Applied Energy 38 (1991)81-94

Effects of Edges on Solar-Energy Collection in Small Solar Ponds

M. A. Hassab Mechanical EngineeringDept., Qatar University,Doha, Qatar, Arabian Gulf

&
O. A. E1-Masry Mechanical EngineeringDept., Alexandria University,Alexandria, Egypt

ABSTRACT In small-size ponds, the shading by the side walls affects the collection and storage of solar energy. In this paper, the influence of the aspect ratio, pond size, convective-zone thickness, and bottom-surface reflectivity on the collection and storage of solar energy is examined analytically, and the relative importance of such factors is illustrated.

NOTATION a, b A, B C Hc Hi
H t

I Ii, Ii-

Ji,b
Ji,a

Length and width, respectively, of the solar pond Length and width aspect ratios, a/Hi, b/Hi, respectively He~H, Lower convective-zone depth Combined depth of both the upper convective layer and the nonconvective layer Total depth Solar radiation intensity Spectral radiation intensity over band-i, forward and backward Proportion of solar beam radiation in the wavelength band i Proportion of solar diffuse radiation in the wavelength band i 81

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M. A. Hassab, O. A. El-Masry

Latitude Direction cosines of the solar radiation Refractive index Instantaneous forward and backward radiative heat fluxes in the z-direction + Q~, Q~ Average components of the forward and backward radiative heat fluxes in the z-direction Q Hourly average radiative-flux component in the z-direction Qc Daily radiative flux absorbed in the convective zone Qc Radiative flux absorbed in the convective zone over the 12 selected days s, t Laplace-transform variables U Unit step function x,y,z Cartesian co-ordinates: z measured vertically downwards and x measured from east to west X, Y, Z Dimensionless transformed co-ordinates, (= x/l,y/m, z/n). n/H i ~i Spectral-extinction coefficient, m 7i Optical thickness for vertical radiation, 0~iHi 6 Kronecker delta 0 Zenith angle (measured from vertical) p Reflectivity of the bottom surface Po Reflectivity of air-water interface ~ Spectral optical thickness, ~iHJn ~b Azimuth angle (measured from east) ~2 Direction

L l, m, n n q+,q7

Superscripts
+, Refer to forward and backward radiation respectively

Subscript
i Refers to wavelength band i of the solar spectrum

INTRODUCTION The collection and storage of solar energy by solar ponds for possible uses in power production, space heating, process heating, desalination, and other purposes have been of considerable interest during the past two decades. Most studies reported in the literature are concerned with large ponds, 1-19 for which the shading effects of the side walls are negligible. In the case of small ponds, the shading effect of the side walls needs to be taken into consideration in the thermal analysis of the system.

Effects of pond edges on solar-energy collection

83

The objective of this study is to examine the collection of solar energy in small solar ponds by including in the analysis the shading effect of the side walls. It is well known that water is a selective absorber as well as a scatterer of solar energy. 2-2s The scattering is caused by the water molecules themselves as well as by transparent organisms and suspended particles in the water. The molecular scattering accounts for only 7% of the total scattering. 2s As a result, scattering of radiation by water in ponds is mainly due to the presence of transparent biological organisms and suspended particles. A comparison of scattering data obtained by several investigators reveals that the scattering occurs mainly in the direction of the incident beam. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that the attenuation of radiation in water that is due to scattering can be incorporated into the absorption coefficient, since all the non-absorbed energy propagates in its original direction.

ANALYSIS To develop a mathematical model for the attenuation of solar radiation by the water at various depths in the pond, we make the following assumptions. (1) The emission of radiation by the body of water is negligible in comparison with the incident solar energy. (2) The forward-scattering approximation is valid, and hence the scattering effects can be incorporated with the absorption effect. (3) The solar spectrum for both direct and diffuse radiation is divided into four bands over the range of wavelength from 0"2 to 1"2 pm, as suggested by Rabl and Nielson. 5 (4) The percentage of spectral solar radiation for both direct and diffuse components and the extinction coefficients ~i for each of the four bands are listed in Table 1. (5) The refractive index of water varies very little with wavelength in the range of wavelength of interest. 2 An average value of n = 1.33 is therefore used over the wavelength bands considered. (6) The solar-radiation intensity I is represented by a simple model that takes into account the diffuse and direct components based on a monthlyaverage basis in the form:
I = A 1 . e A2/~b 6 ( 0 Oh). 6(ok -- ckb) + - D

(1)

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M. A. Hassab, O. A. EI-Masry

TABLE 1 The Separation of the Solar Spectrum into Four Wavelength Bands
i Band no. Wavelength range

Ji,b
Direct beam

Ji,d
Diffuse

~ti (m - t)

1 2 3 4

0.2-0-6 0"6-0'75 0'75-0'9 0"9-1"2

0"237 0"193 0'167 0-179

0-675 0"092 0"066 0'045

0-032 0"45 3"0 35'0

where 6 is the Kronecker delta, i.e. {10 X = a X 4: a

3 ( X - a) =

0 and 4) are the zenith and azimuth angles, respectively, and 0b and q~brefer to those angles for the incident direct beam. The constants A, B, and C obtained from Ref 26 are listed in Table 2. Note that the first and second terms inside the brackets in eqn (1) represent, respectively, the direct and diffuse components of solar radiation. (7) Figure 1 shows schematically the geometry and dimensions for the solar-pond model considered here. All the side walls and the bottom surface are thermally insulated. The side surfaces inside the pond are all black. Diffuse reflection is allowed from the bottom surface. (8) The model is symmetrical for the incident solar beam with respect to the due south direction.
TABLE 2 The Constants A, B, and C of Eqn (1)
Date Solar-declination angle A t ( IV/m2 ) Az D

Jan. 27 Feb. 16 Mar. 16 Apr. 15 May 15 Jun. 11 Jul. 17 Aug. 16 Sep. 15 Oct. 15 Nov. 14 Dec. 10

-21.00 -12"95 -2.42 9.41 -18,79 23'09 21'81 13-45 2.22 -9"60 -18'9t --23-05

1 230 1 217 1 190 1 145 1 110 1 093 1086 1 102 1 142 1 184 1214 1 228

0.1420 0.1434 0.1520 0.1750 0'1930 0.2020 0"2066 0.2020 0.1816 0-1630 0'1510 0.1440

0'0580 0.0594 0.0690 0-0920 0.1160 0-1300 0"1356 0.1200 0.0980 0-0760 0-0650 0.0590

Effects of pond edges on solar-energy collection

85

%
/
"

-oo~ ~ x /.

air, n = I
Id

/\\

'

/' Free water

\1

,k uz.z Ik

v "

7.,Z

ra ./ o./x
l / /

Hi H

s~Jrface

~bw

convective-zooe
brine, n = 1.33
oov, c,,v, z o o ,

h Fig. I.

insutation~/"

A small s o l a r - p o n d model.

(9) The air-water interface reflects the externally incident radiation specularly. (10) The reflectivity of the water-air interface for radiation coming from the water side is neglected. Referring to the solar pond illustrated in Fig. 1, the pond consists of three zones of different depths, the height H i refers to the thickness of both the upper convective layer and the non-convecting gradient layer combined, and the height H c is that of the lower convective layer, in which the solar energy is stored for the purpose of utilization. The thermal stratification in the non-convective layer is maintained by the presence of a salt gradient in the water. The heat flow through the non-convective zone is therefore by conduction only, so that it serves as an insulating layer for the lower convective zone. In this study, our objective is to examine the effects of various design parameters on the amount of solar energy absorbed in the convective zone. The analysis is therefore concerned with the determination of the attenuation of solar radiation in the body of water as a function of depth. Let I(x,y, z, fit) be the total radiation intensity over all spectral bands considered here, in any direction fit and at any location (x, y, z) in the water. Based on the previous assumptions, the total intensity I(x, y, z, fit) is related to the spectral-band intensities, Ii(x,y,z, ~), by:
4

i=1

J i ."

li(x, y, z, f~)

(2a)

86

M. A. Hassab, O. A. EI-Masry

where Po is the reflectivity of the air-water interface for externally incident radiation, 6 is the Kronecker delta, and I o is the solar constant determined from eqn (1) as: I o = A 1 e x p ( - A 2 / c o s 0b) (2b)

and other quantities are as defined previously. Clearly, to evaluate the total radiation intensity I(x, y, z, ~) from eqn (2a), one needs to determine the spectral-band intensities I i ( x , y , z , ~ ) which requires the solution of the equation of radiative transfer, subject to appropriate b o u n d a r y conditions for the problem. Following the standard procedure 27 for solving the equation of radiative transfer, we separate the band intensities into f o r w a r d components li + (X, y, z, ~) =- [i + and backward components I i- (x, y, z, fl) =- Ii-. Neglecting the reflection of radiation coming from the water side at the water-air interface, the forward- and backward-band intensities Ig+ and/~- satisfy the following:
+
+

oi?

0 X + ~Y- + ~ Z - + r'Ii+ = 0 I~+ = 1 Ig+ = 0 and ~li- cgli- OIic~X ~- 63~ 8,Z + zili- = 0
==0 =0

(3a) (3b) (3c, d)

atZ=0 atX=Y=0

(4a) (4b)
(4c, d)

I~+ ndnd 4)
I? = 0

atZ=l+C

at X = Y = 0

where the various dimensionless quantities are defined as:

(x,Y,Z)=~,[TX,

1 [n m Y , z) n
C = Hc/H i

(Sa)

z i = ~iHi/n,

(5b)

the direction cosines/, m, and n are given by l = sin 0 Wcos ~b m = sin 0w sin 4>
n = c o s 0w

(5c) (5d)
(5e)

Effects of pond edges on solar-energy collection

87

and p is the reflectivity of the bottom surface. Eqn (4b) expresses the fact that the non-absorbed portion of the forward-radiative flux at the pond's bottom will be diffusively reflected back into the water (0 > 90).

SOLUTION OF THE RADIATION PROBLEM The above coupled system of eqns (3,4), governing the attenuation of forward and backward radiation through the water, is a first-order linear set of partial differential equations, and as such it has a closed-form solution. This can be obtained by the application of the Laplace transform. The Laplace transform of the system (3), with respect first to the Xvariable and then to the Y variable, yields:
dK,+ d---Z + (s + t + ri)K~- = 0

(6a)

and K~=-1
s.t

at Z = 0

(6b)

where s and t are the Laplace-transform variables, and K~ is the double + Laplace transform of the function I~+, that is:
= x ey{I/(x, Y, z)}

The solution of the transformed problem (6) is:

1 K + = --e
S.I

-~s+'+~i)z

(7)

The double Laplace inversion of this result gives the forward-radiation intensity li+ as:
I, + = U ( X - Z). U( Y - Z) e - :,z

(8a)

where

U(X-a) = unit step-function = {01

X>_a X <a

(8b)

By following a similar procedure, the solution of the system (4) for the backward-radiation intensity I~- is determined as:
I,- = -P lz~ I 1 U ( X - Z'OU( Y - Z'2)e-~'~z3-Z)n' dn'ddp ndodo

(9a)

88

M. A. Hassab, O. A. EI-Masry

where

Z*=(I+C)-Z Z 2 = ~ -(l+C)-m--Z*n

Zi=

(1+ C)-/Z
n

* (9b)

Z3=

+1 (I+C)

The results given by eqns (8, 9) imply that, at any plane inside the pond, a certain portion will be receiving beam radiation (the illuminated part), with b o t h forward and backward c o m p o n e n t s with varying intensities, while the rest will be receiving no direct radiation (the shaded part). The special case of Xn a

I H1

~o0

and

Y-

n b

mHi

~c~

corresponds to a large solar p o n d and eqns (8,9) reduce to the onedimensional model representing an exponential decay for the forward and backward intensities. K n o w i n g the band intensities Ii+ and Ii-, the total intensities I + and I in the forward and backward directions are determined according to the relation given by eqn (2). We obtain
4

I + = (1-po)./o >' f.
i=l

U(X-Z). U ( Y - Z ) . e =''z
4

(10a)

I - = (1 -- Po). Io >'fI,i=4

(10b)

where

f~= a,.b6(O- 0bw) . 3(~b - qbbw) + 2Dj, ",d

(10c)

The forward and backward radiative heat-flux c o m p o n e n t s in the zdirection at any point inside the p o n d are obtained in terms of the radiation intensities I + and I - as: q~ =
=0

I + cos 0 sin 0 dO dq5

(1 la)

and qz =
=0

I - cos 0 sin 0 dO d~b

(1 lb)

Effects of pond edgeson solar-energycollection

89

The average instantaneous forward and backward radiative fluxes in the Zdirection are then determined by integrating eqns (11) over the X - Y plane. giving:
4

Q~ ~ ( 1 - po )IoI Fl COSOb ) liJi.b exp I -- ~iZ/cos Obw) I...1~

i=1 4

+ Dy.lid I
rc L.~
i=1

' d~=oJe=o

0 max

Flexp(-,,Z/cosOw)sin2OdOdc~

(12a)

and
4.

Qz =P(1--po)lo[COSObF2~Ji,bexp(--YiZ*/coSObw)
i=1 4

+ where

D
i=1

~ ('o m~x exp(-y,Z*/cosOw)sin 20 d0d~b- (12b) 1J =oJo_o F2

( S o - 2")( r o - Z)
F 1 =

XoYo =o(A-Zi)(B-Zi)exp{-r~(l+C)/n'}n'dn'd~)

(13a)

F2 - ~-.-.~ j , ; o

(13b) (13c) (13d)

7i = c~iHi= zl/cos 0,,

F f A* B* \q 0max min{tan- l[min { c~ss~b,s~n ~b-)J sin- 1( ~ 3 ) } and (A*, B*) - (A, B) I+C

(A, B) = (a, b)/H,

(13e,f)

Finally, the net average radiation flux, Q, in the Z direction at any level is determined from: Q = Q~+ - Q~(14)

90

M. A. Hassab, O. A. El-Masry

RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION The effects of various design parameters, such as the depth, pond size, thickness of the convective zone, and bottom-surface reflectivity on the magnitude of solar energy trapped in the heating zone have been examined. Figure 2 shows the effects of the bottom-surface reflectivity on the attenuation of solar energy penetrating a small pond (A = B = 4 m) and a large pond (A = B = oc) for a total pond depth of H t = 2 m. The transmitted energy per unit area is based on the 12 selected days. The energy transmitted decreases monotonically with the depth measured from the top surface as well as with increasing reflectivity of the bottom surface. A comparison of the results for the small and large ponds for the case of p = 0 reveals that the attenuation increases with a decrease in the open area of the pond. However, for larger values of bottom-surface reflectivity, a crossover caused by the influence of the side walls occurs in the curves because the energy reflected from the bottom surface is trapped inside the small pond. The daily transmitted energy averaged over the year, which represents the whole year, can be obtained from Fig. 2 by dividing the total transmitted energy for the selected 12 days by 12.
45 \ i I 1 I I

40

~\ 1\\\

A = B : L m. (srnal, I p o n d ) A : B : aom,(Large pond) :

,o:

>.

~ ~..~/ /

~o
5 0 0 _

P : 05 - - 1

i 25

i 50

l 75

l ]00

J 125

l ]50

175

200

Distance f r o m t o p Fig. 2. Effect o f bottom-surface reflectivity p on energy transmitted to the b o t t o m in a solar pond (L = 31'2N).

Effects of pond edges on solar-energy collection

30

91

A=B--co. ?: O.O

~, 2 0
f'M

~...~. ~5 ~ f ' = ~o~ I0

_

?= t

0.5 03 Q0

A=B H; = 1,0 m 5 -0 0 I 2 I 4 I 6 I 8
Aspect

He= 2.0 m
I I l0 12 ~4 Ratio, A or B I 16 [ ]B

20

Fig. 3.

Effect o f p o n d size o n the s o l a r e n e r g y r e a c h i n g the c o n v e c t i v e z o n e o v e r t h e 12 selected d a y s (L = 31'2N).

Figure 3 shows the effects o f aspect ratio (i.e. A = a/Hi) on the solar energy Qc trapped in the convective zone for a small square pond (A = B) with Hi = 1 m and H c = 2 m for various bottom-surface reflectivities. Included in this figure are the results for the large pond (i.e. A = B = oo). The results indicate significant shadowing effects for aspect ratios o f less than about 2. With increasing aspect ratio, the curves asymptotically merge to those for
3O
28 26 - -

I Hc
Hc

I 1.0m.
2.0 m.

'
~" H; = I O r n J

I
Y= 0.0

~. 24

-~

? = O0 r - Q3 f' = O . 5 - -

~22
ICY

o20

--

16 _

I
2

I
8

i
l0

4 6 Aspect Ratio, A or B

Fig. 4.

Effect o f c o n v e c t i v e - z o n e t h i c k n e s s He, ' o n t h e e n e r g y Qc for w i d e r a n g e o f p o n d size a n d g r o u n d reflectivity (L = 31.2N).

92

M. A. Hassab, O. A. El-Masry

a
&0 2.5 ,,,.~. 2.0

~
= .-

0.0

J Fig. 5.

A M .1" J" A M o n t h s of the year

V a r i a t i o n o f m o n t h l y - a v e r a g e daily solar energy Qc over the c o u r s e o f the year for different p o n d sizes for p = 0, L = 31.2N.

the large-pond results. Increasing the bottom-surface reflectivity decreases the solar energy trapped in the convective zone. Figure 4 shows the amount of solar energy Qc absorbed in the convective zone per unit area over the 12 selected days as a function of the aspect ratio A = a / H i, where A = B for two different values of convective-zone thickness (He = 1 m and H c = 2 m) with Hi = 1 m. For the case of p = 0, the convectivezone thickness has no effect on Qc for all values of the aspect ratio. On the other hand, increasing H c increases the solar-energy absorption Qc if the bottom surface is reflective. This is due to the increasing percentage of the reflected energy being trapped in the convective zone. Figure 5 shows the variation of the monthly-average daily solar energy stored in the convective zone plotted against the months of the year for various values of A (or B) with Hi = 1 m, Hc = 2 m and p = 0. All the curves for the stored energy appear to have maxima for June and minima for December, resulting from the decrease of the solar zenith angle 0 as one proceeds from December to June and vice versa from June to December.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors wish to thank Professor M. N. Ozisik of North Carolina State University, U.S.A., for his advice and valuable improvement of the manuscript. This paper is a part of the research carried out under Grant no. 2634)118 between the Governments of Egypt and the U.S.A.

Effects of pond edges on solar-energy collection

REFERENCES

93

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M. A. Hassab, O. A. El-Masry

25. Duntley, S. Q., Light in the sea. J. Opt. Soc. Am., 53 (1963) 214. 26. Taha, I. S. & Eldighidy, S. M., Effect of off-south orientation on optimum conditions for maximum solar energy absorbed by fiat plate collector augmented by plane reflector. Solar Energy, 25 (1980) 373-9. 27. Ozisik, M. N., Radiative Transfer. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1973.