Effects of porous media on thermal and salt diffusion of solar pond
| Autor: | Yufeng Shi, Nan Li, Sun Wence, Fang Yin, Hong Liu, Lihua Shi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Chemistry
business.industry Mechanical Engineering Nanofluids in solar collectors Building and Construction Management Monitoring Policy and Law Thermal energy storage Solar pond General Energy Thermal conductivity Brine Thermal insulation Heat transfer Geotechnical engineering Composite material business Porous medium |
| Zdroj: | Applied Energy. 88:2445-2453 |
| ISSN: | 0306-2619 |
| Popis: | Laboratory and field experiments were carried out along with numerical simulations in this paper to study the effects of porous media on thermal and salt diffusion of the solar ponds. From our laboratory experiments simulating heat transfer inside a solar pond, it is shown that the addition of porous media to the bottom of a solar pond could help enhance its heat insulation effect. The experiment on salt diffusion indicates that the upward diffusion of the salt is slowed down when the porous media are added, which helps maintain the salt gradient. Our field experiments on two small-scaled solar ponds indicate that when porous media are added, the temperature in the lower convective zone (LCZ) of the solar pond is increased. It is also found that the increase in turbidity is repressed by porous media during the replenishment of the salt to the LCZ. Thermal diffusivities and conductivities of brine layers with porous media such as pebble and slag were also respectively measured in this paper based on the unsteady heat conducting principles of a semi-infinite body. These measured thermal properties were then used in our numerical simulations on the effect of porous media on thermal performance of a solar pond. Our simulation results show that brine layer with porous media plays more positive role in heat insulation effect when thermal conductivity of the ground is big. On the other hand, when the ground has a very small thermal conductivity, the performance of solar pond might be deteriorated and total heat storage quantity of solar pond might be reduced by brine layer with porous media. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Full Text from ScienceDirect