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Abstract
Solar air heaters are one of the simplest and cost effective solar energy utilization systems
for various drying applications. The thermal efficiency of solar air heaters is found to be
low due to low heat transfer coefficient on the air side. Attempts have been made to
enhance the heat transfer rate from the absorber plate to air by using different roughness
elements. Enhancement of heat transfer coefficient is achieved by providing artificial
roughness, always goes with an increment of pressure drop and more pumping power is
required. So, there is a need to optimize the system parameters to maximize heat transfer,
while keeping the friction losses as low as possible