Performance Evaluation of Absorber Rod Type Solar Air Collector

Solar air collector is a device that collects heat energy from the sun where the solar energy is converted to heat energy. A good solar air collector is when it can absorb maximum heat and can reduce as minimum as heat loss possible. In this study, a solar air collector device has been designed and constructed by attaching aluminium rod of 210 pieces with height 2 cm on the absorber plate to increase the heat transfer surface area. Apart from that, fin also built in airway to increase transfer of heat from plate absorber to air flow. There are 4 parameter of intensities value and mass flow rate is changed in this experiment which are 101.5 W/m(2), 302.4 W/m(2), 530.6 W/m(2) and 720.0 W/m(2) while for the mass flow rate is 0.0236 kg/s, 0.0340 kg/s, 0.0452 kg/s and 0.0584 kg/s. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mass flow rate and the solar intensity in improving the efficiency of thermal solar collectors. The results showed that the efficiency is between 57.2% to 77.4%. Maximum thermal efficiency mass flow rate recorded at 0.0584 kg/s with radiation intensity of 530.6 W/m(2). Changes in temperature, Delta T are decreased when mass flow rate is increased which 19.0 degrees C to 1.2 degrees C is depending on the solar radiation intensity.