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Keywords: Heaters, Solar, Testing

1 Purpose and scope

1.1 The purpose of this Standard is to provide a method for testing the thermal efficiency of solar air heaters which are used exclusively for heating ambient air. The test data should provide a basis for computing economic value and for comparing efficiency of collectors of different design and/or construction. Examples of use for solar ambient air heaters are preheating of ventilation air, heating make-up air for all types of environmental control systems, and heating of air to dry agricultural products without recirculation.

1.2 This test procedure simplifies the testing equipment needs, procedures and computations as compared to the currently recognized methods, for example, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 93-1986, Method of Testing to Determine the Thermal Performance of Solar Collectors.

1.3 The scope of this Standard is restricted to collectors which have a fixed orientation and slope during the test and are used exclusively for heating ambient air.

1.4 This Standard provides the method for using a 6 h continuous test consisting of twenty-four 15 min test periods.