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2011 - G3A - Leon PDF
2011 - G3A - Leon PDF
School of Engineering
University of Guelph
1
Usual practice > store excess energy from solar collector in a thermal
storage for night-time use. collector should be large to meet the
load & to charge the storage simultaneously.
In cloudy/rainy season, solar collectors are not effective to meet the
load without excessive use of aux. heater.
Most systems employ elec. heaters simple to control. But electricity
is very inefficient for heat generation, expensive, and may not
always be available.
A RE-based aux. heater would therefore be preferred to elec. heater.
Biomass energy, stored in the rock bed, appears to be an attractive
option in Canada large quantities of surplus biomass available.
This can also mitigate the effects of daytime fluctuations in solar radn.
Accordingly, the proposed air heating system was designed.
SCOPE OF STUDY
Biomass (agriresidues): Wood
waste, pellets,
briquettes
Solar
energy
Unglazed transpired
solar collector (UTC):
Modelling/EES,
design & performance
Control
system/
PLC
Thermal storage:
TRNSYS simulation, design & performance
System characterization: Integration, performance analysis; identify
optimum operating range, conditions (del. air temp. range, flow rate,
charging, extraction strategy) for12 load/weather combinations
Test system performance for a typical application (drying)
5
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Biomass gasifier:
Improves the reliability
of solar heater; utilizes
waste biomass, a
sustainable energy
source
Solar
collector/UTC:
Collects free solar
energy
Functions and
benefits
Thermal storage
(rockbed): Minimises
the effects of weather
fluctuations in daytime
and charging air temp.
fluctuation at night when biomass stove is
used.
Solar absorptivity,
collector pitch, and
approach velocity (or
airflow rate) have the
strongest effect on
collector HEE as well
as effy. The
effects of thermal
emissivity and porosity
on HEE
are not
significant.
q=67.5 m3/h-m2
65
q=90.0 m3/h-m2
q=45.0 m3/h-m2
q=112.5 m3/h-m2
60
q=135.0 m3/h-m2
55
50
45
40
35
30
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
System Layout
Fuel chamber
Gas burner
Secondary air holes
Reaction chamber
Producer gas outlet
Grate
(i) Briquettes
(ii) Wood chips
(iii) Coconut shells
Hot air
out
Ambient
air in
Flue gas
out
Flue gas
in
Automatic damper at
heat exchanger inlet
Damper actuator
SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Integrated
Air Heating
System
Max. charging air flow rate of 125 m3/h maintained to get the bed
fully charged in 7-8 hrs.
The flow rate was controlled within 0-125 m3/h by the automatic
damper, by sensing the outlet air temp. from the heat exchanger.
The damper received its signals from a PLC.
For this flow rate, during normal operation, an average charging air
temp. of 110C was obtained.
NIGHT-TIME
OPERATION
Extraction from
pebble bed
Hot air mixed
with ambient
air to obtain
required temp.
and flow rate
Manual control
of mixing ratio
m3/h
m3/h
Case I:
Normal sunny/partially cloudy day
Analysis indicates that load condition L55/80 offers the max. LF (92%).
1000
120
Ambient temp.
Solar radiation
56
Tto p
T3
T4
T6
T7
Tbo tt
T5
100
52
800
48
80
44
600
40
60
36
400
40
32
28
09:00
200
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
Time (hrs)
20
09:00
Weather condition
(Incident solar energy on
collector surface: 31.2 MJ)
11:00
13:00
15:00
17:00
19:00
21:00
23:00
01:00
03:00
05:00
07:00
Time
09:00
800
Temp (deg C)
80
600
60
400
40
200
Charging
Extractio n
20
09:00
120
0
11:00
13:00
15:00
17:00
19:00
21:00
23:00
01:00
03:00
05:00
07:00
09:00
Time
Tdc at 45-50C most of the time, with temp. fluctuating closely with radiation.
With overcast sky after 13:45 hrs, Tdc dropped significantly.
With supplement heat from rb, Tds is steady at 553C most of the daytime.
Charging air temp. was at 100C (avg) from 09:30-14:30 hrs; dropped to
<80C during 15:00-16:10 - fuel blockage.
300
Ed.s
Ex.s
Ex.pb
Ed.pb
240
180
120
60
0
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
Time (hrs)
17:00
100
80
60
40
20
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
Time (hrs)
Load fraction
15:00
16:00
22 kg of red chilli
1000
80
Td.s
Td.c1
Tamb
I(15)
800
60
600
40
400
20
200
0
09:00
0
11:00
13:00
15:00
17:00
19:00
21:00
23:00
01:00
Time
09:00
11:00
13:00
15:00
17:00
CONCLUSIONS
The solar-biomass hybrid AH system designed and developed,
combines a UTC, rockbed, and a biomass gasifier with HX.
Can supply hot air at 55C & 80 m3/h continuously during day & night, at
both sunny/partially cloudy and fully overcast/rainy weather conditions
when the solar collector will not be operated at all.
Daily Load Fraction of upto 92% could be achieved by the system.
Using only renewable solar & biomass energy for its operation
(negligible elec. consumption for blowers & control system), the AH
system appears to present itself as a reliable & economical alternative
to fossil fuel-fired air heaters generally used in GH heating.
Apart from helping to free the GH industry from unsustainable fossil
fuels, also provides crucial energy security needed in the longer-term.
Could also contribute to meeting the emission reduction obligations.
Questions?
mleon@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 exn 53874
Thank you.