Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

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Exergy loss-based efficiency optimization of a double-pass/glazed

v-corrugated plate solar air heater
Mahdi Hedayatizadeh a, *, Faramarz Sarhaddi b, Ali Safavinejad c, Faramarz Ranjbar d,
Hossein Chaji e
a
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
b
Shahid Nikbakht Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
c
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
d
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
e
Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Khorasan Razavi, Mashhad, Iran

articleinfo abstract

Article history: The main objective of the present study is to perform an in-depth exergetic analysis of a double-pass/
Received 28 July 2015 glazed v-corrugated plate solar air heater based on exergy loss terms. Consequently, the detailed ther -
Received in revised form mal modeling of the given air heater is carried out and validated with literature which shows good
4 November 2015 agreements. Through an exergy analysis performed with regard to internal/external exergy losses, the
Accepted 11 November 2015 exergetic efficiency is optimized considering four independent variables of distance between the two
Available online 20 December 2015 adjacent glazings, height of v-corrugations, area of the heater and the total mass flow rate. Based on the
simulation results, the maximum exergy efficiency of the given air heater was gained 6.27% corre-
Keywords: sponding to distance of 0.0023 m between glazings, corrugation height of 0.0122 m, heater area of
Exergy efficiency 1.79 m2 and total air rate of 0.005 kg/s. Moreover, as an important conclusion, it was found that the
Optimization
internal exergy loss term originating from temperature difference between sun and absorber surface can
V-corrugated plate
be interpreted as the most destructive term in comparison to four other terms which accounted for
Heater
63.57% of the whole exergy losses at the point corresponding to maximum exergy efficiency.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Solar air heater can be an ideal choice for drying, space heating
etc., as the warm air can be used directly, eliminating any need for
an extra heat exchanger in the thermal system. But, it is essential to
pay heed to the fact that solar air heaters suffer from low thermal
performance due to low density, the small volumetric heat capacity
and an inherently small heat conductivity of air. Hence, an
improved design of a solar air heater may lead to a better thermal
performance of the system [1] which could include different
established methodologies such as the use of baffles/obstacles with
different shapes and geometries on the surface of the absorber
[2e4], varying the number of covers and flow passes [5,6], appli-
cation of matrix [7,8], dual glassing [9,10], or corrugating the
absorber surface of the heater [11e15]. Karim and Hawlader [16]
examined flat plate, finned and v-corrugated absorber plates in
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ98 (56) 322 540 41 9; fax: þ98 (56) 322 540 50.
E-mail addresses: mhedayatizadeh@birjand.ac.ir (M. Hedayatizadeh),
fsarhaddi@eng.usb.ac.ir (F. Sarhaddi), asafavi@birjand.ac.ir (A. Safavinejad), s.
ranjbar@tabrizu.ac.ir (F. Ranjbar), hchaji53@gmail.com (H. Chaji).
single and dual-pass solar air heaters analytically and experimen-
tally and reported a better performance with v-corrugated dual-
pass solar air heater. V-corrugating the absorber surface however
increases pressure drop along flow channels of solar air heater
which brings about more pumping power required and it neces-
sitates application of an optimization method [17]. From the other
side, it is demonstrated that exergy analysis derived from both first
and second laws of thermodynamics is superior to energy analysis
[10] and is a powerful tool in design, optimization, and perfor-
mance evaluation of solar thermal systems which help identifica-
tion of main sources of irreversibility (exergy losses) [18e20]. Ajam
et al. [21] performed an exergetic optimization of solar air heaters
and reported an extraordinary increase of the exergy efficiency
according to the optimized parameters. Velmurugan and Kalai-
vanan [22] also studied four different models of solar air heaters
analytically and experimentally from the energetic and exergetic
points of views and reported the exergy and energy performance of
wire mesh dual-pass solar air heater superior to those of roughened
plate dual-pass, finned plate dual-pass and single-pass flat plate
solar air heaters. Kalogirou [23] also applied the Artificial Neural-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.11.046
0360-5442/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
800 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

Nomenclature Greek letters

a Absorptivity, Thermal diffusivity (m2/s) & Opening
Ah Heater area (L$W) (m2) angle for each v-shaped corrugation (○)
Aa Absorber surface area (2L$W for a ¼ 60) (m2) T Transmittivity
Ad Total cross-section area of ducts (H2$W for a ¼ 60) (m2) s StefaneBoltzmann constant (W/m 2 K4)
AR Aspect ratio (—) b Volumetric thermal expansion coefficient (1/K)
cp Specific heat of air (J/kg K) ε Emissivity
Dh Hydraulic diameter (m) n Dynamic viscosity (m2/s)
, q Tilt angle (○)
Ex Exergy rate (W)
G
r Density of flowing air (kg/m3)
Solar irradiance (based on Ah) (W/m2)
ho Optical efficiency
Gr Grashof number (—)
H Thickness (m)
Subscripts
h Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
a Ambient
Ir Irreversibility (J)
ap Absorber plate
K Thermal conductivity (W/m K)
bp Bottom plate
L Length of heater (m)
c Convection
m_ Total mass flow rate of air through heater (kg/s)
des Destroyed
M_ m_ divided by A h (kg/m2 s)
ext External
M m_ divided by Ad (kg/m2 s)
F1 Upper passage air flow
N Number of separate flow passages experienced by air F2 Lower passage air flow
in series through a collector array (—) fin Final
Nu Nusselt number (—) g1 Upper glass cover
DP Pressure drop (Pa) g2 Lower glass cover
Pr Prandtl number (—) i Inlet
:
qu Rate of useful energy gain (W) ini Initial
R Gas constant o Outlet
Re Reynolds number (—) opt Optical
Ra Rayleigh number (—) p Pump
T Temperature (K) r Radiation
U Heat loss coefficient (W/m2 K) s Sky
Vw Wind velocity (m/s) sun Sun
W Width of heater (m) t Total
TH Thermal

Networks and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to optimize a solar-energy
system in order to maximize its economic benefits. Şahin [24]
used GA to optimize a solar air heater and reported the algorithm
as a successful method of optimization for enhancing the thermal
performance of solar air collector. Nwosu [25] applied exergy-based
optimization for sizing pin fins in design of an absorber in a solar air
heater and his results indicated that high efficiency of the opti-
mized fin improves the heat absorption of a solar air heater. Singh
et al. [26] also performed an exergy based analysis of a solar air
heater having discrete v-down rib roughness on absorber plate.
They claimed that employing exergy analysis is suitable for design
of rib roughened solar air heaters and also reported that there exist
optimum roughness parameters of the discrete v-down rib for a
given Reynolds number at which the exergetic efficiency gets
maximum. Meanwhile, it is observed that most of exergy-related
studies on solar air heaters have focused on net outlet exergy
rates [27e29] for calculating exergy efficiency while in the present
study, the exergy efficiency is formulated based on the rates of
exergy losses to find the values of losses separately and to specify
the term(s) which bring about the highest exergy deterioration
rates for the given solar air heater. Afterwards, the exergetic effi-
ciency function is fed to MATLAB software Genetic Algorithm with
the aim of finding the highest achievable value with regard to four
independent variables of distance between the two adjacent glaz-
ings, height of corrugations, area of the heater and the total mass
flow rate. To the best of our knowledge, such a methodology has
not been used for optimizing the operating and configuration
parameters of a double-pass/glazed v-corrugated (DPGVC)1 plate
solar air heater through an exergy loss-based efficiency optimiza-
tion procedure.
2. Theoretical analysis
To perform an exergy analysis of the given DPGVC plate solar air
heater, it is necessary to find the temperatures of different heater
components. There for, it seems essential to perform a thermal
analysis and develop energy balance equations for different ele-
ments of the heater. The given heater is made of two flat glass
covers and a v-corrugated absorber plate with a well insulated back
plate shown in Fig. 1. The v-corrugated plate geometry is formed by
a set of equilateral triangles forming two passages above and below
the absorbing plate.
As seen in Fig. 2, two air streams which make up the total air
flow are flowing steadily and simultaneously through the two
separate channels to absorb heat from absorber. For thermal
boundary conditions, the two top sides of the triangle are assumed
uniform in temperature, but a constant heat flux boundary condi-
tion in the axial direction is assumed as far as the total heat transfer
is concerned [30]. To model the v-corrugated plate air heater in the
present study, a number of simplifying assumptions are made to lay
the foundations without obscuring the basic physical situation.
1
Double-pass/glazed v-corrugated (DPGVC).
 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810 801

2.1.2. Lower glass cover

Fig. 1. Three dimensional schematic of a DPGVC plate solar air heater.
Part of incident solar radiation passing through the upper glass
cover is absorbed by the lower one and also a radiative exchange is
expected to occur between the lower glazing and the absorber
plate. Moreover, due to flow of air beneath the lower glazing, part of
heat removed from absorber by upper passage flowing air is also
assumed to be transferred to that glass cover:
. Σ . Σ
Tg1 ag2 GAhþ hr;ap—g2 Tap — Tg2 Aa þ hc;f 1—g2 Tf 1 — Tg2 Ah
. Σ. Σ
¼ hr;g2—g1 þ hc;g2—g1 Tg2 — Tg1 Ah
(2)
2.1.3. Upper flowing air stream
The total amount of flowing air through the heater is divided in
two streams i.e. one above and the other below the v-corrugated
absorber surface. As mentioned above, part of heat absorbed by the
v-corrugated plate is transferred to upper flowing air stream,
hence:
. Σ . Σ
hc;ap—f 1 Tap — Tf 1 Aa ¼ q_ u1 þ hc;f 1—g2 Tf 1 — Tg2 Ah (3)

where Tf1 and q_ u1 are the mean temperature of the upper

air stream and the useful energy gain by air flowing through the
above passage, defined by Tf1 ¼ (Tf1i þ Tf1o)/2 and q_ u1
m_ cp¼Tf 1o ð Tf 1i—=2, respectively
Þ while the total mass flow of air
flowing through the heater is divided equally between the two
channels.

2.1.4. Absorber plate

Fig. 2. Front view of the heater and heat transfer coefficients shown with two air Solar radiation passing through the two glazings intercepts the
streams normal to the page.
v-corrugations and increases its temperature. Hence, the heat
transfer balance on absorber can be written as followings:
These assumptions are as follows:
. Σ . Σ
1. Thermal performance of heater is considered steady state. Tg1 Tg2 aap GAh ¼ hr;ap—g2 Tap — Tg2 Aa þ hc;ap—f 1 Tap — Tf 1 Aa
2. There is a negligible temperature drop through the glass . Σ
cover, the absorbing plate, and the back plate. þ hc;ap—f 2 Tap — Tf 2 Aa
.
3. There is a two-dimensional heat flow through the back Σ
insulation. þ hr;ap—bp Tap — Tbp Aa
4. The sky can be considered as a blackbody for long- (4)
wavelength radiation at an equivalent sky temperature.
5. Loss through the up and back surfaces is to the same ambient 2.1.5. Lower flowing air stream
temperature. Air flowing beneath the absorbing surface also removes part of
6. Dust and dirt on the heater and the shading of the absorbing heat generated by incident radiation on the absorber. The tem-
plate are negligible. perature increase of the flowing air brings about thermal energy
7. Thermal inertia of heater components is negligible. gain by the air stream while some of it is expected to be transferred
8. Operating temperatures of heater components and mean air to insulation:
temperatures in air passages are all assumed to be uniform. . Σ . Σ
9. Temperature of the air varies only in the flow direction. hc ap f2 Tap — Tf 2 Aa ¼ q_ u2 þ hc f 2 bp Tf 2 — Tbp Ah (5)
— ; —
10. All air passages are assumed to be free of leakage. ;

11. Thermal losses through the heater backs are mainly due to
the conduction across the insulation and those caused by the where Tf2 and q_ u2 are the mean temperature of the lower air stream
and the useful energy gain by air flowing through the lower pas- sage,
wind and the thermal radiation of the insulation are
defined by Tf2 (T¼
f2i Tþf2o)/2 and q_ u2 ¼m_ cp ðTf 2o — Tf 2i Þ=2,
assumed to be negligible [31].
respectively.
2.1. Energy balance
2.1.6. Back plate
2.1.1. Upper glass cover Heat loss through the insulation (back plate) is the last step
The absorbed energy by the upper glass cover, from absorbed considered through thermal modeling of heater components. Based
solar radiation and the lower glazing, is partly given to ambient and on considering the two-dimensional heat flow through back plate,
also dissipated to sky: it can be written as:
ag1GAh .h h Σ.T T ΣA
þ r;g2 —g1Σ þ c;g2 —g1 . g2 — g1Σ h v2Tbp v2Tbp
. (1)
¼ hw Tg1 — Ta Ah þ hr;g1—s Tg1 — Ts Ah þ ¼0 (6)
vx2 vz2
802 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

. Σ. Σ
while x and z denote the directions along the length and thickness hr;g1—s ¼ sεg1 Tg1 þ Ts T2g1 þ T2s (13)
of the back plate accompanied by the following boundary
conditions:
while Ts is the sky temperature and formulated as [33]:
8
vTbp
>
< x ¼ 0; ¼0 Ts ¼ Ta — 6 (14)
vx
> The radiative heat transfer coefficient between the two glass
: x ¼ L; vTbp ¼ 0
vx covers is also predicted by [34]:
. Σ. Σ
and s T 2 þ T2 Tg1 þ Tg2
8 h ¼ g1 g2
, (15)
vTbp vTap r;g2—g1
1, þ1 ε 1
> ε g1 g2
>
< z ¼ 0; kbp ¼ kap
vz vz

vTbp . Σ and the convective

inclined enclosure heat transfer
is given by: coefficient for air trapped in an
>
: z ¼ H 3 ; k bp
vz ¼ Ub Tbp — T a
k
hc;g2—g1 ¼ Nug1—g2 (16)
L
2.2. Temperature determination of different air heater components
Such a Nusselt number is calculated by:

Rearranging Eq. (1) up to Eq. (5) helps to find the component Σ Σ" #
1708 m 1708ðsin1:8·qÞ1:6
temperatures parametrically as follows: Nug1—g2 ¼ 1 þ 1:44 1 — 1—
. Σ ". Ra·cosq
#m Ra·cosq
ag1G þ hr;g2—g1 þ hc;g2—g1 Tg2 þ hwTa þ hr;g1—sTs Σ1
T ¼ (7) Ra·cosq
3
. Σ þ 1
g1
hr;g2—g1 þ hc;g2—g1 þ hw þ hr;g1—s 5830
(17)

. Σ
Tg1 ag2 GAh þ hr;ap—g2 Tap Aa þ hc;f 1—g2 Tf 1 Ah þ hr;g2—g1 þ hc;g2—g1 Tg1 Ah
T ¼ (8)
g2
hr;ap—g2Aa . þ hr;g2—g1 þ hc;g2—g1 Σ
þ hc;f 1—g2 Ah

where q is the plate tilt angle of the heater and “*” symbol in the
hc;ap—f 1 Tap Aa þ m_ cp Ta þ hc;f 1—g2 Tg2 Ah superscript means that only positive values of the terms in the
Tf1 ¼ (9) square brackets are to be used. It is significant to know that the
hc;ap—f 1 Aa þ m_ cp þ hc;f 1—g2 Ah
above correlation is valid for 0 ≤ q ≤75○.

Tg1 Tg2 aap GAh þ hr;ap—g2 Tg2 Aa þ hc;ap—f 1 Tf 1 Aa þ hc;ap—f 2 Tf 2 Aa þ hr;ap—bp Tbp Aa (10)
T
ap ¼
. þ hc;ap—f1 þ hc;ap—f2 þ hr;ap—bp Σ
hr;ap—g2 Aa

The Rayleigh number, Ra, is the product of Gr and Pr:

hc;ap—f 2 Tap Aa þ m_ cp Ta þ hc;f 2—bp Tbp Ah

Tf2 ¼ (11) Ra ¼ Gr$Pr (18)
hc;ap—f 2 Aa þ m _ cp þ hc;f 2—bp Ah
and is given by

. Σ 3
gb T—
2.3. Heat transfer coefficients Ra ¼ 1
(19)
T an Hg2
The convective heat transfer coefficient from the upper glass The recommended relation for inclination between 75 ○ < q 90
≤○
g1
cover due to wind is given by [6]: is also given by:
h 1 1
i
hw ¼ 2:8 þ 3Vw (12) ¼ 1; 0:288ðAsinðqÞRaÞ ; 0:039ðsinðqÞRaÞ (20)
Nug1—g2 4 3
Max
The radiative heat transfer coefficient from the upper glass cover
to sky may be obtained by following formula [32]:
 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810 803

where the subscript MAX indicates that at a given Ra, maximum of . Σ

the three quantities separated by commas should be taken. In Eq. k ¼ 0:0015215 þ 0:097459Tf — 3:3322 × 10—5 T2f × 10—3
(20), “A” is the ratio of the thickness of enclosure, H1, to the height
(28)
measured along either the heated or cooled boundary surface in the
upslope direction [35].
. Σ
The radiative heat transfer coefficient is given as below [32]: m ¼ 1:6157 þ 0:06523Tf — 3:0297 × 10—5 T2f × 10—6 (29)
. Σ. Σ
sε εap T ap þ Tg2 Tap þ Tg2
2 2 while cp ¼ 1000 (J/kg K) can be assumed.
h ¼ g2 (21) Finally, the radiative heat transfer coefficient between absorber
r;ap—g2
εg2 þ εap — εapεg2
and back plates is calculated as follows:
. Σ
It ¼ishr;g1—g2
hr;g2—g1 alsobeing
assumed that
already defined. hc;g2—g1 ¼ hc;g1—g2 and Σ.
h sεbpεap T2 þ T2 T ap þ Tbp
ap bp
r;ap—bp ¼
(30)
Convective heat transfer coefficient between upper channel εbp þ εap — εbpεap
flowing air and absorber is calculated as followings [30]:
Hollands and Shewen suggested that the Nusselt number, Nu, and Ub as the bottom loss coefficient included in Eq. (6) is also given
for an equilateral triangle arrangement can be expressed as by [36].

k . .. Σ Σ—1
hc;ap—f1 ¼ Nuap—f1 (22) Ub ¼ 1 hr;ap—bp þ h c;f2—bp þ H3=k
i (31)
Dh

while

H2 2.4. Pressure drop

Nuap—f1 ¼ 2:821 þ 0:063Re1 n ; for Re1 < 2800; (23)
L
The pressure drop DP is found by the following relation [30]:
—6 H2
Nu ¼ 1:9 × 10 Re1:76 þ 112:5 n ; for 2800 ≤ Re1 _ 2 Σ L Σ3
M
4
ap—f1 1 L Dp ¼ 12 f (32)
≤ 10 ; r H2
(24) while for laminar flow f is defined as (Re < 2800):

and 13:33 H
f¼ þ 0:325 2 n (33)
Re L
Nuap f1 ¼ 0:0302Re0:74 þ 0:121Re 0:74 H2 n ; for 10 ≤4 Re1 for transient flow (2800 ≤ Re ≤ 104):
— 1 1 L
5
≤ 10 ; H2
f ¼ 3:2m10—4 Re0:34 þ 1:47Re—0:19 n (34)
(25) L

Reynolds number (Re) for the upper air passage is calculated by and for turbulent flow (104 < Re < 105):
[30]:
H2
. Σ. Σ. Σ . Σ. Σ. Σ f ¼ 0:0733Re—0:25 þ 0:255 n (35)
M1 Dh m
_ 1 2H2 m
_ 1 2H2 L
Re1 ¼ ¼ ¼
m1 Ad m1 3 H2W m1 3
2m_
¼ 2.5. Heater efficiency
3m1W
(26) The total useful thermal output of the given air heater is
Convective heat transfer coefficient between absorber plate and calculated by the following equation:
lower passage air flow is also calculated by the same correlation as
Eq. (22) provided that m1 is substituted by m2 in Eq. (26) till Re2 is
Q_ tu ¼ q_ u1 þ q_ u2 (36)
achieved.
and the thermal efficiency of the present DPGVC plate solar air
Moreover, the convective heat transfer coefficients between
heater is given by [37e39]:
upper channel flowing air and lower glass cover and also between
lower channel flowing air and bottom plate are calculated the same _
tuQ
as hc;ap f1— and hc;ap f2, respectively
— [12]. h¼ ×
TH 100 (37)
When the air temperature is in the range 280e470 K, the GAh
following empirical correlations are suggested to estimate the
density, thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of air, where G is the mean solar radiation falling on heater aperture.
respectively [12]:
2.6. Exergy analysis
r¼ 3:9147— 0:016082Tf þ2:9013×10—5T2 f— 1:9407×10—8 ×T3 f
Exergy analysis is a useful method to establish strategies for the
(27)
design and operation of solar air heaters where the optimal use of
804 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

energy is considered as an important issue [18]. In the exergy 2.6.2. Rates of exergy losses
analysis some assumptions are made mentioned in litera- It is the summation of the rate of external exergy losses from
ture [27,39,40]. The exergy flows are schematically shown in Fig. 3. control volume and the rate of internal exergy losses (exergy de-
The exergy balance for the solar air heater considered as the structions) in control volume [42,43]:
control volume can be written as followings [22]: X X X
X X X
E_x — E_xo net ¼ E_x (38) E_xloss ¼ E_xloss;ext þ E_xloss;int
i;net ; loss X X
¼ E_xloss;ext þ E_xdes (42)
where subscript “net”, represents the net exergy rates.
The exergy efficiency of the solar air heater is also defined as the Exergy that goes out of control volume and cannot be used is
ratio of net output (desired) exergy rate to that of the net input: called external exergy loss while the amount of exergy losses
P _ caused by flow friction, mixture of two kinds of liquids, etc. which
Exo;net do not go out of the control volume are called internal exergy losses
hex ¼ P (39) (exergy destruction) [44]:
_
Ex i;net The rates of exergy losses of the given solar air heater includes
Based on Eq. (39), the exergy efficiency of the solar air heater five terms [45];
is a function of net outlet exergy rate and does not account for
the exergy losses, i.e., it does not show the degree of importance
of each loss item of exergy in the specified control volume. 2.6.2.1. External exergy loss terms
Hence, in the present study, calculation of exergy efficiency of
the given air heater is done based on the items of exergy ● The first term is caused by optical losses in solar heater surface
losses to reveal the importance of each source of loss on the [46]:
exergy efficiency. Therefore, the exergy efficiency is calculated
" . Σ . Σ #
by: . Σ 4T a 1 Ta 4
E_xloss;opt ¼ GAh 1 — aap Tg1 Tg2 1 — þ
P _ 3T sun 3 Tsun
Exloss
hex ¼1
—P _ (40) (43)
Ex i;net

● The second term is caused by heat loss from solar air heater to
2.6.1. Net inlet exergy rate the surroundings [18,45,47]:
Σ Σ
● The net inlet exergy rate to solar air heater Ta
E_xloss;Q loss ¼ Q_ loss 1 — (44)
Tap
The net inlet exergy rate to solar air heater includes solar radi-
ation intensity exergy rate [28]: where Q_ loss is heat loss from solar air heater to the surroundings
and is given by:
" . Σ #
X . Σ 1 Ta 4 . Σ
4 Ta Q_ loss ¼ UL Ah Tap — Ta (45)
E_x i;net ¼ E_xsun ¼ GAh 1 — þ (41)
3 Tsun 3 Tsun
where UL ¼ Ub þ Ut;
where Tsun is the apparent sun temperature [41].
Ub, the bottom heat loss coefficient, has been given above and
the top loss coefficient, Ut, can be calculated from the individual
heat transfer coefficients using the following equation:
!—1
1 þ 1 þ 1
Ut ¼ hr ap g2 þ hc f g2 hr g2 g1 þ hc g2 g1 hr g1 hw
sþ
; — ;— ; — ; — ; —

(46)

2.6.2.2. Internal exergy loss terms (Destruction terms)

● The first term is the exergy destruction rate due to the tem-
perature difference between the sun and solar heater surface
[46]:
" . Σ . Σ
_ 4 Ta 1 Ta 4
ExdesðTap —Tsun Þ ¼ GAh aap Tg1 Tg2 1 — þ
3 Tsun 3 Tsun
. Σ#
Ta
— 1—
Tap
(47)
Fig. 3. Exergy flows in a solar air heater.
 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810 805

● The second term is the exergy destruction rate due to heat assumed). Hence, temperature variations of different components
transfer from the heater surface to the working fluid at finite of the given solar air heater calculated by simulation are compared
temperature difference [18]: with their experimental values and also shown in the following
!
1 1 figures (Figs. 4e6). Moreover, in order to compare the simulation
E_x ¼ GA h T — (48) results (labeled sim. in figures) with experimental ones (labeled
desð Tap —Tf Þ h TH a T exp. in figures), coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean
f Tap
square error (RMSE) are calculated [48] and summarized in Table 2.
where Tf ¼ (Tf1 þ Tf2)/2 Fig. 4 depicts the graphical comparison made between the
experimental and simulated temperatures of upper and lower glass
● The third term is exergy destruction rate due to air friction covers. It is observed that simulated temperatures of both glass
(pressure drop) in air ducts [46]: coverings follow the trend of their corresponding temperatures in
experiment closely. Moreover, the high value of R2 and low value of
_ 1 $P1
Ta m RMSE (Table 2) both show that simulation is desirably able to
E_xdesðfriction1 Þ ¼ (49)
rf1Tf1 predict the glass cover temperatures. The mean temperature dif-
ferences between the experimental and the simulated results are
E_x _ 2 $P2
Ta m found 1.02 ○C and 1.85 ○C for the upper and lower glass covers,
desðfriction2Þ ¼ (50) respectively.
rf2Tf2
Fig. 5 also reveals the trend of changes of air stream tempera-
tures throughout a day from 8 AM till 8 PM. It is seen that simu-
lation is predicting the temperatures of the two air streams
2.6.3. Exergy efficiency approximately well (Table 2) while the mean temperature differ-
Exergy efficiency of the given air heater is defined by Eq. (40). ences between the experimental and the simulated results are
Substitution of Eqs. 41e50 into Eq. (40) results in exergy loss-based found 7.39 ○C and 3.4 ○ C for the upper and lower air streams,
efficiency as follows: respectively.
8 Fig. 6 also shows that the simulation has the capability of esti-
> "
<. Σ Σ
1 — aap Tg1 Tg2 þ Q_ loss 1 — Ta Σ mating the temperatures of absorber and back plate with high R 2
hex ¼ 1 — Tap and low values of their RMSEs (Table 2). Hence, it may be concluded
> that simulation conducted above shows good agreements with its
:
experiment and it has the potential to prognosticate the thermal
" . Σ . Σ behavior of the DPGVC plate solar air heater with mean tempera-
4 Ta 1 Ta 4
þ GAh aap Tg1 Tg2 1 — þ ture differences of 2.78 ○C and 1.99 ○C for the absorber and back
3 Tsun 3 T!sun
. Σ# plates, respectively.
Ta 1 1 Ta m
_ 1DP 1
— 1— þ GAhhTHTa — þ It is worth mentioning that the causes of errors may also be
Tap Tf Tap rf19
Tf1 attributed to the following facts that:
>
=
#× " . Σ4 #>
þ Ta m2 DP2 . 1
_ Σ ● Wind speed is considered constant in simulation while it is not
rf2Tf2 GA 1 4 T 1 T
in deed (experiment [36]) and as it has direct effect on heat loss
;
a a
h — 3 Tsun þ 3 Tsun coefficient, hence, part of the deviation may be related to;
● Tilt angle of the heater has direct impact on the Nusselt number
(51) of the air confined between the two glass covers that has not
been mentioned by literature [36] and it is there for assumed;
● Solar radiation and ambient temperature values as significant
3. Results and discussion inputs to simulation were extracted from their corresponding
figures in literature [36] which may brings about decreases in
3.1. Validation of the simulation precision;

To find the temperatures of different elements of the given solar
air heater, a simulation code including the above mentioned
equations was developed in MATLAB software. But, as the pre-
liminary step, it was essential to examine the simulation validity
versus the results obtained from an experiment performed on an
analogous system to that of this paper (DPGVC plate solar air
heater). Fortunately, the experimental results are presented
through literature by Sebaii et al. [36]. The values of some design
and operating parameters given by Sebaii et al. [36] are summa-
rized in Table 1 and the ones not mentioned are assumed (labeled
3.2. Optimization problem
3.2.1. Genetic algorithm
GA uses the techniques inspired by evolutionary biology such as
inheritance, mutation, selection and crossover [49] and is one of the
modern optimization techniques due to its evolutionary nature
which can handle any kind of objective function and constraint
without any mathematical requirement about the optimization
problem while it is very effective at performing a global search (in
probability) [50].

Table 1
Specifications of the DPGVC plate solar air heater based on Sebaii et al. [36] experimental test.

Parameter Value Parameter Value Parameter Value Parameter Value

aap 0.9 εbp 0.9 Vw (assumed) 1 m/s H2 0.05 m
ag 0.05 Tg 0.9 q 30○ H3 0.04 m
εap 0.9 ki 0.024 W/m K m
_ 0.0203 kg/s L 1m
εg 0.88 a 60○ H1 0.03 m W 0.5 m
806 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

Fig. 4. Comparison between the experimental and simulated temperatures of upper Fig. 6. Comparison between the experimental and simulated temperatures of absorber
and lower glass covers. and back plates.

Table 2
R2 and RMSE for temperatures of different elements of DPGVC plate solar air heater.

Element Error value

R2 RMSE

Upper glass cover 0.97 1.40

Lower glass cover 0.98 2.27
Upper passage air stream 0.96 8.98
Absorber plate 0.98 3.61
Lower passage air stream 0.98 4.06
Back plate 0.99 2.26

procedure are shown in Table 3.while L and N (number of v-shaped

corrugations)ffiffiffi are not bounded apparently, but considering the re-
¼ ¼ ð pÞ
lations of L Ah/W and N 3W= 2H2 , it is seen that these two
parameters are implicitly bounded.

3.2.3. The results of optimization procedure

Fig. 5. Comparison between the experimental and simulated outlet temperatures of
upper and lower air streams.
3.2.2. Formulation of the optimization problem
Prior to feeding the developed simulation into MATLAB built-in
optimizing toolbox, GA, it is essential to determine the objective
function, relevant constraints and the range of variations (bounds)
of independent parameters clearly. Hence, the exergy efficiency as
the objective function is introduced to GA and the extreme limits of
four independent parameters are specified as follows:
8 Table 3
Maximize hex ¼ Eq:ð51Þ
>
:001 ≤ H ≤ : ;
Using constant values of parameters summarized in Table 3, the
optimization procedure leads to the following optimum values of
the objective function, the independent and dependent optimiza-
tion parameters: hex ¼ 6.27%, H1 ¼ 0.0023 m, H2 ¼ 0.0122 m,
Ah ¼ 1.79 m2, L ¼ 3.58 m, m _ ¼ 0:005 kg=s, Tg1 ¼ 318.36 K,
Tg2 ¼ 350 K, Tap ¼ 359.77 K, Tf1 ¼ 352 K, Tf2 ¼ 354 K, Tbp ¼ 356.33 K,
Ut ¼ 3.45 W/m2 K, Ub ¼ 0.58 W/m2 K, q_ u1 ¼ 261:71 W,
q_ u2 ¼ 271:57 W , DP1 ¼ 25.49 Pa, DP2 ¼ 25.73 Pa, hTH ¼ 42.52 %.
The variations of exergy efficiency and exergy loss terms each
divided by exergy rate of solar radiation (net inlet exergy rate)
Environmental conditions and design specifications of DPGVC plate solar air heater.

Parameter Value Parameter Value

> subject to
< 02 ag 0.05 Tf1i ¼ Tf2i ¼ Ta 300 K
00:05 ≤ A ≤ 2; εap 0.9 Tsun 4350 K
>
: 0:001 ≤ m_ h
≤ 0:05; εg 0.88 G 700 W/m2
aap 0.9 W 0.5 m

while the linear/nonlinear

all considered equations
implicitly as the of the
constraints simulation
of the problem. were
The εTbp
g
0.9
0.9 V
qw 1
30m/s
○

environmental condition and design specifications of the solar ki 0.024 W/m K a 60○
H3 0.04 m
heater and other constant parameters used through optimization
 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810
versus mass flow rate of air through DPGVC plate solar air heater
are shown in Fig. 7 while values of other three independent pa-
rameters of optimization are those of their optimum together with
values of constant parameters brought in Table 3.
As seen in Fig. 7 the exergetic efficiency of the given heater
shows a sharply ascending trend of variations with mass flow rate
to attain a maximum of 6.27% at 0.005 (kg/s) and starts a smoothly
falling trend of changes with more increases in air flow rates.
Hence, such a trend of variations in exergy efficiency reflects the
importance of specifying the optimum value of air flow rate.
Moreover, to study the exergy efficiency in detail, it is crucial to
graph the variations of different exergy loss terms of the given
heater versus mass flow rate to find the most and the least signif-
icant terms. On the other hand, for better comparison, their values
are divided by that of net inlet exergy of the sun. As also seen in
Fig. 7, the loss exergy terms can be generally divided in three groups
with respect to their variations vs. air flow rate: The optical-related
loss (E_xloss;opt =E_xsun ) being constant, all the three destructive terms
which show increases (E_xdesðTap —Tsun Þ =E_xsun , E_xdesðTap —Tf Þ =E_xsun and
E_xdesðfrictionÞ =E_xsun ) and the remaining one which has a declining
trend of variation (E_xloss;Q loss =E_xsun ) which springs from the heat
losses. Furthermore, it is also observed that E_xdes Tðap T—sun Þis the
major source of exergy loss accounting for 63.54% of exergy losses
at the optimum point which may be attributed to the fact that in-
crease in mass flow rate is in parallel with more heat dissipation
from heater while it results in absorber temperature decrease
which brings about the increasing trend of E_xdes ðTap —Tsun =E _
Þ xsun from
0.52 to 0.69 with air flow changes from 0.001 kg/s to 0.049 kg/s. The
second important term is the optical related exergy loss term
(28.91% of the total exergy losses) being independent of mass flow
rate changes while decrease in E_xloss;Qloss =E_xsun with mass flow rate
may also be attributed to decreases in heater temperature and
consequently the overall heat loss coefficient. On the other side,
increase in mass flow rates has partly detrimental effects on quality
of energy delivered by air heater as it also causes the pressure drop
increases through v-shaped passages, seen by ascending trend of
Fig. 7. Variations of exergy efficiency and exergy loss terms divided by E_xsun for the DPGVC plate solar air heater with mass flow rate.
807
E_xdes ðfriction =E _
Þ xsun (Fig. 7) while the values of pressure related
exergy loss are not comparable to other increasing terms (less than
0.8%).
Studying the sole effect of heater area (A h) on trend of varia-
tions of exergy efficiency is also shown in Fig. 8. It should be
noticed that width of given air heater is kept constant (W
0.5 m),
¼ hence increasing heater area means increasing the length of
heater. Exergy efficiency changes with heater area also show a peak
which emphasizes on truly selected objective func- tion for being
fed to GA. Hence, elongating the given air heater beyond the
optimum point (L 3.58 m) can ¼ causes the exergy efficiency
commences to decline. Hence, the optimization proce- dure of the
given heater helps significantly to save money and material along
with higher exergy gains. The same as previous case, it is also
needed to study the effect of heater area based on its
effects on exergy loss terms (Fig. 8). Seeing Fig. 8, it is found that on
contrary to the case of mass flow rate changes, E_xloss;Q loss =E_xsun is
the sole term which shows a continuously increasing trend of
changes with heater area as the area increases causes more heat
loss due to increasing absorber temperature and consequently
more exergy loss while E_xloss;opt =E_xsun is constant and
E_xdesðfrictionÞ =E_xsun can also be considered constant within the
specified ranges of heater area variations. E_xdes Tðap T—sun =E _
Þ xsun is
continuously decreasing from 0.72 to 0.57 with heater area
changes from 0.01 m2 to 3 m2. Such a descending trend may also
be attributed to increases in absorber temperatures and finally E_xdes
T T ð=E —_x Þapsun term which shows declining trend exceeding
0.21 m
f 2
.
The effect of height of v-corrugations on exergy efficiency of the
given heater can also be a real matter as it has direct impact on
pressure related exergy losses (Fig. 9). As seen in Fig. 9, lowering the
v-corrugation height from 0.0122 m can noticeably decrease the
exergy efficiency and such a graph (Fig. 9) can put much emphasis
on the advantages of optimized heater upon the non-optimized
ones for delivering higher quality levels of energy. Hence, feeding
the design and environmental conditions to the given MATLAB
808 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

Fig. 8. Variations of exergy efficiency and exergy loss terms divided by E_xsun for the DPGVC plate solar air heater with heater area.

code can bring the optimized values for the variables which are too
effective in increasing the exergy efficiency of the v-corrugated
solar air heater. For the present case of the study, the trend of
variations of different exergy loss terms divided by E_xsun is roughly
analogous to that of heater area case except for E_xdesðTap —Tsun Þ=E_xsun.
As also seen in Fig. 9, E_xdesð Tap — TsunÞ=E_xsun is highest in comparison
with others.
But, for observing the simultaneous effects of changes in air
flow rate with heater area and air flow rate with corrugation
height Figs. 10 and 11 are brought, respectively. As seen in Fig. 10,
with small areas of the heater which equals the short lengths (as
W is considered constant) it is recommended to have low rates of
air flow rates and as the length of the heater increases, to keep
the level of exergy efficiency of the given heater as high as

Fig. 9. Variations of exergy efficiency and exergy loss terms divided by E_xsun for the DPGVC plate solar air heater with v-corrugation height.
 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810
possible, it is also suggested to have more flow rates of air
through ducts.
Moreover, with small flow rates exergy efficiency has higher
sensitivity with the size of heater area. Furthermore, it should be
taken into consideration that variation of air flow rates through an
experimental test is somehow easily achieved while the heater area
is only easily changed through simulation. Hence, such a graph
made by simulation and also the optimization applied to the pre-
sent simulation can be a very useful way for finding a better
configuration of the system.
Fig. 11 also shows that for a given corrugation height, air flow
rate should also be adjusted in such a way to bring the maximum
exergy efficiency. Seeing Fig. 11 also shows that increase in height of
corrugation accompanied by increase in air flow rates or vice versa,
all show a peak pertaining to exergy efficiency while exceeding this
optimum point will only deteriorate the exergy efficiency. Hence,
for a given height a rate of air flow should be carefully investigated.
Fig. 10. Variations of exergy efficiency of DPGVC plate solar air heater with air flow
rate and heater area.
Fig. 11. Variations of exergy efficiency of DPGVC plate solar air heater with air flow rate
and corrugation height.
809
Fig. 12. Variations of exergy efficiency of DPGVC plate solar air with heater area and
corrugation height.
Studying variations of both heater area and corrugation height
on exergy efficiency is also shown in Fig. 12. Such a combination
also shows a peak for exergy efficiency while as they are both
design parameters they should be carefully measured in the first
stages of air heater manufacturing for bringing about the highest
achievable quantity for the objective function (functions).
4. Conclusions
In the present paper the effects of air flow rate, heater area and
height of v-corrugations on exergy efficiency of the given heater
and also their exergy loss components were studied in detail. The
simulation results show that:
● The simulation results were in good agreements with the
experimental results of the literature;2
● Optimum values of 0.0122 m, 1.79 m and 0.005 kg/s obtained
for the corrugation height, heater area and air flow rate,
respectively, brought about the maximum exergy efficiency of
6.27% for the given double pass/glazed v-corrugated plate solar
air heater;
● Among the exergy loss terms, the one originating from tem-
perature difference between sun and absorber had the most
important role while accounted for 63.57% of the whole exergy
losses at the point corresponding to maximum exergy
efficiency;
● Exergy efficiency calculation based on its constituting loss
terms, help to find their significance and the place which bring
about such an exergetic loss;
● The optical related exergy loss term occupied the second posi-
tion in comparison with three other remaining terms of exergy
loss.
● The magnitudes of other three exergy loss terms were not much
noticeable.
Acknowledgements
The authors also warmly acknowledge University of Birjand,
Faculty of Agriculture, for their support.
810 M. Hedayatizadeh et al. / Energy 94 (2016) 799e810

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