Energy 35 (2010) 202212

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

A review on methodology of articial roughness used in duct

of solar air heaters
Brij Bhushan*, Ranjit Singh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur 143521, Punjab, India

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 31 March 2009
Received in revised form
5 September 2009
Accepted 9 September 2009
Available online 9 October 2009

In order to enhance rate of heat transfer to owing air in the duct of a solar air heater, articially
roughened surface of absorber plate is considered to be an effective technique. Investigators reported
various roughness geometries in literature for studying heat transfer and friction characteristics of an
articially roughened duct of solar air heaters. In the present paper an attempt has been made to
categorize and review the reported roughness geometries used for creating articial roughness. Heat
transfer coefcient and friction factor correlations developed by various investigators for roughened
ducts of solar air heaters have also been reported in the present paper.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Solar air heater
Articial roughness
Nusselt number
Friction factor

1. Introduction
Energy in various forms has been playing an increasingly
important role in world wide economic progress and industrialization. The growth of world population coupled with rising material needs has escalated the rate of energy usage. Rapid increase in
energy usage characteristic of the past 50100 years cannot
continue indenitely as nite energy resources of earth are
exhaustible. On the other hand, environment degradation with the
use of fossil fuels is a threat to life on this planet earth. In view of
worlds depleting fossil fuel reserves and environmental threats,
development of renewable energy sources has received an impetus.
Of many alternatives, solar energy stands out as brightest long
range resource for meeting continuously increasing demand for
energy. It is considered to be a dominating renewable energy
source due to its large potential. The freely available solar radiation
provides an innite and non-polluting reservoir of fuel.
The simplest method to utilize solar energy for heating applications is to convert it into thermal energy by using solar collectors.
Solar water heaters and solar air heaters are at plate collectors
which are generally used for heating water and air respectively.
Solar air heaters are considered to be compact and less complicated
as compared to solar water heaters. These are also free from
corrosion and freezing problems. Solar air heater can be fabricated

using cheaper as well as lesser amount of material and is simpler to

use than solar water heater. Solar air heaters are generally
considered to be useful for applications like space heating, crop
drying, seasoning of timber etc. A solar air heater occupies an
important place among solar thermal systems because of minimal
use of materials and cost. The thermal efciency of a solar air heater
is generally considered to be less because of low rate of heat
transfer capability between absorber plate and air owing in the
duct. In order to make a solar air heater more effective solar energy
utilization system, thermal efciency needs to be improved by
enhancing heat transfer rate. It is reported in literature that heat
transfer rate can be enhanced by increasing the surface area by
using corrugated surfaces or extended surfaces called ns and by
increasing convective heat transfer coefcient by creating turbulence at heat transfer surface by providing articial roughness on
underside of the absorber plate. Under method of articial roughness, many experimental investigations have been reported in
literature by various authors. In the present paper an attempt has
been made to categorize and review the reported roughness
geometries used for creating articial roughness. Heat transfer
coefcient and friction factor correlations developed by various
investigators for roughened duct of solar air heaters have also been
reported in the present paper.
2. Performance analysis of conventional solar air heater

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 91 9855566294; fax: 91 1874 221463.

E-mail address: brijbsaini@yahoo.co.in (B. Bhushan).
0360-5442/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2009.09.010

It is required to analyse thermal and hydraulic performance of

a solar air heater for making an efcient design of such type of

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

Nomenclature
Ac
B
Cp
d, d0
D, Dh
e
g
h
H
I
k
L
_
m
P
DP
qu
Qu
Ql
Qt
S
To
Ti
Ta
Tpm
Tam
UL
v
w
W

surface area of absorber plate, m2

half length of full V-rib element, m
specic heat of air, J/kg K
print diameter of dimple/protrusion or geometric
parameter of broken rib, m
equivalent or hydraulic diameter of duct, m
rib height, m
groove position, m
heat transfer coefcient, W/m2 K
depth of air duct, m
intensity of solar radiation, W/m2
thermal conductivity of air, W/m K
length of test section of duct or long way length of
mesh, m
mass ow rate, kg/s
pitch, m
pressure drop, Pa
useful heat ux, W/m2
useful heat gain, W
heat loss from collector, W
heat loss from top of collector, W
length of discrete rib or short way length of mesh, m
uid outlet temperature, K
uid inlet temperature, K
ambient temperature, K
mean plate temperature, K
mean air temperature, K
overall heat loss coefcient, W/m2 K
velocity of air in the duct, m/s
width of rib, m
width of duct, m

Dimensionless parameters
B/S
relative roughness length
a system. Thermal performance concerns with heat transfer
process within the collector and hydraulic performance concerns
with pressure drop in the duct. A conventional solar air heater
shown in Fig. 1 is considered for brief analysis of thermal and
hydraulic performance in the following sub-sections. Design and
construction detail of such type of a conventional system are
described by Garg and Prakash [1].

d/W
e
e/D, e/Dh
e/H
f
f
FR
g/e
g/P
G
L/e
l/s
Nu
Nus
Nur
Nuav
Nuo

203

p/e
Pr
R

relative gap position

roughness Reynolds number
relative roughness height
rib to channel height ratio
friction factor
average friction factor
heat removal factor
relative gap width
relative groove position
momentum heat transfer function
relative long way length of mesh
relative length of metal grit
Nusselt number
Nusselt number for smooth channel
Nusselt number for rough channel
area-averaged Nusselt number
Nusselt number for fully developed ow smooth
channel
relative roughness pitch
Prandtl number
roughness function

Re
St
St
S/e
W/H

Reynolds number
Stanton number
average Stanton number
relative short way length of mesh
duct aspect ratio

Greek symbols
f
rib chamfer/wedge angle, degree
hth
thermal efciency
heff
effective thermal efciency
m
dynamic viscosity, Ns/m2
r
density of air, kg/m3
a
angle of attack, degree
effective transmittance-absorptance product
(sa)e
be represented in non-dimensional form by using the following
relationship of Nusselt number (Nu) reported by Dufe and Beckman [2].

Nu hL=k

(4)

Further, thermal efciency of a solar air heater can be expressed

by the following equation;

2.1. Thermal performance

In order to evaluate thermal performance of a solar air heater,
following HottelWhillierBliss equation reported by Dufe and
Beckman [2] is commonly used.



Qu Ac FR Isae UL Ti  Ta

Convection loss
Air out at To

Solar radiation (I)

Radiation loss

(1)

Absorber plate

or


qu Qu =Ac FR Isae UL Ti  Ta


(2)

The rate of useful energy gain by the owing air through duct of
a solar air heater may also be calculated by using the following
equation:



_ p To  Ti hAc Tpm  Tam
Qu mC

Bottom of
collector

Reflection loss
I ()e
Transparent cover
Conduction loss
Air passage

(3)

As discussed above, heat transfer coefcient (h) can be increased by

applying articial roughness on the surface of absorber plate. It can

Insulation

Air in at Ti
Fig. 1. Conventional solar air heater.

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B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212




qu
T  Ta
FR sae UL i
I
I

(5)

The above equation shows that the plot between hth and parameter
(Ti  Ta)/I can be approximated by a straight line, of which intercept
and slope are given by the values of FR(sa)e and FRUL respectively.
2.2. Hydraulic performance
Hydraulic performance of a solar air heater concerns with
pressure drop (DP) in the duct. Pressure drop accounts for energy
consumption by fan to propel air through the duct. Pressure drop
can be represented in non-dimensional form by using the following
relationship of friction factor (f), reported by Frank and Mark [3].

DPDh
2rLV 2

Absorber Plate

Air

Fig. 2. Three channel portable experimental set-up.

hth

Wires

Air flow

B
C

(6)

2.3. Thermohydraulic performance

It is desirable that design of collector should be made in such
a way that it should transfer maximum heat energy to the owing
uid with minimum consumption of fan energy. Therefore in order
to analyse overall performance of a solar air heater, thermohydraulic performance should be evaluated by considering thermal
and hydraulic characteristics of the collector simultaneously.
3. Methodology of articial roughness
In the duct of a solar air heater, presence of laminar sub-layer
between the absorber plate and owing air is generally considered
to be the main cause of thermal resistance for heat transfer. Articially roughened absorber plate is considered to be a good
methodology to break laminar sub-layer in order to reduce thermal
resistance and to increase heat transfer coefcient. The ribs
provided by articial roughness break laminar sub-layer and create
local wall turbulence due to ow separation and reattachment
between the consecutive ribs, which reduces thermal resistance
and greatly enhance rate of heat transfer. However simultaneous
increase in friction loss also takes place in an articially roughened
air duct. It is therefore desirable to create turbulence in the region
very close to the heat transferring surface i.e. in the laminar sublayer only, in order to reduce the friction loss with application of
articial roughness. This can be done by keeping roughness
element of small height in comparison with the duct dimension.
Attempt to increase heat transfer coefcient by applying articial roughness has been recorded over a century with one of the
formal studies being published by J.P. Joule in 1861 as reported by
Bergles et al. [4]. Signicant improvement in heat transfer

Fig. 4. Roughened absorber plate with transverse broken ribs.

coefcient for in-tube condensation of steam has been reported,

when a wire was inserted in the cooling water jacket and spiralled
around the condenser tube. Afterwards many experimental investigations on articial roughness were carried out in an area of gas
turbine airfoil cooling system, gas cooled nuclear reactors and
design of compact heat exchangers. In these investigations many
types of roughness geometries were used and classied as regular
and irregular roughness geometries.
In regular roughness geometries different shapes, sizes and
arrangements of roughness elements are studied in heat exchanger
equipments. Mittal et al. [5] reported that early studies beginning
with that of Nikuradse in 1950 attempted to develop velocity and
temperature distribution for roughened surfaces. Special functions
known as heat transfer function and momentum transfer function
have been proposed to correlate data on heat transfer and uid ow
characteristics. Webb and Eckert [6] developed heat transfer and
friction factor correlations for turbulent air ow in tubes having
rectangular repeated rib roughness based on the law of wall similarity and application of the heat-momentum transfer analogy to
ow over rough surface having relative roughness height of 0.01
0.04 at a relative roughness pitch of 1040 and range of Prandtl
number of 0.7137.6. Lewis [7] dened new efciency parameter
for optimising thermohydraulic performance of rough surfaces.
Ravigururajan and Bergles [8] developed general statistical correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop for four types of
roughness elements i.e. semicircular, circular, rectangular and
triangular for single-phase turbulent ow in internally ribbed
tubes. Han [912] carried out an experimental study of the effect of
rib shape, angle of attack, pitch to height ratio and spacing in square
duct with two opposite rib roughened wall. Parallel full ribs having
an angle of attack, a of 45 and 30 had the best thermal performance. Han et al. [13] investigated the effect of parallel and
V-shaped broken rib orientation on the local heat transfer distribution and pressure drop in a square channel with two opposite
ribbed walls and found that 60o staggered discrete V-shaped ribs
provide higher heat transfer than parallel discrete ribs. Liou and
Hwang [14] reported experimental study on turbulent heat transfer
and friction in a channel having ribs of semicircular, square and
triangular shapes and mounted on two opposite walls. For the
range of Reynolds number studied, ribs of semicircular, triangular
and square shape yielded about 1.62.0, 1.72.2 and 1.92.7 fold

Wires

Absorber Plate

Air

Air

Wires

Absorber plate

Fig. 3. Roughened absorber plate xed with transverse continuous wires.

P
Fig. 5. Roughened absorber plate with inclined ribs.

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

P
S
Air

Air
V - Down

205

different investigations on roughness geometries carried out in

heat exchangers as well as in air heaters. Application of articial
roughness methodology in a solar air heater for improvement of
thermal performance owes its origin to these investigations.

V - Up

4. Roughness geometries used in solar air heater ducts

Fig. 6. Roughened absorber plate with staggered discrete V-apex up and down ribs.

increase in average Nusselt number while friction factor increased

by 48, 510 and 715 fold respectively. Lau et al. [15], Taslim et al.
[16] and Olssom and Sunden [17] investigated the effect of V-shaped ribs in square channel and found enhancement in heat transfer
as compared to inclined ribs and transverse ribs. Results showed
that an average Stanton number for the inclined 45 and 60
discrete ribs was 2035% higher than in 90o full rib case. Gao and
Sunden [18] also reported that V-shaped ribs pointing downward
perform better than the ribs pointing upward in rectangular ducts.
Hu and Shen [19] investigated the effect of inclined discrete ribs
with and without groove and reported performance improvement
for discrete arrangement without groove. Cho et al. [20] examined
the effect of angle of attack and number of discrete ribs in rectangular duct and reported that gap region between discrete ribs
accelerates the ow and results an increase in local heat transfer
coefcient. Chyu et al. [21,22] reported local heat transfer
measurements on ribs of hemispherical and teardrop shapes by
using a transit liquid crystal technique and obtained 2.5 times
greater heat transfer enhancement and air pressure penalty is half
the values produced by conventional rib turbulator. Moon et al. [23]
investigated effects of channel height on heat transfer in a rectangular duct with a dimpled surface and observed enhancement in
heat transfer by about 2.1 times regardless of channel height and
friction factor of 1.62.0 times that of smooth channel. Mahmood
and Ligrani [24,25] measured local heat transfer on dimpled surface
of opposite walls with various temperature ratios having ratio of
channel height to dimple print diameter of 0.5 and observed that
vortex structures augment local Nusselt number near downstream
rim of each dimple. Burgess et al. [26] conducted an experimental
study to investigate effect of dimple depth on heat transfer with
aspect ratio of 8 and for Reynolds number range of 12,00070,000
and reported that Nusselt number increases with increase in
dimple depth. Sang et al. [27] investigated heat transfer with
dimple/protrusion arrays in a rectangular duct with low Reynolds
number range and observed heat transfer enhancement of 14 and 7
times for double protrusion wall and double dimpled wall at Reynolds number of 1000. However at high Reynolds number of
10,000, enhancement level observed was from 2 to 3. Chang et al.
[28] examined heat transfer characteristics for four sets of dimpled
channels with Reynolds number ranging from 1500 to 11,000 and
determined effect of dimpled arrangement, n length to channel
hydraulic diameter ratio and Reynolds number on heat transfer
over the dimpled n channel. Varun et al. [29] also reported

In solar air heaters, articial roughness in the form of xing

small diameter wires, machining ribs of different shapes, forming
dimples/protrusion have been investigated for enhancement of
heat transfer from the absorber plate. Although there are several
parameters that characterize the arrangement and shape of the
roughness elements; height (e) and pitch (P) of roughness element
are the most important parameters. These are specied in nondimensional form as relative roughness height (e/D) and relative
roughness pitch (P/e) respectively. The other parameters include
Reynolds number, rib cross-section, angle of attack, chamfering and
combined turbulence promoters. Literature on application of articial roughness in a solar air heater covers wide range of roughness
geometries for studying heat transfer and friction characteristics.
General arrangement of different types of roughness geometries
reported by various investigators can be divided into four categories i.e. (i) wire xation (ii) rib formation by machining process
(iii) wire mesh or expanded metal mesh xation and (iv) dimple/
protrusion formation. These have been discussed in detail under
following sub-sections.
4.1. Wire xation
Various investigators studied heat transfer enhancement and
friction loss by xing protruding wires of different shape, size and
orientation as an articial roughness element on absorber plate as
has been discussed below.
4.1.1. Transverse continuous ribs
Kays [30] suggested that by xing small diameter protrusion
wires perpendicular to ow direction on surface of absorber plate
may help to break laminar sub-layer. It was suggested that
protrusion wire diameter of y 50, spaced 1020 times diameter
and placed within the laminar sub-layer are better than turbulence
promoters.
Prasad and Mullick [31] used three unglazed collector channels
placed side-by-side as shown in Fig. 2. Middle collector channel B
was plane GI sheet, channel A was plane GI sheet having 24 gauge
GI wires soldered in transverse direction on its underside and
channel C was corrugated with wires soldered on the underside of
absorber plate in the same way as in second channel. It is reported
that protruding wires improve plate efciency factor from 0.63 to
0.72 resulting in 14% improvement in thermal performance.
Prasad and Saini [32,33] reported an experimental investigation
of fully developed turbulent ow in a solar air heater duct having
small diameter protrusion wires xed on absorber plate as shown

Wires

P
Air

Fig. 7. V-shape and transverse roughness elements on absorber plate.

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B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

Wire pieces

Air
l

Transverse

V-up discrete
Air

Inclined

V-up continuous

= 600

e = 2 mm

Fig. 10. Roughness geometry in rectangular channel as grit shape ribs.

V- down continuous

V- down discrete

Fig. 8. Roughened absorber plate with transverse, inclined discrete and continuous ribs.

in Fig. 3. Nusselt number and friction factor correlations were

developed by using experimental data. An enhancement in Nusselt
number and friction factor was observed over smooth duct of the
order of 2.38 and 4.25 times respectively corresponding to relative
roughness height of 0.033 and relative roughness pitch of 10.
Gupta et al. [34] reported effect of transverse wire roughness on
heat and uid ow characteristics for solar air heater ducts with an
absorber plate having transverse wires xed on its underside as
shown in Fig. 3 for Reynolds number range of 300018000, duct
aspect ratio of 6.811.5, relative roughness height of 0.0180.052 at
a relative roughness
ppitch of 10 with a range of roughness Reynolds
number e=D f =2Re between 5 and 70. It is reported that Stanton
number increased initially with an increase in Reynolds number up
to 12,000 and registered a slight fall thereafter.
Verma and Prasad [35] reported effect of transverse wire
roughness on heat and uid ow characteristics for three rectangular solar air heater ducts; two were roughened collectors and one
was a plane surface. Transverse wires were xed on underside of
absorber plate as shown in Fig. 3. Investigations were carried out
for Reynolds number range of 500020,000 for high duct aspect
ratio, relative roughness height of 0.010.03 at a relative roughness
pitch of 1040 and roughness Reynolds number range of 842. An
optimum value of thermohydraulic performance of about 71% has
been reported corresponding to roughness Reynolds number of 24.
4.1.2. Transverse broken ribs
Sahu and Bhagoria [36] reported effect of broken transverse ribs
on absorber plate of a solar air heater. Integral rib roughened
absorber plates were prepared by xing wires of 1.5 mm diameter
over one side of absorber plate as shown in Fig. 4. Roughness
geometry was having pitch (P) ranging from 10 to 30 mm, height of

rib (e) was 1.5 mm and duct aspect ratio was 8. Investigated range
of Reynolds number was 300012,000. Heat transfer coefcient
enhancement over smooth duct was reported to be 1.251.4 times
and maximum thermal efciency of the order of 83.5% was
obtained.
4.1.3. Inclined and V-shaped or staggered ribs
Gupta et al. [37] established optimum design parameters under
actual climatic conditions for roughened solar air heaters for
varying relative roughness height (e/D) and for a relative roughness
pitch (P/e) of 10 at an angle of attack (a) of 60 . Geometry of
roughened absorber plate is shown in Fig. 5. An enhancement of
heat transfer and friction factor was obtained of the order of 1.8 and
2.7 times respectively. Maximum heat transfer coefcient and
friction factor values were obtained at an angle of attack of 60
respectively in the range of investigated parameters.
Muluwork et al. [38,39] compared thermal performance of
roughened absorber plate xed with staggered discrete V-apex (up
and down) as shown in Fig. 6. It is reported that Stanton number
increased with an increase of relative roughness length ratio in the
range of 37. Reported Stanton number for V-down discrete ribs
was higher than the corresponding V-up and transverse discrete
roughened surfaces. Enhancement in Stanton number ratio was
found to be of the order of 1.322.47.
Momin et al. [40] investigated effect of geometrical parameters
on heat transfer and uid ow characteristics of rectangular duct of
solar air heater having V-shaped ribbed roughness on the absorber
plate as shown in Fig. 7. This experimental investigation covered
a Reynolds number range of 250018,000, relative roughness
height (e/D) of 0.020.034 and angle of attack (a) of 3090 for
a xed relative roughness pitch (P/e) of 10. It was reported that Vshape ribs with an angle of attack (a) of 60 enhanced Nusselt
number by 1.14 and 2.30 times and friction factor by 2.30 and 2.83
times over inclined ribs and smooth plate respectively.
Karwa [41] investigated effect of inclined discrete and continuous ribs on thermohydraulic performance of solar air heater for
Reynold number range of 280015,000, relative roughness height

P
d
d

600

d
Air

Continuous rib

d/W = 0.25

d/W = 0.16

d
L

d/W = 0.33
Fig. 9. Roughness geometries in rectangular channel with transverse and V-shaped
broken ribs.

d/W = 0.5

d/W = 0.67

Fig. 11. Roughness geometry as inclined non-continuous arrangement ribs.

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

207

P
e

W
60

Air

Rib

L
Fig. 12. Roughness geometry as a combination of inclined and transverse ribs.

Fig. 14. Integral chamfered rib roughness on absorber plate.

of 0.04670.050, xed relative roughness pitch of 10 and duct

aspect ratio of 7.197.75. Roughness geometries used in this
investigation are shown in Fig. 8. Stanton number and friction
factor correlations were developed. Enhancement in Stanton
number and friction factor over smooth duct was observed of the
order of 6590% and 2.682.94 times respectively. It is reported
that 60 inclined rectangular ribs produce better results than
transverse ribs. It is also reported that enhancement in Stanton
number over smooth duct is 102137%, 110147%, 93134% and
102142% for rib arrangement of V-up continuous, V-down
continuous, V-up discrete and V-down discrete respectively.
Tanda [42] made investigations using Liquid Crystal Thermography to obtain detailed distributions of heat transfer coefcient in
rib-roughened channels. The roughness geometries induced by
transverse continuous, transverse broken and V-shaped broken ribs
were deployed on a heated surface as shown in Fig. 9. The highest
value of enhanced Nusselt number was reported for the transverse
broken ribs having relative roughness pitch (P/e) value of 4. Large
increase in friction factor was induced by ribs as compared to the
smooth channel.
Karmare and Tikekar [43] developed heat transfer coefcient
and friction factor correlation for articially roughened duct with
metal grit ribs as shown in Fig. 10. Effect of range of system
parameters of grit geometry on heat transfer coefcient and friction
factor was investigated for Reynolds number range of 400017,000.
It is reported that plate having roughness parameters l/s 1.72,
e/D 0.044 and P/e 17.5 resulted optimum performance and as
compared to smooth duct yields up to two-fold enhancement in
Nusselt number and three-fold enhancement in friction factor.
Aharwal et al. [44] investigated effect of articial roughness by
using an inclined non-continuous rib arrangement in a rectangular
duct shown in Fig. 11. Maximum enhancement in Nusselt number
and friction factor as compared to smooth duct was observed to be
2.59 and 2.87 times respectively.
Varun et al. [45] studied heat transfer and friction characteristics
by using a combination of inclined as well as transverse ribs as
shown in Fig. 12 for Reynolds number range of 200014,000. It is
reported that roughened absorber plate having relative roughness
pitch (P/e) of 8 resulted best performance.
Saini and Saini [46] investigated effect of arc shaped ribs on heat
transfer and uid ow characteristics of rectangular duct of solar air
heater as shown in Fig. 13. This experimental investigation covered

a Reynolds number range of 200017,000, relative roughness

height (e/D) of 0.02130.0422 and relative angle of attack of ow
(a/90) of 0.33330.6666 for a xed relative roughness pitch (P/e) of
10. Maximum enhancement in Nusselt number and friction factor
as compared to smooth duct was observed to be 3.6 and 1.75 times
respectively.
Lee et al. [47] investigated effect of aspect ratio on heat/mass
transfer in rectangular channels with two different V-shaped rib
congurations, which were continuous V-shaped rib conguration
with a 60 attack angle, and multiple (staggered) V-shaped rib
conguration with a 45 attack angle. It is reported that the effect of
channel aspect ratio was more signicant for the continuous 60 Vshaped rib than for the multiple 45 V-shaped rib conguration.
4.2. Rib formation by machining process
Experimental investigations are reported in literature to study
heat transfer and friction characteristics by using integral ribs
generated on absorber plate by machining process. Different
shapes, sizes and orientation of ribs have been used to generate
articial roughness on absorber plate by this method as discussed
in the following sub-sections.
4.2.1. Chamfered ribs
Karwa et al. [48] proposed use of repeated integral chamfered
ribs to generate articial roughness as shown in Fig. 14. Experimental study was carried out by taking rib chamfer angles of 15 ,
0 , 5 , 10 , 15 and 18 for a rectangular duct having aspect ratio of
4.8, 6.1, 7.8, 9.66 and 12 under a Reynolds numbers range of 3000
20,000. Range of relative roughness heights (e/D) and relative
roughness pitch (P/e) was 0.01410.0328 and 4.58.5 respectively.
As compared to the smooth duct, articial roughened duct yielded
up to about two and three times increase in the Stanton number
and friction factor respectively.
Karwa et al. [49] conducted experimental study under actual
climatic conditions by using repeated integral chamfered ribs as

Glass Cover

()

Qt

Absorber Plate

Chamfered Rib

Qu
Air

Air

W
L

Fig. 13. Roughness geometry in rectangular channel as arc shape ribs.

Back Insulation

Ql

Fig. 15. Integral chamfered rib roughness on absorber plate with xed chamfer angle.

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B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

e
P

g
Air

e
L

P
Fig. 18. Absorber plate having chamfered rib-grooved articial roughness.

Fig. 16. Absorber plate having transverse wedge shaped rib roughness.

shown in Fig. 15. Investigated parameters were different from

Karwa et al. [48] i.e. relative roughness pitch (P/e) of 4.58 and 7.09,
rib chamfer angle xed at 15 , relative roughness height (e/D) for
three roughened plates was kept 0.0197, 0.0256 and 0.0441 for
a Reynolds number range of 375016,350. This study showed
enhancement in thermal efciency (1040%) over solar air heaters
with smooth absorber plates. Considerable enhancement in
pumping power requirement due to increase in pressure drop has
also been observed.
4.2.2. Wedge shaped ribs
Bhagoria et al. [50] investigated air heater rectangular duct
roughened by wedge shaped transverse integral ribs as shown in
Fig. 16 for Reynolds number range of 300018,000. Range of relative roughness height (e/D), relative roughness pitch (P/e) and rib
wedge angle (f) was 0.0150.033, 60.17f1.0264 < p/e < 12.12 and
815 respectively. Authors reported an enhancement in Nusselt
number and friction factor of the order of 2.4 and 5.3 times
respectively as compared to smooth duct.
4.2.3. Combination of different integral rib roughness elements
Jaurker et al. [51] reported an experimental investigation on
heat and uid ow characteristics for fully developed turbulent
ow in a rectangular duct having repeated integral transverse ribgroove roughness as shown in Fig. 17 for Reynolds number range of
300021,000. Range of relative roughness height (e/D), relative
roughness pitch (P/e) and groove position to pitch ratio (g/P) was
0.01810.0363, 4.510.0 and 0.30.7 respectively.
Enhancement of Nusselt number of the order of 2.75 times of the
smooth duct and 1.57 times of ribbed duct with similar rib height
and rib spacing was observed. Whereas ribbed duct with similar rib
height and rib spacing provides Nusselt number values of the order
of 1.7 times that of smooth duct for range of parameters. On the
other hand friction factor increases in the order of 3.61 times that of
smooth duct and 1.17 times that of ribbed duct. Whereas a ribbed
duct with similar rib height and rib spacing results in friction factor
value of the order of 3 times that of the smooth duct.
Layek et al. [52] investigated heat transfer and friction characteristics of repeated integral transverse chamfered rib-groove
roughness as shown in Fig. 18 for a Reynolds number range of
300021,000, relative roughness pitch of 4.510, chamfer angle of

Ribs

530 , relative groove position of 0.30.6 and relative roughness

height of 0.0220.04. Authors reported that Nusselt number and
friction factor increased by 3.24 times and 3.78 times respectively
as compare to smooth duct. Maximum enhancement of Nusselt
number and friction factor was obtained corresponding to relative
groove position of 0.4.
4.3. Wire mesh or expanded metal mesh ribs
Generation of articial roughness on the absorber plate is
considered to be a cumbersome task and may not be economically
feasible for large scale production of solar air heaters for various
applications. In order to solve this problem up to some extent, few
experimental investigations based on wire mesh or expanded
metal mesh as roughness element are reported in literature.
Saini and Saini [53] used expanded metal mesh as roughness
geometry and obtained an enhancement of heat transfer coefcient
and friction factor of the order 4 and 5 times over the smooth duct
corresponding to an angle of attack of 61.9 and 72 respectively.
Roughness geometry investigated by Saini and Saini is shown in
Fig. 19.
Gupta et al. [54] conducted performance evaluation of articial
roughness geometry of expanded metal mesh in terms of energy
augmentation ratio (EAR), effective energy augmentation ratio
(EEAR) and exergy augmentation ratio (EXAR) for a range of
parameters reported by Saini and Saini [53]. It was evident that l/e
of 40 resulted highest EXAR followed by l/e of 55.
4.4. Dimple/protrusion shaped geometry
Formation of dimples/protrusions on surface of absorber plate is
also considered to be a simple and economical methodology to
create articial roughness. It is a subject of many recent experimental investigations. Use of dimple shape roughness produced
augmented surface heat transfer levels as compare to channels
with smooth surfaces and at par with other articial roughness
geometries. On the other hand pressure drop or friction loss usually
does not increase appreciably as compare to other rough channels.
Saini and Verma [55] investigated heat transfer and friction
characteristics of dimple shaped articial roughness geometry
shown in Fig. 20 for Reynolds number 200012,000. Range of
relative roughness height (e/D) and relative pitch (p/e) was 0.018
0.037 and 812 respectively. Authors reported that Nusselt number
and friction factor increased by 1.8 and 1.4 times respectively as
compared to smooth duct.
L

Groove

Expanded Metal Mesh

Air
S
L
Fig. 17. Absorber plate having rib-grooved articial roughness.

Fig. 19. Expanded metal mesh xed on absorber plate.

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

209

5. Discussion

It has been observed that regular roughness geometries being

used in solar air heaters are of many types depending upon shape,
size, arrangement and orientation of roughness elements on the
absorber plate. General arrangement of different types of roughness geometries reported by the various investigators can be
divided into four categories i.e. (i) wire xation (ii) rib formation by
machining process (iii) wire mesh or expanded metal mesh ribs and
(iv) dimple/protrusion shaped geometry. In transverse xed wire
ribs, penalty of friction is almost twice the enhancement of heat
transfer, whereas in inclined and V-shaped or staggered ribs,
increase in friction factor is at par or slightly more than enhancement of Nusselt number except for arc shaped ribs. For machined
ribs, it is observed that friction penalty is approximately three-fold
and Nusselt number enhancement is two fold except chamfered
rib-groove combination where friction penalty and heat transfer
enhancement are almost at par. As for as wire mesh ribs are

d
Air

e
Fig. 20. Absorber plate with dimple-shaped geometry.

Table 1
Heat transfer coefcient and friction factor correlations for different roughness geometries used in solar air heater duct.
Roughness
geometry

Author/s

Range
of parameters

Correlations
Heat transfer coefcient

Friction factor

A. WIRES
1. Transverse
Small diameter
protrusion wire

Prasad and
Saini[32]

e/D: 0.0200.033
p/e: 1020
Re  103: 550

St f =2=1

fr 2=0:95p=e0:53 2:5 lnD=2e  3:752

Small dia. Transverse

protrusion wire

Gupta
et al. [34]

e/D: 0.0180.052
Re: 300018,000

Nu 0:000824e=D0:178 W=H0:284

f 0:06412e=D0:019 W=H0:0237 Re0:185

p
f =2f4:5e 0:28 Pr 0:57
o
0:53
0:95p=e

1:062

Re

e  35

Nu 0:00307e=D0:469 W=H0:245
Re0:812 e  35

Small dia. Transverse

protrusion wire

Verma and
Prasad [35]

e/D: 0.010.03
p/e: 1040
e: 842
Re: 500020,000

Nur 0:08596p=e0:054
e=D

0:072

0:723

Re

fr 0:0245p=e0:0206 e=D0:021 Re1:25

e  24

Nur 0:0245p=e0:016
e=D0:021 Re0:802 e  24

2. V-Shaped/Inclined
Wire Ribs
Inclined wire ribs

Gupta et al. [56]

e/D: 0.020.053
Re: 500030,000
a: 3090
p/e: 7.510

Nu 0:000824e=D0:178 W=H0:284 Re1:062

i
h
exp  0:041  a=602 k=De  35

f 0:06412e=D0:019 W=H0:0237
i
h
Re0:185 exp  0:09931  a=702

Nu 0:00307e=D0:469 W=H0:245 Re0:812

i
h
exp  0:4751  a=602 k=De  35

V-Shaped staggered
discrete wire ribs

Muluwork
et al. [38,39]

V-shaped continuous
Wire ribs

Momin
et al. [40]

e/D: 0.02
a: 60
B/S: 39
Re: 200015,500
e/D: 0.020.034
p/e: 10
a: 3090
Re: 250018,000

Nur 0:00534 Re1:2991 p=s1:3496

fr 0:7117Re2:991 p=s0:0636

Nur 0:067Re0:888 e=D0:424 a=600:077

i
h
exp  0:0782flna=60g2

fr 6:266 Re0:425 e=D0:565 a=600:093

i
h
exp  0:719flna=60g2

G 103:77e 0:006 W=H0:5 p=e2:56

i
h
exp 0:7343flnp=eg2 e0:31

(continued on next page)

210

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

Table 1 (continued ).
Roughness
geometry

Author/s

Range
of parameters

Correlations
Heat transfer coefcient

Friction factor

Inclined discrete
and continuous
wire ribs

Karwa [41]

e/Dh: 0.04670.05
p/e: 10
a: 6090
B/S: 3
W/H: 7.197.75

G 32:26e0:006 W=H0:5 p=e2:56

i 0:08
h
exp 0:7343flnp=eg2 e

For 7  e < 20 R 1:66e00078 W=H0:4

h
p=e2:695 exp  0:762 flnp=eg2

p/e: 4813.3
e/H: 0.15, 0.25
a: 45, 60 & 90
e: 3 mm, 5 mm

0:4
Nuo 0:023Re0:8
o Pr

Transverse continuous,
Transverse broken
and V-shaped
broken wire ribs

Tanda [42]

Grid shaped wire ribs

Karmare and
Tikekar [43]

Gap in an inclined
continuous
wire ribs

Aharwal
et al. [44]

Arc shaped
wire ribs

Saini and
Saini [46]

B. WIRE MESH
Expanded
metal mesh

Saini and
Saini [53]

C. MACHINED RIBS
Chamfered ribs

Karwa et al.
[48,49]

e/Dh: 0.0350.044
p/e: 12.536
l/s: 1.721
Re: 400017,000
p/e: 10
e & b: 2 mm
e/Dh: 0.0377
W/H: 5.87
Re: 300018,000
d/W: 0.1670.5
(4 steps)
a: 60
g/e: 0.52 (4 steps)
Re: 200017000
p/e: 10
W/H: 12
e/D: 0.02130.0422
a/90: 0.3330.666

e0:075

For 20  e  60 R 1:325e0:0078 W=H0:4

p=e2:695 exp  0:762flnp=eg2

Reo 21:74f Re3 0:357

Nu 2:4  Re1:3  e=Dh 0:42
l=s0:146 p=e0:27

fo 0:046Re0:2
o
f 15:55  Re0:26
e=Dh 0:94 l=s0:27 p=e0:51

Nu=Nus 2:59

f =fs 2:87

Nu 0:001047Re1:3186

f 0:14408Re0:17103 e=D0:1765 a=900:1185

e=D0:3772 a=900:1198

Re: 190013000
e/D: 0.0120.0390
L/e: 2571.87
S/e: 15.6246.87

Nur 4:0  104 Re1:22 e=D0:625 s=10e2:22

i
h
exp 1:25flns=10eg2 l=10e2:66 

Re: 300020000
e/D: 0.0140.0320
p/e: 4.58.5
f: 15,0, 5, 10,
15 & 18
W/H: 4.8, 6.1, 7.8,
9.66, 12.0

G 103:77e0:006 W=H0:5 p=e2:56

i 0:31
h
exp 0:7343flnp=eg2 e

fr 0:815Re0:361 l=e0:266 s=10e0:19 10e=D0:591

i
h
exp 0:824flnl=10eg2

For 7  e < 20 R 1:66e00078 W=H0:4

 0:075 i
h
p=e2:695 exp  0:762flnp=eg2 e

For 7  e < 20
G 32:26 e0:006 W=H0:5 p=e2:56
h
i 0:08
exp 0:7343flnp=eg2 e

For 20  e  60 R 1:325e0:0078
i
h
W=H0:4 p=e2:695 exp  0:762flnp=eg2

For 20  e  60
Wedge
shaped ribs

Bhagoria
et al. [50]

e/D: 0.0150.033
p/e:
60.17f1.0264<
p/e < 12.12
f: 8, 10, 12, 15
Re: 300018,000

Rib-Groove
combination

Jaurkar
et al. [51]

e/D: 0.01810.0363
p/e: 4.510 exp[1.513
{ln(g/p)2}
0.8662{ln(g/p)3}]
Re: 300021,000
g/p: 0.30.7

Nur 1:89  104 Re1:21 e=D0:426 p=e2:94

i
 exp0:71flnp=eg2 f=100:018
h
i
exp  1:5fln==10g2

Nur 0:002062Re0:936 e=D0:349 p=e3:318

exp  0:868flnp=eg2 g=p1:108
o
h
n
exp 2:486 lng=p2
oi
n
1:406 lng=p3

fr 12:44 Re0:18 e=D0:99 p=e0:52 f=100:49

fr 0:001227Re0:199 e=D0:585
h
i
p=e7:19 exp  1:854flnp=eg2
o
n
oi
h
n
g=p0:645 exp 1:513 lng=p2 0:8662 lng=p3

B. Bhushan, R. Singh / Energy 35 (2010) 202212

211

Table 1 (continued ).
Roughness
geometry

Author/s

Range
of parameters

Correlations
Heat transfer coefcient

Friction factor

Chamfered
rib-groove
combination

Layek
et al. [52]

Re: 300021,000
e/Dh: 0.0220.04
P/e: 4.510
g/P: 0.30.6
f: 530

Nu 0:00225Re0:92 e=D0:52

f 0:00245Re0:124 e=D0:365 p=e4:32

oi
h
n
g=p1:134 exp 0:005f exp  1:09ln p=e2

1:72

p=e

g=p

1:21 1:34

h
n
oi
 exp  0:22ln f2
h

h
n
oi
 exp  0:68ln g=p2

n
oi
exp  0:46ln p=e2

h
n
oi
 exp  0:74ln g=p2

D. DIMPLED RIBS
Dimpled ribs

Saini and
Verma [55]

Re: 200012000
e/D: 0.0180.037
P/e: 812

Nu 5:2  104 Re1:27 p=e3:15

i
h
 exp2:21flogp=eg2

fe 0:0642Re0:423 p=e0:465
i
h
 exp0:054flogp=eg2 e=D0:0214
i
h
 exp0:840floge=Dg2

e=D0:033
i
h
 exp1:30floge=Dg2

concerned, heat transfer enhancement is more than rst two articial roughness categories, but increase in friction loss is found
more than heat transfer enhancement. In dimpled/protrusion rib
geometry it is observed that friction penalty is less as compare to
heat transfer enhancement. Very little work is reported in literature
to use this roughness geometry for solar air heaters.
It has also been observed that generation of articial roughness on
absorber plate is a tedious task and may not be economically feasible
for large scale production of solar air heaters for various applications.
A suitable geometry of roughness element therefore needs to be
selected, which besides being easily available should be easy to x or
fabricate on the absorber plate and also gives substantial enhancement in heat transfer coefcient at low friction penalty.
6. Conclusion
In the present paper an attempt has been made to report heat
transfer and friction characteristics of articially roughened duct of
solar air heaters. Methodology of articial roughness and experimental studies carried out by various investigators have been discussed and reported in detail. It is observed that articial roughness
is a good technique to improve thermal performance of solar air
heaters. Heat transfer coefcient and friction factor correlations
reported in literature are presented in tabular form. Information
provided in the present paper may be useful to the beginners in this
area of research (Table 1).
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