沙漠研究 19-1, 13- 16 (2009 )Journal of Arid Land Studies“Desert Technology IX ”
Refereed Paper

Increasing Energy Efficiency of Inorganic Salt Gradient Solar Pond in Thar
Desert by Inclusion of Complementary Support System
Rajan JAYAPRAKASH 1 , Karuthiappan PERUMAL1, Sanjay KUMAR2,*, Syed MUMTAZUDDIN3
Abstract: Complementary Solar Pond System (CSP) combines the advantages of high storage
efficiency of the salt gradient solar pond (SGSP) and maximum collection efficiency of shallow
solar pond (SSP). The system was analyzed by a computer simulation model of thermal processesinvolved. SSP (1.92×1×0.3 m3) and SGSP (2.41×2.41×0.9m3) combination was used forexperimental investigation and validation of model. In this paper, the thermal performance of theCSP system is presented under constant flow rate but with variation in quantity of salt flux at theLCZ. Results show that the system achieves high storage efficiency of 5.268% in and can be
exploited commercially.
Keywords: Complementary solar pond (CSP), Efficiency, Energy, Solar thermal, Storage

1. Introduction
Solar pond is an important concept for utilization of solar energy during night or cloudy days. In theGreat Indian Desert, temperature dips to 2-3 ˚C during winters. Energy from these ponds can be well
utilized for space heating, aquaculture, distillation, drying and electricity production. The stability andother dynamical processes of the solar pond was comprehensively discussed by Xu (1990) while its
transient behavior in a closed loop has been investigated and analyzed by Alagao (1996). It explains thebehavior of solar pond with a complete salt recycling system using natural evaporation of brine in anevaporation pond. Later, Subhakar and Srinivasamurthy (1994) conducted parametric studies on saturated
solar pond. Other works worth mentioning are those of Schaefer and Lowrey (1993) and Tsilingris (1988).
A computer mode of the thermal performance of a floating honey comb pond cover was developed and thecost of building honey comb solar ponds and salt gradient ponds was compared by Schaefer et al. (1993).
2. Materials and Methods
CSP is an integrated design combining the advantages of the salt gradient solar pond and shallow solarpond. The salt gradient solar pond has maximum collection efficiency. The shallow solar pond has amaximum collection. The solar energy collected by shallow solar pond and transferred to the adjacent salt
gradient solar pond in the evening for storage. This storage thermal energy is transferred by using heatexchanger system. The energy extracted from shallow solar pond during day time is directly used afterthermal saturation of SGSP. The energy from the salt gradient solar pond is extracted during night time.
At first, a simulation model of the CSP was developed using finite difference method to solve energybalance equations and compared with experimental investigation. The system is shown in Fig. 1.
The energy stored in the SSP is transferred to the LCZ of the SGSP. At the same time, the SGSP alsogains a small amount of energy from solar radiation. This creates small increase in temperature at SGSP,
which is the initial temperature of the CSP model. In CSP, energy from the SSP is supplied to the SGSP ateach state of stability of the temperature profile. The physical model of CSP consists of three zones, Upper
Convective Zone (UCZ), Lower Convective Zone (LCZ) and Non convective Zone (NCZ) with total depthof the pond D. The thickness of the upper convective zone is XUCZ and the thickness of the lower
convective zone is XLCZ. Non convective zone (NCZ) is divided into N grids of thickness Δx and total
thickness of XNCZ. The bottom of the pond is well insulated and it acts as an isothermal layer of thickness
xg. x = 0 indicates the surface of the pond, x = x1 separating the UCZ from the NCZ, x = x2 separating theNCZ from the LCZ and x = D separating the LCZ and Ground.
1Dept. of Physics, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, College of Arts and Sc., Coimbatore, T.N., India
Centre for Appropriate Technonology, Chandragupta Institute of Management, Patna – 800001 & Centre for
Renewable Energy & Environmental Research, PO Box - 5, Muzaffarpur - 842001, Bihar, India; Ph. - +919431239820, E-mail: creer@sancharnet.in2

3

University Department of Chemistry, B.R.Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur-842001, Bihar, India

14Digital
Thermometer

Glass

Tin

TC
UCZ

Suppresser

PumpTC
Regulator

Tini

NCZ
LCZ

Water

SSP1
Insulation

SGSP 1
InsulationFig. 1. Schematic diagram of the proposed Complementary Solar Pond (CSP).

The pond performance is analyzed by one dimensional model. All sides and bottom of the pond are
well insulated. There is no shadow effect at the bottom due to side walls. The transmittance of the salt
solution is assumed to be the same that of water. Energy balance is carried out per unit area of the pond.
The increase in temperature due to variation of mass (concentration) is minimum during the period ofsupply of energy. So it is assumed as a constant. The heat transfer factor of the complementary solar
ponds depends upon the effectiveness of the exchanger. The thermal expansion of the solution and heatsink term show the very small variation in the rise in temperature so it is neglected in the energy balance
equation. Even though salt concentration is varying, pond thermal properties such as K, ρ and Cp are
considered as constant. The energy is gained at the LCZ uniform throughout the entire zone. The initial
temperature of all the systems is considered as equal to ambient temperature (30 ˚C).
3. Thermal Energy Balance of the Complementary Solar PondAt first, a thermal model of the CSP system was developed to predict its performance under various
climatic conditions. The energy balance equation of different parts of the system was set up and solved.
Energy balance for NCZ for complementary solar pond may be written as,ρ Cp∂T∂ 2T=K 2∂t∂x(1)

The boundary conditions are,T x = X 1 = T UCZ ; T x = X 2 = T LCZ
An energy balance equation of UCZ and LCZ for Complementary solar pond can be written as,ρ C p X UCZ∂T∂T=K− U TSGSP∂t∂x(2)∂T∂T∂T= −Kx= x 2 + K g
x = D +Qtrans − Q pipe∂t∂t∂x
An energy balance over the LCZ with heat removal yields,

ρC p xLCZ

ρC p x LCZU top∂T∂T∂Tx = x2 + K g= −K
x = D −Qext
∂x
∂x
∂t

⎡
⎤
11
=⎢+
⎥
hc + hr , c 2 − amb ⎥⎦⎢⎣ hc1 − c 2 + hr , c1 − c 2−1

Thermal losses through the bottom and the sides of the SSP are given by,⎡ (Tw − Tg )⎤⎡ (Tw − Tg )⎤Ug = Kg ⎢⎥; U s = K s ⎢⎥⎢⎣ x g ⎥⎦⎣ xs ⎦

(3)

(4)
(5)

(6)

Overall loss coefficient (USSP) is the sum of the top (Utop), bottom (Ug) and side loss coefficients (Us).
Thermal loss over the top per unit area is given by,

Qssp = U top + U g + U s(7)15where, Tg = 0.83 (Tamb + 3.7). The measured outlet temperature of shallow solar pond and LCZ
temperature with the effectiveness of the heat exchanger provides the outlet temperature of the heatexchanger in the CSP system. The outlet temperature (Tout, trans) during heat transfer is given by,⎡⎛⎞⎤⎢1 − exp⎜ U he Atube ⎟⎥.
⎜⎜⎟⎥⎢C ⎟⎠⎦⎝⎣

Tout,trans = Tout,SSP - E(Tout,SSP - T LCZ) and E =(8)The overall loss of the CSP system (UCSP) is predicted by following equation,

QCSP = QSSP + QSGSP + Q pipe
2(9)
-1

-1

where, Atube - area (m ), Cp - specific heat (J Kg ˚C ), D- depth (m), x – thickness(m), Δx- thickness of& - mass flow rate (lit s-1), t - time (s), h - heat transfer coefficient (Wm-2 ˚C), T - temperaturegrids, m(˚C), K - thermal conductivity (Wm-1 ˚C-1 ), Kg- thermal conductivity of ground (Wm-1 ˚C-1 ), QTSGSP quantity of heat flux (Wm-2 ), Qpipe-amount of heat loss in pipe, Q trans- the amount of heat transferred,Qextamount of heat extracted (Wm-2 ), x1 - boundary between UCZ and LCZ, x2 - boundary between NCZ andLCZ, QSGSP (QLSSP) - overall loss coefficient (Wm-2) in SSP (SGSP), QTSGSP - loss coefficient at top of theSGSP, hc1-c2 - heat transfer coefficient from cover 2 to cover 1 (Wm-2 ˚C-1 ), hrc1-c2 - the radiative heattransfer coefficient from cover 2 to cover 1(Wm-2 ˚C-1 ), hrc2-amb - the radiative heat transfer coefficientfrom cover 2 to ambient (Wm-1 ˚C-1), Tw- water temperature (˚C), Tg- glass temperature (˚C), xgxs thickness of the bottom of the insulation side, Ks - thermal conductivity, E - effictiveness, Tout, ssp- the outlet
temperature of the shallow solar pond (˚C), TLCZ - temperature of the lower convective zone (˚C), Uhe - theoverall loss factor of the heat exchanger (Wm-2), C - solution concentration (weight percentage), Atube - areaof the tube (m2), υ - Kinematics viscosity, ρ - density.
4. Results and Discussion
The overall efficiency of the system mainly depends Table 1. Variation of energy transfer rate andoutlet temperature with flow rateon two systems. They are the performance of the SSP andEnergy
EnergyOutlet Temperature
the performance of SGSP. The overall efficiency is theFlow rate
Transfer Extracted
during heat-1(lit s )product of the efficiency of the salt gradient solar pond(kW)(kW)
extraction (?C)
0.1
5.5
9.4
58.2
and the efficiency of the shallow solar pond (ηCSP = ηSSP X
0.25
7.2
12.547
ηSGSP). The overall efficiency (ηCSP) of CSP, outlet
0.5
7.9
13.6
41.6
temperature, heat storage duration etc. of the proposedcomplementary solarpond (CSP) were numerically Table 2. Parameters and overall Thermal
predicted by solving energy balance equations in onePerformance of Experimental CSP
dimensional physical model. Energy balance equations
Parameters
CSP
Area of SGSP
5.712 m2
are solved with the boundary conditions, T⏐x=x1 = TUCZ
Area of SSP
1.92 m2and T⏐x=x2 = TLCZ. Using initial conditions, T⏐ini,CSP = T
Glass, LDPE (Black),⏐min,SGSP with different mass flow rates, energy transfer
Bricks, Black stone,
Saw dust, Cement
Materials
rates are given in Table 1.
Pond site
GroundVariation of hourly mean radiation was considered
Maximum Temperature
59.6 oC
for the mathematical model and an initial temperature ofStorage Capacity
88.46%
the SSP (Tini,SSP) was considered to be at 30 ˚C. The
Efficiency
5.268% - 6.026 %-2overall loss coefficient UL is 10.0 Wm for shallow solar
Overall loss
41.87 wm-2
pond and 25.7 Wm-2 for salt gradient solar pond. These
Energy gained from SSP
14466.82 kJ
losses are predicted with respect to temperature. The
Quantity of salt flux
1.1596 x 10-6kg m-2s
EnergydrainedfromSSP
31.78%-51.61%
depth and flow rate are do not change the overall loss
coefficient. The maximum temperature rise in SSP wascalculated to be 80 ˚C. Fig. 2 shows the temperature profile of CSP of depth 1.2 m with the flow rate0.100 (lit s-1). The time elapsed to reach maximum temperature 67 ˚C is 5895 min. The calculated
quantity of energy supplied at each flow rates is given in the Table 1. Fig. 3 shows the temperature profileat pond depth of 0.9m. However, the maximum rise in temperature was observed at 67 ˚C. The thermalstability is reached after the energy is supplied thrice. In thermal stability, the amount of energy istransferred from shallow solar pond to salt gradient solar pond until the temperature at the UCZ and SSP16Temperature(odegC)CTEMPERATURE(80I (1410 min)70

II ((2940 min)60

III (4335 min)50403020
10000.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

DEPTH(m)Depth(m)Fig. 2. Temperature Profile in CSP Systemwith water depth.
80

Temperature(deg.C)
o C)
Temperature(o(C)
Temperatureare equal. The total time elapsed during these supply is4335 min. Figure 4 shows the salt concentration profileof the SGSP system on all the supplies of energy andattained maximum temperature. A constant flow rate of0.100 (lit s-1) supplied energy of 5.364 kW andtemperature rose to 72.5˚C due to supply of energy.
The temperature decreased until the next daymorning and reached the temperature of 61 ˚C. The time
taken to reach this temperature was 1545 min. The time
taken for the second supply was 1460 min and for III
supply was 1460 min and reached the temperature 66.5
˚C. So the total time taken to reach this stability was4465min. The overall loss was predicted numerically bycomputer simulation in CSP system as 41.87 W/m2 for 5
cm of water depth in SSP. The overall efficiency of theCSP system is 5.268%. Table 2 shows the thermal
parameters which used and predicted in experimental
performance study of CSP.

7060
504030V(5895)minIII(4515)min
II(3015)min
I(1500)min

201000 .40 .2

00 .60 .8

1Depth(m)Depth(m)Depth(m)1 .2

Fig. 3. Temperature profile at pond depth of0.9 m.
20Concentration
CONCENTRATION (%)(%)

5. Conclusion
In this paper, a new concept of Complementary Solar
Pond System (CSP) has been introduced. It combines theadvantages of high storage efficiency of the salt gradientsolar pond (SGSP) and maximum collection efficiency ofshallow solar pond (SSP). The rise in temperature of salt
gradient solar pond in CSP system was increased bytransferring the heat energy gained from SSP. Computer
simulation model was also developed for optimization ofprocess under various boundary conditions. The greatest
advantage of the system is reduction in time taken toreach maximum warming period of the LCZ and quick
stability.

1816

1st Day

146th Day

12108642000.2

0.4
0.6
DEPTH (m)0.81Depth (m)Fig. 4. Salt Concentration pofile of the CSP

Acknowledgement
for attaining Maximum temperature.
Authors are greatful to Nalanda Open University,Bihal for partial financial for support in carrying out the research work.
References
Alagao F.B. (1996): Simulation of the transient behavior of a closed cycle salt gradient solar pond. Solar Energy, 56: 245-260.
Schaefer R., Lowrey P. (1993): The optimum design of honey comb solar ponds and a comparison with salt gradient ponds. SolarEnergy, 48: 69-78.
Subhakar D., Srinivasamurthy S. (1994): Saturated solar ponds 3. Experimental verification. Solar Energy, 53: 469-472.
Subhakar D., Srinivasamurthy S. (1993): Saturated solar ponds 1. Simulation procedure. Solar Energy, 50: 275-282.
Tisilingiris P.T. (1988): Computer simulation modeling, Thermal Performance and Design optimization for solar ponds in Greece.
Solar and wind Technology, 5: 645-652.
Xu H. (1990): Laboratory studies on dynamical process in salinity gradient solar pond, Ph.D. Thesis, Ohio state Univ., USA.