Concentrated solar thermochemical storage in the form of a zero-emission fuel is a promising option to produce long-duration energy storage. The production of solar fuel can occur within a cylindrical cavity chemical reactor that captures concentrated solar radiation from a solar field. A heat transfer model of a tubular plug-flow reactor is presented. Experimental data from a fixed bed tubular reactor are used for model comparison. The system consists of an externally heated tube with counter-current flowing gas and moving solid particles as the heated media. The proposed model simulates the dynamic behavior of temperature profiles of the tube wall, gas, and particles under various gas flow rates and residence times. The heat transfer between gas-wall, solid particle-wall, gas-solid particle, are numerically studied. The model is compared with experiments using a 4 kW furnace with a 150 mm heating zone surrounding a horizontal alumina tube (reactor) with 50.8 mm OD and a thickness of 3.175 mm. Solid fixed particles of magnesium manganese oxide (MgMn 2 O 4 ) with the size of 1 mm are packed within the length of 250 mm at the center of the tube length. Simulation results are assessed with respect to fixed bed experimental data for four different gas flow rates, namely 5, 10, 15, 20 standard liters per minute of air, and furnace temperatures in the range of 200 to 1200 °C. The simulation results showed good agreement with maximum steady state error that is less than 6% of those obtained from the experiments among all runs. The proposed model can be implemented as a low-order physical model for the control of temperature inside plug-flow reactors for thermochemical energy storage (TCES) applications.

Office spaces are characterized by strict constraints of thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) levels crucial for the occupants’ wellbeing and decision-making abilities. For these reasons, office spaces have large cooling loads especially in hot climates. Conventional vapor compression air conditioning systems are known to be energy intensive systems that rely mainly on electrical energy. Thus, there is a pressing need to decrease the reliance on active cooling systems by the introduction of passive cooling strategies and efficient sustainable buildings. This study proposes an effective passive cooling system that integrates a cross-flow dew point indirect evaporative cooler (DP-IEC) supplying cool clean air to an office space. Validated mathematical models were used to assess the integrated system’s ability in maintaining acceptable thermal comfort and IAQ levels at minimal energy and water consumption. The simulations were carried out for the peak load month for a case study of an occupied office located in the semi-arid and hot Lebanese inland region. The proposed system was able to meet the space thermal and IAQ constraints (average indoor temperature of 25.6 °C, CO 2 concentration below 600 ppm). The optimized system operation yielded a daily energy and water consumption of 0.65 kWh and 52 L with a reduction of 80 % in the running cost as compared to the conventional mechanical system.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) system harness the energy from the sunlight and convert into clean electricity to power homes and businesses. During an operation the solar panels get hot, the electrons inside the solar cells pick up that extra heat energy which puts them in a more excited state and when they are already excited, they have less room to absorb the energy from sunlight. As a result, electrical performance of a PV system reduces with increase in solar cell temperature. Efficiency of PV panels can be retained by establishing a hybrid PV-Thermal (PV-T) system. In this study, container filled with phase change material (PCM) embedded in porous metal is attached to back surface of the PV cell. As well as, to extract the excess heat from the PV cell, water is used as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) with constant mass flow rate of 30 kg/hr. During the simulation melting rate of PCM, amount of latent heat energy stored, thermal, electrical and overall efficiencies of the PV panel is studied and compared with the conventional PV-T system. The results show the enhanced melting fraction of PCM by 6% and 8% for the PV-T/PCM/Cu and PV-T/PCM/Al system, respectively compared with PV-T/PCM system. Moreover, in comparison with the conventional PV-T system, the overall efficiency of the PV-T/PCM/Cu and PV-T/PCM/Al is increased by 10.62% and 8.80%, respectively.

The space heating energy needed during the winter heating season in Seattle Washington, USA, was monitored over a 15 year period, 1987–2002. Single family residence houses were constructed to building code standards in force at the time of construction and two more to standards calling for envelopes with improved thermal resistance. Although space conditioning energy needs are strongly affected by occupant behavior, simulations generally ignore the temporal occupant behavior in estimating the energy needed for heating and cooling. Vigorous conservation tactics, which produce a thermal response that is highly transient, can lead to substantially different energy needs. No correlation could be established from the measured space heating when aggressive conservation made use of thermostat setback at every opportunity. In this paper we investigate the effects of occupant behavior and the effect of temporal solar heating of walls in the Seattle area for improved thermal construction.

In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical investigation on a prototypal solar chimney system integrated with an absorbing capacity wall in a south facade of a building is presented. The capacity wall is composed of a high absorbing plate and an assigned thickness of phase change material. The chimney consists of a converging channel with one vertical absorbing wall and the glass plate inclined of 2°. The chimney is 5.0 m high, with the channel height equal to 4.0 m, whereas the channel gap is at the inlet equal to 0.34 m and at the outlet it is 0.20 m. The thermal energy storage system is 4.0 m high with a paraffin wax. The transient analysis on a two-dimensional model in airflow is carried out and the governing equations for natural convection in turbulent flow with Boussinesq assumption and thermophysical properties temperature independent are given in terms of k-ε turbulence model. The problem is solved by means of the commercial code Ansys-Fluent using the finite volume method. The numerical analysis was intended to evaluate the thermal and fluid dynamic behavior of the solar chimney integrated with a latent thermal energy storage system for different values of the PCM thickness. The analysis is accomplished at the 21 June by the sunrise to sunset with the chimney oriented towards south. The simulations are performed considering the solar chimney located in Aversa, Italy. Results are given in terms of wall temperature distributions, air velocity and temperature fields and transversal profiles in the channel whereas in terms of liquid fractions, temperature and stream function fields for the phase change material. Thermal and fluid dynamics behaviors are evaluated in order to have some indications to improve the energy conversion system.

Current state-of-the-art development of concentrated solar power (CSP) applications target cost-effective and highly efficient processes in order to establish commercialization of these technologies. The design of solar receivers/reactors and their respective flow configuration have a direct impact on the operational performance of the solar thermochemical processes. Thermal efficiencies, reaction kinetics and other key output metrics are the intrinsic result of the chosen configuration. Therefore, reactor design optimization plays a crucial role in the development of solar thermochemical applications. In this study a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a directly-irradiated cavity receiver has been developed. The CFD-domain is coupled with incoming radiation that is obtained by using Monte Carlo Ray Tracing (MCRT). Experimental campaigns of the cavity receiver were carried out using a 7 kW High Flux Solar Simulator (HFSS) as radiative source. Temperature readings were obtained at different locations inside the cavity receiver for both wall and gas temperatures. In order to mimic naturally changing insolation conditions, the HFSS was run at different power levels. Heat flux at the aperture of the solar receiver was experimentally characterized. The acquired heat flux maps validated the intermediate results obtained with the MCRT method. The coupled computational model was validated against the measured temperatures at different locations inside the receiver. Computed temperature contours inside the receiver confirmed the experimentally observed non-uniformity of the axial temperature distribution. The validated analysis presented in this paper was then used as a baseline case for a parametric study. Design optimization efforts were undertaken towards obtaining temperature uniformity and achieving efficient heat transfer within the fluid domain. Enhanced flow circulation was achieved which yielded temperature uniformity of the receiver at steady state conditions. The outcome of this parametric analysis provided valuable insights in the development of thermal efficient solar cavity receivers. Hence, findings of this study will serve as a starting point for future solar reactor design. For example, it was found that reversing flow direction has an adverse effect on the temperature uniformity inside the receiver. Similarly, increasing the inlet angle does not positively affect the temperature distribution and hence should be chosen carefully when designing a solar reactor.

Carbon particles can be used as catalyst in solar reactors where they serve as radiant absorbent and nucleation sites for the heterogeneous decomposition reaction. Unlike commonly used metal catalysts, carbon catalyst does not have durability problem and high cost. However, in order to achieve sustainable catalytic decomposition of feedstock over carbon catalysts at elevated temperatures, the surface area of the carbon particles must be maintained. A subsequent treatment of deactivated carbon samples with CO 2 at about 1000°C would increase the surface and would recover the original activity as catalyst. In solar reactor, carbon particles are directly exposed to the high-flux irradiation providing efficient radiation heat transfer directly to the reaction site. Therefore, one of the key parameters to achieve higher conversion efficiencies in solar reactor is the presence and transport of carbon particles. This paper will present impact of carbon use in enhancing the heat transfer inside a solar reactor radiated by a solar simulator. Flux entering the receiver is determined using Monte Carlo ray tracing (MCRT) method which is coupled with energy balance equations to derive numerical model describing dynamic temperature variation in solar receiver. Simulation results indicated that feeding carbon particles results to lower temperatures for the cavity walls and working fluid compare to the case that no carbon is injected. This finding is in accordance with our experimental results obtained from a cylindrical cavity receiver radiated by a 7 kW solar simulator. The results indicated that heat transfer within the system is highly influenced by the particle size. At particle sizes larger than 450 μm, carbon feeding increases the thermal efficiency of the system.

Solar energy is an important renewable energy source that is increasingly used. One of the main drawbacks in the solar energy application is its working periodic time. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can improve the efficient use and provision of thermal energy whenever there is a mismatch between energy generation and use. Various subsets of TES processes have been investigated and developed for heating and cooling of buildings, industrial applications, and utility and space power systems. The amount of energy input to TES by a sensible heat device is proportional to the difference between the storage final and initial temperatures, the mass of storage medium and its heat capacity. In this paper a high temperature TES is numerically investigated, and a parametric analysis is accomplished. In the formulation of the model it is assumed that the system geometry is cylindrical, the fluid thermophysical properties are dependent on temperature, the effect of gravity is neglected. Air is employed as the heat-carrying fluid and the solid elements, which are minichannels, are made of Cordierite. The system is a honeycomb structure made of parallel triangular channels. The Fluent code is used to solve the governing equations in transient regime. Numerical simulations are carried out with storage medium at different mass flow rates of the heat-carrying fluid and different number of channels for unit of length. Results show the effects of storage medium, mass flow rate on stored thermal energy and storage time. Results in terms of temperature as function of time are presented.

Solar chimney is a system to produce energy and it has several applications, such as production of electricity, buildings ventilation, heating and cooling. In this paper, a numerical investigation on a prototypal solar chimney system integrated in a south facade of a building is presented. The chimney is 4.0 m high, 1.5 m wide whereas the thickness at the inlet the channel has a gap equal to 0.34 m and at the outlet it is 0.20 m. The chimney consists of a converging channel with one vertical wall and one inclined of 2°. The analysis is carried out on a three-dimensional model in airflow and the governing equations are given in terms of k-ε turbulence model. The problem is solved by means of the commercial code Ansys-Fluent. Simulations are carried out considering the solar irradiance for assigned geographical location and for a daily distribution. Further, comparison between steady state and transient regimes is examined and discussed. Results are given in terms of wall temperature distributions, air velocity and temperature fields and transversal profiles. Performances are better when heat flux is higher and sun is in front of chimney and a low-emissivity glass improves solar chimney achievements. Analysis in transient regimes confirm results obtained in steady state regime.

Heating a gas to over 1,000°C with concentrated sunlight can enable advanced high-performance applications such as solar-driven combined cycles and solar thermo-chemical processes. Solar receivers using volumetric porous absorbers are intended to produce the ‘volumetric effect’ leading to reduced heat loss and high absorber efficiency. However, experiments on volumetric absorbers have not shown this effect, and the absorbers’ efficiency is usually in the range of 70–80% rather than the desirable range of over 90%. Several porous structure geometries, including the well-known ceramic honeycomb and ceramic foam, were investigated with a numerical model. The results show that even optimal configurations still fall short of the desired range of absorber efficiency. A new candidate structure, a dense wire mesh, was investigated and compared to the conventional absorbers. The volumetric convection coefficient was also measured experimentally to provide validation of the single report found in the literature for this structure. An attractive solution with high efficiency of 90% was found for a dense wire mesh with pore diameter of 1 mm and porosity of 0.83. This geometry seems then a promising candidate for future volumetric absorbers.

Due to their relatively high capital and environmental cost of two-tank molten salt thermal storage systems, a significant amount of research has gone into looking for sensible and latent thermal energy storage alternatives suitable for concentrated solar thermal (CST) plants. Despite a large number of developments in the last decade, comparative studies among promising options have been lacking. In particular, only a few comparative studies are available in which thermal energy storage (TES) systems are integrated as an active subcomponent of CST plant. Therefore, this study compares selected sensible heat thermal energy storage systems based on their integrated performance with other CST components (e.g. a tower -based CST plant with a Rankine cycle) over a year of operation. In the present study, annual performances of single-medium thermocline (SMT), double-medium thermocline (DMT), and shell-and-tube (ST) system were compared with that of a conventional two-tank molten salt storage system. Concrete with porosity of 0.2 (concrete occupies 80% of the system) was selected as a low cost filler material in the DMT and ST systems. The systems were sized for 15 hours of storage capacity and integrated into a validated 19.9 MWe Gemasolar power plant model with solar multiple of 2.5. Before performing annual integrated simulations, an optimum design of each storage system was selected based on a performance analysis of the storage system over a constant 15 hours discharge. A CST plant with a two-tank molten salt system enables the highest amount of electricity generation in a year followed by the SMT and DMT systems, which resulted in 7% and 9% less electricity generation, respectively. For the CST plant with ST system, 20% less electricity was generated over a year. Overall, this study provides a methodology for the comparison of the TES alternatives, and it gives insight the most promising alternative for replacing two-tank molten salt systems.

Radiation absorption by a particle curtain formed in a solar free falling particle receiver is investigated using a Eulerian-Eulerian granular two-phase model to solve the two-dimensional mass and momentum equations (CFD). The radiative transfer equation is subsequently solved by the Monte-Carlo (MC) ray-tracing technique using the CFD results to quantify the radiation intensity through the particle curtain. The CFD and MC results provide reliable opacity predictions and are validated with the experimental results available in literature. The particle curtain was found to absorb the solar radiation efficiently for smaller particles at high flowrates due to higher particle volume fraction and increased radiation extinction. However, at low mass-flowrates the absorption efficiency decreases for small and large particles.

In this work, the heating process for apple, eggplant, zucchini and potato by means of evaluation of their thermal properties and the Biot number determined in experimental form is presented. The heating process is carried out using a solar cooker box-type as heating device. The thermal experimental properties determined are conductivity (k), density (D), specific heat (C), diffusivity (Dif) and the Biot number (Bi) for each product evaluated. In the experimentation, temperatures for center and surface in each product and water were measured in controlled conditions. For those measures, a device Compact Fieldpoint and thermocouples placed in the points studied were used. By using correlations with temperature as function, k, D and C were calculated, while by using equations in transitory state for the products modeled as sphere and cylinder was possible to estimate the Biot number after calculation of the heat transfer coefficient for each case. Results indicate the higher value for k, C and Dif correspond to zucchini (0.65 W/m °C, 4084.5 J/kg °C, 1.5 × 10−7 m 2 ), while higher value for D correspond to potato (1197.5 kg/m 3 ). The lowest values for k and C were obtained for potato (0.59 W/m °C, 3658.3 J/kg °C) while lowest values for D and Dif, correspond to zucchini (998.2 kg/m 3 ) and potato (1.45 × 10 −7 m 2 /s) respectively. The maximum and minimum values for Bi corresponded to potato (21.4) and zucchini (0.41) in respective way. The results obtained are very useful in applications for solar energy devices, where estimates for properties are very important to generate new results, for example, numerical simulations. Also, results could be used to evaluate the cooking power in solar cookers when the study object is oriented in that direction.

A evaluation of the conduction heat loss over their cover for four different solar cookers box-type (1. Square solar cooker with inner reflectors placed in right angles, 2. Square solar cooker with inner reflector placed in different angles, 3. Rectangular solar cooker with inner reflectors placed in different angles and 4. Octagonal solar cooker with inner reflectors placed in right angles) is presented. In the heating process in a solar cooker box-type, the conduction heat loss in their cover is the most important in comparative with convection and radiation losses. The cover in solar cookers is made with clear glasses, which allows the inlet solar radiation inside of it. When the heating process happen, the temperature in the cover glasses is important and is important for this part. To evaluate the magnitude for the heat loss, controlled tests were planned, where a solar radiation simulator was used as energy source over the solar cookers considered. In the experiments, thermocouples to determine the gradient temperature for thickness among glasses were placed. In this activity, a Compact Field and LabView software were used. Also, in the experimental tests, thermographic imagines for some instants during the heating process were taken. According results, the conduction heat losses are bigger than 25 % of the inlet energy Flux in the cookers. The biggest values for temperature on the glasses correspond to the solar cooker 3, while minimum values are obtained for the solar cooker 1. The solar cooker 1 present the biggest conduction heat losses and the cooker 4, has the minimum values for the losses. Results of this work can be useful and important for design proposes which could impacts on save of money and cooking time.

Solar PV (photovoltaic) is a rapidly advancing renewable energy technology which converts sunlight directly into electricity. One of the outstanding challenges of the current PV technology is the reduction in its conversion efficiency with increasing PV panel temperature, which is closely associated with the increase in solar intensity and the ambient temperature surrounding the PV panels. To more effectively capture the available energy when the sun is most intense, significant efforts have been invested in active and passive cooling research over the last few years. While integrated cooling systems can lead to the highest total efficiencies, they are usually neither the most feasible nor the most cost effective solution. This work examines some simple passive means of manipulating the prevailing wind turbulence to enhance convective heat transfer over a heated plate in a wind tunnel. Specific turbulence generators are devised based on knowledge gained from orificed perforated plate turbulence study.

Investigations are underway around the world to make solar energy more competitive in the energy market [1–3]. One approach is to develop solar hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) technologies which allow for maximal utilization of incident sunlight by integrating a PV cell and a thermal receiver in the same collector [4,5]. In this study, we will present a new PV/T design based on a compact linear Fresnel concentrator (LFC) coupled with a spectral beam-splitter. The beam-splitting approach avoids the efficiency drop in the PV cell while still obtaining high temperature thermal output. The design is analyzed numerically with respect to a worth factor which considers the intrinsically higher economic value of electrical energy at ∼3 times thermal energy. In order to predict optical performance, the geometry of this hybrid concentrating collector, which achieves 10–15 suns concentration, is modeled at various incident angles using the ray tracing software Zemax. Three different PV cells are considered (Si, GaAs and GaInP/GaAs). The reported spectral response of these cells is used to determine the optimal wavelength split for the fraction of the solar spectrum directed to the various PV cells. The results indicate that such designs can achieve 20–51% greater value of the power outputs — PV electrical power plus heat produced — relative to a stand-alone PV system.

Methanol reforming to produce hydrogen is an excellent way to provide fuel for hydrogen-based fuel cells. Since methanol reforming is an endothermic process, requiring an energy input, it is possible to use this reaction as a way to store primary energy. In this paper, we propose that this reaction can be driven with a new type of solar collector which has high overall efficiency. The advantage of the proposed design is that it can achieve high temperatures (up to 250°C) without tracking thus reducing capital and running costs. A CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) collector was designed with a half angle of 27.4 degrees and a concentration ratio between 1.5–1.75 over the entire cone angle. Furthermore, due to the small size of the designed type of collector, it would be easy to manually orient it so that the axis is aligned east-west, which would allow it to concentrate all day. The fabricated collector shown later in this paper has the advantage of being portable with a thickness of just 70mm. In this design, we use a vacuum layer between the receiver and the frame to minimize the convective heat loss and to allow for thermal concentration. Selective surfaces, such as TiNO x , are employed in the receiver to absorb solar (short wavelength) radiation while minimizing emission of thermal (long wavelength) radiation. An optical analysis via ray tracing shows an optical efficiency of 80% to 85% in the range of half incident angle. Also, a prototype of the designed CPC collector is manufactured and shown in this paper.

This study presents efforts to analyze how sustainable roofing technologies can contribute to the energy budget of buildings, and the resulting implications for heating and cooling energy use. The data analyzed in this study were obtained from a field experiment performed on a four story warehouse/office building in Portland, Oregon USA. The building’s roof includes a 216 panel, 45.6 kW solar photovoltaic array in combination with 576 m 2 of vegetated green roofing. While most of the surface consists of green roof shaded by photovoltaic panels, the roof also has test patches of dark membrane, white membrane and un-shaded green-roofing. Interior and exterior surface temperatures were monitored over a period of two years and heat flux into the building is estimated using a finite difference conduction model. On average, the black roof membrane was the only roof that caused a net heat gain into the building in the summer. In the winter, all four roofing technologies resulted in net heat losses out of the building. Both the PV-shaded and un-shaded green-roofs indicated a net heat loss out of the interior of the building during both the summer and winter. This latter effect is largely a result of green-roof evaporative cooling — which can benefit air conditioning demand in summer but may be undesirable during heating-dominated seasons.

A computational analysis of a metamaterial (MTM) window design is presented for the purpose of increasing the energy efficiency of buildings in seasonal or cold climates. Commercial low-emissivity windows use nanometer-scale Ag films to reflect infrared energy, while retaining most transmission of optical wavelengths for functionality. An opportunity exists to further increase efficiency through a variable emissivity implementation of Ag thin-film structures. 3-D finite-difference time-domain simulations predict nonlinear absorption of near-infrared energy, providing the means to capture a substantial portion of solar energy during cold periods. The effect of various configuration parameters is quantified, with prediction of the net sustainability advantage. MTM window glass technology can be realized as a modification to current, commercial low-emissivity windows through the application of nanomanufactured films, creating the opportunity for both new and after-market sustainable construction.

Thermochemical storage of high-temperature ( 450°C – 1000°C ) thermal energy can be applied to concentrated solar power systems for round-the-clock electricity dispatchability. Reversible, non-catalytic gas-solid reactions are used to convert thermal into chemical energy during endothermic charging, and vice versa during exothermic discharging. To assist the experimental investigation of such chemical reactors, a numerical model of the heat and mass transfer in a tubular packed bed reactor has been developed. The fluid serves as both heat transfer medium and gas reactant supplier and is modeled as a homogeneous phase using unsteady one-dimensional mass and energy balances. Solid reactants are modeled as spherical porous granules. The unsteady radial energy and mass balances are solved in the granules. This allows for the accurate treatment of larger granules with a diameter in the range of mm to cm in which radial gradients may occur. The temperature profile within a granule is calculated from an energy balance, whereas mass balances track the local concentration of the gases within the pores, affected by diffusion and an eventual mass source/sink due to the gas-solid reaction. The fluid and granule phases are coupled through local mass and energy exchange terms. The numerical implementation of the model is tested through a thorough code-verification study and a general assessment on mass and energy conservation within the coupled fluid and granule phases.