HEAT-TRANSFER AND FRICTION FACTOR CORRELATIONS FOR RECTANGULAR SOLAR AIR HEATER DUCT PACKED WITH WIRE MESH SCREEN MATRICES

Experimental investigations into heat transfer and fluid flow characte ristics of a solar air heater having its duct packed with wire mesh sc reen matrices were carried out. The investigations covered a wide rang e of geometrical parameters of wire mesh screen matrix (wire diameter, pitch and number of layers). Generalized correlations have been devel oped for heat transfer coefficient and friction factor for air flowing through the bed of wire mesh screen matrix packed in the solar air he ater duct in a cross flow arrangement. Correlations developed for Colb urn J-factor and friction factor indicate that heat transfer coefficie nt and friction factor are strong functions of geometrical parameters of matrices. These correlations have been found to predict the experim ental data with reasonable accuracy. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.