificial roughness in solar air heaters. The use of artificial roughness in a solar air heater duct has been proposed to be an excellent option to enhance the heat transfer from absorber plate to the air. Present investigation has been carried out the analysis of flow structure over the rib roughened surface done by using 2-D particle image velocimetry (PIV). For this investigation the Reynolds number varies between 10000 to 11000 and the relative roughness and height kept as 0.0325 and 7.5 mm. The results is compare with simulate through experiment such as velocity component, velocity magnitude, vorticity, Reynolds stress.

Index Terms—Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Solar air heater, Artificial roughness, Reynolds number, Heat transfer enhancement

Cite:Rakesh Kumar Soni and NilambarBariha, "Experimental Investigation of Heat Enhancement of a Solar Air Heater Duct with Artificial Roughed Rib Structure," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Special Issue, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 165-171, January 2014.