Effect of chamfering on heat transfer and friction characteristics of solar air heater having absorber plate roughened with compound turbulators

Artificial roughness in the form of repeated transverse chamfered rib-groove roughness on one broad wall has been proposed as a convenient method for enhancement of thermal performance of solar air heater. An experimental investigation on heat and fluid flow characteristics of fully developed turbulent flow in a rectangular duct having repeated integral transverse chamfered rib-groove roughness on one broad wall has been carried out. The roughened wall is uniformly heated while the remaining three walls are insulated. These boundary conditions correspond closely to those found in solar air heaters. Six roughened plates have been tested placing a 60° V-groove at the centre line in between two consecutive chamfered ribs. The ribs' top have been chamfered having chamfer angles of 5°, 12°, 15°, 18°, 22° and 30°, while relative roughness pitch (P/e) and relative roughness height (e/Dh) of the ribs were kept constant having values of 10 and 0.03 respectively. The flow Reynolds number of the duct varied in the range of approximately 3000–21,000, most suitable for solar air heater. The effects of chamfer angle on Nusselt number and friction factor have been discussed and the results are compared with the square rib-grooved and smooth duct under similar flow conditions to investigate the enhancement in Nusselt number and friction factor. The conditions for the maximum enhancement of Nusselt number and friction factor have been determined. It has been found that the thermo-hydraulic performance of the solar air heater provided with such roughness is considerably enhanced.