Relative to solar water heaters, solar air heaters have received relatively little investigation and have resulted in few commercial products. However, in the context of a humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination cycle, air heating accounts for advantages in cycle performance. Solar collectors can be over 40% of an air-heated HDH system’s cost; thus, design optimization is crucial. Best design practices and sensitivity to material properties for solar air heaters are investigated, and absorber solar absorptivity and glazing transmissivity are found to have the strongest effect on performance. Wind speed is also found to have an impact on performance. Additionally a well designed, and likely low cost, collector includes a double glazing and roughened absorber plates for superior heat transfer to the airstream. A collector in this configuration performs better than current collectors with an efficiency of 58% at a normalized gain of .
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e-mail: esummers@mit.edu
e-mail: lienhard@mit.edu
e-mail: smzubair@kfupm.edu.sa
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February 2011
Research Papers
Air-Heating Solar Collectors for Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination Systems
Edward K. Summers,
Edward K. Summers
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: esummers@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02319-4307 USA
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John H. Lienhard, V,
John H. Lienhard, V
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: lienhard@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02319-4307 USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Syed M. Zubair
Syed M. Zubair
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: smzubair@kfupm.edu.sa
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Search for other works by this author on:
Edward K. Summers
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02319-4307 USAe-mail: esummers@mit.edu
John H. Lienhard, V
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02319-4307 USAe-mail: lienhard@mit.edu
Syed M. Zubair
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabiae-mail: smzubair@kfupm.edu.sa
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Feb 2011, 133(1): 011016 (6 pages)
Published Online: February 14, 2011
Article history
Received:
May 16, 2010
Revised:
October 27, 2010
Online:
February 14, 2011
Published:
February 14, 2011
Citation
Summers, E. K., Lienhard, J. H., V, and Zubair, S. M. (February 14, 2011). "Air-Heating Solar Collectors for Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination Systems." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. February 2011; 133(1): 011016. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4003295
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