Energy, exergy, economic and environmental (4E) analyses of flat-plate and V-groove solar air collectors based on aluminium and copper

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the effect of energy, economic, and environment of SACs which are smooth and roughened by v-groove protrusions arranged made of copper and aluminium materials. In this context; energy, exergy, economic, and environment (4E) analyses are investigated using data obtained from experimental studies at air mass flow rates of 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 kg/s. Thermal, economic, and environmental impacts for performance enhancement of the SACs have been determined. It reveals that the average thermal and exergy efficiencies of the SACs, for the installed region of collectors, were 43–60% and 6–12%, respectively. Among all others with copper v-groove showed that the highest heat transfer enhancements with friction factors high than those of flat, thermal performance of copper v-groove are among the highest of the SACs tested in this study. The payback period was found to be between average 4.3 and 4.6 years when calculated on a yearly basis, which was significantly less than estimated lifetime of the system. The enviro-economic cost values were obtained between 4.5 and 5.77 $/year. Consequently, the results show that the v-groove collectors to be preferable due to their performance despite the price disadvantage. The v-groove SACs, although slightly higher friction factors and cost, produce much higher heat transfer coefficients compared with flat SACs. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd