AppliedEnerg) 7 (1980) 169 190

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

N. D. KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL and M. S. SODHA

('entre of Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India

SUMMARY

This paper presents an analysis of the perjbrmance o j a partitioned solar pond as a large-scale solar energy collection and long-term storage system Jor power production, as well as other applications. The absorption of solar radiation as it passes through the pond water is"considered and an evaluation is made of the resulting temperature and heat .fluxes at various levels" in the pond during its year-round operation by solving the Fourier heat conduction equation, with appropriate boundary conditions, in different zones of the pond. This evaluation, combined with energy balance considerations, enables an expression jbr the transient rate at which heat can be r e t r i e v e ~ i n order to keep the temperature of the convective zone constant--to be derived. Numerical cah'ulat ions, corresponding to solar heat flux and atmospheric air temperature measurements carried out in New Delhi during 1974, are made and the optimisation of the sizes oJ the non-convective and convective zones in the pond is investigated. Optimal heat retrieval ejficiencies ~[ 42 0/o, 3 3 5 /o, 29"5 0/o and26 5 '/~iare predicted at extraction temperatures of 40 C, 60C, 80 C and IO0 C, respectively. However, the load levelling improves as the non-convective zone is oversized. A phase difference of about 30 to 45 days is also noted between the incident solar flux and the heat retrieved when the size of the non-conveetive zone is near its optimum. The eJflciency of the solar-pond system Jor converting solar energy into mechanical work is also studied. This ~:[]iciency is found to increase with collection temperature and to tend to level offat colh'ction temperatures above 90C.

NOMENCLATURE

C C~

Specific heat of the water (J/kg C). Specific heat of the ground (J/kg C). 169

Applied Energy 0306-2619/80/0007-0169502"25 ~' Applied Science Publishers Lid. England, 1980
Printed in Great Britain

170 ho

N. D. KAUSHIK. P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA

Heat transfer coefficient between the top glass cover (partition 1) of the pond system and the ambient air (W/m 2 C). Heat transfer coefficient between the top glass cover (partition 1) and the hi non-convective water of the pond system (W/m 2 C). Heat transfer coefficient between the non-convective water and the glass h2 (partition 2) of the pond system (W/m z C). Heat transfer coefficient between the glass (partition 2) and the convective h3 water of the pond system (W/m 2 C). h~ Heat transfer coefficient between the convective water and the blackened bottom surface (ground zone) of the pond system (W/m 2 C). Thermal conductivity of the water (W/m C). K Thermal conductivity of the ground (W/m C). Depth of the non-convective zone (m). Ii Depth of the convective zone (m). 12 Absorption coefficient for thejth portion of the solar spectrum (m 1). ,,.j Q(t) Retrieved heat flux from the convective zone per unit area per unit time (W/m2). ~(t) Average value of retrieved heat flux, Q(t) (W/m2). Periodic component of retrieved heat flux, Q(t) (W/m2). Q(t) S(x, t) Solar insolation at a point specified by x at time, t (W/m2). S(x, t) Periodic component of S(x, t) (W/m2). Average value of solar intensity, S(x, t) (W/m2). S(x) Value of S (x = 0) (W/m2). Soo S,.(x) Amplitude of the mth harmonic of S(x, t) (W/m2). Value of S,, (x = 0) (W/m2). Som T(X, t) Temperature distribution in the pond system at the point specified by x at time, t (C). ~'(X, I) Periodic component of T(x, t) (C). T(x) Average value of the temperature, T(x, t) (C). Yr,(X) Amplitude of the ruth harmonic of T(x, t) (C). Ta(t) Ambient air temperature at time, t (C). Average ambient air temperature (C). A fr~(t) Periodic component of ambient air temperature, TA(t ) (C). Amplitude of the ruth harmonic of ambient air temperature, Ta(t ) (C). TA., Tw(t) Water temperature in the convective zone (C). Average water temperature in the convective zone (C). w Periodic component of water temperature in the convective zone (C). Amplitude of the mth harmonic of the water temperature in the convective Twin zone (C). Time co-ordinate (s). Position co-ordinate (vertically downward) (m).

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

171

Density of the non-convective water (kg/m3). Density of the ground (kg/m3). Heat capacity of the water per unit volume (J/m 3 C). Absorptance of the blackened surface. Fraction of solar radiation having absorption coefficient %.

INTRODUCTION

Salt gradient stabilised ponds, known as solar ponds, have been proposed as simple. relatively inexpensive solar collectors and long-term storage systems (Tabor,16 18 Weinberger, 21 Elata and Levin,5 Tabor and Matz,19 Eliseev et al.,V Jain 6 and Rabl and Nielsen ~2). Pond stability studies by earlier workers, as well as those by Leshuk e t a [ . 9 and Nielsen ~1 have shown that such ponds normally consist of three zones a convective zone at the surface (caused by wind-generated surface currents and waves), a non-convective gradient zone and a second convective zone at the bottom. The bottom convective zone owes its origin to the diurnal variation of solar energy absorbed by the pond floor. Such solar ponds have also been reported to be plagued with problems such as dirt falling into the pond and decreasing its transparency, mixing due to waves, evaporation causing too high a concentration at the top and the disturbance of the concentration gradient when heat is being extracted. RaN and Nielsen 12 suggested the installation of transparent partitions--one on the top (made, for example, of vinyl) and the other at the bottom of the non-convective zone. This arrangement considerably reduces the above-mentioned difficulties. Rabl and Nielsen 12 investigated the suitability of the partitioned solar pond for space heating applications at high latitudes. Their analysis assumed the solar insolation, as well as the ambient air temperature, to be periodic and only one harmonic term was considered. It is, however, impossible to represent solar intensity and ambient air temperatures with one harmonic only. Further, in their analysis, Rabl and Nielsen 12 considered the space heating requirement at an Arctic location and derived an expression for the temperature of the water in the solar pond. However, it is more useful, from the viewpoint of various solar pond applications, to consider the temperature of the heat extraction zone of the pond as constant and evaluate the heat flux that can be extracted from this pond. This, in fact, is the purpose of the present paper wherein we have developed a self-consistent periodic analysis of the heat transfer processes in a partitioned solar pond to permit an examination of its dynamic performance and its optimisation as a large-scale solar energy collection and long-term storage system. Six harmonics are found to be a good representation of the observed periodic variation of the atmospheric air temperature and solar intensity (Sodha et al.~3). Further, the Fourier equation of heat conduction has been solved explicitly taking into account the convective heat flux through the

172

N.D. KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA

surface insulation to the g r o u n d , the a m b i e n t air o r the artificial partitions. In earlier analyses this was d o n e rather a r b i t r a r i l y , if it was d o n e at all.

SOLAR POND MODEL

The configuration of the solar pond system analysed in the present paper is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1.

S(t) TA(t)

Partition No1

X=O

Partition No 2 ~
-BIackened~ ~---CONVECTIVE WATER Z - O - N E ~~-~

X=l1

Surface

X:ll'l 2 GROUN t
Fig. 1.

Schematic diagram of the partitioned solar pond system.

A B S O R P T I O N OF S O L A R R A D I A T I O N IN THE P O N D

Since the solar pond provides a long-term storage system, we need not consider the hourly and daily variations of the solar radiation and the atmospheric temperature. Six harmonics are found to provide a sufficiently good representation of the observed variation of the solar intensity and atmospheric air temperature over a year. Thus, the solar intensity and ambient air temperature can be represented as:
6

S(x,t) ~ S(x) + ) ' S , , ( x ) e i"''

rn=l

(1)

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

b

173

TAIt) ~ T,4 + ) ' Tam e/re'''

m 1

(2)

where ~ means real part of and oJ = 2~/(1 365.25 x 24 x 60 x 60}s 1. A small part of the radiation reaching the pond surface is reflected and the rest entering the surface is attenuated throughout its depth. Weinberger 21 has estimated the reflected component of the radiation at the pond surface to be about 4 5~; and hence negligible. The absorption of radiation as it passes through the pond water cannot be described by a single exponential because different wavelengths have widely different absorption coefficients. (Table 1 of Rabl and Nielsen,'2 adapted from Defant. 3) The short wavelength portion of the sun's spectrum penetrates several metres whereas the near infrared is absorbed within a few centimetres. Several workers (Chepurniy and Savage, 2 Bryant and Colbeck, 1 Rabl and Nielson 12 and Kooi 8) have represented this attenuation by different empirical expressions. We find that a superposition of five exponentials gives an excellent approximation of the radiation at the depth X (metres), In Fig. 2 a comparative study of these empirical
100 ~ \. ~

8O

c~
so

z n~

20-0 165 I 10 -4 I 16 3 I I0-2

17PICAL~OSITIONoF i~

INON Z0t~E ~\\\ CON~E

I 10 -I I~ I ~ 10 \'-I 100

PONODEPTHIXIrn~
Fig. 2. Observed and the empirical curves for the variation of the solar heat flux with pond depth. - - Observed (Defant3). 0-36-0-081nx (Bryant and Colbeckl). , - - , - - , 0.7239exp(-2.81x) (Savage14). - . . . . . . . . . . . ~ = 1/ijexp(-n/x) (Rabl and Nielsen12). - - D ~ D - - D ~ 1 # j e x p ( - n j x ) (present analysis).

174

N.D.

K A U S H I K , P. K. B A N S A L , M. S. S O D H A

expressions is made and the superiority of the expression proposed for the present analysis is made obvious. Thus"
5 6 5

S(x,t)=SooEllje-"*~+~ESo,,ll~e-",~e'm''
j=l or: m=l j=l

(3)

S(x,t)=[Soo+ S,,,,, .[E pie-'x] E e''"]

m=l j=l

(3(a))

where: ~1 =0"237 ff1=0"193 ,//3 = 0.167 J[/4 0-179 kl5 = 0"224

=

nI = 0.032m n2 = 0.450m n3 = 3.000 m n 4 = 35'000 m 1 n~ = 255.000 m

The angle of incidence of the solar radiation varies with the time of day, the day of the year and the location. Thus, the amount of solar radiation reaching a given pond depth is complicated because the reflective losses increase with increase in the angle of incidence and because the radiation has to travel a factor of l/cos0 further to penetrate to a given depth of the pond (where 0 = angle of refraction). An accurate accounting for the reflective losses and radiation attentuation with depth on a daily and monthly basis could be quite involved. We have, therefore, used an approximation, as suggested by Savage 14 and Rabl and Nielson, 12 in our calculations. In this approximation the use of an effective extinction coefficient has been suggested. The effective extinction coefficient is obtained by multiplying the real extinction coefficient (n j) by a constant factor depending upon the location of the pond. For our location its value is calculated to be 1.37.

HEAT C O N D U C T I O N EQUATION A N D THE B O U N D A R Y C O N D I T I O N S

Temperature and heat fluxes at various levels in the pond are governed by the Fourier heat conduction equation and the appropriate boundary conditions which are as follows. (a) Non-com'ective zone The heat conduction equation is:

?2T(x,t) _ pc~T(x,t) ~S(x,t) c~x2 ~t + ~x

(4)

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

175

The b o u n d a r y condition at x = 0 is: where: , = hi

K O T ( x , t) ~ = o

=h"[rA(t)-

T(x=O,

tl

(5)

'[; hill
+

(6)

and the thickness o f the partition is neglected. The b o u n d a r y condition at x = l 1 is:

. OT(x,t)]

-1~

?x

x~l, =- h 2 [ T ( x = l l ' t ) - Tw(t)]

(7)

where"

h2 (b) T h e g r o u n d z o n e The heat conduction equation:

(8)

K~

8 2 T ( x , t) 8~T(x, t) /~x2 - poCo 8t

(9)

The b o u n d a r y condition at x = l~ +

12 is:

- t~o-- ~

. S T ( x , t)[
(;X (x=/l +121

= h4[Tw(t ) - T ( x = I l + /2, t)] + ~ S ( x = 1~ + 12, t)

(10)

or:
- K S T (~ , t) ~_~:l, +l,~ -- h4[T'.,(t) x

T ( x = 11 + 12, t)]

(11)

where:
O~

T'.,(t) = T.,(t) + h4 S ( x = lx + / 2 , t)
The other b o u n d a r y condition is:
T ( x , t) is finite as x tends to infinity

(12(a))

(12(b))

176

S.D.

K A U S H I K , P. K. BANSAL, M. S. S O D H A

(c) Furthermore, owing to the periodic nature of solar intensity and ambient air temperature, as expressed in eqns (1) and (2) T w, T" and T(x, t) will also be periodic in nature and hence may be expressed as:
6

Tw(t) = Tw + ~
m=l 6

Tw,,, eim~'

(13)

T(~(t) = 1"(~+ 2
m=l

T"eU"~"

(13(a))

and:
6

T(x, t) = T(x) + 2
m=l

Tin(x) e ~m''

(13(b))

ENERGY B A L A N C E A N D RATE OF H E A T RETRIEVAL

The energy balance in the convective zone of the solar pond is given by" pwl2 dTw(t) dt
i aT(x.

t)l

x:t, + (1 -- cQS(x = 1, + 12,t )

+ S ( x = 11, t) - S ( x = 11 + 12, t) - h4[Tw(t ) - T(x = 1, + 12, 1)]

O(t)

(14)

and: OT(x, t) = ~S(x = l 1 + 12, t) + h4[Tw(t ) - T(x =- l 1 + 12, t)] ~?x I~:t~+121

-K

(15)
Combining eqns (14) and (15), the rate of heat retrieval from the convective zone may be given as:
.

8T(x, t)

Q(t)=-^

ax

.=,,,

pwl2

dTw(t) ? T ( x ' t ) x:t,+121 (It + K (?~---

(16)

+ S ( x = 11, t)

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

177

F o r constant t e m p e r a t u r e of the convective zone (i.e. T w = constant), eqn. (16) reduces to:
Q(t)

= -

.3T(x,t)
A T {~=t,,

K CT O~x~= ,, +,~} + S ( x = 1 1 , t )

(17)

The first and second terms on the right-hand side of eqn. (17) are evaluated by solving the heat conduction equation as given below.
SOLUTION OF HEAT CONDUCTION EQUATION

Non-convective zone (a) Time-independent solution." The time-independent part of the heat conduction
equation is: K d 2 7"(x) dS(x) dx 2 - dx (18)

and the corresponding b o u n d a r y conditions are: _Kd] " ~1~:o and :

-K d~"

= h', [/'A - '(x = o)]

(19)

dxlx:.

= hi[i"(x = l,) -

L]

(20)

The solution of eqn. (18) under the b o u n d a r y conditions of eqns (19) and (20) yields:
5

K dl"(x) -dx {x=l,)

2
j=l

'~ Jool~) e

"A _ KC 1

(21)

where"

[
z

,1

]
(23)

+ I

(b) Time-dependent solution. The time-dependent part of the heat conduction equation is: K #21"(x,t) pCCf'(x,t) C'Six, t) ~ . . . . + --{x ~ ?,t Cx

178

N. D. K A U S H I K , P. K. B A N S A L , M. S. S O D H A

where:

7"(x, t) =
rn= 1
and:
o 5

Tm( x ) e im''t

(23(a))

~(X,I) = ~
m=l

~Som~je-n,~ .e ........
j=l

(23(b))

The corresponding boundary conditions are:

A t x = 0: - K~?7"(x't~?x ~ ~=o = h'~[T - - ir(x = O, t)] A A t x = 11
- K

(24(a))

!!7"(x.t)
c?x

~:t,

= h;[7"(x = l 1, t) - T.,I

(24(b))

Equation (23) is a non-homogeneous differential equation and has been solved with the boundary conditions of eqns (24(a)) and (24(b)). This yields:
6 5

0 K ~ ( xx' t ) Ix:,, : - K ~ [ f l m ( A m e l ~ m l , - B m e - / ~ m l , ) - / / j K ( f lV m ~S"I~Jn} e-'J~ Z n~-)l

m=l j=l

eimO.~t

(25)
where/3~ = ( i m o J p C / K ) and the expressions for A m and
The g r o u n d z o n e
B m are

given in Appendix 1.

The solution of the heat conduction equation (eqn. (9)) with the boundary conditions of eqns (11) and (12(b)) yields:
6

=
- K 3~
'

Tw"e
= 1 + 1

(26)

+ t2~

where:
z

tim,

=(imopgCg~
\ ~

(26(a))

PARTITIONED

SOLAR

POND

COLLECTOR/STORAGE

SYSTEM

] 79

From eqn. (17), the time-independent component of

5 5

Q(t) is, therefore, given by:

(27)

Q_(t) = -

j=l

S,,,,~je ,,jr,+
j=l

Jo,,l~je

.,i

KC1

KC1

where C 1 is expressed by eqn. (22). Similarly, the time-dependent component of

. 3T(x,t) 8T(x,t)[

Q(t) is given by:

5

-+=11 +12)

. . . .
m = l ,j= 1

J on,~ j e

j,,,i

.......

(28)

The first and second terms on the right-hand side of eqn. (28) are expressed by eqns (25) and (26), respectively. Therefore, the total rate of heat retrieval is given by:

Q(t) = Q(t) + Q(t)

(28(a))

The efficiency of heat retrieval from the solar pond may be expressed as: t/=--

(~(t) so,,

x 100

(29)

The efficiency (qeff) of the solar pond system for the conversion of incident solar energy into mechanical work will be given by:
?]eft = 71 X ?]TM

(30)

where r/r M is the efficiency of the engine converting the thermal energy into mechanical energy. The efficiency of such an engine depends considerably on the nature of the working substance as well as on the mode of the operational cycle of the engine and hence, in practice, differs greatly for different engines. In our calculations we have, therefore, replaced r/r M by qc .... ,, the efficiency of an ideal engine known as a Carnot reversible engine. Thus:
( ~ e f f ) i d e a l ~--- /'1 X ?]C . . . . !

(31)

where: qc.... , is giVen by"

T 1 is the temperature of the source (K) and is taken to be the same as the collection temperature; T 2 is the temperature of the sink (K) and is taken to be the same as the ambient air temperature.

180

N. D. KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA NUMERICAL COMPUTATION

The harmonic analysis of the observed variations of the solar intensity and ambient air temperature (for New Delhi in 1974) was carried out and the Fourier coefficients of the solar intensity and the ambient air temperature are given in Tables 1 and 2,
TABLE 1
YEARLY ,FOURIER C O E F H C I E N T S FOR THE SOLAR INTENSITY D U R I N G 1 9 7 4 A T N E W I)ELHI, INDIA

0 218.7125

1 51.8469 170'6956

2 22.8799 219"316

3 8.574 74-584

4 8.8123 318"063

5 6-319 226"234

6 1-499 0

(W/m2)
am (in degrees)

Am

TABLE2
YEARLY F O U R I E R CDEFEICIENTS FOR THE AMBIENT AIR T E M P E R A T U R E D U R I N G [ 9 7 4 AT N E W DELHI, INDIA

B~ (C) ~ (in degrees)

25

9-195 195.980

2.987 237.323

0.462 83-623

0.378 25.334

0-284 169.8813

0.014 179.999

respectively. The amplitudes of the harmonics of the solar intensity and the ambient air temperatures are given by:
Som t = A me -- ta ~

(33)

and:
TA, m =

Bm e -i+

(34)

Twin is taken as zero because we are considering the constant temperature for the zone of heat retrieval. The values of Tw were varied from 40C to 100C at an interval of 10C. Subsequent numerical computations were carried out on an IBM 360 computer. A Fortran IV program was written to compute Q(t), Q(t) and the efficiency. Q(t) values were calculated at an interval of 15 days for one cycle of the year. To optimise the size of the solar pond, the values of 11 and l 2 were varied in the range from zero to 5.0 m at intervals of 0.25 m. The values of the convective heat transfer coefficients, ho, hl, h 2, h 3 and h4, w e r e calculated using the theory of free convection (McAdams, ~ Duffle and Beckman 4 and Savage14). The appropriate formulae are illustrated in Appendix 2. The values of the relevant parameters are as follows:

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

181

C = Co = ho = hI = h2 = h3 =

4190 J/kg C. 1840 J/kg C. 40.88 W / m 2 C. 78"927 W / m 2 C. 78"927 W / m 2 C. 78-927 W / m 2 C.

78"927 W / m 2 C. K = 0.569 W / m C. K. = 0-519 W / m C. y = 1000kg/m 3. Yo = 2050-561 kg/m 3. =0-9.

h4 =

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

To study the variation of retrieved heat flux with the depth of the non-convective zone and the collection temperature, the fortnightly values of the retrieved heat flux for the entire year 1974 were plotted and the annual curve was obtained. The variations in the annual curves with the size of the non-convective zone for collection temperatures of 50 , 70 and 90C are illustrated in Figs 3(a), (b) and (c), respectively. It is seen that larger non-convective zone depths are required for higher collection temperatures in order to obtain a positive retrieved heat flux t h r o u g h o u t the year. The depth o f the convective zone has little effect on the retrieved heat flux. This is illustrated by Figs 4(a), (b), (c) and (d). This is because we have assumed the temperature of the convective zone (i.e. the zone of heat retrieval) to be constant.

120 -

4.0m

80-

/ F--.om

3.0m

T./
0
DEC dAN

zo

FEB

MAR

APR

NAY

J U N E JULY .aUG MONTHS

5EP

OCT

NOV

DEC

(al Fig. 3. A n n u a l curves for the retrieved heat flux for different depths of the non-convective zone corresponding to collection temperatures of (a) 50C, (b) 70C, (c) 90C for constant convective zone depth (12 = 0.5m).

!82

N. D. KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA

100

% ///.
X
\ ~~'~

5.5m

3.0,,

--1.0m

B ,>., ~

oct~Ec

I ~ 1

0.25m

100 80 60

2O

I
APR

I
MAY

JUNE
(c)

OCT ,-

NOV

\DEC 0.25m

--~MONTHS '-20

-40

-6(]

-80

Fig. 3

contd.

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND C O L L E C T O R / S T O R A G E SYSTEM

183

120
E

2.0m 80

w
Q W

Z,C

\" IL
I I
FEB

I
M R A

I
APR M Y A

1
= M NH O T S

l
SEP

I
O T C

I
N V O

I
DC E

D C JAN E

JUNE JULY A G U

(a)

120 E

5.5m 5.Ore 4.0m

:E

C - ~ ~ /

LO

~
40

F -2~

l.0m

w
f

""~-~--.0.5 m

~
0
DEC JAN FEE] MAR APR MAY
MONTHS

-0.25m

I
SEP

I
OCT

I
NOV

I
DEC

JUNE JULY AUG

(b) Fig. 4. A n n u a l curves for retrieved heat ttux for different d e p t h s of the non-convective zone at a collection t e m p e r a t u r e of 50C and for the d e p t h of the convective zone as (a) 0, (b) 1.0m. (c) 2 . 0 m , (d) 2 . 5 m .

184

N. D. K A U S H I K ,

P. K. B A N S A L ,

M. S. S O D H A

120

//

//

~"

--

~'\"-

.--

4.Ore

0
DEC JAN

1
FEB

I
MAR

I
APR

A
MAY

I
JUNE ~-- MONTHS (c)

I
JULY

I
AUG

I
SEP

I
OCT

I
NOV DEC

E120

~:

80-

5.5m

0.5m

0 DEC

I JAN

I FEB

I MAR

I APR

I MAY ,-

I JUNE

I JULY

I AUG

I SEP

I OCT

I NOV

I DEC

MONTHS (d)

Fig. 4

contd.

P A R T I T I O N E D SOLAR P O N D C O L L E C T O R / S T O R A G E SYSTEM

185

Figure 5 examines the nature of the retrieved heat flux in a little more detail. In this figure Qmi., Q and Qmax of the annual curves for the retrieved heat flux are plotted as a function of the depth of the non-convective zone. The depth of the convective zone is kept constant and equal to 0.5 m. The maxima of the Q curves signify the optimal retrieval of heat and the maxima of the Qm~, curves correspond to the optimum of what is often called 'peak-clipping' or load-levelling. Figure 5 indicates that maximum 'peak-clipping' occurs when the pond is slightly oversized--i.e, above the optimal value. Such oversizing of the pond would eventually lead to a reduction in ]/~""i ,., \
100

%\

\
~-. . ~ ' \

i
I ~ TO

~'~-~

7s

II I /

II

/ ./

"<~ " -...~

90 C

50

'f
/.. . . I ~

5o9c
7oO~.

Q .

m/t)

.I-"
/

~i-cf l

i/.-.''~08 C

//
25

////~i/-

//// ////

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

//
/ -25

DEPTH OF NONCONVECTWE ZONE Ira]

Fig. 5. Variation of Q ...... Q a n d Q,.~. with the depth of the n o n - c o n v e c t i v e zone for a constant c o n v e c t i v e zone d e p t h (/2 = 0"5 m) at different collection temperatures. . . Q.... Q. .............. Qmin.

186

N.D.

KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA

the summer-winter yield ratio a desirable situation for several applications of the solar pond. Figure 6 shows the variation of the eMciency of retrieved heat flux (r/) with the depth of the non-convective zone for collection temperatures of 50 C, 60 C, 70 C, 80C, 90C and 100C, respectively. An optimal efficiency of 27 ~o at a collection temperature of 100C is an interesting result as far as a large-scale collector and long-term storage system is concerned. The variation of the optimal depth of the non-convective zone and the corresponding optimal efficiency for different collection temperatures are shown in Table 3.

38f

50C

35
60 C

32
70*C

E LLJ
29

80*C

90'C
IO0C

26

231

+'

0,0

1-0

2,0

3'0

Z.0

5,0

DEPTH OF NONCON~ECTIVE ZONE(m) Fig. 6. Variation of the collection eMciency with depth of the non-convective zone at different collection temperatures for a constant convective zone depth (l 2 = 0-5 m).

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM TABLE 3

187

S
N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Collection temperature
(Tw C) 40 50
60

Optimal depth q[ non-convective zone

(1~

(m))

Optimal efficiem'y ('l, '%)

42.2 37 33.7 31.25 29.5 27.75 26.5

70 80 90 100

0.25 0.75 1.00 1.25 1-50 1.75 2.25

Figure 7 illustrates that a phase difference of about 40 days occurs between the maxima of retrieved heat flux and the incident solar heat flux when the pond size is near its optimum. This phase difference was found to be rather insensitive to reasonable changes in all the other variables. At this stage it may be mentioned that Rabl and Nielsen t 2 found a phase difference of about 70 to 90 days between the solar pond water temperature and the ambient air temperature. In order to investigate the efficiency of the solar pond system for the conversion of the incident solar energy into mechanical work, we have evaluated (~/orf)i~eaLusing eqns (30) and (31) for various collection temperatures. Figure 8 illustrates the variation of (qe,)ide.~ with collection temperature. (r/e,)id, ~ tends to level off at temperatures about 90C.
300 r-

// ~"
200
_j /

//f"\\ \

//
/

incident solor energy\\

\

lo[1 -

I
DEC JAN

I
FEB

I
MAR

I
APR

I
MAY

I
JUN ,,~ MONTHS

I
SEP

I
OCT

I
NOV

I
DEC

JULY AUG

Fig. 7.

Annual curves for the incident solar energy and the retrieved energy at a collection temperature

o f 50C for a p o n d c h a r a c t e r i s e d by: d e p t h o f the n o n - c o n v e c t i v e z o n e (l~) = 1.5 m a n d d e p t h o f the c o n v e c t i v e z o n e (12) = 0.5 m.

1 88

N. D. KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA

8
-

"6
)-

5-0

_o u. l,.0
la. LU

I--LL

ta. tu

1).0

2.0

1.0

I 40

I 50

I 60

I 70

I 80

I 90

I 100

~--COLLECTION TEMPERATURE[Tw*C ]
Fig. 8. Variation of the percentage efficiency of the partitioned solar pond system for conversion of incident solar energy into mechanical energy with collection temperature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to Dr S. C. Kaushik and Mr J. K. Nayak for their cooperation and help during this work. They are also grateful to the Meteorological Department, New Delhi, for supplying the relevant data concerning solar intensities and ambient air temperatures for the year 1974.
REFERENCES 1. H. C. BRYANT and 1. COLBECK, A solar pond for London?, Solar Energy, 19 (1977), pp. 321 2. 2. N. CHEPURNIY and S. B. SAVAGE, An analytical and experimental investigation of a laboratory solar pond model, Technical Report T. 88, Brace Research Institute, McGill University, 1974. 3. A. DEFANT, Physical oceanography, Vol. 1, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1961, p. 53. 4. J. A. DUFFLEand W. A. BECKMAN, Solar energy thermalprocesses, Wiley, New York, 1974. 5. C. ELATA and O. LEvm, Hydraulics of the solar pond, Congr. Int. Assoc. Hydraulic Res., 11th, Leningrad, 1965. 6. G . C . JAIN, Heating of solar ponds, UNESCO Congr. on Sun in the Service of Mankind, Paris, 1973. 7. V. N. E L I S E E V , Yu. U. USMANOVand G. YA. UMAROV, On determining the efficiency of a salt solar pond, Geliotkhnika, 9(1)(1973), pp. 44-6. 8. C. F. Kool, The steady-state salt gradient solar pond, Solar Energy, 23(1) (1980), pp. 37~46. 9. J. P. LESHUK, O. L. STYRIS and O. K. HARLING, Solar pond stability experiments, Solar Energy, 21 (1978), pp. 237 44.

PARTITIONED SOLAR POND COLLECTOR/STORAGE SYSTEM

189

10. W. H. McADAMS, Heat Transmission, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1954. I 1. C. E. NIELSEN,Conditions for absolute stability of salt gradient solar ponds, Proc. ISES Cong. New Delhi, Vol. 1 (1978), pp. 1176--80. 12. A. RAnL and C. E. Nmt,SE~q, Solar ponds for space heating, Solar Energy, 17 (1975), pp. 1-12. 13. M. S. SODHA,G. N. TtWARI, S. C. KAUSHIK, A. SRIVASTAVAand M. A. S. MALIK, An inexpensive solar collector/storage system in the ground, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys., II, (1978), pp. 2375-81. 14. S. B. SAVAGE,Solarpond: Solar energy engineering (A. A. M. Sayigh (Ed.)), Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1977. 15. B. W. TLEIMATand E. D. HowE, Fundamentals of water desalination, Academic Press Inc., New York, 1971, pp. 431-64. 16. H. TABOR, Solar collector developments, Solar Energy, 3(3) (1959), pp. 8 9. 17. H. TABoR, Large area solar collectors (solar ponds) for power production, UNConf New Sources oJ Energy. Publication S/47, New York, 1961. 18. H. TAILOR, Solar ponds, Electron Power (1964), pp. 296-9. 19. H. TAILORand R. MA'rZ, The solar pond project, Solar Energy, 9(4) (1965), pp. 177-82. 20. H. TAILOR, Ponds as a heat source for low temperature multieffect distillation plants, Annals of ArM Zone, 15(3) (1976), pp. 155-71. 21. H. WEINBERGER,The physics of the solar pond, Solar Energy, 8(2) (1964), pp. 45 56. APPENDIX l 5

A., =
j=l

K f l ~ ~ n~) l~(~r'-1) + Kflm/t\h2 e-"/'-(~-'2 1 ~(nj + 1\ ~ . m J \ h l K)e-t" ' 1

1
+ ~J\h'2 + K~m) e,'' - (hi
and'
5

1 ~( 1,

1 "]e_~.,'

K[3~(flim -- n2)
.i = 1

1
1
+K~m

1 "](n! _ l)e_./, - (~,j

1 )( 1. 1 "]e,~d,

l
+Kflm /

(l

]1'I

l) ]}/
Kflm

190

N . D . KAUSHIK, P. K. BANSAL, M. S. SODHA APPENDIX 2

T h e c o m b i n e d heat transfer coefficient to the a t m o s p h e r e f r o m the pond surface m a y be written as:

h o = h, + h<
where the radiative heat transfer coefficient (h,) is given as:

(a)

h, = ega[T~ - ( T A - 12) 4]

(b)

( r . - rA)
and the convective heat transfer coefficient (h<) is given as: h< = 5.7 + 3.8V (c)

where: ~g = emissivity of the glass, a = S t e f a n - B o l t z m a n n constant, Tg = glass cover t e m p e r a t u r e (K), T A = ambient air t e m p e r a t u r e (K) and V = wind velocity (m/s). Because the heat transfer coefficients are only slowly varying functions of time, average values for temperatures Tg, T A and V have been used. The convective heat transfer coefficient, h i (i = l, 2, 3, 4), m a y be given as:

hiL = 0 54 [L3p~cgflfAt (CPlI'~ ]0.2,

where: L = characteristic linear dimension. For a rectangular pond, L = (length + breadth/2), g = acceleration due to gravity, K = thermal conductivity of the fluid at bulk temperature, p = density of the fluid, fl = coefficient of volumetric expansion of the fluid, p = viscosity of the fluid, Cp = specific heat of the fluid and At = t e m p e r a t u r e difference. (Suffix f d e n o t e s the fluid.)