Enhancing Sustainable Development: Assessing a Solar Air Heater (SAH) Test Bench through Computational and Experimental Methods

Badis Bakri (), Hani Benguesmia (), Ahmed Ketata, Slah Driss, Haythem Nasraoui and Zied Driss
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Badis Bakri: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of M’sila, M’sila 28000, Algeria
Hani Benguesmia: Electrical Engineering Laboratory (LGE), University of M’sila, M’sila 28000, Algeria
Ahmed Ketata: Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM), National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax (US), B.P. 1173, km 3.5 Soukra, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Slah Driss: Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM), National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax (US), B.P. 1173, km 3.5 Soukra, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Haythem Nasraoui: Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM), National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax (US), B.P. 1173, km 3.5 Soukra, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Zied Driss: Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM), National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax (US), B.P. 1173, km 3.5 Soukra, Sfax 3038, Tunisia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: A solar air heater is a device that gathers solar radiation and converts it into heat. The core principle involves air moving through a solar collector, where sunlight naturally increases the air temperature within the collector. The benefit of this technology lies in its affordability and simplicity. The implementation of a solar air heater (SAH) test bench holds significant promise in addressing both global change and sustainable development objectives. The primary goal of this study is to examine the aerodynamic configuration of a novel solar air heater test bench accessible at the Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM). This study was carried out using the standard k-ω turbulence model with the use of the ANSYS Fluent 17.0 software. The results indicate that the velocity at the inlet directly influences the velocity fields, temperature, static pressure, and characteristics of turbulence. Furthermore, the numerical findings confirmed that the temperature and velocity profiles in the second channel are in good concordance with the experimental findings in the case of a fan, placed alongside the insulation, operating in a delivery mode. Based on these results, the computational approach is validated. When comparingforced convection to natural convection under identical conditions, there was a notable increase in the energy efficiency, with forced convection showing a significant improvement of approximately 31.8%. Indeed, the range of temperatures reached with the proposed design, is highly beneficial for both industrial and household applications.

Keywords: SAH; test bench; two paths; box model; clean energy; aerodynamic composition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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