Experimental Investigations to enhance Convective Heat Transfer in a Nanocoated Solar (PV/T) Air Heater for different flow patterns.

Solar air heaters are widely employed in several industrial applications. Despite several advantages, there are certain drawbacks, such as inadequate thermal performance. Artificially roughened surfaces and nanocoating are employed on the absorber plate to enhance thermal efficiency and overall performance of the system. In this present study, experiments are conducted on chromium coated ribbed solar (PV/T) Air Heater for different air flow patterns. It is observed that the thermal efficiency of ribbed Solar (PV/T) Air Heater zig zag flow improved as compared to the chromium nanocoated traditional Solar (PV/T) Air Heater. Experimental results indicated that the convective heat transfer increased with an increase in air flow rates.