Comparative analysis of modified and convectional dual purpose solar collector: Energy and exergy analysis

In this paper, an experimental analysis on modified and conventional dual-purpose solar collector (DPSC) using water/air as working fluid. In the conventional DPSC (Type 1), flat absorber plate, corrugated absorber plate was used in the modified DPSC (Type 2) and corrugated absorber plate with straight fins was used in modified DPSC (Type 3) and comparison among them. The comparative analysis of DPSC system based on energy and exergy analysis is presented. The working fluid as water and air has been used in this experimental system. The energy and exergy efficiencies were determined for different types of DPSC and comparisons were made among them. Experiments were performed for two water mass flow rates of 0.025 and 0.04167 kg/s, respectively, while the two air mass flow rates of 0.011 and 0.023 kg/s, respectively. The experiments were performed on the selected days in January 2019–April 2019 at the National Institute of Technology Patna, India. The results show that the highest efficiency was determined for the DPSC with Type 3, whereas the lowest values were obtained for the DPSC with flat plate (Type 1).