Investigation of the influence of novel hybrid tape on thermohydraulic characteristics in a solar air heater: An Experimental Study

Abstract

In present experimental work, heat transfer, pressure drop and thermal performance factor in a solar air heater tube equipped with hybrid tapes is investigated. The experiments are conducted in turbulent flow regime with Reynolds number ranging from 10104 to 73788. The variable parameters are length ratio (L = 0.5, 0.75), width ratio (w = 0.6, 0.7, 0.8) and pitch ratio (P = 0.75, 1.5, 2.25). It is revealed from the results that for same length ratio, increase in width ratio and decrease in pitch ratio result in higher Nusselt number and friction factor values. Also, the average increase in the Nusselt number and friction factor is 91 % and 39 %, respectively. Thermal performance factor remains more than unity for all the configuration of tapes under investigation.