Experimental Investigation of the Transpired Solar Air Collectors and Metal Corrugated Packing Solar Air Collectors

The thermal performance of three novel solar air collectors with perforating corrugated plate, slit-perforated plate, and corrugated packing were experimentally studied in this paper. Experiments were conducted in Tianjin to study the thermal and dynamic performance of the collectors in cold and severe cold regions. A chamber with a PID (Proportion Integration Differentiation) temperature controller was designed to control the inlet air temperature of the three collectors. Effects of radiation intensity, inlet air temperature, and flow rate on the thermal efficiency and outlet air temperature were experimentally studied. The results indicated that the thermal efficiency of the three collectors in severe cold regions could be much higher than 50% and the collector with perforating corrugated plate had the highest thermal efficiency. The inlet air flow rate had significant effects on the thermal comfort of buildings in cold and severe cold regions and it should be lower than 45 m3/h. The results indicated that the pressure drops of collectors with perforating corrugated plate were a little larger than the collectors with slit-perforated plate, but the thermal efficiency and outlet air temperature was higher. Therefore, the collector with perforating corrugated plate was more suitable to use in cold and severe cold regions