Summer off-peak performance enhancement for rows of fixed solar thermal collectors using flat reflective surfaces

Collectors for building-scale solar thermal systems are generally fixed, so that energy capture is optimized over the course of a year, but is generally not optimal on any given day. In particular, abundant sunlight available during summer mornings and late afternoons is not captured. Moreover, ancillary systems (pumps, piping, etc.) are designed to operate at peak, meaning that they are underutilized for the majority of the time. In this study, reflective surfaces are used to reflect morning sunlight onto fixed collectors. The orientation of the reflectors is optimized using simulation. The simulation results are corroborated by experimental data from a 150 kW_t system located on the roof of the University of New Mexico’s Mechanical Engineering system in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The study also considers economic and performance benefits deriving from using reflectors in combination with fixed collectors. It is found that the simulation correctly predicts system performance, and that a reduction in the cost of solar cooling of approximately 20% can be obtained by installation of the mirrors, without adding any extra components to the system. Perhaps the most important outcome of this study is that performance of booster mirrors is extremely sensitive to local climatic conditions and to the constraints placed on the positioning and orientation of the booster reflectors, making it impossible to generalize findings for one particular location. Thus, computer simulation is essential for designing and optimizing thermal systems with booster reflectors.     

Experimental Investigation of Solar Chimney Power Plant

The paper investigated the performance of a solar chimney, by measuring the chimney air temperature and velocity. A short solar chimney prototype was designed and constructed at Botswana Technology Center. A wind turbine was installed to rotate a small DC generator. Temperatures and velocities were measured at different times of the day with thermocouples and hotwire anemometer, respectively. Irradiance was measured with pyranometer. A Delta-T data logger was used to store data at intervals of 30 s. Various graphs depicting the influence of irradiance on temperature, velocity and power have been plotted. Irradiance was found to affect the chimney temperature and subsequently affects chimney air velocity and power produced. Ambient air （wind） velocity was found to have influence on the performance of the solar chimney by increasing chimney air velocity.     

Influence of store dimensions and auxiliary volume configuration on the performance of medium-sized solar combisystems

To increase the fractional energy savings achieved with solar thermal combisystems the store volume may be increased. Installation of large stores in single-family houses is, however, often limited by space constraints. In this article the influence of the store dimensions, as well as internal and external auxiliary volume configurations, are investigated for large solar water stores by annual dynamic TRNSYS simulations. The results show that store sizes up to 4 m³ may be used in solar heating systems with 30 m² collector area. It is further shown that well-insulated stores are rather insensitive to the geometry. Stores deviating from the conventional dimensions still yield high fractional energy savings. Furthermore, the simulations show that the performance of an internal auxiliary volume configuration in most cases exceeds that of a solution with an external auxiliary unit. The practical limitations of very thin auxiliary volumes must, however, be further investigated.     

The reactor design for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

The heat transfer and flow characteristics of a photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation reactor are investigated numerically. Four different reactor designs are considered in this study. The solar irradiation is separated into short and long wavelength parts depending on the energy band gap of the photoelectrode used. While short wavelength part is used to generate electron and hole pairs, the long wavelength part is used to heat the system. Because the energy required for splitting water decreases as temperature is increased, heating the reactor by using the long wave energy increases the system efficiency. Thus, how the long wavelength energy is absorbed by the reactor is very important.The results show that more long wavelength energy kept inside the reactor can increase the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, η_SH. For Fe₂O₃ photoelectrode, careful reactor design can increase η_SH by 11.0%. For design D under 4000 W/m² irradiation and a quantum efficiency of 30%, η_SH is found to be 14.1% and the hydrogen volume production rate is 166 L/m² h for Fe₂O₃. Effects of several parameters on the PEC hydrogen reactor are also discussed.     

Ionic Liquids for Chloromethane/Isobutane Distillative Separation: Express Screening

The present study centres on room‐temperature ionic liquids (ILs) as entrainers in extractive distillation of chloromethane/isobutane mixtures. The binary system, chloromethane/isobutene, is an azeotropic system. In this study, IL entrainers are shown to be able to break the azeotrope and, thus, assure the separation in the whole range of chloromethane/isobutane ratios. ILs formed from different cations and anions are considered and their influence on chloromethane/isobutane separation is explored. Among the ILs studied, those containing the trifluoromethanesulfonate ([CF₃SO₃]^–) or tricyanomethanide ([C(CN)₃]^–) anion are demonstrated to exhibit an enhanced potential for chloromethane/isobutane separation compared to the corresponding ILs based on the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Tf₂N]^–) anion. Moreover, the ILs enclosing these anions are cheaper than those with the [Tf₂N]^– anion. Thus, the separation ability, solubility of chloromethane/isobutane mixtures, and costs of IL entrainers can be adjusted by the right choice of cations and anions.     

基于灰色理论的筛选方法：从石化企业低温余热中为低温多效蒸发器筛选出合适驱动热源

For dealing with high-salinity wastewater in the refinery, the high cost of driving heat source is the disadvantage of multi-effect distillation (MED) so it is of great importance to evaluate the performance of low-temperature heat source for conducting MED and select the optimal temperature for it. Both the MED and the low-temperature heat sources studied in this paper were from a typical refinery located in northwestern China. Besides, a new methodology to evaluate heat sources as the optimal candidate was proposed for MED based on the grey system theory. Five process units, which included 18 fluids of the refinery, were named as the evaluation projects. Three factors, which included safety effects, total costs and characteristics of low-temperature heat sources were determined as the evaluation indexes, the values of which were established through the analyses. The results obtained through the grey correlation analyses have revealed that the grey correlation degrees of these units were 0.661(AVDU), 0.732 (#1 FCCU), 0.618 (#2 FCCU), 0.535 (#1 DCU), and 0.572 (#2 DCU), respectively. Thus, the optimal heat source was provided from #1 FCCU. Through further analyses of the fluids from #1 FCCU, the grey correlation degrees of the fluids were 0.597 (oil and gas at top of tower), 0.714 (recycle oil and gas), and 0.512 (diesel), respectively. Thus, the optimal heat source was the oil and gas recycle stream.     

煤焦油色质模拟蒸馏的研究

本文研究了色质模拟蒸馏的方法 ,考察了诸如色谱柱子类型、固定液的性质和厚度、柱长等影响模拟蒸馏分析的设备因素 ,探讨了诸如升温速率、炉温、载气流速、基线设置等操作条件对模拟蒸馏结果的影响 ,确定了最佳操作条件 ,并获得煤焦油的色质模拟蒸馏曲线     

High-quality narrow gap (1.52 eV) a-Si:H with improved stability fabricated by excited inert gas treatment

Narrow band gap (1.5 eV) hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) were fabricated by a chemical annealing technique using noble gases (Ar, He, Ne). Although hydrogen content in the film was reduced to 1 atm% and band gap was decreased to 1.52 eV, high photoconductivity and large mobility–lifetime products were maintained and no marked changes in the short-range structure was found. Using these narrow band gap a-Si:H for photoactive layer in n-i-p solar cells, reasonable photovoltaic performances were obtained, i.e., open-circuit voltage of 0.71 V and fill factor of 57%. Also enhanced red response was observed with the 1.58 eV band gap i-layer solar cell prepared on textured substrate.     

Initiative for 100% rural electrification in developing countries: Case study of Senegal

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest access to electricity in the World. In Senegal, less than 25% of the rural population benefit of electricity service. Solar energy offers an important potential to Senegal with over 3000 h of sunlight a year. This is a real opportunity to generalize the access to electricity. But, the efforts to bridge the gap must be diversified and completed. We approach the problem of rural electrification with a different point of view. Grid expansion and centralized solutions may be adequate for villages with a population organized in high-density of habitations. Small size villages or those with highly dispersed population may need different propositions because of cost. These regions will not be the priority of electrification programs. Furthermore, this rural population is characterized by its low income and saving. Such a conjuncture suggests the opportunity of a service based fees model for access to electricity. On the basis of a fees-for-service model, individual standalone photovoltaic systems may be a more appropriate solution to cover the priority needs of lighting and mobile phones battery charge for telecommunication. We present a pilot project in a village of Senegal to support the model and demonstrate its feasibility.