SYNOPSIS

TITLE:
Conversion Of Agriculture Pond into Solar Pond.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Energy is one of the factors necessary for everyone. We use energy in various forms over the
year, which causes a number of significant power sources in the World to decline by the
amount of time spent.
As a result, many countries start to realize and have already began to look for alternative
renewable energy to replace those that are vanishing. There is a type of renewable energy that
is always available, inexhaustible, and not adversely affecting the environment.
It is solar energy.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
As we can see that the need for renewable energy arises, meeting the demand for this scarcity
takes priority.
For this project, we intend to use the natural(solar) energy that is present throughout the year
to meet the requirements of the agricultural people.
As the natural energy is inexhaustible we can make use of it indefinitely and help overcome
the scarcity.
LITERATURE SURVEY :
A solar pond is a shallow body of water which acts as a solar collector with integral heat storage
for supplying thermal energy. Solar ponds are mainly two types: convective solar ponds and
non-convective solar ponds. The shallow solar pond and the deep saltless pond are the
examples of convective type. There are three types of non-convective solar ponds: salinity
gradient solar pond (SGSP), membrane solar pond and polymer gel layers solar pond. A SGSP
is a pool of water about 1-5 m deep, which contains dissolved salts to establish a stable density
gradient. There are three layers in a SGSP: upper convective zone (UCZ), lower convective zone
(LCZ) and salinity gradient non-convective zone (NCZ) in the middle. Incident solar energy is
collected and stored which may be delivered at temperature near 100C. The SGSP is the most
eco-friendly and environment-friendly among all the solar energy systems for electricity
generation, desalination, hot water applications in agriculture, green house heating, domestic
hot water production and space heating and cooling of buildings. Nevertheless, a SGSP is more
cost-effective since its collection cost per square meter is only one-fifth of that of a liquid flat
plate collector, and cost of 1KWh of electricity production by a SGSP is only one-fifth of that
produced by photovoltaic cells.
Study and research have been made for a low cost collection and storage system of solar
energy in various countries . Simultaneous collection and storage of solar energy is feasible in
a purposely built open water reservoir commonly called as solar pond. Solar pond is a
convenient and effective means which collects solar radiation and stores its thermal energy
for a relatively longer period of time. Remarkable research effort and publications started in
1960’s, mostly in Israel. Then going slowly effort on research speeded throughout the world
after the energy crisis in 1970’s. Research has been done on solar pond for about 50 years. It
is now used in Israel, USA, India and Australia. China has done remarkable progress in study
and application of solar pond technology to various applications. Some other countries like
Iran, Turkey and Libya are also actively engaged in research on solar ponds. Simulation has
been performed for heat and mass transfer in a SGSP by several researchers. Besides,
experimental research in SGSP is also there. The thermo-nuclear reaction in the sun originates
solar energy. Solar energy covers the entire electromagnetic wave spectrum. The surface
receives about 47% of the total energy reaching the earth. This amount only is the usable
energy. Solar energy can be utilized directly by two technologies – solar thermal and solar
photovoltaic. Solar thermal technology results in solar collectors, solar water heater, solar
passive space heating and cooling system, solar refrigeration and air-conditioning system, solar
cooker, solar furnace, solar greenhouse, solar dryer, solar distillation, and solar thermo-
mechanical systems. Solar thermomechanical system includes solar thermal water pump ,
solar vapour compression refrigeration and solar pond . Solar pond is a simple and low cost
solar energy system. Solar pond is now an attractive means which can be used for electric
power generation, desalination, salt production, grain drying, fruit and vegetable drying, fruit
and vegetable canning industry, aquaculture, dairy industry, green house heating, domestic
hot water production and space heating and cooling of buildings.
Working Principle: When solar radiation falls on the surface of the SGSP, most of it
penetrates and absorbed at the bottom of the pond. The temperature of the dense salt layer
thereby increases. If there were no salt, the bottom layer would become less dense than the
top layer and the buoyancy effect would cause this water rise up and thus the layers would
mix. Heat from the surface of the pond is then rapidly dissipated to the surroundings. But the
denser salt layer at the bottom of a SGSP prevents the heat to be transferred to the top layer
of fresh water by natural convection. Due to this the temperature of the bottom layer may rise
up to 95 C making the SGSP a unique energy trap with added advantage of built-in long-term
heat storage capacity.
Salt used: Sodium chloride (NaCl) is used normally. Magnesium chloride (MgCl2), sodium
nitrate (NaNO3), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), ammonium nitrate
(NH4NO3), fertilizer salts as urea (NH2CO.NH2) satisfy the stability criterion and thus
considered suitable for a solar pond.
Site selection: Since solar ponds are horizontal collectors, sites should be at low to moderate
northern latitudes, that is, latitudes between -40 to + 40 degree.
Soil character: Evaluation of geological soil character is necessary because the underline earth
should be free from stresses, strain and crack, which could cause differential thermal
expansions, resulting in earth movement if the structure is not homogeneous. As thermal
conductivity of soil increases greatly with moisture content the water table of the site must be
at least a few meters below the bottom of the pond to minimize the heat loss.

GAPS IN LITERATURE SURVEY:

1.Cleanliness of pond since transmittance can be reduced due to contaminants. Filtration can
remove contaminants. Construction of larger ponds can minimize the effect of contaminants.
2. Increase of UCZ caused by surface waves and evaporation. Use of floating nets and wind
barriers can reduce surface waves and mixing of UCZ.
3. Algae and bacterial growth. Algae growth can be controlled by adding bleaching powder.
Alternatively, algae growth can be minimized by adding 1.5 mg CuSO4 per liter of water. If the
water used is alkaline, CuSO4 will not dissolve.
The pond clarity can be maintained and the thermal efficiency of the solar pond can be
improved by using a combination of chemical and biological treatment methods. Hydrochloric
acid could be used initially as a shock treatment to kill all the algae and then introduction of
brine shrimps would control the growth of algal and maintain transparency. Cupricide is found
to be more effective than chlorine and is therefore recommended chemical for algae control
in solar ponds. Chlorine is more corrosive than Cupricide due to the acidic effect it has on the
pH.
4. Horizontal temperature gradient created by salt solution and removal. Injecting and
removing salt solutions very slowly can minimize horizontal temperature gradient .
5. Effect of Coal Cinder placed at the bottom Coal cinder has a good insulating property,
absorptivity, and low thermal diffusivity. Many researchers have studied experimentally as
well as theoretically, the effect of placing coal cinder at the bottom of SGSP.
They used three identical plastic tanks for the experiment, each having a base area of 0.4 m ×
0.25 m and a height of 0.3 m. First of these three tanks was left untreated (without any
treatment on the bottom), the second tank was painted black on the inside bottom and in the
third tank a thin layer of coal cinder was spread on the bottom. It was found that the highest
temperature of 65.5 degree C was achieved in the third tank which had a layer of coal cinder
at the bottom at about 13:00 hrs. It was 14 degree C and 12 degree C higher than that of the
untreated tank and the tank containing black plastic cover at the bottom respectively. The
experimental results showed a significant increase in temperature of LCZ of SGSP when coal
cinder was added in the bottom of the salt gradient solar pond. The black plastic covered
bottom also showed better performance than the traditional untreated bottom.
6. Effect of Porous Materials placed at the bottom, we studied the effect of porous material
spread at the bottom of the tanks. Conducted experiments in three small plastic tanks
simultaneously. The three sets included a) a tank without any treatment on the bottom, b) a
tank with the pebble-covered bottom and c) a tank with coal cinder in the bottom. The tanks
were compared for 20 days. The porosity of the zone made by the mixture of salt water and
coal cinder was 50% and that of zone made by the mixture of pebble and salt water was 32%.
It was observed that every morning the temperature of the LCZ was near to the atmospheric
temperature for all the cases. In the afternoon the temperature was found to be maximum for
the tank with coal cinder covered bottom.
7. Effect of Polyethene Film placed between NCZ and LCZ A polyethene film having a thickness
of 100 µm was placed between LCZ and NCZ. The film being impervious would prevent
diffusion between LCZ and NCZ and thus maintain a salinity gradient for a longer duration. It
was observed that the temperature of the LCZ i.e. heat storage zone was considerably higher
for the solar pond with polyethene film just above LCZ as compared with the case having no
separating polyethene film. The efficiency of the solar pond with polyethene film above LCZ
was found to be 69% while that for the conventional solar pond was about 52%. The rate of
rising of the temperature of LCZ, i.e. heat storage zone, was also considerably higher for the
solar pond with separating polyethene film as compared with the solar pond without any
polyethene film.
8. Effect of Covering the Top Surface of the Pond Evaporation is one of the significant
challenges in efficient working of solar ponds. A large part of the heat is lost to the
environment through evaporation. We studied that with floating hemispheres, floating discs,
and a continuous cover over a solar pond. It was found that when a floating disc covers the
solar pond with 88% surface, the evaporation rate decreased from 4.8 to 2.5 mm/day whereas
the temperature increased by 7 degree C, i.e. from 34 degree C to 43 degree C. The heat
content also increased by 41MJ, i.e. from 179 MJ to 220 MJ. Suppression of evaporation also
resulted in a reduction in the heat lost to the surroundings and increase in the heat content of
the LCZ, which improved the efficiency of the solar pond. This also resulted in a reduction in
heat loss from LCZ to NCZ and hence, a higher temperature was obtained in LCZ and NCZ.
Further, by suppressing the evaporation in the solar pond, it can be operated in locations
where the availability of water is less.
9. Effect of Reflective Covers Folding cover having a reflective surface on one side is an
effective way to reduce heat loss from solar pond surface during night time and capture a
greater amount of solar radiations during the daytime and thereby the efficiency of the solar
pond was improved. It was found that solar pond performance could be increased by about
25% by using reflective covers. The effect of the position of reflectors was observed by carrying
out the simulation in two different ways. Firstly, the simulation was done for temperature
variation in LCZ when RHS reflector was placed at a constant angle of 89 degree whereas LHS
reflector position was gradually altered from 30degree to 80degree with 10degree intervals
(angle is measured from the horizontal axis). The minimum and maximum solar pond
temperature were found when the combination of angles was 80degree –89degree and
30degree –89degree , respectively. In the second simulation, LHS reflector was fixed at an
angle of 300 and RHS reflector angle was altered from 20degree to 80degree with 10degree
intervals (angle is measured from the horizontal axis). The minimum and the maximum solar
pond temperature was found when the combination of angles was 30degree –20degree and
30degree –80deree , respectively. The average deviation in temperature of LCZ between the
solar pond with a cover during the night time only and the normal solar pond without any
cover was found to be 10degreeC whereas the average deviation in temperature between the
solar pond with a cover & reflector and the normal solar pond without any cover & reflector
was found to be about 10 degreeC. Thus the reflectors were found to play an important role
in the thermal performance of the solar pond.