Experimental study on a novel waterless solar collector

Asaad H. Sayer*, Wed Al-Graiti, Samia Mezhr Merdas, Hameed B. Mahood, Alasdair N. Campbell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study is an endeavour to introduce a novel approach to enhance the performance of solar collectors. The sun emits sufficient power of solar radiation to meet the demand of energy. Harvesting the renewable solar energy needs advanced technologies and requirements. Solar ponds including salinity gradient solar ponds (SGSPs) are common solar collectors. These ponds are one of the solar energy applications used for many industrial and domestic purposes. However, challenges of the conventional SGSPs such as evaporation, salt diffusion, temperature discrepancy, and layer mixing profoundly and significantly affected their expansion globally. A novel experimental solar collector configuration to overcome the challenges of the conventional solar ponds (solar collectors) is investigated, there is no water body and no salinity gradient to build; it is entirely a collector with no water body. The experimental unit was constructed in an arid area. It is basically a cylindrical tank with a total depth of 1.4 m with three zones or layers to store heat namely, paraffin wax layer (10 cm thickness). The paraffin layer was covered with a layer of coal with a thickness of 30 cm. On the top of coal layer, an air gap with a thickness of 80 cm was left. A clear plastic cover with a thickness of 0.2 cm was utilized to cover the constructed layers and making the air gap. The experimental unit was monitored, and temperature measurements were collected for the period of 17/7/2021-30/9/2021. The results demonstrated that temperature of the paraffin wax layer reached more than 48 °C in a short period and with a small day and night discrepancy (1 °C). Temperature of the paraffin layer remained constant around 43 °C even in night-time during the period of the study. Furthermore, the results showed that temperatures of coal layer and air gap reached the maximum at the daytime of 53 °C and 71 °C respectively with a clear discrepancy between day and night. The results of the present study are encouraging for more investigations in this new direction of solar collectors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1490-1501
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Thermal Engineering
Volume9
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2021, Yıldız Technical University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Keywords

  • Salinity Gradient Solar Ponds
  • Solar Collectors
  • Solar Energy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Building and Construction
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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