Enhancing thermal and exergy performance of solar air heaters using tea-dust-based activated carbon nanoparticle coatings on V-corrugated absorbers plate

Karthikeyan Rajendran, Ravikumar Athapagoundenpudur Rangaraj, Ganesh Nataraj, Ajithkumar Sitharaj, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mohan Babu University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Centre for Research and Development, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy

Published online on June 05, 2026

Abstract

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, Ahead of Print.
Solar air heaters are widely used for low and medium temperature thermal applications. However, their performance is often constrained by the limited heat absorption capability of conventional absorber coatings. To overcome this limitation, the present ...