The 6000 sq m solar pond in Bhuj supplied totally about 15,000 m3 of hot water to the dairy at an

average temperature of 75oC between September 1993 and April 1995. It is estimated that the
beneficiary of the project, Kutch Dairy can save over 935 MT of lignite per year if solar pond is
utilized to its full capacity. This translates into monetary savings of the order of US$19,000 per
annum.

The Bhuj Solar Pond project was conceived as a research and development project to
demonstrate the feasibility of using a salt gradient solar pond to deliver industrial process heat in
the Indian context. Another major consideration in setting up the pond was to develop an
indigenous and cost-effective lining scheme based on locally available materials. Apart from
being cost effective, solar ponds can be effectively used for reducing the consumption of fossil
fuel and bringing down pollution emission levels.

The construction of 6000 m2 solar pond was started in 1987 at Kutch Dairy, Bhuj as a
collaborative effort between Gujarat Energy Development Agency, Gujarat Dairy Development
Corporation Limited and Tata Energy Research Institute under the National Solar Pond
Programme of the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources.

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 this phenomena
by dissolving salt into the bottom layer of 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energy is then withdrawn from the solar pond in the form of hot brine and is used as industrial
process heat.

The highlights are as follows:

Establishment of first large scale pond in industrial environment, to cater to actual user-
demands.
Demonstrated successfully, for the first time in India, the use of solar pond for supplying
process heat to an actual industrial user.
 Culmination of laboratory scale testing. Beginning could now be made for commercial
exploitation of technology.
Created an awareness and interest among the industries with potential for utilizing
thermal energy supplied by solar pond.

TERI carried out execution, operation and maintenance of Bhuj solar pond. After its start-up in
September 1993, hot water supply to the dairy continued till April 1995. The hot water supply
was resumed in August 1996 and in April 1997, the solar pond was handed over to the dairy. An
inexpensive lining scheme, consisting of alternating layers of clay and LDPE combination was
used for lining the pond. To take care of wind induced disturbances (Bhuj is a windy area with
an annual wind speed of over 3.6 m/sec) especially developed Israeli nets were substituted
successfully by wave suppressors made of locally available HDPE nets. The salt dissolution
process was expedited by means of a system comprising a mixing pond with a mechanical
agitator, settling tank and a sand bed filter. This process enabled simultaneous chemical
treatment & clarification of brine.

Instead of establishing a linear salinity gradient, a non-linear gradient was established in Bhuj
Solar Pond, using an injection diffuser which was installed at one end of the pond, the other end
being 100 m away. Maximum pond temperature (under stagnation) of 99.8oC was attained in
May 1991, leading to development of sudden leakage in the pond. However, even at such high
temperatures, the salinity gradient remained stable. It took nearly two years to analyze the
problem and re-establish the pond with an improved lining scheme. The improvements in the
lining scheme consisted of (i) increase in thickness of clay lining, (ii) membrane liner made of
LLDPE & LDPE, and (iii) overlapped joints instead of heat-sealed joints of membrane strips.

Since brine transparency is one of the crucial factors as far as thermal behavior of pond is
concerned, several steps were taken to maintain it at an optimal level. These included surface
skimming, flocculation of suspended particles and algae control through addition of hydrochloric
acid and copper sulphate.

The heat extraction system consisted of brine suction and discharge diffusers, brine pump,
associated piping, controls and instrumentation. Both, suction and discharge diffusers were
installed on the same side of the pond. Keeping in view the problem of fouling, a shell and tube
type heat exchanger was chosen. Brine was on the tube side, made of cupro-nickle. The pond
dissolution of 3500 MT salt within two & half month with is capable of delivering 80000 liters
of hot water daily, at 70o C or above.

The total cost of construction of the Bhuj Solar Pond was US$90,000 (1997 prices), including
heat exchanger and piping etc. This corresponds to a unit cost of $15/m2 of the pond area as
compared to $30/m2 of the Beth `ha Arava (Israel) solar pond in 1984. This shows the definite
outcome of the research and development efforts in this field. The savings resulting in
substitution of lignite with the pond amount to around US$19,000 per annum. Further
improvements, especially on the lining method, are expected to reduce the costs even more.
Thus, the simple payback period works out to be less than 5 years without any subsidy or tax
incentives. The economics becomes still more attractive if the fuel replaced is not lignite but
either oil or coal.

This project succeeded in generating interest among the potential users through actual
demonstration, business meet and one-to-one interaction with the decision-makers. Thus, the
leading industrial houses like DCW Ltd. (for their Tuticurin plant), Ballarpur Industries Ltd. (for
their Bromine recovery plant in Great Rann of Kutch), Excel Industries Ltd. (for their Marine
chemicals project in Great Rann of Kutch, near Khavda); Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. and
Sanghi Industries Ltd. (for their Cement Division at Narayan Sarovar, Kutch) etc. evinced keen
interest in this technology. Not only that, even the Gujarat Government and the Indian Army too
were interested in establishing solar pond water desalination systems to meet drinking water
requirements of the interior villages and troops, respectively, all along the Great Rann of Kutch.

!
The crucial factors that affect the economic viability of solar ponds include the abundance of
inexpensive salt and level land. Thus, it makes economic sense to locate the pond near an
inexpensive salt supply, such as salt works, coastal regions, near the source of bittern and natural
salt and within an industry that produces brine/bittern as a by-product. When these requirements
or inputs are matched with the deliverables of a pond, the following niche areas emerge where
this technology can be applied most gainfully:
- Process heating
- Water desalination
- Refrigeration
- Production of Magnesium Chloride and other marine chemicals.
- Bromine recovery from the bittern
- Enhancement of the salt yield in the salt farms
Solar ponds located in arid regions where abundant brackish water is available, may be excellent
sources of energy for water desalination. There are two reasons for this, first, the solar pond can
provide the thermal energy required for the process and second, the pond can be a repository for
the concentrated waste brine, disposal of which often prove to be a difficult problem, particularly
with anti-pollution laws becoming stricter every day. Apart from industrial applications, solar
pond desalination systems can also be employed to solve drinking water problems in areas where
fresh water is scarce.

The Bhuj Solar Pond, which was dedicated to the nation in May 1994 by then Union Minister for
Non-conventional Energy Sources, has demonstrated for the first time in the country, the supply
of industrial process heat to an actual user. Thus, a stage has been set from where commercial
exploitation of this potential technology could be embarked upon.
 BHUJ SOLAR POND

A 6000 m2 solar pond has been constructed at Bhuj, Kutch in a milk-processing dairy. The project, with a total
outlay of Rs.8.73 million, sponsored by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources as a National Project, was
a joint venture among Tata Energy Research Institute, Gujarat Energy Development Agency and Gujarat Dairy
Development Corporation Ltd.

Highlights:

Establishment of first large-scale pond in industrial environment, to cater to actual user-

demands.
Demonstrated successfully, for the first time in India, the use of solar pond for supplying
process heat to an actual industrial user.
Completely indigenously developed, cost-effective lining scheme, based on locally available
materials.
Attained a record temperature of 99.8oC under stagnation.
Culmination of laboratory scale testing. Paved way for commercial exploitation of
technology.
Created an awareness and interest among the industries having potential for utilising thermal
energy supplied by solar pond.
Achieved design capacity of supplying 80,000 litres of hot water per day to the dairy at 70oC
or above.
Over 20 million litres of hot water supplied to the dairy between September 1993 and March
1997.
The savings to the dairy to the tune of about 935 MT of lignite per year at full capacity
utilisation of solar pond. Thus, the simple payback period works out to be less than 5 years
without any subsidy or tax incentives.
Niche Applications

A major portion of industrial energy consumption is in the form of thermal energy. Solar pond technology is an
alternative that offers various cost-effective end-uses without endangering the environment. The following are the
niche applications of solar pond technology:

Process heating
Water desalination
Refrigeration
Production of Magnesium Chloride
Bromine recovery from the bittern
Enhancement of the salt yield in the salt farms, etc.
"
1. Amit Kumar and Kishore V V N. 1989. Solar Pond Project at Kutch Dairy. Int. Solar
Pond Letters, Vol. 3(1)

2. Rao K S, Motiani M, Kishore V V N, Kumar A, Rao K S, and Pawar P R. 1990. Setting Up

of Salt Gradient Solar Pond For a Dairy Plant - Phase I. Rao K S, Kishore V V N, Vaja
D (Eds.), Solar Pond, GEDA

3. Motiani M, Kumar A, Kishore V V N, and Rao K S. 1990. Constructional Details of a

6000 sq.m. Solar Pond at Kutch Dairy, Bhuj. 2nd International Conference on Progress in
Solar Ponds, Rome, Italy

4. Motiani M, Kumar A, Kishore V V N, and (late) Rao K S. 1993. One Year Performance of
6000 sq.m. Solar Pond at Bhuj. 3rd International Conference on Progress in Solar Ponds,
El Paso, Texas, USA

5. Amit Kumar, Bhatt R N, and Kishore V V N. 1993. Operation of a 6000 sq.m. Solar Pond
for Supplying Process Heat to a Dairy Plant at Bhuj. National Solar Energy Convention,
Baroda

6. Amit Kumar and Kishore V V N. 1994. Construction and Operation of a 6000 sq.m. Salt
Gradient Solar Pond for Process Heat Application. Salt Research and Iodisation Meet.
Regional Research Laboratory. Bhubaneswar.

7. 8.Kishore V V N, and Kumar A. 1996. Solar Pond: An exercise in development of

indigenous technology at Kutch, India. Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 3(1).

8. Amit Kumar and V V N Kishore. 1998. Utilization of solar pond technology in industry.
In Proceedings of National Solar Energy Convention. November 30-December 2. Roorkee.

9. Amit Kumar and V V N Kishore. 1999. Construction and operational experience of a

6000 m2 solar pond at Kutch, India. Solar Energy Vol 65 (4). pp 237-249.

10. Amit Kumar and V V N Kishore. 1999. Development of a large solar pond for a dairy
plant in India. SunWorld. Vol 23 (1). pp 23-24.