Comparative study based on energy and exergy analyses of a baffled solar air heater with latent storage collector

In this empirical study, exergy and energy investigation of a novel solar air heater (SAH) was undertaken in presence of the paraffin wax slab as the Phase-Change-Material (PCM). Characteristics of the system was scrutinized in presence and absence of baffle on the absorber plate. In the experimental study, two types of baffle-equipped and an unequipped absorber plate were inspected in presence of PCM unit and their exergy and efficiency were compared. For the baffled absorber plates, the baffles are made of galvanized plates and are arranged in sequential or staggered manner. At three different air mass flow rates of 0.017Kg/s, 0.014Kg/s and 0.009Kg/s, inlet, PCM and outlet temperature were measured and compared. Exploiting the 1st and 2nd thermodynamics laws, the exergy and energy efficiencies were calculated. This study's outcome approved that, at different air mass flow rates, the baffle-equipped SAH obtained the highest efficiencies while the unequipped one has the lowest. It has been found out that, at the mass flow rate of 0.017Kg/s, the maximum energy efficiency was attained for sequence-arranged baffle-equipped SAH (26.78%), while unequipped SAH had the least energy efficiency (14.30%) at the same mass flow rate. The exergy efficiencies varied between 4.86-20.47% for all cases of study.