Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________ If you

can make steam, you can make electricity.

MAKING STEAM FROM SOLAR ENERGY for Small Steam Turbines and Engines Part 1

December 1, 2008 By Robert Saunders nwwpa@yahoo.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 1 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________

Quotables
Enter another Republican president, Rutherford B. Hayes. President Hayes was not an inventor, but we deduct two votes from his party under the Acts Unbecoming of a President clause instituted at the beginning of this column. Some might even say that Hayess offense, like Johnsons, was an impeachable one. What was his crime?

Upon seeing a demonstration of Alexander Graham Bells telephone in 1876, Hayes failed to realize its benefits at first. He remarked, Thats an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them? www.inventionmysteries.com/rosen.html

Preface Some readers will be encouraged after reading what follows, and others will be discouraged. That depends on the expectations of the reader for harnessing solar energy. After reading this, all readers should arrive at a similar level of understanding in their notions for harnessing the suns energy. The result should be that they have a better understanding and more confidence in efforts to convert solar energy to electricity. The interest of some readers might be limited to providing hot water, or more ambitiously, to produce steam to run a machine from solar energy, specifically by using a modified parabolic satellite dish. Others may be interested in using parabolic trough collectors, or even simple flat plates painted dull black. In any case the reader is encouraged to follow the process of calculating how much heat can be collected from the sun, and thus how much water can be heated to what temperature, and how much time it will take. This might be very useful information where rain-water can be collected, where solar energy is abundant, where electricity is not available, or is available only sporadically, or where the cost of electricity is high, and where heating water or generating electricity results in saving money or improving life.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 2 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
Part 1 of this paper addresses the solar collection and concentration functions of a system engaging a steam turbine or engine as illustrated in Fig 1.

Control Functions

Solar Collector Concentrator Functions

Steam Turbine / Engine Functions

Figure 1 System Functional Block Diagram

Solar Collectors. A solar collector accepts energy from the sun and generally stores it. A somewhat modest distinction is made between a solar collector and a solar concentrator where a collector in its simplest form can be a flat plate or a box painted dull black that heats up in the sun. The following website offers a compilation of definitions for solar collectors. www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+solar+collector&aq=f&oq= Solar Concentrators. A solar concentrator generally focuses the suns rays into a smaller area. A parabolic reflector, a magnifying glass or a Fresnel lens is a form of solar concentrator if it is held in such a position that the suns rays are focused at its focal point. Note: While the temperature at the focal point may be raised to a very high temperature, a concentrator does not amplify or multiply the total amount of energy collected. If a parabolic reflector such as a modified satellite dish lined with mirrors is pointed toward the sun, it collects the suns energy impinging on its surface and concentrates it by redirecting or focusing that energy at its focal point. In this paper the objective of a solar concentrator is to heat water to make steam.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 3 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
Power and Energy. Here are some ideas that need to be understood: A kilowatt (kW) is a measure of power (also written as kWe to denote electrical units). A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a measure of electrical energy. Power can be expressed as a rate of energy consumption per unit of time, e.g., kWh/h. A quantity of heat energy can be measured in terms of British Thermal Units (BTUs). A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit is called the specific heat of water and equals 1.0. Other materials have different specific heats unique to those materials.

There is more to these definitions, but this should be adequate for purposes of discussion. The effect of pressure will be considered later, but meanwhile pressure is assumed to be at standard atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psia (lbs/sq. in. abs) unless otherwise noted. A BTU can be envisioned as a quantity of heat that can be inserted into or extracted from a material, whether it is a solid, a liquid or a gas. It may be useful to view heat as a fluid that has no mass and doesnt take up space, but can be collected, contained and concentrated, and can only flow from a higher temperature to a lower temperature. All future energy estimates will be concerned with units of kilowatts (kW), kilowatthours (kWh), British Thermal Units (BTUs) and degrees Fahrenheit (deg F), unless otherwise noted. The following relations between kilowatts (1 kW = 1000 Watts) and BTUs should be committed to memory: 1 kWh = 3412 BTU (energy) Likewise: 1 kW = 3412 BTU/hr (power) Power available from the sun, as stated above, can be expressed in terms of BTUs per hour per square meter (btu/hr/m^2). The range of maximum available solar power is generally considered to be: 1 kW = 3412 BTU/hr/m^2 (low estimate) 1.3 kW = 4435.6 BTU/hr/m^2 (high estimate)

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 4 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
An apparent paradox. Assume a one square meter concentrator, such as a magnifying glass or Fresnel lens, is used to focus the suns rays on a surface of only 1/1000th (0.001) of a square meter. The intensity of the suns power density will increase from a nominal 3412 BTUs per square meter/hr to 3,412,000 BTUs per square meter/hr on that small surface. No doubt whatever that surface is made of, the material would probably ignite, melt or vaporize. However, the solar energy does not multiply, it is simply concentrated into a smaller space. If the target area were immersed in 3412 lbs of water, the temperature of the water would only increase at the rate of one degree per hour. The following is a practical example of how to calculate the amount of solar energy or heat needed to produce steam from a given quantity of water. Example 1. Heat required to raise water temperature to the boiling point. Given 5 gallons of cold well water, at 40 deg. F, and a 3-meter converted parabolic satellite dish collector to be used to raise the temperature of the water to the boiling point, how much heat is needed and how long will it take? Since a gallon of water weighs 8.3 lbs, multiply 5 gallons times 8.3 lbs/gal to obtain the total weight of the water. Total weight of water = 5 gal x 8.3 lbs / gal = 41.5 lbs Determine the heat required to raise 5 gallons of water from 40 deg F to the boiling point of 212 deg F: Temperature change = T2 T1 = 212 40 = 172 deg F. Therefore, Hw, the total heat required to heat the water is: Hw = 1 BTU/lb-deg x 41.5 lb x 172 deg = 7,138 BTU Estimate the time required to increase the temperature of the water to the boiling point: If the available solar power density is 1.0 kWh/hr/m^2, a solar collector can absorb 3412 BTU/hr/M^2. If a satellite collector has a diameter of 3 meters, the collecting area is approximately 7 square meters and it can collect Hh heat per hour: Hh = 3412 BTU/hr/M^2 x 7 M^2 = 23,884 BTU/hr Therefore, it will take Th hours, where: Th = Hw / Hh = 7,138 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 0.3 hrs.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 5 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
Heat required to convert water to steam: This might be counterintuitive, but when water is boiling in a closed container, the temperature of the steam will not increase as heat is added until all the water in the container has turned to steam. This will become important later in the discussion. Heat required to convert water from its boiling temperature to steam is called the Latent Heat of Vaporization and has a value of 970 BTU/lb for water at atmospheric pressure. What this means is for every pound of water, 970 BTUs are needed to convert the water to steam at 212 deg F. Heat of Vaporization for water = 970 BTU / lb To vaporize the 212 degree, 5 gal of water to steam, the following amount of heat is needed: Hv = 5 gal x 8.3 lb/gal x 970 BTU/lb = 40,255 BTU The time required to make 41.5 lbs of steam from 5 gals of water at the boiling point is: Tv = 40,255 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 1.69 hours Heat required to increase the temperature of steam. Heat required to increase the temperature of a pound of steam is less than that needed to increase the temperature of a pound of water. Assume the final desired temperature is 600 degrees F. Note. Quantitative analysis of the thermal process of increasing the temperature of steam is a complex problem. For purposes of this discussion, it is assumed that the specific heat of steam is 0.5 BTU per pound. This may be oversimplified but it will allow us to continue the discussion. Therefore, it is necessary to supply 0.5 BTU to increase the temperature of each lb of steam for each degree of temperature increase. Hs = 0.5 BTU/deg/lb x 41.5 lb x (600 212) deg. = 8,051 BTU Time required to raise the temperature of 41.5 lbs of steam to 600 degrees F. Ts = 8,051 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 0.34 hours Without explanation, it can be assumed that steam at 600 deg and at the system working pressure is superheated dry steam. This means there is no liquid water present in the steam.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 6 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
Making Steam. The problem is to determine how much steam can be generated from the sun by knowing how much heat is needed to convert water to superheated steam. The following example shows how to estimate the heat needed to convert 5 gallons of cold water to an equivalent weight of superheated steam at 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Total heat required to convert 5 gals of cold water to 41.5 lbs of steam at 600 deg F. The total heat, Ht, required to make 41.5 lb of steam at 600 degrees from 5 gallons of water starting at 40 deg F is the sum of the heat requirements calculated above where: Hw = 1 BTU/lb-deg x 41.5 lb x 172 deg = 7,138 BTU Hv = 5 gal x 8.3 lb/gal x 970 BTU/lb = 40,255 BTU Hs = 0.5 BTU/deg/lb x 41.5 lb x (600 212) deg. = 8,051 BTU Ht = Hw + Hv + Hs = 7,138 BTU + 40,255 BTU + 8,051 BTU = 55,444 BTU Total time required to convert 5 gals of cold water to 41.5 lbs of steam at 600 deg F. The total time, Ttot, required to make 41.5 lb of steam at 600 degrees from 5 gallons of water starting at 40 deg F is the sum of the times calculated above where: Th = 7,138 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 0.3 hrs. Tv = 40,255 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 1.69 hours Ts = 8,051 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 0.34 hours Ttot = Th + Tv + Ts = 0.3 hrs + 1.69 hrs + 0.34 hrs = 2.33 hrs Or: Ttot = Ht / Hh = 55,444 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 2.32 hrs Total heat required to convert 5 gals of hot water to 41.5 lbs of steam at 600 deg F. If water from a condenser at a temperature of 212 deg F is returned to the boiler, the heat needed to convert the water to steam at 600 deg F is the sum of the heat needed to vaporize the water, Hv, plus the heat needed to raise the temperature of the steam to 600 deg F, Hs. Hv = 5 gal x 8.3 lb/gal x 970 BTU/lb = 40,255 BTU Hs = 0.5 BTU/deg/lb x 41.5 lb x (600 212) deg. = 8,051 BTU Ht = Hv + Hs = 40,255 BTU + 8,051 BTU = 48,306 BTU

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2008 Robert Saunders Page 7 of 8 12/07/08

Solar Steam for Small Turbines and Engines Junk Yard Mechanics at its Best Series _____________________________________________________________
Total time required to convert 5 gals of hot water to 41.5 lbs of steam at 600 deg F. The total time, Ttot, required to make 41.5 lb of steam at 600 degrees from 5 gallons of heated water starting at 212 deg F is the sum of the times calculated above where: Tv = 40,255 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 1.69 hours Ts = 8,051 BTU / 23,884 BTU/hr = 0.34 hours Ttot = Tv + Ts = 1.69 hrs + 0.34 hrs = 2.03 hrs Continuous boiler output steam flow in terms of weight per unit of time: The output of the 5 gallon solar boiler described above is therefore: Ws = 41.5 lbs / 2.03 hr = 20.4 lbs/hr Ws = 0.34 lb/min Steam consumption calculations. At this point the reader is encouraged to download a steam consumption calculator from the following website: www.katmarsoftware.com/turbine.htm Using this calculator, if we know the input parameters and the desired turbine output, and we can estimate the efficiency of the turbine, we can then determine the amount of steam required by the system. What this calculator does is eliminate the need to refer to steam tables, a very tedious exercise.

Notes to the reader: 1. Part 2 discusses efficiency and how to use the Steam Consumption Calculator. 2. Comments from the reader regarding the material covered are welcome. 3. It would be appreciated if any errors or omissions are reported to the author.

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