Comparative performance evaluation of fertiliser solar pond under simulated conditions

An experimental test rig for solar pond simulation was developed to study the chosen fertiliser salt, Muriate of Potash (MOP) for use in a solar pond under simulated conditions with provisions to vary the heating input and maintain a particular lower convective zone temperature. The performance, in terms of temperature and density profiles, was studied for MOP and was compared with that of sodium chloride and saltless solar ponds for different heating regimes and lower convective zone temperatures. The formation of three zones viz., upper convective zone, nonconvective zone, and lower convective zone was distinct at all heating combinations for both MOP and sodium chloride salts under simulated conditions. The temperature and density gradients were not affected significantly by intermittent no-heating spells of the solar ponds. Maintaining lower convective zone temperature of 70 °C and above led to the initiation of minor internal convective zone under simulated conditions. The temperature decay of lower convective zone (LCZ) was at lesser rate for different LCZ temperatures associated with both the heating regimes, for a MOP pond over a 24 h period of cessation of heating as compared to sodium chloride and saltless ponds.     

Thermal analysis and measurement of a solar pond prototype to study the non-convective zone salt gradient stability

Solar ponds combine solar energy collection with long-term storage and can provide reliable thermal energy at temperature ranges from 50 to 90 °C. A solar pond consists of three distinct zones. The first zone, which is located at the top of the pond and contains the less dense saltwater mixture, is the absorption and transmission region, also known as the upper convective zone (UCZ). The second zone, which contains a variation of saltwater densities increasing with depth, is the gradient zone or non-convective zone (NCZ). The last zone is the storage zone or lower convective zone (LCZ). In this region, the density is uniform and near saturation. The stability of a solar pond prototype was experimentally performed. The setup is composed of an acrylic tube with a hot plate emulating the solar thermal energy input. A study of various salinity gradients was performed based on the Stability Margin Number (SMN) criterion, which is used to satisfy the dynamic stability criterion. It was observed that erosion of the NCZ was accelerated due to mass diffusion and convection in the LCZ. It can be determined that for this prototype the density of the NCZ is greatly affected as the SMN reaches 1.5.     

Enhancing the thermal efficiency of solar ponds by extracting heat from the gradient layer

An alternative method of heat extraction from salinity-gradient solar ponds is investigated with the aim of increasing the overall energy efficiency of collecting solar radiation, storing heat and delivering this heat to an application. In this alternative method, heat is extracted from the non-convecting gradient layer of a solar pond as well as, or instead of, from the lower convective zone (LCZ). A theoretical analysis of combined gradient-layer and LCZ heat extraction is conducted to obtain expressions for the variation of temperature with depth in the pond, and the temperature gradient with depth. The dependence of the overall energy efficiency of the pond on thickness of the gradient-layer, temperature of delivered heat, and various combinations of gradient layer and LCZ heat extraction rates, including the limiting cases of gradient-layer heat extraction only, and LCZ heat extraction only, is then explored. This theoretical analysis suggests that heat extraction from the gradient layer has the potential to increase the overall energy efficiency of a solar pond delivering heat at a relatively high temperature by up to 50%, compared with the conventional method of heat extraction solely from the LCZ. The potential gain in efficiency using gradient-layer heat extraction is attributed to the lowering of heat losses by conduction to the upper convective (surface) zone that can be achieved with this method. Experimental investigations are proposed to test the predictions of the theoretical analysis in practice, and assess the impact of a number of idealized assumptions made on the findings reported here.     

Experimental study of the salt gradient solar pond stability

Many natural systems such as oceans, lakes, etc.…, are influenced by the effect of double-diffusive convection. This phenomenon, which is a combination of heat and mass transfer, can destroy the stability of system-flows.In the case of solar ponds the middle layer, that is linearly stratified, acts as a thermal and mass insulator for the lower layer. This middle layer, called the Non-Convective Zone (NCZ), needs special care to avoid convection and to maintain its stability. In fact, due to an excess of heat stored, a thermal gradient occurs within the NCZ. A convective movement appears at the bottom of the stratified-layers and then grows to a double-diffusive convection movement. This movement transforms the stratified-layers into a well mixed layer, reducing the storage capacity of the pond.Laboratory small-scale pond and middle-scale outdoor solar ponds were designed and built to provide both quantitative data and to study the dynamic processes in solar ponds, including the behavior of the gradient zone.Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) visualization-experiments carried out in the mechanical and energetic laboratory in the engineering school of Tunisia and experiments in the field showed that the instability of solar ponds could be limited by using porous media placed in the lower layer of the stratification.     

Mathematical modelling of salt gradient solar pond performance

This paper presents a mathematical model of the performance of the salt gradient solar pond. A lumped parameter model of the upper convective zone, non-convective zone and lower convective zone is used. This model enables the temperatures of the upper-convective zone and the lower convective zone of the solar pond to be predicted. The experimental results agree well with theoretically predicted values. The major error in the theoretical results is due to the difference between the theoretical value of the solar radiation inside the water and that observed experimentally. It is found that the experimental value of the solar radiation at a depth of 90 cm is approximately 26 per cent of the total solar radiation falling on the solar pond surface, whereas the corresponding theoretical value is found to be 33 per cent. The results conclude that the lumped parameter model can be used as a simple model to predict the performance of the solar pond.     

Performance assessment of a magnesium chloride saturated solar pond

This paper deals with the experimental investigation of a magnesium chloride saturated solar pond and its performance evaluation through energy and exergy efficiencies. The solar pond system is filled with magnesium chloride containing water to form layers with varying densities. A solar pond generally consists of three zones, and the densities of these zones increase from the top convective zone to the bottom storage zone. The incoming solar radiation is absorbed by salty water (with magnesium chloride) which eventually increases the temperature of the storage zone. The high-temperature salty water at the bottom of the solar pond remains much denser than the salty water in the upper layers. Thus, the convective heat losses are prevented by gradient layers. The experimental temperature changes of the solar pond are measured by using thermocouples from August to November. The densities of the layers are also measured and analysed by taking samples from at the same point of the temperature sensors. The energy and exergy content distributions are determined for the heat storage zone and the non-convective zone. The maximum exergy destructions and losses appear to be 79.05 MJ for the heat storage zone and 175.01 MJ for the non-convective zone in August. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the solar pond are defined as a function of solar radiation and temperatures. As a result, the maximum energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 27.41% and 26.04% for the heat storage zone, 19.71% and 17.45% for the non-convective zone in August, respectively.     

Heat extraction methods from salinity-gradient solar ponds and introduction of a novel system of heat extraction for improved efficiency

Heat has generally been successfully extracted from the lower convective zone (LCZ) of solar ponds by two main methods. In the first, hot brine from the LCZ is circulated through an external heat exchanger, as tested and demonstrated in El Paso and elsewhere. In the second method, a heat transfer fluid circulates in a closed cycle through an in-pond heat exchanger, as used in the Pyramid Hill solar pond, in Victoria, Australia. Based on the experiences at the El Paso and Pyramid Hill solar ponds, the technical specifications, material selection, stability control, clarity maintenance, salt management and operating strategies are presented. A novel method of extracting heat from a solar pond is to draw the heat from the gradient layer. This method is analysed theoretically and results of an experimental investigation at Bundoora East, RMIT, are presented. An in-pond heat exchanger made of polyethylene pipe has been used to extract heat for over 2 months. Results indicate that heat extraction from the gradient layer increases the overall energy efficiency of the solar pond by up to 55%, compared with conventional method of heat extraction solely from the LCZ. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical analysis. A close agreement has been found. From this small-scale experimental study, convection currents were found to be localised only and the density profiles were unaffected. An experimental study using an external heat exchanger for brine extraction and re-injection at different levels within the gradient layer still needs to be conducted to determine the effect of the heat extraction from the non-convective zone (NCZ) on the stability of the salinity gradient (both vertically and horizontally) and an economic analysis needs to be conducted to determine the economic gains from increased thermal efficiency.     

Saturated solar ponds: 2. Parametric studies

The effects of following parameters on the performance of saturated solar ponds are studied: thickness of upper convective zone, nonconvective zone, and lower convective zone; starting time of the pond; water table depth below the pond; ground thermal conductivity; transmissivity of salt solution; incident radiation; ambient air temperature, humidity, and velocity; thermophysical properties of salt solution; pond bottom reflectivity; convection, evaporation, radiation, and ground heat losses; temperature and rate of heat removal; type of salt. Magnesium chloride and potassium nitrate salt ponds located at Madras (India) are considered for the parametric study. A comparison is also made with an unsaturated solar pond.     

Brine clarity maintenance in salinity-gradient solar ponds

Brine transparency is an important part of the maintenance of a salinity-gradient solar pond as it affects the amount of solar radiation reaching the storage zone and hence has an influence on the thermal performance. There is a wide range of factors that can hinder the transmission of light in a solar pond. Algal and microbial growths are the most common problems encountered in working solar ponds and control of their densities is essential to maintain transparency. Two different chemical treatment methods for algae growth prevention are described in this paper: chlorine and a novel chemical product – copper ethylamine complex. The latter method has never been implemented previously in a working pond. This paper discusses the theory of the algae control methods used and presents the experimental results of the chemical treatments. The results showed that Cupricide is more effective than chlorine and is therefore the recommended chemical for algae control in solar ponds; it improves the water transparency especially in the upper convective zone and lower convective zone with all measurement values less than 1 NTU. Chlorine was found to be more corrosive than Cupricide due to the acidic effect it has on the pH. The preliminary cost analysis showed that granular chlorine is the cheapest chemical. A more detailed financial analysis is nevertheless required to refine these costs.     

Optimum thickness of the nonconvective zone in salt gradient solar ponds

The nonconvective gradient zone of a salt gradient solar pond tends to more effectively transmit incident solar energy to the storage brine below as its thickness is reduced. However, that same gradient zone tends to more effectively reduce heat loss from the warm brines as its thickness is increased. Therefore, there exists an optimum gradient zone thickness for which the net rate of energy collected and retained is a maximum. This report describes a technique for using a numerical simulation model to determine the optimum thickness of the gradient zone in ponds; provided other basic design, operating and climatic factors are specified. Significant improvements in pond efficiency may be obtained if the thickness of the gradient zone is adjusted monthly, seasonally or even if maintained at the annual average optimum thickness as compared with operating the pond with other than an optimum gradient zone thickness.     

Experimental study of natural brine solar ponds in Tibet

A salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP) is a simple and effective way of capturing and storing solar energy. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has very good solar energy resources and very rich salt lake brine resources. It lacks energy for its mineral processes and is therefore an ideal location for the development and operation of solar ponds. In China, solar ponds have been widely applied for aquaculture, in the production of Glauber’s salt and in the production of lithium carbonate from salt lake. As part of an experimental study, a SGSP using the natural brine of Zabuye salt lake in the Tibet plateau has been constructed. The pond has an area of 2500 m² and is 1.9 m deep. The solar pond started operation in spring when the ambient temperature was very low and has operated steadily for 105 days, with the LCZ temperature varying between 20 and 40 °C. During the experimental study, the lower convective zone (LCZ) of the pond reached a maximum temperature of 39.1 °C. The results show that solar ponds can be operated successfully at the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and can be applied to the production of minerals.     

Experiment and analysis of practical-scale solar pond stabilized with salt gradient

A large-scale solar pond with salty water was constructed in the suburbs of Kitami in 1985. Its performance has been measured and analyzed by the authors after that. The solar pond body is circular of 44 m diameter, and the pond water is of 3 min total depth. After, 15 months, the depth of the salt gradient zone (S.G.Z.) was thinned by 10 cm in the top and by 20 cm in the bottom due to convection of the top and bottom zones. The temperature in the convective storage zone (C.S.Z.) reached 70°C, its maximum, at the beginning of September in 1985, however, it was not as high in 1986 due to contamination of the pond water. The temperature of the storage zone was reduced from November to April due to ice covering on the pond surface. The collected heat yielded largely and the collection efficiency reached more than 30% in summer, but decreased to negative values in winter. The thermal performance of the solar pond was predicted by a simulation calculation, and the calculated result compared well with the measurements.     

Salt gradient stabilized solar pond collector

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of a salt gradient solar pond as a steady state flat plate solar energy collector. We explicitly take into account the convective heat and mass flux through the pond surface and evaluate the temperature and heat fluxes at various levels in the pond by solving the Fourier heat conduction equation with internal heat generation resulting from the absorption of solar radiation as it passes through the pond water. These evaluations, in combination with energy balance considerations, enable the derivation of the expressions for solar pond efficiency of heat collection as well as the efficiency of heat removal. The efficiency expressions are Hottel-Whillier-Bliss type, prevalent for flat plate collectors. Numerical computations are made to investigate the optimization of geometrical and operational parameters of the solar pond. For given atmospheric air temperature, solar insolation and heat collection temperature, there is an optimum thickness of nonconvective zone for which the heat collection efficiency is maximum. The heat removal factor is also similar to that of a flat plate collector and the maximum efficiency of heat removal depends on both the flow rate and the temperature in the nonconvective zone.     

Control of a solar pond

Solar ponds hold the promise of providing an alternative to diesel generation of electricity at remote locations in Australia where fuel costs are high. However, to reliably generate electricity with a solar pond requires high temperatures to be maintained throughout the year; this goal had eluded the Alice Springs solar pond prior to 1989 because of double-diffusive convection within the gradient zone. This paper presents control strategies designed to provide successful high temperature operation of a solar pond year-round. The strategies, which consist mainly of manipulating upper surface layer salinity and extracting heat from the storage zone are well suited to automation. They were tested at the Alice Springs solar pond during the summer of 1989 and maintained temperatures in excess of 85°C for several months without any gradient stability problems.     

Transient behaviour of salt gradient stabilised shallow solar ponds

This paper presents the results of experimental and analytical investigations of the transient thermal processes in a salt gradient stabilised pond of shallow (10 cm) depth, useful for short-term storage applications. A small convective sublayer (about 3 cm thick) of uniform temperature tends to form at the bottom of the pond. The convective-non-convective zone boundary below the gradient zone exhibits movements with time of day as well as from day to day. This suggests that only local properties and local gradients are relevant to the stability condition. A thin oil layer cover at the pond surface considerably enhances the temperature in the pond and aids its stability. A simple transient thermal model of the pond is developed. The observed temperatures and depths of the zones are in close agreement with theory.     

Effect of sloping walls on salt concentration profile in a solar pond

The effect of sloping walls on the salt concentration profile in solar ponds is studied. The variation of the area of the pond at different depths is expressed in terms of the top surface area and a single non-dimensional parameter defined in terms of the geometrical characteristics of the pond. This variation is then introduced into the differential equation governing the upward salt diffusion. The dependence of the molecular diffusivity of salt on temperature and the resulting vertical variation of the molecular diffusivity in solar ponds with sloping walls is also considered. The differential equation is then solved and the general solution for the salt concentration as a function of depth is obtained. Results for different pond configurations and also different top and bottom salt concentrations are presented and discussed. It is shown that as a result of sloping walls the density gradient in the top region assumes a smaller value than at the bottom of the solar ponds. If this effect is not considered in the design of solar ponds the density gradient in the top region may decrease well below the stability limit which can then result in an undesired growth of the top mixed layer.     

Electric power generation from solar pond using combined thermosyphon and thermoelectric modules

Salinity-gradient solar ponds can collect and store solar heat at temperatures up to 80 °C. As a result, these water bodies act as a renewable source of low grade heat which can be utilized for heating and power generation applications. In this paper, design and test result of the combined system of thermosyphon and thermoelectric modules (TTMs) for the generation of electricity from low grade thermal sources like solar pond is discussed. In solar ponds, temperature difference in the range 40-60 °C is available between the lower convective zone (LCZ) and the upper convective zone (UCZ) which can be applied across the hot and cold surfaces of the thermoelectric modules to make it work as a power generator. The designed system utilizes gravity assisted thermosyphon to transfer heat from the hot bottom to the cold top of the solar pond. Thermoelectric cells (TECs) are attached to the top end of the thermosyphon which lies in the UCZ thereby maintaining differential temperature across them. A laboratory scale model based on the proposed combination of thermosyphon and thermoelectric cells was fabricated and tested under the temperature differences that exist in the solar ponds. Result outcomes from the TTM prototype have indicated significant prospects of such system for power generation from low grade heat sources particularly for remote area power supply. A potential advantage of such a system is its ability to continue to provide useful power output at night time or on cloudy days because of the thermal storage capability of the solar pond.     

A parametric study of the small-scale solar pond (SSSP)

A parametric study of salt-gradient solar ponds of size less than 100 m² is presented. The study is based on a dynamic model of the pond which takes into account the variation of solar radiation, ambient temperature and the amount of heat extracted with time. Furthermore3 it considers a small-scale pond whose top is covered by a transparent cover, thus considerably reducing the thickness of the top convective zone. The parameters investigated include: pond dimensions, depths of the different layers, starting dates for pond operation and load application, pond insulation and the value of the thermal load.     

The self-generation mechanism of a laboratory scale saturated solar pond

Laboratory simulation systems of saturated solar ponds using potash alum solutions were operated; the insulated columns 100 cm deep were heated at the bottom by heat exchangers with varying energy output. Self-generation of layered structure from homogeneous solution was observed. The temperature, density and supersaturation gradients, and the disappearance of convective waves indicated the relative stability of the layered structure. Attaining supersaturation of the surface zone, massive crystallization, and buildup of density gradient, which follows the temperature gradient, are the necessary conditions for the self-generation and self-maintenance of the laboratory pond.     

A parametric study on solar ponds

A linear relation between the efficiency of solar ponds and factor $\text{θ}{}_{\mathrm{d}}\text{H}$ which is the temperature difference between the pond bottom and the ambient divided by the average insolation is presented. This relation, which has been developed based on a steady state analysis provides valuable information on the relative importance of the parameters involved in the operation of solar ponds. It is found that the existence and the thickness of the top convective zone has a profound negative effect on the yield of solar ponds. The optimum thickness of the density gradient layer under various conditions is also presented. The effect of ground losses is discussed, and it is shown that for the case of wet soil, especially if the level of the underground water is high, the pond should be thermally insulated. It is also shown that the steady state analysis can predict with good accuracy the yearly average response of solar ponds under transient conditions.