DR.

BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, LONERE

P. S. G. V. P. MANDAL’S
D. N. PATEL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
SHAHADA, DIST- NANDURBAR

A
SEMINAR
ON

“SOLAR POND”

SUBMITTED BY

Mrs. SHRUTIKA RAJU PATIL

(1951641293022)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. V. S. KALE
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
YEAR 2022-23
 P. S. G. V. P. MANDAL’S
D. N. PATEL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
SHAHADA, DIST. NANDURBAR

This is to certify that

Mrs. SHRUTIKA RAJU PATIL

(1951641293022)
Have been satisfactorily completed
Seminar entitled on
“SOLAR POND”

As a part of syllabus of

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR TECHNOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY, LONERE

For the partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Technology in

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
In the Academic Year
2022-23

SEMINAR GUIDE H.O.D.

PROF. V. S. KALE PROF. Smt. K.A. PATEL

PRINCIPAL
EXTERNAL PROF. Dr. N. J. PATIL
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a privilege for us to have been associated with Prof. V. S. KALE sir, our guide,
during this Seminar work. We are thankful to him, for his constant inspiration and valuable
guidance, carefully reading and editing our work and always boosting our confidence to
complete work.

We express our gratitude to Prof. Dr. N. J. Patil, Principal and Prof. Smt. K. A. Patel,
Head Department of Electrical Engineering, for their constant encouragement, co-operation,
valuable guidance, and support. We express our sincere thanks to our academic and class
coordinators Prof. Pankaj R. Patil and all the faculty members of the Electrical Department
for their unfailing inspiration.

We take this opportunity to thank all our classmates for their company during the course
work and for the useful discussions, we had with them.

We would be failing in our duties if we do not make a mention of our family members
including our parents and our siblings for providing moral support, without which this work
would not have been completed.

This kind of work cannot be finished without any others help, even some of them have
not aware of their contribution and importance in producing this report. It is a great pleasure
for us to take this opportunity to express our gratefulness to all.

NAME: - SHRUTIKA RAJU PATIL

PRN NO: -1951641293022

ROLL NO: -20

ii
 INDEX

Chapter Name of Topic Page No

Certificate i

Acknowledgement ii

List of Figures v

List of Tables vi

Abstract vii

Chapter-1 Introduction 1

1.1 Overview 1

1.2 Objective 2

Chapter-2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Solar Energy 3

2.2 Solar Pond 4

2.3 Working Principle of Solar Pond 5

2.4 Types of Solar Ponds 7

2.4.1 Non convicting Pond 7

2.4.2 Convicting Pond 8

2.5 Application of Solar Pond 8

2.5.1 Greenhouse Heating 9

2.5.2 Process Heat in Dairy Industries 9

2.5.3 Desalination 9

2.5.4 Power Production 10

2.5.5 Hot Water Applications in Agriculture 10

2.5.6 Economics of Solar Ponds for Heating 10

iii
 2.5.7 Industries with Potential Applications for Solar 11

Ponds 11

2.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Pond 11

2.7 Theoretical Analysis of the LCZ Temperature 12

2.8 Factors Affecting Pond Performance 13

2.8.1 Water Turbidity and Bottom Reflectivity 13

2.8.2 Wall Shading Effect 13

2.8.3 Effect of Energy Extraction 14

Chapter-3 Design consideration and Analysis 15

3.1 Transparent Cover Design 15

3.1.1 Size of Cover Frame 15

3.2 Selection of Materials 16

3.2.1 Glazing Materials 16

3.2.2 Absorber Surface Coating 17

3.2.3 Insulating Material 17

Chapter-4 Construction and Experimental Procedure 19

4.1 Construction of Solar Pond 19

4.2 Method of Making Salinity Gradient 19

4.3 Maintenance and Working Procedure 19

4.4 Experimental Data 20

Chapter-5 Result and Discussion 29

5.1 Result of the Work 29

5.2 Discussion 30

Chapter-6 Conclusion 32

References 33

iv
 List of Figures

No Name of Figures Page No

2.1 Schematic Diagram of a typical Salt Gradient Solar Pond 5

2.2 Schematic Diagram of the UCZ Layer 6

2.3 Schematic Diagram of the NCZ Layer 6

2.4 Schematic Diagram of the LCZ Layer 6

2.5 Effect of Shading Area 14

3.1 Experimental Setup of the Solar Pond System 16

5.1 Effect of Varying Salinity in the Pond on Lower 29

Convective Zone Temperature

5.2 Variation of Solar Radiation Intensity with Time of Day 29

5.3 Variation of Temperature with Time at Lower Convective Zone 30
5.4 Variation of Temperature with Time at Upper Convective Zone 30

v
 List of Table

No Name of Table Page No

4.1 Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 20

70 kg Salt

4.2 Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 22

80 kg Salt

4.3 Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 25

90 kg Salt

4.4 Density of Water after Mixing Salt 28

vi
 ABSTRACT

Solar pond is an artificially constructed pond in which significant temperature rise

occurs in the lower region by preventing convection. To prevent convection, salt water is
used in the pond. Those ponds are called ‘‘salt gradient solar pond’’. In the last 15 years, many
salt gradient solar ponds varying in size from a few hundred to a few thousand square meters
of surface area have been built in a number of countries. Now- a-days, mini solar ponds are
also being constructed for various thermal applications. In this project work, a solar pond
system was constructed with better insulation, transparent cover on the upper surface and
improved absorber coating. The temperatures within the pond was measured at various levels
and compared with other works.

In this work, performance of the solar pond was observed with varying salinity. It is
seen that maximum temperature developed in the storage zone increases with increasing
salinity. The pond also works as storage. Because with varying solar intensity temperature
developed in the storage zone reaches to maximum at the end of the day. Thus, the solar pond
also works with diffuse radiation.

The present system shows better output than the previous work. Maximum temperature
developed in the storage zone is higher than that developed in the previous work. This shows
better heat transfer characteristics of the system.

vii
 Chapter-1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview

As technology develops, the energy needs of communities increases. This energy need
is provided from different energy sources known as traditional energy sources, such as coal,
fuel oils, geothermal energy, hydraulic energy, and nuclear energy. These energy sources have
some disadvantages. The first three of these energy sources have limited life time. Hydraulic
energy is an insufficient energy source and nuclear energy has some unsolved environmental
and safety problems. Therefore, the researchers have condensed their studies on new alternative
energy sources known as renewable energy sources [1].

Solar energy is a form of renewable energy sources. Solar Energy is the radiation
produced by nuclear fusion reactions deep in the Sun’s core. The Sun provides almost all the
heat and light which earth receives and therefore sustains every living being.

People can make indirect use of solar energy that has been naturally collected. Earth's
atmosphere, oceans, and plant life, for example, collect solar energy that people later extract to
power technology. Now-a-days, salinity-gradient solar technology is a useful form of utilizing
solar energy. It is a generic name given to the application of a salinity gradient in a body of
water for the purpose of collecting and storing solar energy. One type of salinity-gradient
technology is called the salinity-gradient solar pond. A solar pond is a shallow body of saline
water several meters deep, set up in such a way that there is increasing salinity with depth.
Solar radiation entering the pond is stored as heat in the lower layer. This heat (up to 80°C) is
then available on a 24 hour basis [2].

Solar pond is used for various thermal applications like green house heating, process
heat in dairy industries, desalination and power production. The solar pond provides a unique
opportunity to do research in such areas as double diffusive convection, wind/wave
interaction, flow in stratified fluids, and computer modeling. In addition, the state of the art
equipment on site provides an excellent opportunity for energy efficiency studies, cost
analysis, system studies, heat exchanger [3].

1
 Some years back an undergraduate project work was done on solar pond system which
was constructed by using ferrocement and tested. But it had some limitations such as
inadequate insulation of the side walls, no attempt to prevent convection and radiation heat
loss to air from upper surface, absorber surface coating having limitedlife etc. The main
objective of the present work is to improve the solar pond performance by removing above
limitations and comparing it with the previous one. For this some steps were taken
considering the various factors affecting solar pond performance such as water turbidity,
bottom reflectivity, heat insulation etc. In order to increase the thermal capacity of absorber
surface special type coating was applied which was supposed to have more durability than
the coating used in previous work. Two types of coatings are available in market: Epoxy
coating and Synthetic Enamel paint (matt finish). The first one is better but costs too high.
The later is a type ofcement paint with superior adhesion qualities. It is available in two types
of finishes - glossy and matt and can stick to all primers [4].

To prevent water turbidity and convection and radiation heat loss to air from upper
surface, transparent cover over the pond surface was used to improve pond efficiency.

1.2 Objectives

1. To identify the limitations and problems of the solar pond constructed earlier.

2. To modify the solar pond system thus avoiding previous limitations.

3. To monitor the performance of the solar pond.

2
 Chapter-2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Solar Energy

Solar energy is the utilization of the radiant energy from the Sun. Solar radiation along
with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass
account for over 99.9% of the available flow of renewable energy on the Earth. The flows and
stores of solar energy in the environment are vast in comparison to current human energy needs.
The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is
approximately 3,850 Zettajoules (1021J) per year, while global wind energy within 80 m
height, the minimum height of modern large wind turbines, is estimated as 2.25 ZJ per year.
Photosynthesis captures approximately 3 ZJ per year in biomass. In contrast, worldwide
electricity consumption was approximately 0.0567 ZJ in 2005, and total worldwide primary
energy consumption was 0.487 ZJ in the same year [5].

Solar energy has been used since prehistoric times, but in a most primitive manner.
Before 1970, some research and development was carried out in a few countries to exploit
solar energy more efficiently, but most of this work remained mainly for academic purposes
[5]. Solar power is often used interchangeably with solar energy but refers more specifically to
the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either by photovoltaics and concentrating solar
thermal devices, or by one of several experimental technologies such as thermoelectric
converters, solar chimneys and solar ponds. Solar energy and shading are important
considerations in building design.

Thermal mass is used to conserve the heat that sunshine delivers to all buildings. Day
lighting techniques optimize the use of light in buildings. Solar water heaters heat swimming
pools and provide domestic hot water. In agriculture, greenhouses expand growing seasons and
pumps powered by solar cells provide water for grazing animals. Evaporation ponds are used
to harvest salt and clean waste streams of contaminants. Solar energy is the fastest growing
form of energy production. Solar distillation and disinfection techniques produce potable water
for millions of people worldwide. Family-scale solar cookers and larger solar kitchens
concentrate sunlight for cooking, drying and pasteurization.

3
 Clothes lines are a common application of solar energy. More sophisticated
concentrating technologies magnify the rays of the Sun for high-temperature material testing,
metal smelting and industrial chemical production. A range of prototype solar vehicles provide
ground, air and sea transportation.

Solar energy technologies use solar radiation for practical ends. Solar technologies such
as photovoltaic and water or air heaters increase the supply of energy and may be characterized
as supply side technologies. Technologies such as passive design and shading devices reduce
the need for alternate resources and may be characterized as demand side. Optimizing the
performance of solar technologies is often a matter of controlling the resource rather than
simply maximizing its collection. A solar pond is large-scale solar energy collector with
integral heat storage for supplying thermal energy. It is simply a pool of water which collects
and stores solar energy. It contains layers of salt solutions with increasing concentration (and
therefore density) to a certain depth, below which the solution has a uniform high salt
concentration.

2.2 Solar Pond

A salinity gradient solar pond is an integral collection and storage device of solar energy. By
virtue of having built-in thermal energy storage, it can be used irrespective of time and
season. In an ordinary pond or lake, when the sun's rays heat up the water this heated water,
being lighter, rises to the surface and loses its heat to the atmosphere. The net result is that
the pond water remains at nearly atmospheric temperature. The solar pond technology
inhibits these phenomena by dissolving salt into the bottom layerof this pond, making it too
heavy to rise to the surface, even when hot. The salt concentration increases with depth, thereby
forming a salinity gradient. The sunlight which reaches the bottom of the pond remains
entrapped there. The useful thermal energy is then withdrawn from the solar pond in the
form of hot brine. The heat trapped in the salty bottom layer can be used for many different
purposes, such as heating of buildings or industrial hot water or to drive a turbine by using
special working substance for generating electricity. The pre-requisites for establishing solar
ponds are: a large tract of land (it could be barren), a lot of sun shine, and cheaply available
salt (such as Sodium Chloride).

4
2.3 Working Principle

Most people know that fluids such as water and air rise up when heated. The salinity gradient
stops this process when large quantities of salt are dissolved in the hot bottom layer of the
body of water, making it too dense to raise to the surface and cool [6].

Figure No 2.1: Schematic Diagram of a typical Salt Gradient Solar Pond

A typical salinity-gradient solar pond has three regions. The top region is called the
surface zone, or upper convective zone (UCZ). The middle region is called the main gradient
zone (MGZ), or nonconvective zone (NCZ). The lower region is called the storage zone, or
lower convective zone (LCZ). The lower zone is a homogeneous, concentrated salt solution
that can be either convecting or temperature stratified. Aboveit the NCZ constitutes a thermal-
insulating layer that contains a salinity gradient. This means that the water closer to the
surface is always less concentrated than the waterbelow it.

5
 Figure No 2.2: Schematic Diagram of the UCZ Layer

Figure No 2.3: Schematic Diagram of the NCZ Layer

Figure No 2.4: Schematic Diagram of the LCZ Layer

The surface zone is a homogeneous layer of low-salinity brine or fresh water. If the
salinity gradient is large enough, there is no convection in the gradient zone even when heat is
absorbed in the lower zone because the hotter, saltier water at the bottom of the gradient

6
remains denser than the colder, less salty water above it. Because water is transparent to visible
light but opaque to infrared radiation, the energy in the form of sunlight that reaches the lower
zone and is absorbed there can escape only via conduction. The thermal conductivity of water
is moderately low, and if the main gradient zone (MGZ) has substantial thickness, heat
escapes upward from the lower zone very slowly. The insulating properties of the main
gradient zone, combined withthe high heat capacity of water and large volume of water make
the solar pond both a thermal collector and a long-term storage device [7].

2.4 Types of Solar Ponds:

There are two main categories of solar ponds [8]:

1. Non-convicting solar ponds, which reduce heat loss by preventing convection from
occurring within the pond.

2. Convicting solar ponds, which reduce heat loss by hindering evaporation with acover
over the surface of the pond.

2.4.1 Non convicting Ponds

The non-convicting solar ponds again can be divided into two types: the salt gradient ponds
and membrane ponds. A salt gradient pond has three distinct layers of brine (a mixture of salt
and water) of varying concentrations. Because the density of the brine increases with salt
concentration, the most concentrated layer forms at the bottom. The least concentrated layer is
at the surface. The salts commonly used are sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. A dark-
colored material—usually butyl rubber— lines the pond. The dark lining enhances
absorption of the sun’s radiation and prevents the salt from contaminating the surrounding
soil and ground water. As sunlight enters the pond, the water and the lining absorb the solar
radiation. As a result, the water near the bottom of the pond becomes warm—up to 93.3oC
(200oF). Although all of thelayers store some heat, the bottom layer stores the most. Even
when it becomes warm, the bottom layer remains denser than the upper layers, thus inhibiting
convection. Pumping the brine through an external heat exchanger or an evaporator removes
the heat from this bottom layer. Other method of heat removal is to extract heat with a heat
transfer fluid as it is pumped through a heat exchanger placed on the bottom of thepond.
Another type of nonconvecting pond, the membrane pond, inhibits convection by physically

7
separating the layers with thin transparent membranes. As with salt gradient ponds, heat is
removed from the bottom layer [8].

2.4.2 Convicting Pond

A well-researched example of a convecting pond is the shallow solar pond. This

pond consists of pure water enclosed in a large bag that allows convection but hinders
evaporation. The bag has a blackened bottom, has foam insulation below, and two types of
glazing (sheets of plastic or glass) on top. The sun heats the water in the bag during the day.
At night the hot water is pumped into a large heat storage tank to minimize heat loss. Excessive
heat loss when pumping the hot water to the storage tank has limited the development of
shallow solar ponds. Another type of convecting pond is the deep, saltless pond. This
convecting pond differs from shallow solar ponds only in that the water need not be pumped
in and out of storage. Usually double-glazing covers are used in deep saltless ponds. At night,
or when solar energy is not available, placing insulation on top of the glazing reduces heat loss
[8].

A non-convective solar pond constructed in accordance with the foregoing features

provides a number of important advantages: First, even though the bottom layer is not
completely impermeable, there will be only negligible seepage through it since the pumping
means, returning the liquid which permeates into the intermediate layer, prevents the building-
up of pressure by the liquid overlying the bottom impermeable layer. In addition, the gases
evolved at the bottom of the pond are vented to the atmosphere before the drained liquid is
returned from the sump to the pond, and therefore the evolved gases cannot destroy the
concentration gradient in the pond or foul its water. Further, the bottom construction of the
solar pond can be made with relatively inexpensive materials (e.g., compacted earth for the
impermeable layers and course sand and/or crushed stone for the permeable layer), thereby
avoiding the need for expensive heat-resistant materials [9].

2.5 Application of Solar Pond

The solar ponds are widely considered as the low temperature energy storage devices
having use in wide range of process applications. The following section deals with the scope
of the applications of solar pond heat adopted in various processes.

8
2.5.1 Greenhouse Heating

As mentioned in [10], Sokolov and Arbel demonstrated the use of fresh water solar pond for
greenhouse heating purpose. The pond comprised an excavation in the earth with liner and a
thin top cover. Water was used as a heat transferring fluid during periods of solar radiation.
Energy was delivered to the greenhouse by pumping hot water from the upper layer of the
pond through a heat exchanger. The water returned after heat extraction to the bottom of solar
pond. In another study, Arbel and Sokolov studied different collector materials having different
material properties and concluded that the use of appropriate material improves the solar pond
performance. As mentioned in [10], Riva studied a 20 m2 solar pond for two years before
constructing a bigger pond of 140-160 m2 area. The energy efficiency was found to be 10 to 20
percent during preliminary testing. The energy was intended for air heating in a dryer of 40-50
m2 area [10].

2.5.2 Process Heat in Dairy Industries

Studies have indicated that there is excellent scope for process heat applications, when a large
quantity of hot water is required, such as textile processing and dairy industries. The hot water
requirements for sterilization and pasteurization in a dairy plant at Bhuj of Kutch district of
Gujarat State in India are being met from a solar pond of 6000 m2 area. The hot water
temperature was in the range of 84 to 95o C during the pond operation period [10].

2.5.3 Desalination

Desalination involves the process of obtaining fresh water for drinking and irrigation from
either brackish or saline water after suitable treatment. The solar energy has been utilized for
distillation of brackish or saline water for a very long time. The fresh water is produced
through repetitive cycles of evaporation and condensation, using low temperature heat from
the solar ponds. As mentioned in [10], Tabor showed that a pond of 1/3 km2 area could operate
a multi-effect distillation unit, with an annual mean output of 4000 m3 /day at a rate of US $
0.67/ m3. He further remarked that a solar pond desalination plant produces about 5 times the
quantity produced from simple tray type solar still. A 20000 m2 solar pond in Italy was used
for desalination of seawater toproduce 120 ton of fresh water/day [10].

9
2.5.4 Power Production

In solar pond power plants, the solution from the lower convective zone is pumped to a heat
exchanger that acts as evaporator for an organic Rankine cycle. As mentioned in [10], Trieb
made a comparative analysis of different solar electricity generation options and found that
solar pond produces electricity at a cost of 0.254 German Marks (DM)/kWh as against 1.198
German Marks (DM)/ kWh for photovoltaic cells [10].

2.5.5 Hot Water Applications in Agriculture

Many of the agricultural operations involve hot water application for different purposes. Some
of them include paddy soaking in parboiling, sugarcane sett treatment, vegetable blanching,
washing of cans in dairy industry and domestic hot water consumption. Traditionally,
parboiling process involves soaking of raw rice in water at ambient temperature in masonry
tanks for 3 days and steaming of drained paddy. The method was later improved to soak the
paddy in hot water at around 70o C for few hours depending upon the type of parboiling
method. This method could eliminate unwanted odors’ associated with traditional method and
reduce the soaking time from a few days to a few hours. Heat therapy of sugarcane setts
before planting is desirable to raise the crop free from seed piece diseases and certain insect
pests. Conventionally the setts are treated in hot water at a temperature of 50oC for 2 hours and
at 54oC for 4 hours in humid hot air. It is clear that the solar ponds have a great scope in
agricultural applications with low temperature requirements [10].

2.5.6 Economics of Solar Ponds for Heating

It is estimated that solar ponds in climatic regions similar to northern Victoria can produce
process heat (40 - 80°C) for a wide range of applications at an average cost between $10 and
$15/GJ. The results from the current project will provide actual data on cost of energy
delivered, for the demonstration facility and in commercially available systems. Heat from
solar ponds is therefore expected to be competitive with the use of LPG and electricity in
rural areas. Currently heat in rural areas costs over $20/GJ for LPG (at 43 c/litre). Heat from
electricity (that is, direct heating rather than from heat pumps) costs over $45/GJ at peak rate,
and $9/GJ off-peak. Solar pond heating would not be competitive in areas where natural gas
is available, since this is priced typically at only $4-5/GJ [2].

10
2.5.7 Industries with Potential Applications for Solar Ponds

Solar ponds have the potential to provide low-grade heat in industries such as the following:

• salt production (for enhanced evaporation or purification of salt, that is production

of vacuum quality salt)

• aquaculture, using saline or fresh water (to grow, for example, fish or brineshrimp)

• dairy industry (for example, to preheat feed water to boilers)

• fruit and vegetable canning industry

• grain industry (for grain drying)

• water supply (for desalination)

The applications of the technology are certainly not limited to these industries. Basically the
generic requirements for a practical solar pond application are these:

• no access to natural gas, and hence reliance on more expensive fuels such as LPG,
electricity or fuel oil

• demand for heat in the 40 to 80 °C temperature range

• saline water and salt preferably available locally

• availability of relatively flat land on which to construct the solar pond

• relatively high annual average solar radiation

Solar ponds may also be considered as a source of heating factory and office space and water heating
at suitable rural sites [2].

2.6 Advantages and Disadvantages

The solar pond system has some advantages and disadvantages. These are mentioned as
follows:

• Low investment costs per installed collection area.

• Thermal storage is incorporated into the collector and is of very low cost.

11
 • Diffuse radiation (cloudy days) is fully used.

• Very large surfaces can be built thus large scale energy generation is possible.

• Expensive cleaning of large collector surfaces in dusty areas is avoided [11].

• Solar ponds can only be economically constructed if there is an abundance of

inexpensive salt, flat land, and easy access to water. Environmental factors are also
important. An example is preventing soil contamination from the brine in a solar pond.
For these reasons, and because of the current availability of cheap fossil fuels, solar
pond development has been limited [12].

2.7 Theoretical Analysis of the LCZ Temperature

A salt gradient solar pond collects and stores solar energy. The stability of the solar
pond is maintained by the salt. Both UCZ and LCZ have uniform and constant temperature
and salt concentrations, whereas the temperature and the salt concentration increase with depth
in the NCZ. The energy balance for the solar pond can be written as follows [13]. In steady
state:

Rate of heat input = rate of heat stored in the lower convective zone + rate of heat losses
to side and bottom of the pond.

In UCZ approximately 45% of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed and the
remaining is lost by evaporation, convection and re-radiation. In NCZ, due to the increasing
density, convection currents are suppressed with the effect that warmer water cannot rise to the surface
and cool down as in an ordinary pond. Therefore heat lossesare only due to heat conduction. Hence,
this layer is acting as a good transparent insulation. Depending upon the thickness of the NCZ, around
15–25% of the incoming radiation is absorbed under clear water conditions. By a blackened bottom
in the pond,in LCZ, up to 40% of the total received solar energy can be absorbed.

The temperature of this zone varies between 80oC and 900C. At the bottom of the pond,
proper insulationis provided to minimize heat losses. If sand layer is used as insulation, it will also
act asa storage device. The temperature of the storage zone (LCZ) at the end of the period, Tt+∆t is

12
written as follows [13]:

where T is the temperature (oC), t the time (s), ∆t the time intervals (s), As the surface area
(m2), h(z) the fraction of solar radiation penetrating to the depth z in the pond, I the hourly
insolation incident upon a horizontal surface (W/m2), kw the stored water’s thermal conductivity
(W/mK), Ta the ambient temperature (oC), dncz the non- convective zone vertical extent (m), m the
mass of water in the store (kg), cp the specific heat of stored water (J/kg K).

2.8 Factors Affecting Performance

The thermal efficiency of the pond depends on the thickness of the various zones in the solar
pond. An increase in thickness of the UCZ reduces the amount of solar energy reaching the storage
zone. Therefore the thickness of the UCZ should be very less. The various factors, affecting thermal
performance of the solar pond are discussed below:As mentioned in [13], Xiang did the thermal
calculation by changing the incident rays from a Xe-lamp into natural ray and halogen lamp. As a result,
it was found that the temperature distributions in the solar pond were notably different due to spectral
characteristics of the incident ray. Therefore, the spectroscopic consideration for thermal
performance of any solar pond is necessary to obtain a correct solution underthe spectral incidence
with special wavelength distribution.

2.8.1 Water Turbidity and Bottom Reflectivity

The suspended matter in solar pond salt water, which prevents the penetration of light
inside water, is called turbidity. Jackson turbid meter is used to measure turbidity. The unit for
turbidity is helometric turbidity units. As mentioned in [13], Wang and Yagoobi studied the
effect of turbidity on the thermal performance of a salt gradient solar pond. They found that
high turbidity levels could prevent ponds from storing energy in the LCZ. As mentioned in
[13], Husain proved that reflective bottom and turbidity with certain limits improve the
efficiency of pond. As mentioned in [13], Giestas studied the gravitational stability of a salty
layer of a fluid subject to an adverse temperature gradient as a result of heat absorption.

2.8.2 Wall Shading Effect

The thermal performance of a solar pond is a function of solar irradiation, heat losses
from the sides to the surroundings and from the LCZ towards the upper layers, ultimate storage
capacity, and the effectiveness of the heat exchanger system. In small vertical wall solar ponds,
the shading of walls plays an important role on reducing the sunny area of the pond and its

13
thermal performance. As mentioned in [13], Jaefarzadeh analyzed the effect of wall shading
on the LCZ temperature. A numerical investigation was conducted by Jubran. They developed
a model to predict the generation of convective layers on the solar pond walls.

Figure No 2.5: Effect of Shading Area

2.8.3 Effect of Energy Extraction

The temperature of the UCZ and LCZ are almost uniform. The temperature of the NCZ
increases, when the depth increases. When the thickness of the NCZ increases, the temperature
of the UCZ also increases. As mentioned in [13], Al-Jamal and Khashan proved that the
thickness of the NCZ was dependent on the amount of heat extracted from solar pond.

14
 Chapter-3

DESIGN CONSIDERATION AND ANALYSIS

Some years back, a solar pond was constructed in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering as an undergraduate project. The previous work had some limitations. It had no
provision for preventing convection and radiation heat loss from upper surface. In the present
work, some steps were taken to improve the solar pond performance and comparing them with
the previous work. A transparent cover was used over the pond surface to minimize heat loss
from upper surface, better insulating material was used for side walls and special type of
coating was applied over the absorber surface of the pond system.

3.1 Transparent Cover Design

Increase of heat performance is possible with the insulation of the zones surrounding
the pond. UCZ on top of the pond is one of the zones where the most heat loss takes place
due to affects of wind, ambience, dumbness, evaporation etc.

The increase of the heat performance is possible also with the insulation of the walls.
For that reason, the top of the pond was designed to be covered with the transparent material
to reduce the loss of heat energy from water in to the air [14]. The suspended matter in solar
pond salt water, which prevents the penetration of light inside water, is called turbidity.
Transparent cover eliminates the effect of turbidity.

3.1.1 Size of Cover Frame

The frame for transparent cover was made from wood. The frame was madeinclined so
that water droplets formed inside the cover due to evaporation from pond surface can’t be
stagnant there. Dimension for the frame is given as follows:

Length of the frame=183 cm.

Width of the frame=183 cm.

Inclination of the frame=9.5o

15
 Figure No 3.1: Experimental Setup of the Solar Pond System.

3.2 Selection of Materials

The principal criteria for selection of materials and developing the design of solar
pond system are based upon local availability of materials and cost involvement, efficiency
and easy to construction and maintenance.

3.2.1 Glazing Materials

Transparent covers or glazing materials can be made of glass, plastic or fiber glass.
Commonly used glazing materials are —

• Glass cover

• Plastic cover

One of the common cover materials is glass for good reason. Glass is readily available,
quite transparent to visible light and opaque to infrared wave lengths beyond about three
micrometer, meaning that it block heat loss from the absorber due to radiation. Transparent
glasses have an effective outdoor lifetime of cover twenty years. But cost involvement for
glass cover is too high. For this reason plasticcover was used in order to minimize cost.

16
3.2.2 Absorber Surface Coating

In order to increase the thermal capacity of absorber surface special type coating was
applied which was supposed to have more durability than the coating used in previous work.
As a result, life of solar pond system increases. Two types of coatings are available in local
market:

• Epoxy coating

• Synthetic Enamel paint (matt finish)

The first one is better but costs too high. The later is a type of cement paint with superior
adhesion qualities. It is available in two types of finishes – glossy and matt and can stick to all
primers.

3.2.3 Insulating Material

The purpose of insulation is to reduce heat loss, which is given to the back side of
the base plate and outside of side wall. There are many types of insulation available in the
market, such as glass wool, vegetable cork, cotton, asbestos rope, straw etc. Out of these
glass wool and asbestos rope is best but it is costly and difficult to set. Vegetable cork is
more suitable as insulation material, because it is available in the local market, cheap and
easy to set. So, vegetable cork was selected as the insulating material in the present work.
Different properties of vegetable cork are given below:

• Flash point temperature: 575 K

• Density kg/m 3 : 9.61*10 5 -1.28*10 6

• Specific heat J/(kg.K) : 1.8*103

• Thermal diffusivity m 2 /s : 1.8*10 -7 at 343 K

• Vibration resistance : Good

• Water absorption, % by volume : 5% (surface only)

• Specific gravity (apparent) : 0.96 to 0.128

17
• Temperature limits, service for

• Short time: 366 K Continuous: 355.22 K

• Strength compressive flexure: 3.45*104 N/m2 at 5% deformation

18
 Chapter-4

CONSTRUCTION AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

4.1 Construction of Solar Pond

The present structure of the solar pond was constructed few years back. It was a
trapezoidal reservoir constructed by using ferrocement technology. The reservoir was dipped
in the earth by digging a hole in the earth. But one side of the wall had a crack which needed
repairing. Repairing was done with the help of cement mortar and then it was kept dried. The
absorber surface was scrubbed and brushed up to make it prepared for new coating. Then it
was painted with synthetic enamel paint (matt finish). After the surface being dried, another
coating was provided. The hole for the solar pond was enlarged slightly and then polythene
sheet was spread out on the soil.

Then rice husk and cork sheet was put on the polythene and the pond structure was
placed over these materials. The cork sheet was attached to the side walls with the help of
adhesive. After that rice husk was provided through the wall side to fill the void space. A
wooden frame was made for transparent cover having few degrees of inclination. Then
transparent polythene was attached to frame and the frame was placed over the solar pond to
avoid falling of foreign materials to the pond.

4.2 Method of Making Salinity Gradient

The height of the solar pond is 80cm. Water level of the solar pond was maintained
at a height of 70cm. First the pond was filled with water up to the height of 40cm. Then 70 kg
natural salt was mixed with water. After that fresh water was fed from top up to 70 cm
height. Then salinity gradient was formed automatically in between these two layers.

4.3 Maintenance and Working Procedure

Water becomes vaporized from the upper surface when subjected to solar radiation. As
a result, density of the upper surface increases and height of water level decreases. In a solar
pond the most important factor is the density gradient of different layers. To maintain correct
density fresh water was fed from top up to required height at certain time intervals.

19
 Temperature of water at different height was measured using thermocouple with the
help of supporting scale considering the upper surface as reference point. Solar energy was
measured using solarimeter which was placed at height 1 m. above the roof of Mechanical
Engineering building.

Salt was mixed with water in three steps. First, 70 kg salt was mixed with water. Then
after collecting data for few days, 10 kg salt was added to the pond and theperformance was
noticed. After few days, another 10 kg salt was added to the pond. In the later two steps, salt
was added to water by mixing with water externally collected from upper zone. Then the
water was directly fed to lower zone. As a result, water at lower zone remains denser.

4.4 Experimental Data

The experimental data were taken for 10 days from 02.01.09 to 02.03.09 and are shown
in Table 4.1 to 4.3. The experiment was conducted after mixing 70 kg salt, 80 kg salt and 90
kg salt in the solar pond. Densities of water at different layers of the solar pond are shown in
Table 4.4 after mixing salt in three steps.

Table No 4.1: Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 70 kg salt

Height from the upper surface of the pond in cm. Total Solar
Radiation
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
(whm-2)
Time
Temperature in oC

02.01.09

9.00 am 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 29

10.00am 23 24 25 26 28 28 29 30

11.00am 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 30

12.00pm 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

20
1.00 pm 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
2557
2.00 pm 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

3.00 pm 25 26 27 28 29 31 32 33

4.00 pm 25 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

5.00 pm 26 27 28 29 31 32 33 34

6.00 pm 26 27 29 29 31 32 33 34

06.01.09

9.00 am 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 29

10.00am 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

11.00am 25 26 26 27 28 29 30 32

12.00pm 26 27 28 30 31 31 32 33

1.00 pm 26 28 28 30 31 32 32 33
2829
2.00 pm 27 28 29 30 32 33 33 34

3.00 pm 27 29 29 30 32 33 33 34

4.00 pm 28 28 29 31 32 33 33 34

5.00 pm 28 28 29 31 32 33 34 35

21
 6.00 pm 28 28 29 31 32 33 34 35

08.01.09

9.00 am 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 28

10.00am 23 24 24 25 26 28 29 29

11.00am 24 24 25 25 26 28 29 30

12.00pm 25 24 25 25 26 28 29 31

1.00 pm 25 24 25 25 26 28 29 32
2890
2.00 pm 25 26 28 30 31 32 33 34

3.00 pm 26 27 28 30 31 32 33 34

4.00 pm 27 28 29 30 32 34 34 35

5.00 pm 27 28 29 30 32 34 34 35

6.00 pm 27 28 29 30 32 34 34 35

Table No 4.2: Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 80 kg salt:

Height from the upper surface of the pond in cm. Total Solar
Radiation
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
(whm-2)
Time
Temperature in oC

22
18.02.09

9.00 am 24 25 26 26 27 28 29 31

10.00am 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31

11.00am 26 27 28 29 29 30 31 32

12.00pm 27 28 29 29 30 31 33 33

1.00 pm 27 28 29 29 31 32 34 35
2557
2.00 pm 29 29 30 30 31 33 35 36

3.00 pm 29 30 31 31 32 34 35 36

4.00 pm 30 30 32 32 33 35 36 37

5.00 pm 30 31 33 33 34 35 37 38

6.00 pm 30 31 33 33 34 35 37 38

19.02.09

9.00 am 23 25 26 26 27 28 29 32

10.00am 24 26 27 28 28 29 30 33

11.00am 25 27 28 29 29 30 31 34

12.00pm 26 28 29 29 30 31 33 35

1.00 pm 27 28 29 29 31 32 34 35

23
 4554
2.00 pm 27 29 30 30 31 33 35 36

3.00 pm 28 29 31 31 32 34 35 36

4.00 pm 28 30 32 32 33 35 36 37

5.00 pm 29 31 33 33 34 35 37 38

6.00 pm 29 31 33 33 34 35 37 38

22.02.09

9.00 am 23 24 27 28 30 31 32 33

10.00am 23 25 27 28 31 32 32 33

11.00am 24 26 28 29 31 32 33 34

12.00pm 25 27 29 29 32 33 33 35

1.00 pm 26 28 29 29 32 34 34 35
4580
2.00 pm 26 29 30 30 33 34 35 36

3.00 pm 26 30 31 31 33 35 35 37

4.00 pm 27 30 32 32 34 35 36 37

5.00 pm 27 31 33 33 34 36 37 38

6.00 pm 27 31 33 33 34 36 37 38

24
 24.02.09

9.00 am 24 25 26 28 30 31 32 34

10.00am 25 26 27 28 31 32 33 34

11.00am 26 27 28 29 31 32 33 35

12.00pm 27 28 29 29 30 32 33 36

1.00 pm 27 29 29 30 32 34 34 36
3306
2.00 pm 27 28 30 31 33 34 35 37

3.00 pm 28 28 31 31 33 35 35 37

4.00 pm 28 29 32 32 34 35 36 38

5.00 pm 28 30 32 33 34 36 37 38

6.00 pm 28 30 33 33 34 36 37 38

Table No 4.3: Temperature Distribution at Various Levels after Mixing 90 kg salt:

Height from the upper surface of the pond in cm. Total Solar
Radiation
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
(whm-2)
Time
Temperature in oC

28.02.09

25
9.00 am 27 28 29 30 32 34 35 36

10.00am 28 29 30 30 32 34 36 37

11.00am 29 29 30 31 33 35 36 37

12.00pm 29 30 31 32 33 34 36 38

1.00 pm 29 30 31 32 34 35 37 38
4652
2.00 pm 30 31 32 33 34 35 37 39

3.00 pm 31 32 32 33 34 36 38 39

4.00 pm 32 32 33 34 35 37 38 40

5.00 pm 32 33 34 35 35 37 39 40

6.00 pm 32 33 34 35 35 37 39 40

01.03.09

9.00 am 27 28 29 30 32 34 35 36

10.00am 28 29 30 30 32 34 36 37

11.00am 29 29 30 31 33 35 36 38

12.00pm 30 30 31 32 33 34 36 39

1.00 pm 30 30 31 32 34 35 37 39
4693
2.00 pm 30 31 32 33 34 35 37 39

26
3.00 pm 31 32 32 33 34 36 38 39

4.00 pm 32 32 33 34 35 37 38 40

5.00 pm 32 33 34 35 35 37 39 40

6.00 pm 32 33 34 35 35 37 39 40

02.03.09

9.00 am 26 27 29 30 32 34 35 36

10.00am 27 28 29 30 32 34 36 36

11.00am 27 29 30 31 33 35 36 37

12.00pm 28 30 31 32 33 34 36 38

1.00 pm 29 30 31 32 34 35 37 38
4405
2.00 pm 29 31 32 33 34 35 37 39

3.00 pm 30 31 32 33 34 36 38 39

4.00 pm 30 32 33 34 35 37 38 40

5.00 pm 30 32 34 35 35 37 39 40

6.00 pm 30 32 34 35 35 37 39 40

27
Table No 4.4: Density of Water at Different Layers after Mixing Salt to the Pond

Amount ofDensity of Water, kglit-1

Salt
Upper Layer Middle Layer Lower Layer
in kg

70 1.028 1.037 1.082

80 1.032 1.041 1.085

90 1.06 1.078 1.1214

28
 Chapter-5

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Result of the Work

The experimental data was taken from 02.01.09 to 02.03.09. During this period daily
solar radiation data was taken. The relations between salinity, solar intensity and temperature
are shown below. Fig. 5.1 shows the effect of varying salinity in the pond on lower convective
zone temperature. Fig. 5.2 shows variation of solar intensity with time. Fig. 5.3 and Fig. 5.4
show variation of temperature with time at lower convective zone and upper convective zone.

Figure No 5.1: Effect of Varying Salinity in the Pond on Lower Convective Zone
Temperature

Figure No 5.2: Variation of Solar Radiation Intensity with Time of Day.

29
 Figure No 5.3: Variation of Temperature with Time at Lower Convective Zone.

Figure No 5.4: Variation of Temperature with Time at Upper Convective Zone.

5.2 Discussion

Fig. 5.1 shows, effect of varying salinity in the pond on LCZ temperature. In the figure
it is seen that for density 1.082 kg/lt maximum temperature obtained is 35oC. For density 1.085
kg/lt and 1.1214 kg/lt temperature at LCZ rises to 38oC and 40oC respectively. It is seen that
heat capacity in the LCZ increases with salinity

variation of solar intensity with time of day. It is seen that as maximum solar intensity
obtained at 12.00 pm. After that intensity decreases to almost zero at end of the day.

30
 Fig. 5.3 and Fig. 5.4 shows, variation of temperature developed with respect to time of
day at lower convective zone and upper convective zone. In the Fig. 5.2, it was seen solar
intensity increases to maximum value then decreases to lowest value. But thesignificant thing
is maximum temperature in the LCZ was developed at the end of theday. So, it can be said
that solar pond works not only as a collector but also as heat storage.

In the present work, cork sheet was used as insulation. This insulation system
minimizes heat loss from side walls and from bottom. Thus temperature was developed in
the LCZ at the end of the day and heat was stored there

31
 Chapter-6

Conclusion

Solar pond was constructed in which three modifications were made. Transparent cover
was placed over the system, cork sheet was used as insulator for the side walls and special
type of absorber surface coating was used. The present work shows better output than the
previous work. In the previous work, maximum temperature obtained at the LCZ was 32oC
where as the maximum temperature obtained in the present work is 40oC. Temperature
difference between UCZ and LCZ was 6oC in the previous work where 10oC temperature
difference between UCZ and LCZ was obtained in the present work. Increased lifetime of the
solar pond is expected because of insulation provided at the bottom and absorber coating used
are of better quality.

32
 REFERENCES

1) http://www.ece.utep.edu/research/Energy/Pond/pond.html

2) http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=905wa9169827

3) http://www.solarpond.utep.edu

4) http://www.gharexpert.com

5) http://www.wikipedia.org

6) http://teriin.org/division/eetdiv/docs/ca02_1.htm

7) Huanmin Lu, John C. Walton, Andrew H.P. Swift. Desalination coupled withsalinity-gradient
solar ponds, September 11–13, 2000. Desalination 136 (2001) 13–23.

8) www.eren.doe.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/aa8.html

9) http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4345581.html

10) G.R. RAMAKRISHNA MURTHY and K.P.PANDEY, Solar Ponds- A Perspective from
Indian Agriculture, Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur-721302, India

11) http://www.teriin.org/case/solar.htm

12) http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/factsheets/aa8.html

13) Velmurugan V, Srithar K. Prospects and scopes of solar pond: A detailed review.

14) Renew Sustain Energy Rev (2007), doi:10.1016/j.rser.2007.03.011

15) Nuri Ozek, Mehmet Karakilcik, Nalan Cicek Bezir. A SOLAR POND MODEL WITH
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27. No. 4 (2000) 67-70.

33