Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Applied Thermal Engineering, cilt.288, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Maintaining a stable and adequate outlet air temperature under fluctuating weather conditions remains a critical challenge in solar air heater applications. This study presents an experimental investigation of a novel hybrid double-pass solar air heater equipped with wavy fins featuring air gaps and a latent heat thermal storage unit, with a particular focus on improving outlet temperature stability. Indoor experiments considering various fin inclination angles (30°, 45°, and 60°) were initially conducted to determine the optimal fin inclination angle in order to enhance thermal performance, revealing 45° as the most effective. Following this phase, outdoor experiments evaluated the influence of the electric auxiliary heater's position on thermal behavior and energy consumption, where the auxiliary heater was installed either at the U-turn section (configuration 1) or at the outlet section (configuration 2). The findings indicate that configuration 2 achieved a more stable outlet temperature of 54 ± 1.3 °C. This configuration provided a maximum temperature rise of 32 °C, from an ambient temperature of 24 °C, and exhibited lower top heat losses. Further, configuration 2 reduced the electrical energy consumption by 4.2 % compared to configuration 1. Furthermore, the system demonstrated average thermal efficiencies of 65.6 % and 68.1 % for configurations 1 and 2, respectively, with a favorable energy payback time of 0.49 years, making it a simple and sustainable solution for various agricultural and industrial applications.