B.V.

Raju Institute of Technology

Vishnupur , Narsapur , Medak (Dt) - 502313.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

COURSE INFORMATION FILE

Subject : Renewable Energy Sources

Academic Year : 2020-2021

Name of the Faculty : P. Anil Babu

Department : Mechanical Engineering

Year & Sem : III Year I Semester

 PART-1
Sl.No. DESCRIPTION
1 Institute Vision, Mission
2 Department Vision, Mission,
3 Department: Programme PEOs, & POs, PSOs
4 Course Objectives, Course Outcomes and Topic Outcomes
5 Course Prerequisites
6 CO’s, PO’s, PSOs Mapping
Course Information Sheet (CIS)
a) Course Description
b) Syllabus
c) Gaps inSyllabus
d) Topics beyondsyllabus
7 e) WebSources-References
f) Delivery / InstructionalMethodologies
g) AssessmentMethodologies-Direct
h) Assessment Methodologies–Indirect
i) Textbooks& Reference books

Course Evaluation Plan

8 a) Directmethod(s)
b) IndirectMethod(s)
9 Rubrics
10 Micro Lesson Plan
11 Student Profile
12 Lecture Notes -Unit Wise (Hard Copy/soft copy)
13 OHD/LCD SHEETS /CDS/DVDS/PPT (Soft/Hard copies)
14 University Previous Question papers
15 MID exam Descriptive Question Papers
16 MID exam Objective Question papers
17 Assignment topics with materials
18
Tutorial topics and Questions
Unit wise-Question bank
1 Short answer questions
19 2 Descriptive questions
3 Analytical questions
4 Objective questions
5 Fill in the blanks questions
20 Contents beyond syllabus with material

Renewable Energy Sources

 PART 1

1. Institute Vision: To create and nurture competent engineers and managers who would
be enterprise leaders throughout the world with a sound background in ethics and societal
responsibilities.
Institute Mission: Committed to providing a positive and professional learning environment
where all students are inspired to strive for excellence in becoming competent engineers,
technology innovators and leaders in a global society through a cohesive network of parents,
students, college staff and industry.

2. Department Vision: The Mechanical Engineering Department strives to be recognized

globally for outstanding education and research leading to well-qualified engineers as well as
managers who are innovative/creative, entrepreneurial and successful in advanced fields of
engineering and research to take up social responsibilities with ethics.
Department Mission
 To provide innovative technology solutions to solve a wide range of complex
scientific, technological and social problems in Mechanical Engineering field.
 To provide opportunities supported by continuous industry – institute interaction
aimed at promoting employability, entrepreneurship, leadership and research aptitude
among students.
 To prepare the students who are psychologically strong and emotionally balanced
imbibed with social consciousness and ethical values.

3.Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs)

PEO1: To nurture students with profound basic theoretical knowledge along with practical
skills in the core area of mechanical engineering viz. Design, Manufacturing, Thermal,
Industrial Engineering and management along with modern analytical and computational
tools.
PEO 2: To strengthen the students to be able to exhaust excellence in their field of interest
through engineering projects, Industrial visits/internships and take up research assignment in
societal context or entrepreneurial context.
PEO 3: To graduate with the confidence professional ethics and motivation for lifelong
learning that is necessary for them to be leaders in their chosen field of endeavor.

Program Outcomes (POs)

PO 1 Engineering knowledge: Apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering
fundamentals, and an engineering specialization to the solution of complex engineering
problems.
PO 2 Problem analysis: Identify, formulate, review research literature, and analyze complex
engineering problems reaching substantiated conclusions using first principles of
mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering sciences.
PO 3 Design/development of solutions: Design solutions for complex engineering problems
and design system components or processes that meet the specified needs with appropriate
consideration for the public health and safety, and the cultural, societal, and environmental
considerations.
PO 4 Conduct investigations of complex problems: Use research-based knowledge and
research methods including design of experiments, analysis and interpretation of data, and
synthesis of the information to provide valid conclusions.
PO 5 Modern tool usage: Create, select, and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and
modern engineering and IT tools including prediction and modeling to complex engineering
activities with an understanding of the limitations.
PO 6 The engineer and society: Apply reasoning informed by the contextual knowledge to
assess societal, health, safety, legal and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities
relevant to the professional engineering practice.
PO 7 Environment and sustainability: Understand the impact of the professional 9.
Attainment of POs and PSOs through Course Page 3 of 9 engineering solutions in societal
and environmental contexts, and demonstrate the knowledge of, and need for sustainable
development.
PO 8 Ethics: Apply ethical principles and commit to professional ethics and responsibilities
and norms of the engineering practice.
PO 9 Individual and team work: Function effectively as an individual, and as a member or
leader in diverse teams, and in multidisciplinary settings.
PO 10 Communication: Communicate effectively on complex engineering activities with
the engineering community and with society at large, such as, being able to comprehend and
write effective reports and design documentation, make effective presentations, and give and
receive clear instructions.
PO 11 Project management and finance: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
engineering and management principles and apply these to one’s own work, as a member and
leader in a team, to manage projects and in multidisciplinary environments.
PO 12 Life-long learning: Recognize the need for, and have the preparation and ability to
engage in independent and life-long learning in the broadest context of technological change.
Program Specific Outcomes (PSO)
PSO 1: The graduate will be able to design, analyze, validate and fabricate different types of
automobiles by applying fundamental concepts, practical skills and advanced tools in
mechanical software’s.
PSO 2: To develop industry ready graduates with theoretical and practical skills needed for
the industry with necessary aptitude, communication and ethics.

4. Course Objectives:
This course enables the students to:
1. To introduce solar energy and its radiation, collection, storage and applications.
2. To understand about different equipments used in generation of energy using
Renewable sources
3. To introduce the wind energy, bio mass energy, geo thermal energy and ocean energy as
alternative energy sources.
4. To understand about design and fabrication of equipment for collection and conversion of
energy.
5. To understand about design and fabrication of equipment for collection and conversion of
energy.
6. To gain knowledge in direct energy conversion systems such as Fuel Cells and MHD..
Course Outcomes:
After the completion of this course, students will be able to:
CO1- List and describe the primary renewable energy resources and technologies
CO2- Analyse harnessing of solar energy
CO3 –Explain different types of wind mills and their of wind energy
CO4 -Analyze harnessing of Biomass and Geothermal energy
CO5 – Explain the components and extraction of Magneto Hydrodynamic Generator
CO6- Explain the significance of Fuel cell technology
Topic Outcomes

TLO 1 Understand the concept of renewable energy sources

TLO 2 Understand the types renewable energy sources
TLO 3 Able to identify the impact of renewable energy sources
TLO 4 Classify the types of solar collectors
TLO 5 Understand about concentrating type solar collectors
TLO 6 Analyse the thermal analysis of solar collectors
TLO 7 Understand about different solar energy storage systems
TLO 8 Identify differences between latent heat storage & sensible heat storage
TLO 9 Understand the principle wind power generation
TLO 10 Classify the different types of wind mills
TLO 11 Identify the differences Horizontal axis & Vertical axis wind mills
TLO 12 Understand the design of wind turbine rotors
TLO 13 Understand the concept of biomass energy
TLO 14 Classify the types biogas process
TLO 15 Classify the different types biogas digesters
TLO 16 Identify the concept of fuel cell
TLO 17 Classify the different types of fuel cells
TLO 18 Understand the direct energy conversion systems
TLO 19 Classify the different types of direct energy conversions
TLO 20 Understand about thermo electric and thermo ionic conversion
TLO 21 Understand concept of MHD power generation
TLO 22 Understand different components of MHD power generation

5.Course Prerequisites:
NO
 6. COs, POs, PSOs mapping
PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO1 PO1 PO1 PSO PSO
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 1 2

CO1 2 1 1 2
CO2 2 1 1 2
CO3 2 1 1 2
CO4 2 1 1 2
CO5 2 1 1 2
CO5 2 1 1 2

7. Course Information Sheet(CIS)

a. Course Description

Renewable energy sources are a engineering sciences with management science. A renewable
energy sources typically has a wide knowledge of engineering practices and is aware of the
management challenges related to production. The goal is to accomplish the production
process in the smoothest, most-judicious and most-economic way. Production technology
encompasses the application of solar, wind, bio-mass, geothermal, fuel cells, Direct energy
conversion system etc. These deal with integrated design and efficient planning of the entire
renewable system, which is becoming increasingly complex with the emergence of
sophisticated renewable energy methods and control systems.

b. Syllabus

UNIT-I

Introduction to solar power: Role and potential of new and renewable sources, the solar
option, environmental impact of solar power

Solar Energy Collection: Flat plate and concentrating collectors, classification of

concentrating collectors, orientation and thermal analysis, advanced collectors

UNIT-II

Solar Energy Storage: Different methods, sensible, latent heat and stratified storage, solar
ponds. Solar Energy applications: solar heating/ cooling techniques, solar distillation and
drying, photovoltaic energy conversion

UNIT-III
Wind Energy: Sources and potentials, Classification of wind mills, horizontal and vertical
axis wind mills, various designs of rotors, site evaluation, wind turbine subsystems-rotors,
drive trains, yaw control systems, electrical systems
 UNIT-IV
Bio-Mass: Principle of bio-conversion, anaerobic and aerobic digestion- types of bio-gas
digesters, gas yield, Combustion characteristics of bio-gas, utilization for cooking
Geothermal Energy: Resources, types of wells, methods of harnessing the energy, potential in
India.

UNIT-V
Fuel cells: Principle of fuel cells, thermodynamic aspects. Performance limiting factors of fuel
cells- types of fuel cells-hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells-biochemical cells-regenerative cells

UNIT-VI
Direct Energy Conversion (DEC): Need for DEC, Carnot cycle, limitations. Principles of
DEC. Thermoelectric generators, See beck, Pettier and Joule Thompson effects, figure of
merit, materials, applications, MHD generators, principles, dissociation and ionization, hall
effect, magnetic flux, MHD accelerator, MHD engine, power generation systems, electron gas
dynamic conversion, economic aspects

c. Gaps in syllabus
d. Topics beyond syllabus
High Energy Rate Forming Processes, Computers in metal forming
e. Web sources - References
1. https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/energywise/renewable-energy-sources
2. https://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/Unit/oea79e/ch05.htm
3. https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/renewable-energy
4. https://www.sabic.com/en/collaboration/trend/energy-efficiency?
5. https://www.energy.gov/eere/renewable-electricity-generation

f. Delivery/ Instructional Methodologies

 Lecture by use of boards/LCD projectors

 Lecture by use of videos/ PPTs
 Tutorials/Assignments
 Self- learning advice using internets

g. Assessment methodologies – Direct

 Cumulative Internal Examinations (CIE)

 Semester End Examinations (SEE)

h. Assessment methodologies – Indirect

 Student feedback after course completion

i.Text books & Reference books

Text Books:
 1. Renewable energy resources/John Twidell and Anthony D Weir/ 2nd Edition / Taylor
&Francis
2. Non-conventional energy sources/G.D.Rai/ 1st Edition/Khanna publications/2010

Reference Books:

1. Solar energy/SuhasP.Sukhatme/2nd Edition/ Tata McGra-Hill/1996

2. Non-conventional energy systems/Ashok V.Desai/1st Edition/Wiley Eastren/2008

3. Non-conventional energy systems/K.M Mittal/Wheeler/1997

4. Rnewable energy technology/R.Ramesh and K.Uday Kumar/Narosa/1997

5.Solar power Engineering/B.S.Magal/Tata McGra-Hill/1993

6. Principles of solar engineering/ Frank Kreith and John.F.Kreider and D.Yogigoswami

8. Course Evaluation Plan

a. Direct Method

Cumulative Internal Examinations (CIE) 30 mks

i. Descriptive Marks (15)

ii. Quiz Marks (10)
iii. Assignment Marks (5)
Semester End Examinations (SEE)

i. Part A (20)
ii. Part B (50)

b. Indirect Method

Student feedback after course completion

9. Rubrics
a) Direct Attainment:
i) Continuous Internal Evaluation (CIE)

Course File II-I MMS

Faculty Name: Mr. P. Anil Babu, Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engg. 15
CIE is conducted for 30 marks and Course Outcome (CO) attainments are calculated. For
each course, 65 % of the maximum marks are set as the benchmark and the students securing
at least 65 % of the maximum marks are considered for the attainments. The process is as
given below:

Evaluation = [ (Y/X) * 100 ]

Where:
X: Number of students attempting the exam
Y: Number of students securing at least benchmark value
Benchmark Value = 65 % of the maximum marks

Weight age for each component of CIE

CIE =[Subjective + Objective + Assignment]
ii) Semester End Exam (SEE)

SEE is conducted for 70 marks and Course Outcome (CO) attainments are calculated. For
Attainment calculations, class average marks is set as the benchmark and the students
securing equal to or more than class average marks are considered. The process is as given
below:

Evaluation =[ (Y/X) *100 ]

Where: X: Number of students attempting the exam
Y: Number of students securing at least benchmark value

Benchmark value = Average marks of course

Weight age for each component of SEE
SEE=[Part-A(short answer type) + Part-B(descriptive answer type)]

iii) Total Direct Attainment (DA) = [CIE + SEE]

b) Indirect attainment (IA) = Course End Survey on Course Outcomes
c) Total attainment (TA) = [0.8 * DA + 0.2 * IA]

Defining of Attainment Levels

❖ Target is stated in terms of percentage of students getting more than the pre-defined
course target. The Department has chosen an attainment level of 2 as the course target for this
B.Tech. Program with proper justification.
❖ Attainment is measured in terms of actual percentage of students achieving pre-defined
target level.

❖ If targets are achieved for all the course outcomes, for that year then the program may set
higher

targets for the following years as a part of continuous improvement.

❖ If targets are not achieved, the program puts in place an action plan to attain the target in
Subsequent years.
 10. Micro Lesson Plan

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Pad B.V.Raju Institute of Technology

Vishnupur, Narsapur, Medak District–502 313

Micro Session Planner
Course Title: Renewable Energy Sources Course Code: A35C7

Class: III B.Tech Branch: Mechanical Engineering

Name of the Faculty: P ANIL BABU Designation: Assistant Professor

Academic Year: 2019-20 Class Room: NM-104

UNIT- I

Role and potential of new and renewable energy source, Solar option, Environmental impact of solar
power, Flat plate and concentrating collector, Classification of concentrating collectors, Advanced
collectors, Different methods of solar energy storage, Sensible heat Latent heat solar energy storage,
Latent heat solar energy storage, Solar energy pondage

Objectives: To discuss various concepts of solar energy and to working of solar collectors

Sessio Date Topic(s) to be covered Text book and Teachin

n Page Number g Aids
No.
1. 03/08/2020 Introduction to solar power T-2, 1 BB/PPT
2. 06/08/2020 Role and potential of new and renewable energy T-2, 37 BB/PPT
source

3. 07/08/2020 Solar option T-2, 38 BB/PPT

4. 10/08/2020 Environmental impact of solar power T-2, 17 BB/PPT

5. 13/08/2020 Flat plate and concentrating collector T-2, 21 BB/PPT

6. 17/08/2020 Classification of concentrating collectors T-2, 77 BB/PPT

7. 20/08/2020 Orientation of solar Collectors T-2, 77 BB/PPT

8. 21/08/2020 Thermal analysis T-2, 103 BB/PPT

9. 31/08/2020 Advanced collectors T-2, 120 BB/PPT

UNIT- II

Solar Energy Storage: Different methods, sensible, latent heat and stratified storage, solar ponds. Solar
Energy applications: solar heating/ cooling techniques, solar distillation and drying, photovoltaic energy
conversion

Objectives: To discuss various concepts of solar energy applications and to working of solar collectors
and storage

1. 03/09/2020 Different methods of solar energy storage T-2, 124 BB/PPT

2. 04/09/2020 Sensible heat and latent solar energy storage T-2, 127 BB/PPT

3. 07/09/2020 Sensible heat and latent solar energy storage T-2, 127 BB/PPT

4. 10/09/2020 Stratified solar energy storage T-2,131 BB/PPT

5. 11/09/2020 Solar ponds T-2,131 BB/PPT

6. 14/09/2020 Solar heating/cooling techniques T-2,138 BB/PPT

7. 17/09/2020 Solar heating/cooling techniques T-2,140 BB/PPT

8. 18/09/2020 Solar distillation T-2,142 BB/PPT

9. 21/09/2020 Solar drying T-2,144 BB/PPT

10. 24/09/2020 Photovoltaic energy conversion T-2,145 BB/PPT

Out comes: Students are able to understand applications of solar energy and working of solar storage

UNIT – III

Sources and potential of wind energy, Classification of wind mills, Varies designs of rotors, Site
evolution, Wind turbine systems-rotors, Drive trains, Yah control and electrical systems

Objectives:To discuss principles of wind energy and types of wind mills

Session Date Topic(s) to be covered Text book and Teachin

No. Page Number g Aids
25/09/202 Sources and potential of wind energy T-2,147 BB/PPT
1. 0

28/09/202 Classification of wind mills T-2,167 BB/PPT

2. 0

01/10/202 Horizontal Axis T-2, 195 BB/PPT

3. 0
 05/10/202 Vertical Axis Wind Mill T-2, 200 BB/PPT
4. 0

08/10/202 Varies designs of rotors T-2,178 BB/PPT

5. 0

09/10/202 Varies designs of rotors T-2,178 BB/PPT

6. 0

12/10/202 Site evolution T-2,228 BB/PPT

7. 0

15/10/202 Wind turbine subsystems-rotors T-2,260 BB/PPT

8. 0

19/10/202 Wind turbine subsystems-rotors T-2,267 BB/PPT

9. 0

22/10/202 Drive trains T-2,280 BB/PPT

10. 0

26/10/202 Yah control T-2,252 BB/PPT

11. 0

30/10/202 Electrical systems T-2,283 BB/PPT

12. 0

Out comes: Students are able to understand the applications of solar energy, generation of wind power
UNIT – IV

Principles of Bio-conversion, Anaerobic and aerobics digestion, Types of Biogas digesters, Gas yield,
Combustion characteristics of Bio-gas, Utilization for cooking, IC engine operation and Economic
aspects, Geothermal energy resources, Methods of harnessing the energy, Geothermal potential in India

Objectives:To discuss the concepts of bio-gas energy and geo thermal energy

Session Date Topic(s) to be covered Text book and Teaching

No. Page Number Aids
26/11/202 Principles of Bio-conversion T-2,313 BB/PPT
1. 0

28/11/202 Anaerobicdigestion T-2,327 BB/PPT

2. 0

30/11/202 Aerobic digestion T-2,328 BB/PPT

3. 0

02/12/202 Types of Biogas digesters T-2,337 BB/PPT

4. 0

5. 03/12/202 Types of Biogas digesters T-2,337 BB/PPT

 0

06/12/202 Gas yield T-2,392 BB/PPT

6. 0

07/12/202 Combustion characteristics of Bio-gas T-2, 396 BB/PPT

7. 0

10/12/202 Combustion characteristics of Bio-gas T-2,396 BB/PPT

8. 0

16/12/202 Utilization for cooking T-2,381 BB/PPT

9. 0

17/12/202 IC engine operation T-2,380 BB/PPT

10. 0

18/12/202 Economic aspects T-2,385 BB/PPT

11. 0

20/12/202 Geothermal energy resources T-2,410 BB/PPT

12. 0

21/12/202 Methods of harnessing the energy T-2,412 BB/PPT

13. 0

28/12/202 Geothermal potential in India T-2,414 BB/PPT

14. 0

Out comes: Students are able to understand concepts of bio-gas energy and geo thermal energy
UNIT V

Fuel cells: Principle of fuel cells, thermodynamic aspects. Performance limiting factors of fuel cells-
types of fuel cells-hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells-biochemical cells-regenerative cells

Objectives: To discuss the principle of fuel cells and types of fuel cells

Session Date Topic(s) to be covered Text book and Teaching

No. Page Number Aids
1. 02/01/202 Principle of fuel cells T-2,501 BB/PPT
1

2. 03/01/202 thermodynamic aspects of fuel cells T-2,506 BB/PPT

1

3. 04/01/202 Performance limiting factors of fuel cells T-2,510 BB/PPT

1

4. 07/01/202 Types of fuel cells T-2,497 BB/PPT

1

5. 08/01/202 Types of fuel cells T-2,497 BB/PPT

 1

6. 08/01/202 Hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells T-2,533 BB/PPT

1

7. 16/01/202 Biochemical cells T-2,521 BB/PPT

1

8. 17/01/202 Regenerative cells T-2,528 BB/PPT

1

9. 18/01/202 Revision T-2,530 BB/PPT

1

Out comes: Students are able to understand the concepts fuel cell and Types of fuel cells
UNIT – VI

Need of DEC , Carnot cycle and limitations, principle of DEC, Thermoelectric generators, See beck,
pettier, joule Thompson effects, figure of merit, materials and application, Hall effect, magnetic flux,
MHD engine and MHD acceleration, Power generation systems, Electronic conversion and economic
aspects, Fuel cells and thermodynamic aspects, Performing limiting factors of fuel cell, Types of fuel
cell , hydrogen fuel cell and oxygen fuel cell, Bio chemical fuel cell, regenerative cell

Objectives: To discuss various methods of direct energy conversion and concept

Session Date Topic(s) to be covered Text book and Teaching

No. Page Number Aids
1. 19/01/202 Need of DEC , Carnot cycle T-2,609 BB/PPT
1

2. 20/01/202 Limitations of Carnot cycle , principle of DEC T-2,615 BB/PPT

1

3. 22/01/202 Thermoelectric generators, See beck, pettier, T-2,698 BB/PPT

1 joule Thompson effects

4. 23/01/202 figure of merit, materials and application T-2,698 BB/PPT

1

24/01/202 Hall effect, magnetic flux T-2,720 BB/PPT

5. 1

6. 27/01/202 MHD engine and MHD accelerator T-2,725 BB/PPT

1

7. 28/01/202 Power generation systems, Electron gas T-2,661 BB/PPT

1 dynamics, economic aspects
 8. 29/01/202 Fuel cells and thermodynamic aspects T-2,662 BB/PPT
1

9. 2/02/2021 Performing limiting factors of fuel cell, T-2,692 BB/PPT

10. 03/02/202 Types of fuel cells T-2,794 BB/PPT

1

11. 20/01/202 hydrogen fuel cell and oxygen fuel cell T-2,796 BB/PPT
1

12. 20/01/202 Bio chemical and Regenerative fuel cell T-2,798 BB/PPT
1

Out Comes:Students are able to understand the principles of direct energy conversion

TEXT BOOKS
1. Renewable energy resources/John Twidell and Anthony D Weir/ 2nd Edition / Taylor
&Francis
2. Non-conventional energy sources/G.D.Rai/ 1st Edition/Khanna publications/2010
.
REFERENCES:
1. Solar energy/SuhasP.Sukhatme/2nd Edition/ Tata McGra-Hill/1996
2. Non-conventional energy systems/Ashok V.Desai/1st Edition/Wiley Eastren/2008
3. Non-conventional energy systems/K.M Mittal/Wheeler/1997
4. Rnewable energy technology/R.Ramesh and K.Uday Kumar/Narosa/1997
5.Solar power Engineering/B.S.Magal/Tata McGra-Hill/1993
6. Principles of solar engineering/ Frank Kreith and John.F.Kreider anD.Yogigoswami

11. Student profile (19-20)

S.
No Roll No. Student name
18211A0303 SUSHANTH
1
18211A0307 NAVEEN KUMAR
2
18211A0316 PRUTHVI
3
18211A0320 ASHWIN KUMAR
4
18211A0322 SURENDER KUMAR
5
18211A0325 SAIRAM
6
18211A0331 SAICHANDU
7
8 18211A0332 SHIVANI
 18211A0333 KARTHIK REDDY
9
18211A0334 MOHAN KRISHNA
10
18211A0335 G ARUN S
11
18211A0337 KRISHNA CHAITANYA
12
18211A0339 SRI CHAKRADHAR
13
18211A0340 THARUN
14
18211A0341 PAVAN
15
18211A0343 CHANDRAHAAS
16
18211A0344 ROHITH KALYAN
17
18211A0345 VAISHNAVI
18
18211A0358 BHAVANA
19
18211A0361 PREETHI
20
18211A0362 SHIRISHA
21
18211A0363 MAHEESH
22
18211A0365 TEJA VARDHAN
23
18211A0366 CHARANJYOTH
24
18211A0371 SAI KIRAN
25
18211A0372 MADHU
26
18211A0376 MD SHAKEEM
27
18211A0378 SRI MAHA RAGNEE
28
18211A0379 MOHAMMAD ASIF
29
18211A0381 MOHAMMAD BILAL
30
18211A0383 MOHAMMED
31
18211A0387 MANISH REDDY
32
18211A0388 NITHIN RAO
33
18211A0391 RAKSHITH REDDY
34
35 18211A0392 RAJU
 18211A0394 TARUN
36
18211A0395 RATHOD
37
18211A0399 MAHENDRA
38
18211A03A5 PAVAN KUMAR
39
18211A03A6 TARUN PRUDHVI V
40
18211A03A7 VARA PAUL MORAY
41
18211A03a9 PAVAN KUMAR
42
18211A03B3 ROHITH REDDY
43
18211A03B4 NEERAJ VARMA
44
18211A03B6 RITISH REDDY
45
18211A03B8 ABDUL
46
19215A0307 MADHAVI
47
19215A0309 HARI PRIYA
48

12.Lecture Notes – unit wise (Hard/ Soft copy)

UNIT I
INTRODUCTION TO VARIOUS SOURCES OF ENERGY

There are mainly two types of sources of energy

1. Conventional Sources of Energy (Non-Renewable Sources of Energy)
2. Non-conventional Sources of Energy (Renewable Sources of Energy).

CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY

These resources are finite and exhaustible. Once consumed, these sources cannot be replaced
by others. Examples include coal, timber, petroleum, lignite, natural gas, fossil fuels, nuclear
fuels etc.
The examples are
(i) fossil fuel (ii) nuclear energy (iii) hydro energy
Have you not seen the filling of fuel in automobiles? What are the fuels that are being used in
automobiles? What type of sources of energy are they? Are they non-conventional? Fossil
fuel is an invaluable source of energy produced due to chemical changes taking place in the
absence of oxygen, in plants and animals that have been buried deep in the earth’s crust for
many million years. Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas are formed in this
manner. These are conventional sources of energy. For example, energy from, Petroleum,
natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, etc

THERMAL POWER
Thermal generation accounts for about 70% of power generation in India. Thermal energy
generation is based on coal, furnace oil and natural gas. Steam cycle, rankin cycle or sterling
cycle can be used for energy production. Now clean coal technologies (with 10% ash content)
have been used in thermal power plants on commercial scale.

NATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION (NTPC)

It was incorporated in November 1975 as a public sector undertaking with the main
objectives of planning, promoting and organising integrated development of thermal power.
Installed capacity of NTPC projects stands at 16000 MW.

NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY

These sources are being continuously produced in nature and are not exhaustible. Examples
include wood, geothermal energy, wind energy, tidal energy, nuclear fusion, gobar gas,
biomass, solar energy etc. The examples are
(i) Solar energy (ii) wind energy (iii) geothermal energy (iv) ocean energy such as tidal
energy, wave energy
(v) biomass energy such as gobar gas. It is evident that all energy resources based on fossil
fuels has limitations in availability and will soon exhaust. Hence the long term option for
energy supply lies only with non-conventional energy sources.

These resources are in exhaustible for the next hundreds of thousands of years. The sources
which are perennial and give energy continuously and which do not deplete with use are the
Non conventional sources of energy. For example, energy from, solar energy, bio-energy,
wind energy, geothermal energy, wave, tidal and OTEC.

INTRODUCTION TO VARIOUS NON CONVENTIONAL

(RENEWABLE) SOURCES OF ENERGY

Renewable energy development programme is gaining momentum in India. It has emerged as

a viable option to achieve the goal of sustainable development. However, Indian renewable
energy programme need more thrust at this stage. India has now the world’s largest
programme for deployment of renewable energy products and systems, the spread of various
renewable energy technologies in the country has been supported by a variety of incentives
and policy measures. Power generation from non-conventional renewable sources has
assumed significance in the context of environmental hazards posed by the excessive use of
conventional fossil fuels. Renewable energy technologies have provied viable for power
generation not so much as a substitute, but as supplement to conventional power generation.
Currently renewables contribute over 3500 MW, which represents almost 3.5 percent of the
total installed generating capacity of one lakh MW from all sources. Of this, wind power
alone accounts for 1617 MW, while biomass power accounts for 450 MW and small hydros
1438 MW. An additional 4000 MW of power from renewable sources is to be added durin
gthe Tenth Five Year Plan period (2002–07) mainly through wind, biomass, small hydro’s,
waste energy and solar energy system. Further, India has set a goal elevating the share of
renewable energy sources in power generation up to 10 percent share of new capacity
addition or 10,000 MW to come from renewable by 2012.

Today, India has the largest decentralised solar energy programme, the second largest biogas
and improved stove programmes and the fifth largest wind energy programme in the world. A
substantial manufacturing base, has been created in a variety of renewable energy
technologies placing India in a positron not only to export technologies; but also offer
technical expertise to other countries.
SOLAR ENERGY

The sun is the source of the vast majority of the energy we use on earth. Most of the energy
we use has undergone various transformations before it is finally utilized, but it is also
possible to tap this source of solar energy as it arrives on the earth’s surface. There are many
applications for the direct use of solar thermal energy, space heating and cooling, water
heating, crop drying and solar cooking. It is a technology, which is well understood and
widely used in many countries throughout the world. Most solar thermal technologies have
been in existence in one form or another for centuries and have a well-established
manufacturing base in most sun-rich developed countries.

The most common use for solar thermal technology is for domestic water heating. Hundreds
of thousands of domestic hot water systems are in use throughout the world, especially in
areas such as the Mediterranean and Australia where there is high solar insulation (the total
energy per unit area received from the sun). As world oil prices vary, it is a technology,
which is rapidly gaining acceptance as an energy saving measure in both domestic and
commercial water heating applications. Presently, domestic water heaters are usually only
found amongst wealthier sections of the community in developing countries. Other
technologies exist which take advantage of the free energy provided by the sun. Water
heating technologies are usually referred to as active solar technologies, whereas other
technologies, such as space heating or cooling, which passively absorb the energy of the sun
and have no moving components, are referred to as passive solar technologies. More
sophisticated solar technologies exist for providing power for electricity generation. We will
look at these briefly later in this fact sheet.

Direct Sunlight Clouds and dust Diffuse Sunlight

Direct and Diffuse Solar Radiation.

Sun is the source of many forms of energy available to us. Do you know how energy is
obtained from the sun? The most abundant element in sun is hydrogen. It is in a plasma state.
This hydrogen athigh temperature, high pressure and high density undergoes nuclear fusion
and hence releases an enor NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES AND
UTILISATION 67 mouse amount of energy. This energy is emitted as radiations of different
forms in the electromagnetic\ spectrum.Out of these X-rays, gamma rays and most of
ultraviolet rays do not pass through the earth'satmosphere. But heat energy and light energy
are the main radiations that reach the earth. This energyis the basis for the existence of life on
earth.Sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous matter with a diameter of 1.39e9 m and 1.5e11
m awayfrom earth. Sun has an effective black body temperature of 5762 K and has a
temperature of 8e6 K to40e6 K. The sun is a continuous fusion reactor in which hydrogen (4
protons) combines to form helium(one He nucleus). The mass of the He nucleus is less than
that of the four protons, mass having beenlost in the reaction and converted to energy. The
energy received from the sun on a unit area perpendicularto the direction of propagation of
radiation outside atmosphere is called solar constant, and hasa value 1353 Wm– 2. This
radiation when received on the earth has a typical value of 1100 Wm– 2 andis variable. The
wavelength range is 0.29 to 2.5 micro meters. This energy is typically converted intousual
energy form through natural and man-made processes. Natural processes include wind and
biomass.Man-made processes include conversion into heat and electricity

SOLAR RADIATIONS

Radiation from sun on entering the earth’s atmosphere gets scattered by the atmospheric gas
molecules and dust particles and received on earth from all directions and is called diffuse
radiation. The portion of radiation received on earth from sun without change in original
quality is called beam or direct radiation.

The earth revolves about the sun in an approximately circular path, with the sun located
slightly off center of the circle. The earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23.5 degrees with respect
to its pane of revolution about the sun, the position of the earth relative to the sun’s rays at the
time of winter solstice when the North Pole is inclined 23.5 degree away from the sun. All
points on the earth’s surface north of 66.5 N latitude are in total darkness while all regions
within 23.5 degree of the South Pole receive continuous sunlight. At the time of the summer
solstice, the situation is reversed. At the time of the two equinoxes, both poles are equidistant
from the sun and all points on the earth's surface have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of
darkness. The sun’s ray passing through the center of the earth lies in the equatorial plane at
the time of equinoxes. From vernal equinox to autumnal equinox, the rays lie north of the
equatorial plane. From autumnal equinox to vernal equinox, the rays lie south of the
equatorial plane. The average direction of the sun’s rays for the entire year lies in the
equatorial plane. Accordingly to intercept maximum amount of solar energy over the whole
year, a solar collector in the northern
hemisphere should be tilted and face due south.

The Nature and Availability of Solar Radiation. Solar radiation arrives on the surface of
the earth at a maximum power density of approximately 1 kilowatt per metre squared (kWm–
2). The actual usable radiation component varies depending on geographical location, cloud
cover, hours of sunlight each day, etc. In reality, the solar flux density (same as power
density) varies between 250 and 2500 kilowatt hours per metre squared per year (kWhm– 2
per year). As might be expected the total solar radiation is highest at the equator, especially in
sunny, desert areas. Solar radiation arrives at the earth's outer atmosphere in the form of a
direct beam. This light is then partially scattered by cloud, smog, dust or other atmospheric
phenomenon. We therefore receive solar radiation either as direct radiation or scattered or
diffuse radiation, the ratio depending on the atmospheric conditions. Both direct and diffuse
components of radiation are useful, the only distinction between the two being that diffuse
radiation cannot be concentrated for use.

Solar radiation arriving from the sun reaches the earth’s surface as short wave radiation. All
of the energy arriving from the sun is eventually re-radiated into deep space otherwise the
temperature of the earth would be constantly increasing. This heat is radiated away from the
earth as long-wave radiation. The art of extracting the power from the solar energy source is
based around the principle of capturing the short wave radiation and preventing it from being
reradiated directly to the atmosphere. Glass and other selective surfaces are used to achieve
this. Glass has the ability to allow the passage of short wave radiation whilst preventing heat
from being radiated in the form of long wave radiation. For storage of this trapped heat, a
liquid or solid with a high thermal mass is employed. In a water heating system this will be
the fluid that runs through the collector, whereas in a building the walls will act as the
thermal mass. Pools or lakes are sometimes used for seasonal storage of heat.

Extraterrestrial solar radiation

Nuclear fusion reactions in the active core of the Sun produce inner temperatures of about
107 K and an inner radiation flux of uneven spectral distribution. This internal radiation is
absorbed in the outer passive layers which are heated to about 5800K and so become a source
of radiation with a relatively continuous spectral distribution. The radiant flux (W/m2) from
the Sun at the Earth’s distance varies through the year by ±4% because of the slightly non-
circular path of the Earth around the Sun . The radiance also varies by perhaps ±0_3 per cent
per year due to sunspots; over the life of the Earth, there has been probably a natural slow
decline of very much less annual significance (see Kyle 1985 or Pap 1997). None of these
variations are significant for solar energy applications, for which we consider extra-terrestrial
solar irradiance to be constant.

Figure shows the spectral distribution of the solar irradiance at the Earth’s mean distance,
uninfluenced by any atmosphere. Note how similar this distribution is to that from a black
body at 5800K in shape, peakwavelength and total power emitted. (Compare Figure 3.12.)
The area beneath this curve is the solar constant Go= 1367Wm−2. This is the RFDincident on
a plane directly facing the Sun and outside the atmosphere at adistance of 1_496×108 km
from the Sun (i.e. at the Earth’s mean distancefrom the Sun).

Spectral distribution of extraterrestrial solar irradiance, G∗0_. Area undercurve equals

1367±2Wm−2
Components of radiation
Solar radiation incident on the atmosphere from the direction of the Sunis the solar
extraterrestrial beam radiation. Beneath the atmosphere, at theEarth’s surface, the radiation
will be observable from the direction of theSun’s disc in the direct beam, and also from other
directions as diffuseradiation. Figure. is a sketch of how this happens. Note that even ona
cloudless, clear day, there is always at least 10% diffuse irradiance fromthe molecules in the
atmosphere. The practical distinction between the twocomponents is that only the beam
radiation can be focused. The ratiobetween the beam irradiance and the total irradiance thus
varies from about0.9 on a clear day to zero on a completely overcast day.It is important to
identify the various components of solar radiationand to clarify the plane on which the
irradiance is being measured. Weuse subscripts as illustrated in Figure 4.3: b for beam, d for
diffuse, t fortotal, h for the horizontal plane and c for the plane of a collector. Theasterisk ∗
denotes the plane perpendicular to the beam. Subscript 0 denotesvalues outside the
atmosphere in space. Subscripts c and t are assumed ifno subscripts are given, so that G_no
subscript_ ≡ Gtc.
Solar Energy Resources

The sun is a vast nuclear power plant of the fusion variety which generates power in the form
of radiantenergy at a rate of 3.8×1023 kW. An extremely small fraction of this is intercepted
by Earth, but even thissmall fraction amounts to the huge quantity of 1.8!1014 kW. On the
average, about 60% of this energyincident at the outer edge of the atmosphere, reaches the
surface. To compare these numbers with ourenergy needs, consider the present electrical-
generating capacity in the United States, which isapproximately of 7×108 kW. This is
equivalent to an average solar radiation falling on only 1000square miles in a cloudless desert
area. It must, however, be remembered that solar energy is distributedover the entire surface
of Earth facing the sun, and it seldom exceeds 1.0 kW/m2. Compared to othersources, such as
fossil fuels or nuclear power plants, solar energy has a very low energy density.
However,solar radiation can be concentrated to achieve very high energy densities. Indeed,
temperatures as high as3000 K have been achieved in solar furnaces.

Solar energy technology has been developed to a point where it can replace most of the fossil
fuels orfossil fuel-derived energy. In many applications it is already economical, and it is a
matter of time beforeit becomes economical for other applications as well.This section deals
in the availability of solar radiation, including methods of measurement,calculation, and
available data.

Solar Energy Availability

Detailed information about solar radiation availability at any location is essential for the
design andeconomic evaluation of a solar energy system. Long-term measured data of solar
radiation are available for a large number of locations in the United States and other parts of
the world. Where long-term measured data are not available, various models based on
available climatic data can be used to estimate the solar energy availability. The solar energy
is in the form of electromagnetic radiation with the wavelengths ranging from about 0.3 mm
(10–6 m) to over 3 mm, which correspond to ultraviolet (lessthan 0.4 mm), visible (0.4 and
0.7 mm), and infrared (over 0.7 mm).Most of this energy is concentrated in the visible and
the near-infrared wavelength range (see Figure 5.1). The incident solar radiation,sometimes
called insolation, is measured as irradiance, or the energy per unit time per unit area (or
power per unit area). The units most often used are watts per square meter (W/m2), British
thermalunits per hour per square foot (Btu/h-ft2), and langleys (calories per square centimeter
per minute,cal/cm2-min).

SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTION

Solar energy collectors are special kind of heat exchangers that transform solar radiation
energy to internal energy of the transport medium. The major component of any solar system
is the solar collector. This is a device which absorbs the incoming solar radiation, converts it
into heat, and transfers this heat to a fluid (usually air, water, or oil) flowing through the
collector. The solar energy thus collected is carried from the circulating fluid either directly
to the hot water or space conditioning equipment, or to a thermal energy storage tank from
which can be drawn for use at night and/or cloudy days. There are basically two types of
solar collectors: non-concentrating or stationary and concentrating. A non-concentrating
collector has the same area for intercepting and for absorbing solar radiation, whereas a sun-
tracking concentrating solar collector usually has concave reflecting surfaces to intercept and
focus the sun’s beam radiation to a smaller receiving area, thereby increasing the radiation
flux. A large number of solar collectors are available in the market. A comprehensive list is
shown in Table . In this section a review of the various types of collectors currently available
will be presented. This includes FPC, ETC, and concentrating collectors.

Stationary collectors Solar energy collectors are basically distinguished by their motion, i.e.
stationary, single axis tracking and twoaxes tracking, and the operating temperature. Initially,
the stationary solar collectors are examined. These collectors are permanently fixed in
position and do not track the sun. Three types of collectors fall in this category: 1. Flat plate
collectors (FPC); 2. Stationary compound parabolic collectors (CPC); 3. Evacuated tube
collectors (ETC). 2.1.1. Flat-plate collectors A typical flat-plate solar collector is shown in
Fig. 1. When solar radiation passes through a transparent cover and impinges on the
blackened absorber surface of high absorptivity, a large portion of this energy is absorbed by
the plate and then transferred to the transport medium in the fluid tubes to be carried away for
storage or use. The underside of the absorber plate and the side of casing are well insulated to
reduce conduction losses. The liquid tubes can be welded to the absorbing plate, or they can
be an integral part of the plate. The liquid tubes are connected at both ends by large diameter
header tubes. The transparent cover is used to reduce convection losses from the absorber
plate through the restraint of the stagnant air layer between the absorber plate and the glass. It
also reduces radiation losses from the collector as the glass is transparent to the short wave
radiation received by the sun but it is nearly opaque to long-wave thermal radiation emitted
by the absorber plate (greenhouse effect). FPC are usually permanently fixed in position and
require no tracking of the sun. The collectors should be oriented directly towards the equator,
facing south in the northern hemisphere and north in the southern. The optimum tilt angle of
the collector is equal to the latitude of the location with angle variations of 10–158 more or
less depending on the application [20]. A FPC generally consists of the following
components as Glazing. One or more sheets of glass or other diathermanous (radiation-
transmitting) material. Tubes, fins, or passages. To conduct or direct the heat transfer fluid
from the inlet to the outlet. Absorber plates. Flat, corrugated, or grooved plates, to which the
tubes, fins, or passages are attached. The plate may be integral with the tubes. Headers or
manifolds. To admit and discharge the fluid. Insulation. To minimise the heat loss from the
back and sides of the collector. Container or casing. To surround the aforementioned
components and keep them free from dust, moisture, etc. FPC have been built in a wide
variety of designs and from many different materials. They have been used to heat fluids such
as water, water plus antifreeze additive, or air. Their major purpose is to collect as much solar
energy as possible at the lower possible total cost. The collector should also have a long
effective life, despite the adverse effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, corrosion and
clogging because of acidity, alkalinity or hardness of the heat transfer fluid, freezing of water,
or deposition of dust or moisture on the glazing, and breakage of the glazing because of
thermal expansion, hail, vandalism or other causes. These causes can be minimised by the use
of tempered glass. More details are given about the glazing and absorber plate materials in
Sections respectively. Most of these details apply also to other types of collectors. Glazing
materials. Glass has been widely used to glaze solar collectors because it can transmit as
much as 90% of the incoming shortwave solar irradiation while transmitting virtually none of
the long wave radiation emitted outward by the absorber plate. Glass with low iron content
has a relatively high transmittance for solar radiation (approximately 0.85–0.90 at normal
incidence), but its transmittance is essentially zero for the longwave thermal radiation (5.0–50
mm) emitted by sun-heated surfaces. Plastic films and sheets also possess high shortwave
transmittance, but because most usable varieties also have transmission bands in the middle
of the thermal radiation spectrum, they may have longwave transmittances as high as 0.40.
Plastics are also generally limited in the temperatures they can sustain without deteriorating
or undergoing dimensional changes. Only a few types of plastics can withstand the sun’s
ultraviolet radiation for long periods. However, they are not broken by hail or stones, and, in
the form of thin films, they are completely flexible and have low mass. The commercially
available grades of window and green-house glass have normal incidence transmittances of
about 0.87 and 0.85, respectively. For direct radiation, the transmittance varies considerably
with the angle of incidence [21]. Antireflective coatings and surface texture can also improve
transmission significantly. The effect of dirt and dust on collector glazing may be quite small,
and the cleansing effect of an occasional rainfall is usually adequate to maintain the
transmittance within 2–4% of its maximum value. The glazing should admit as much solar
irradiation as possible and reduce the upward loss of heat as much as possible. Although glass
is virtually opaque to the longwave radiation emitted by collector plates, absorption of that
radiation causes an increase in the glass temperature and a loss of heat to the surrounding
atmosphere by radiation and convection. These are analysed in more details in Section 3.
Various prototypes of transparently insulated FPC and CPC have been built and tested in the
last decade . Low cost and high temperature resistant transparent insulating (TI) materials
have been developed so that the commercialisation of these collectors becomes feasible. A
prototype FPC covered by TI was developed. It was experimentally proved that the efficiency
of the collector was comparable with that of ETC. However, no commercial collectors of this
type are available in the market. 2.1.1.2. Collector absorbing plates. The collector plate
absorbs as much of the irradiation as possible through the glazing, while loosing as little heat
as possible upward to the atmosphere and downward through the back of the casing. The
collector plates transfer the retained heat to the transport fluid. The absorptance of the
collector surface for shortwave solar radiation depends on the nature and colour of the
coating and on the incident angle. Usually black colour is used, however various colour
coatings have been proposed in Refs. [25–27] mainly for aesthetic reasons. By suitable
electrolytic or chemical treatments, surfaces can be produced with high values of solar
radiation absorptance (a) and low values of longwave emittance

Essentially, typical selective surfaces consist of a thin upper layer, which is highly absorbent
to shortwave solar radiation but relatively transparent to longwave thermal radiation,
deposited on a surface that has a high reflectance and a low emittance for longwave radiation.
Selective surfaces are particularly important when the collector surface temperature is much
higher than the ambient air temperature. Lately, a low-cost mechanically manufactured
selective solar absorber surface method has been proposed]. An energy efficient solar
collector should absorb incident solar radiation, convert it to thermal energy and deliver the
thermal energy to a heat transfer medium with minimum losses at each step. It is possible to
use several different design principles and physical mechanisms in order to create a selective
solar absorbing surface. Solar absorbers are based on two layers with different optical
properties, which are referred as tandem absorbers. A semiconducting or dielectric coating
with high solar absorptance and high infrared transmittance on top of a non-selective highly
reflecting material such as metal constitutes one type of tandem absorber. Another alternative
is to coat a nonselective highly absorbing material with a heat mirror having a high solar
transmittance and high infrared reflectance [29]. Today, commercial solar absorbers are made
by electroplating, anodization, evaporation, sputtering and by applying solar selective paints.
Much of the progress during recent years has been based on the implementation of vacuum
techniques for the production of fin type absorbers used in low temperature applications. The
chemical and electrochemical processes used for their commercialization were readily taken
over from the metal finishing industry. The requirements of solar absorbers used in high
temperature applications, however, namely extremely low thermal emittance and high
temperature stability, were difficult to fulfil with conventional wet processes. Therefore,
largescale sputter deposition was developed in the late 70s. The vacuum techniques are
nowadays mature, characterized by low cost and have the advantage of being less
environmentally polluting than the wet processes. For fluid-heating collectors, passages must
be integral with or firmly bonded to the absorber plate. A major problem is obtaining a good
thermal bond between tubes and absorber plates without incurring excessive costs for labour
or materials. Material most frequently used for collector plates are copper, aluminium, and
stainless steel. UV-resistant plastic extrusions are used for low temperature applications. If
the entire collector area is in contact with the heat transfer fluid, the thermal conductance of
the material is not important. Fig. 3 shows a number of absorber plate designs for solar water
and air heaters that have been used with varying degrees of success [30]. Fig. 3A shows a
bonded sheet design, in which the fluid passages are integral with the plate to ensure good
thermal conduct between the metal Essentially, typical selective surfaces consist of a thin
upper layer, which is highly absorbent to shortwave solar radiation but relatively transparent
to longwave thermal radiation, deposited on a surface that has a high reflectance and a low
emittance for longwave radiation. Selective surfaces are particularly important when the
collector surface temperature is much higher than the ambient air temperature. Lately, a low-
cost mechanically manufactured selective solar absorber surface method has been proposed
[28]. An energy efficient solar collector should absorb incident solar radiation, convert it to
thermal energy and deliver the thermal energy to a heat transfer medium with minimum
losses at each step. It is possible to use several different design principles and physical
mechanisms in order to create a selective solar absorbing surface. Solar absorbers are based
on two layers with different optical properties, which are referred as tandem absorbers. A
semiconducting or dielectric coating with high solar absorptance and high infrared
transmittance on top of a non-selective highly reflecting material such as metal constitutes
one type of tandem absorber. Another alternative is to coat a nonselective highly absorbing
material with a heat mirror having a high solar transmittance and high infrared reflectance
[29]. Today, commercial solar absorbers are made by electroplating, anodization,
evaporation, sputtering and by applying solar selective paints. Much of the progress during
recent years has been based on the implementation of vacuum techniques for the production
of fin type absorbers used in low temperature applications. The chemical and electrochemical
processes used for their commercialization were readily taken over from the metal finishing
industry. The requirements of solar absorbers used in high temperature applications, however,
namely extremely low thermal emittance and high temperature stability, were difficult to
fulfil with conventional wet processes. Therefore, largescale sputter deposition was
developed in the late 70s. The vacuum techniques are nowadays mature, characterized by low
cost and have the advantage of being less environmentally polluting than the wet processes.
For fluid-heating collectors, passages must be integral with or firmly bonded to the absorber
plate. A major problem is obtaining a good thermal bond between tubes and absorber plates
without incurring excessive costs for labour or materials. Material most frequently used for
collector plates are copper, aluminium, and stainless steel. UV-resistant plastic extrusions are
used for low temperature applications. If the entire collector area is in contact with the heat
transfer fluid, the thermal conductance of the material is not important. Fig. 3 shows a
number of absorber plate designs for solar water and air heaters that have been used with
varying degrees of success [30]. Fig. 3A shows a bonded sheet design, in which the fluid
passages are integral with the plate to ensure good thermal conduct between the metal

Solar collectors

Solar energy collectors are special kind of heatexchangers that transform solar radiation
energy to internalenergy of the transport medium. The major component ofany solar system
is the solar collector. This is a device whichabsorbs the incoming solar radiation, converts it
into heat,and transfers this heat to a fluid (usually air, water, or oil)flowing through the
collector. The solar energy thuscollected is carried from the circulating fluid either directlyto
the hot water or space conditioning equipment, or to athermal energy storage tank from
which can be drawn foruse at night and/or cloudy days.There are basically two types of solar
collectors: non-concentratingor stationary and concentrating. A non-concentratingcollector
has the same area for interceptingand for absorbing solar radiation, whereas a sun-
trackingconcentrating solar collector usually has concave reflectingsurfaces to intercept and
focus the sun’s beam radiation to asmaller receiving area, thereby increasing the radiation
flux.A large number of solar collectors are available in themarket. A comprehensive list is
shown in .In this section a review of the various types of collectors currently available will be
presented. This includes FPC,ETC, and concentrating collectors.

Stationary collectors

Solar energy collectors are basically distinguished bytheir motion, i.e. stationary, single axis
tracking and twoaxestracking, and the operating temperature. Initially,

the stationary solar collectors are examined. These collectorsare permanently fixed in
position and do not track thesun. Three types of collectors fall in this category:
1. Flat plate collectors (FPC);
2. Stationary compound parabolic collectors (CPC);
3. Evacuated tube collectors (ETC).

Flat-plate collectors
A typical flat-plate solar collector is shown in Fig. 1. When solar radiation passes through a
transparent cover and impinges on the blackened absorber surface of high absorptivity, a
large portion of this energy is absorbed by the plate and then transferred to the transport
medium in the fluid tubes to be carried away for storage or use. The underside of the absorber
plate and the side of casing are well insulated to reduce conduction losses. The liquid tubes
can be welded to the absorbing plate, or they can be an integral part of the plate. The liquid
tubes are connected atboth ends by large diameter header tubes.

The transparent cover is used to reduce convection lossesfrom the absorber plate through the
restraint of the stagnantair layer between the absorber plate and the glass. It alsoreduces
radiation losses from the collector as the glass istransparent to the short wave radiation
received by the sunbut it is nearly opaque to long-wave thermal radiationemitted by the
absorber plate (greenhouse effect).FPC are usually permanently fixed in position andrequire
no tracking of the sun. The collectors should beoriented directly towards the equator, facing
south in thenorthern hemisphere and north in the southern. Theoptimum tilt angle of the
collector is equal to the latitudeof the location with angle variations of 10–158 more or
lessdepending on the application .A FPC generally consists of the following components
asshown in Fig
Glazing materials. Glass has been widely used to glaze solar collectors because it can
transmit as much as
90% of the incoming shortwave solar irradiation while transmitting virtually none of the
longwave radiationemitted outward by the absorber plate. Glass with low iron content has a
relatively high transmittance for solarradiation (approximately 0.85–0.90 at normal
incidence), but its transmittance is essentially zero for the longwave thermal radiation (5.0–
50 mm) emitted by sun-heated surfaces.

Plastic films and sheets also possess high shortwave transmittance, but because most usable
varieties also havetransmission bands in the middle of the thermal radiation spectrum, they
may have long wave transmittances as high as 0.40. Plastics are also generally limited in the
temperatures they can sustain without deteriorating or undergoing dimensional changes. Only
a few types of plastics can withstand the sun’s ultraviolet radiation for long periods.
However, they are not broken by hail or stones, and, in the form of thin films, they are
completely flexible and have low mass.The commercially available grades of window and
green-house glass have normal incidence transmittances of about 0.87 and 0.85, respectively.
For direct radiation, the transmittance varies considerably with the angle of incidence.

Antireflective coatings and surface texture can also improve transmission significantly. The
effect of dirt anddust on collector glazing may be quite small, and the cleansing effect of an
occasional rainfall is usually adequate to maintain the transmittance within 2–4% of its
maximum value. The glazing should admit as much solar irradiation as possible and reduce
the upward loss of heat as much as possible. Although glass is virtually opaque to the
longwave radiation emitted by collector plates, absorption of that radiation causes an increase
in the glass temperature and a loss of heat to the surrounding atmosphere by radiation and
convection. These are analysed in more details in Section 3. Various prototypes of
transparently insulated FPC and CPC have been built and tested in the last decade. Low cost
and high temperature resistant transparent insulating (TI) materials have been developed so
that the commercialisation of these collectors becomes feasible. A prototype FPC covered by
TI was developed by Benz et al. . It was experimentally proved that the efficiency of the
collector was comparable with that of ETC. However, no commercial collectors of this type
are available in the market.

Collector absorbing plates. The collector plate absorbs as much of the irradiation as
possible through theglazing, while loosing as little heat as possible upward to the atmosphere
and downward through the back of the casing. The collector plates transfer the retained heat
to the transport fluid. The absorptance of the collector surface for shortwave solar radiation
depends on the nature and colour of the coating and on the incident angle. Usually black
colour is used, however various colour coatings have been proposed in Refs. mainly for
aestheticreasons.

By suitable electrolytic or chemical treatments, surfacescan be produced with high values of

solar radiationabsorptance (a) and low values of longwave emittanceEssentially, typical
selective surfaces consist of a thinupper layer, which is highly absorbent to shortwave
solarradiation but relatively transparent to longwave thermalradiation, deposited on a surface
hat has a high reflectanceand a low emittance for longwave radiation. Selectivesurfaces are
particularly important when the collectorsurface temperature is much higher than the ambient
airtemperature. Lately, a low-cost mechanically manufacturedselective solar absorber surface
method has beenproposed .

An energy efficient solar collector should absorb incident solar radiation, convert it to
thermal energy and deliver thethermal energy to a heat transfer medium with minimumlosses
at each step. It is possible to use several differentdesign principles and physical mechanisms
in order tocreate a selective solar absorbing surface. Solar absorbersare based on two layers
with different optical properties,which are referred as tandem absorbers. A semiconductingor
dielectric coating with high solar absorptance and highinfrared transmittance on top of a non-
selective highlyreflecting material such as metal constitutes one type oftandem absorber.
Another alternative is to coat a non-selectivehighly absorbing material with a heat
mirrorhaving a high solar transmittance and high infrared reflectance .

Today, commercial solar absorbers are made by electroplating,anodization, evaporation,

sputtering and by applyingsolar selective paints. Much of the progress duringrecent years has
been based on the implementation ofvacuum techniques for the production of fin type
absorbers used in low temperature applications. The chemical andelectrochemical processes
used for their commercializationwere readily taken over from the metal finishing
industry.The requirements of solar absorbers used in high temperatureapplications, however,
namely extremely low thermalemittance and high temperature stability, were difficult tofulfil
with conventional wet processes. Therefore, largescalesputter deposition was developed in
the late 70s. Thevacuum techniques are nowadays mature, characterized bylow cost and have
the advantage of being less environmentallypolluting than the wet processes.For fluid-heating
collectors, passages must be integralwith or firmly bonded to the absorber plate. A
majorproblem is obtaining a good thermal bond between tubesand absorber plates without
incurring excessive costs forlabour or materials. Material most frequently used forcollector
plates are copper, aluminium, and stainless steel.UV-resistant plastic extrusions are used for
low temperatureapplications. If the entire collector area is in contact with theheat transfer
fluid, the thermal conductance of the material isimportantshows a number of absorber plate
designs for solarwater and air heaters that have been used with varyingdegrees of success
shows a bonded sheetdesign, in which the fluid passages are integral with the plateto ensure
good thermal conduct between the metal and the fluid. Fig. 3B and C shows fluid heaters
with tubessoldered, brazed, or otherwise fastened to upper or lowersurfaces of sheets or strips
of copper. Copper tubes are used
most often because of their superior resistance to corrosion.

Thermal cement, clips, clamps, or twisted wires havebeen tried in the search for low-cost
bonding methods. Fig. 3D shows the use of extruded rectangular tubing toobtain a larger heat
transfer area between tube and plate.Mechanical pressure, thermal cement, or brazing may
beused to make the assembly. Soft solder must be avoidedbecause of the high plate
temperature encountered atstagnation conditions.

Air or other gases can be heated with FPC, particularly ifsome type of extended surface (Fig.
3E) is used tocounteract the low heat transfer coefficients between metaland air. Metal or
fabric matrices (Fig. 3F), orthin corrugated metal sheets (Fig. 3G) may be used, withselective
surfaces applied to the latter when a high level ofperformance is required. The principal
requirement is a large contact area between the absorbing surface and the air.Various
applications of solar air collectors are reported inRefs. A design procedure for solar air
heatingsystems is presented in Refwhereas the optimisation of the flow passage geometry is
presented in Ref.Reduction of heat loss from the absorber can beaccomplished either by a
selective surface to reduceradioactive heat transfer or by suppressing convection. Figshowed
that a honeycomb made of transparent material,placed in the airspace between the glazing
and the absorber,was beneficial.Another category of collectors which is not shown inFig. 3 is
the uncovered or unglazed solar collector.These are usually low-cost units which can offer
costeffectivesolar thermal energy in applications such as water preheating for domestic or
industrial use, heating ofswimming pools [42,43], space heating and air heating forindustrial
or agricultural applications.

FPC are by far the most used type of collector. FPC areusually employed for low temperature
applications up to100 8C, although some new types of collectors employingvacuum
insulation and/or TI can achieve slightly highervalues . Due to the introduction of highly
selectivecoatings actual standard FPC can reach stagnation temperaturesof more than 200 8C.
With these collectors goodefficiencies can be obtained up to temperatures of about100
8C.The characteristics of a typical water FPC are shown inTable 2.

Lately some modern manufacturing techniques havebeen introduced by the industry like the
use of ultrasonicwelding machines, which improve both the speed and thequality of welds.
This is used for the welding of fins on risersin order to improve heat conduction. The greatest
advantageof this method is that the welding is performed at roomtemperature therefore
deformation of the welded parts isavoided. These collectors with selective coating are called
advance FPC and the characteristics of a typical type are also shown in Table.

Compound parabolic collectors

CPC are non-imaging concentrators. These have thecapability of reflecting to the absorber all
of the incidentradiation within wide limits. Their potential as collectors ofsolar energy was
pointed out by Winston. The necessityof moving the concentrator to accommodate the
changingsolar orientation can be reduced by using a trough with twosections of a parabola
facing each other, as shown in Fig. 4Compound parabolic concentrators can accept
incomingradiation over a relatively wide range of angles. By usingmultiple internal
reflections, any radiation that is enteringthe aperture, within the collector acceptance angle,
finds itsway to the absorber surface located at the bottom of
the collector. The absorber can take a variety of configurations.It can be cylindrical as shown
in Fig. 4 or flat. In theCPC shown in Fig. 4 the lower portion of the reflector (ABand AC) is
circular, while the upper portions (BD and CE)are parabolic. As the upper part of a CPC
contribute little to

the radiation reaching the absorber, they are usuallytruncated thus forming a shorter version
of the CPC,which is also cheaper. CPCs are usually covered with glassto avoid dust and other
materials from entering the collectorand thus reducing the reflectivity of its walls.These
collectors are more useful as linear or trough-typeconcentrators. The acceptance angle is
defined as the anglethrough which a source of light can be moved and stillconverge at the
absorber. The orientation of a CPC collectoris related to its acceptance angle (uc; in Fig. 4).
Alsodepending on the collector acceptance angle, the collectorcan be stationary or tracking.
A CPC concentrator can beorientated with its long axis along either the north–south orthe
east–west direction and its aperture is tilted directlytowards the equator at an angle equal to
the local latitude.When orientated along the north–south direction thecollector must track the
sun by turning its axis so as to face the sun continuously. As the acceptance angle of
theconcentrator along its long axis is wide, seasonal tiltadjustment is not necessary. It can
also be stationary butradiation will only be received the hours when the sun iswithin the
collector acceptance angle. When the concentratoris orientated with its long axis along the
east–westdirection, with a little seasonal adjustment in tilt angle thecollector is able to catch
the sun’s rays effectively throughits wide acceptance angle along its long axis. The
minimumacceptance angle in this case should be equal to themaximum incidence angle
projected in a north–southvertical plane during the times when output is neededfrom the
collector. For stationary CPC collectors mounted inthis mode the minimum acceptance angle
is equal to 478.angle covers the declination of the sun from summer towinter solstices (2 £
23.58). In practice bigger angles areused to enable the collector to collect diffuse radiation at
theexpense of a lower concentration ratio. Smaller (less than 3)concentration ratio CPCs are
of greatest practical interest

These according to Pereira are able to accept a largeproportion of diffuse radiation incident
on their aperturesand concentrate it without the need of tracking the sun.A method to estimate
the optical and thermal propertiesof CPCs is presented in Ref. In particular, a simpleanalytic
technique was developed for the calculation of theaverage number of reflections for radiation
passing througha CPC, which is useful for computing optical loses. Manynumerical examples
are presented which are helpful indesigning a CPC.

Two basic types of CPC collectors have been designed;the symmetric and the asymmetric.
These usually employtwo main types of absorbers; fin type with pipe and
tubularabsorbers.Practical design considerations such as the choice of thereceiver type, the
optimum method for introducing a gapbetween receiver and reflector to minimise optical
andthermal loses and the effect of a glass envelope around thereceiver are given in Ref ].
Other practical designconsiderations for CPCs with multichannel and bifacialabsorbers are
given in Refs, respectively,whereas design considerations and performance evaluationof cost-
effective asymmetric CPCs are given in Ref.The characteristics of a typical CPC are shown
inTable3
Evacuated tube collectors

Conventional simple flat-plate solar collectors weredeveloped for use in sunny and warm
climates. Theirbenefits however are greatly reduced when conditionsbecome unfavourable
during cold, cloudy and windy days.Furthermore, weathering influences such as
condensationand moisture will cause early deterioration of internalmaterials resulting in
reduced performance and system failure. Evacuated heat pipe solar collectors (tubes)
operatedifferently than the other collectors available on the market.

These solar collectors consist of a heat pipe inside avacuum-sealed tube, as shown in Fig. 5.
ETC have demonstrated that the combination of aselective surface and an effective
convection suppressorcan result in good performance at high temperatures.The vacuum
envelope reduces convection and conductionlosses, so the collectors can operate at higher
temperaturesthan FPC. Like FPC, they collect both direct and diffuseradiation. However,
their efficiency is higher at lowincidence angles. This effect tends to give ETC anadvantage
over FPC in day-long performance.ETC use liquid–vapour phase change materials totransfer
heat at high efficiency. These collectors feature aheat pipe (a highly efficient thermal
conductor) placedinside a vacuum-sealed tube. The pipe, which is a sealedcopper pipe, is
then attached to a black copper fin that fillsthe tube (absorber plate). Protruding from the top
of eachtube is a metal tip attached to the sealed pipe (condenser).heat pipe contains a small
amount of fluid (e.g. methanol) that undergoes an evaporating-condensingcycle. In this
cycle, solar heat evaporates the liquid, and thevapour travels to the heat sink region where it
condenses andreleases its latent heat. The condensed fluid return back tothe solar collector
and the process is repeated. When thesetubes are mounted, the metal tips up, into a heat
exchanger(manifold) as shown in Fig. 5. Water, or glycol, flowsthrough the manifold and
picks up the heat from the tubes.

The heated liquid circulates through another heat exchangerand gives off its heat to a process
or to water that is stored ina solar storage tank.Because no evaporation or condensation above
the v-phase-change temperature is possible, the heat pipe offersinherent protection from
freezing and overheating. This selflimitingtemperature control is a unique feature of
theevacuated heat pipe collector. ETC basically consist of a heat pipe inside a vacuum sealed
tube. A large number of variations of the absorber shape of ETC are on the market .
Evacuated tubes with CPC-reflectors are also commercialised by several manufacturers. One
manufacturer recently presented an all-glass ETC, which may be an important step to cost
reduction and increase of lifetime. Another variation of this type of collector is what is called
Dewar tubes. In this two concentric glass tubes are used and the space in between the tubes is
evacuated (vacuum jacket). The advantage of this design is that it is made entirely of glass
and it is not necessary to penetrate the glass envelope in order to extract heat from the tube
thus leakage losses are not present and it is also less expensive than the single envelope
system. The characteristics of a typical ETC are shown in Table 4. Another type of collector
developed recently is the integrated compound parabolic collector (ICPC). This is an ETC in
which at the bottom part of the glass tube a reflective material is fixed. The collector
combines the vacuum insulation and non-imaging stationary concentration into a single unit.
In another design a tracking ICPC is developed which is suitable for high temperature
applications
Sun tracking concentrating collectors

Energy delivery temperatures can be increased by decreasing the area from which the heat
losses occur. Temperatures far above those attainable by FPC can be reached if a large
amount of solar radiation is concentrated on a relatively small collection area. This is done by
interposing an optical device between the source of radiation and the energy absorbing
surface. Concentrating collectors exhibit certain advantages as compared with the
conventional flat-plate type . The main ones are:
1. The working fluid can achieve higher temperatures in a concentrator system when
compared to a flat-platesystem of the same solar energy collecting surface. This means that a
higher thermodynamic efficiency can be achieved.

2. It is possible with a concentrator system, to achieve a thermodynamic match between

temperature level andtask. The task may be to operate thermionic, thermodynamic, or other
higher temperature devices.

3. The thermal efficiency is greater because of the small heat loss area relative to the receiver
area.

4. Reflecting surfaces require less material and are structurally simpler than FPC. For a
concentratingcollector the cost per unit area of the solar collectingsurface is therefore less
than that of a FPC.

5. Owing to the relatively small area of receiver per unit ofcollected solar energy, selective
surface treatment andvacuum insulation to reduce heat losses and improve the collector
efficiency are economically viable.

Their disadvantages are:

1. Concentrator systems collect little diffuse radiationdepending on the concentration ratio.

2. Some form of tracking system is required so as to enablethe collector to follow the sun.

3. Solar reflecting surfaces may loose their reflectance withtime and may require periodic
cleaning and refurbishing

Many designs have been considered for concentratingcollectors. Concentrators can be

reflectors or refractors, canbe cylindrical or parabolic and can be continuous orsegmented.
Receivers can be convex, flat, cylindrical orconcave and can be covered with glazing or
uncovered.Concentration ratios, i.e. the ratio of aperture to absorberareas, can vary over
several orders of magnitude, from aslow as unity to high values of the order of 10 000.
Increasedratios mean increased temperatures at which energy can be delivered but
consequently these collectors have increasedrequirements for precision in optical quality and
positioningof the optical system.

Because of the apparent movement of the sun across thesky, conventional concentrating
collectors must followthe sun’s daily motion. There are two methods by whichthe sun’s
motion can be readily tracked. The first is thealtazimuth method which requires the tracking
device toturn in both altitude and azimuth, i.e. when performedproperly, this method enables
the concentrator to follow thesun exactly. Paraboloidal solar collectors generally use
thissystem. The second one is the one-axis tracking in which thecollector tracks the sun in
only one direction either from eastto west or from north to south. Parabolic trough
collectors(PTC) generally use this system. These systems requirecontinuous and accurate
adjustment to compensate for thechanges in the sun’s orientation. Relations on how
toestimate the angle of incidence of solar radiation for thesetracking modes are given in
Section 3.2.

The first type of a solar concentrator, shown in Fig, isa FPC fitted with simple flat reflectors
which canmarkedly increase the amount of direct radiation reachingthe collector. This is a
concentrator because the aperture isbigger than the absorber but the system is stationary.A
comprehensive analysis of such a system is presented inRef.. The model facilitates the
prediction of the total energy absorbed by the collector at any hour of the day forany latitude
for random tilt angles and azimuth angles ofthe collector and reflectors. This simple
enhancement ofFPC was initially suggested by Tabor in 1966 .

Other important studies on this area were presented by Seiteland Perers et al.Another type of
collector, already covered under thestationary collectors, the CPC is also classified as
concentrator.This, depending on the acceptance angle, can bestationary or tracking. When
tracking is used this is veryrough or intermitted as concentration ratio is usually smalland
radiation can be collected and concentrated by one ormore reflections on the parabolic
surfaces. As was seen above one disadvantage of concentratingcollectors is that, except at
low concentration ratios, theycan use only the direct component of solar radiation,because the
diffuse component cannot be concentrated bymost types. However, an additional advantage
of concentratingcollectors is that, in summer, when the sun rises wellto the north of the east–
west line, the sun-follower, with itsaxis oriented north–south, can begin to accept
radiationdirectly from the sun long before a fixed, south-facing flatplatecan receive anything
other than diffuse radiation fromthe portion of the sky that it faces. Thus, in
relativelycloudless areas, the concentrating collector may capturemore radiation per unit of
aperture area than a FPC.
In concentrating collectors solar energy is opticallyconcentrated before being transferred into
heat. Concentrationcan be obtained by reflection or refraction of solarradiation by the use of
mirrors or lens. The reflected orrefracted light is concentrated in a focal zone, thusincreasing
the energy flux in the receiving target. Concentrating collectors can also be classified into
non-imaging and imaging depending on whether the image of the sun isfocused at the
receiver or not. The concentrator belonging inthe first category is the CPC whereas all the
other types ofconcentrators belong to the imaging type.

The collectors falling in this category are:

1. Parabolic trough collector;
2. Linear Fresnel reflector (LFR);
3. Parabolic dish;
4. Central receiver

Parabolic trough collectors

In order to deliver high temperatures with goodefficiency a high performance solar collector
is required.Systems with light structures and low cost technology forprocess heat applications
up to 400 8C could be obtainedwith parabolic through collectors (PTCs). PTCs caneffectively
produce heat at temperatures between 50 and400 8C.PTCs are made by bending a sheet of
reflective materialinto a parabolic shape. A metal black tube, covered with aglass tube to
reduce heat losses, is placed along the focal lineof the receiver (Fig. 7). When the parabola is
pointedtowards the sun, parallel rays incident on the reflector arereflected onto the receiver
tube. It is sufficient to use a singleaxis tracking of the sun and thus long collector modules
areproduced. The collector can be orientated in an east–westdirection, tracking the sun from
north to south, or orientatedin a north–south direction and tracking the sun from east towest.
The advantages of the former tracking mode is thatvery little collector adjustment is required
during the dayand the full aperture always faces the sun at noon time butthe collector
performance during the early and late hours ofthe day is greatly reduced due to large
incidence angles(cosine loss). North–south orientated troughs have theirhighest cosine loss at
noon and the lowest in the morningsand evenings when the sun is due east or due west.Over
the period of one year, a horizontal north–southtrough field usually collects slightly more
energy than ahorizontal east–west one. However, the north–south fieldcollects a lot of energy
in summer and much less in winter.The east–west field collects more energy in the winter
thana north–south field and less in summer, providing a moreconstant annual output.
Therefore, the choice of orientationusually depends on the application and whether more
energyis needed during summer or during winterParabolic trough technology is the most
advanced of thesolar thermal technologies because of considerable experiencewith the
systems and the development of a smallcommercial industry to produce and market these
systems.PTCs are built in modules that are supported from theground by simple pedestals at
either end.

PTCs are the most mature solar technology to generate heat at temperatures up to 400 8C for
solar thermal electricity generation or process heat applications. The biggest application of
this type of system is the Southern California power plants, known as solar electric
generating systems (SEGS), which have a total installed capacity of 354 MWe. More details
on this system are given inSection 5.6.1. Another important application of this type of
collector is installed at Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) in Southern Spain mainly for
experimental purposes. The total installed capacity of the PTCs is equal to 1.2 MW [66]. The
receiver of a parabolic trough is linear. Usually, atube is placed along the focal line to form
an external surface receiver (Fig. 7). The size of the tube, and therefore the concentration
ratio, is determined by the size of the reflected sun image and the manufacturing tolerances of
the trough. The surface of the receiver is typically plated with selective coating that has a
high absorptance for solar radiation, but a low emittance for thermal radiation loss.

A glass cover tube is usually placed around the receiver tube to reduce the convective heat
loss from the receiver, thereby further reducing the heat loss coefficient. A disadvantage of
the glass cover tube is that the reflected light from the concentrator must pass through the
glass to reach the absorber, adding a transmittance loss of about 0.9, when the glass is clean.
The glass envelope usually has anantireflective coating to improve transmissivity. One way
to further reduce convective heat loss from the receiver tube and thereby increase the
performance of the collector, particularly for high temperature applications, is to evacuate
space between the glass cover tube and the receiver. In order to achieve cost effectiveness in
mass production, not only the collector structure must feature a high stiffness to weight ratio
so as to keep the material content to a minimum, but also the collector structure must be
amenable to lowlabour manufacturing processes. A number of structuralconcepts have been
proposed such as steel framework structures with central torque tubes or double V-trusses, or
fibreglass. A recent development in this type of collectors is the design and manufacture of
EuroTrough, a new PTC, in which an advance lightweight structure is used to achieve
costefficient solar power generation. Based on environmental test data to date, mirrored glass
appears to be the preferred mirror material although self-adhesive reflective materials with 5–
7 years life exists in the market. The design of this type of collector is given in a number of
publications. The optimization of the collector aperture and rim angle is given in Ref. Design
of other aspectsof the collector is given in Ref.
A tracking mechanism must be reliable and able to followthe sun with a certain degree of
accuracy, return the collectorto its original position at the end of the day or during the
night,and also track during periods of intermittent cloud cover.Additionally, tracking
mechanisms are used for the protectionof collectors, i.e. they turn the collector out of focus
toprotect it from the hazardous environmental and workingconditions, like wind gust,
overheating and failure of thethermal fluid flow mechanism. The required accuracy of
thetracking mechanism depends on the collector acceptanceangle. This is described in detail
in Section 4.3.Various forms of tracking mechanisms, varying fromcomplex to very simple,
have been proposed. They can bedivided into two broad categories, namely mechanicaland
electrical/electronic systems. The electronicsystems generally exhibit improved reliability
and trackingaccuracy. These can be further subdivided into thefollowing
1. Mechanisms employing motors controlled electronicallythrough sensors, which detect the
magnitude of the solarillumination.

2. Mechanisms using computer controlled motors withfeedback control provided from

sensors measuring thesolar flux on the receiver.

A tracking mechanism developed by the author usesthree light dependent resistors which
detect the focus,sun/cloud, and day or night conditions and give instructionto a DC motor
through a control system to focus thecollector, to follow approximately the sun path when
cloudyconditions exist and return the collector to the east duringnight. More details are given
in Ref.New developments in the field of PTC aim at costreduction and improvements of the
technology. In onesystem the collector can be washed automatically thusreducing drastically
the maintenance cost.

After a period of research and commercial developmentof the PTC in the 80s a number of
companies entered intothe field producing this type of collectors, for thetemperature range
between 50 and 300 8C, all of themwith one-axis tracking. One such example is the
solarcollector produced by the Industrial Solar Technology (IST)Corporation. IST erected
several process heat installationsin the United States with up to 2700 m2 of collector
aperturearea.

The IST parabolic trough has thoroughly been tested andevaluated by Sandiaand the German
Aerospace Centre(DLR)for efficiency and durability. Improvements ofthe optical
performance, which recently have been discussed, would lead to a better incident angle
modifier and ahigher optical efficiency.The characteristics of the IST collector system are
shownin Table 5.
Linear Fresnel reflector
LFR technology relies on an array of linear mirror stripswhich concentrate light on to a fixed
receiver mounted on alinear tower. The LFR field can be imagined as a broken-upparabolic
trough reflector (Fig.), but unlike parabolictroughs, it does not have to be of parabolic shape,
largeabsorbers can be constructed and the absorber does not haveto move. A representation of
an element of an LFR collectorfield is shown in Fig.The greatest advantage of this typeof
system is that it uses flat or elastically curved reflectorswhich are cheaper compared to
parabolic glass reflectors.Additionally, these are mounted close to the ground,
thusminimizing structural requirements.The first to apply this principle was the great solar
pioneer Giorgio Francia who developed both linear and two-axis tracking Fresnel reflector
systems at Genoa,Italy in the 60s. These systems showed that elevatedtemperatures could be
reached using such systems but hemoved on to two-axis tracking, possibly becauseadvanced
selective coatings and secondary optics werenot available. Two of the early published works
on this area are given in Refs. whereas some later papers are given in Refs.
In 1979, the FMC Corporation produced a detailedproject design study for 10 and 100 MWe
LFR power plantsfor the Department of Energy (DOE) of the US. The largerplant would
have used a 1.68 km linear cavity absorbermounted on 61 m towers. The project however
was neverput into practice as it ran out of DOE funding .A latter effort to produce a tracking
LFR was made bythe Israeli Paz company in the early 90s by Feuermann andGordon. This
used an efficient secondary CPC-likeoptics and an evacuated tube absorber.

One difficulty with the LFR technology is that avoidanceof shading and blocking between
adjacent reflectors leads toincreased spacing between reflectors. Blocking can bereduced by
increasing the height of the absorber towers,but this increases cost. Compact linear Fresnel
reflector(CLFR) technology has been recently developed at SydneyUniversity in Australia.
This is in effect a second type ofsolution for the Fresnel reflector field problem which
hasbeen overlooked until recently. In this design adjacent linearelements can be interleaved
to avoid shading. The classicalLFR system has only one receiver, and there is no choiceabout
the direction and orientation of a given reflector.However, if it is assumed that the size of the
field will belarge, as it must be in technology supplying electricity in theMWclass, it is
reasonable to assume that there will be manytowers in the system. If they are close enough
thenindividual reflectors have the option of directing reflectedsolar radiation to at least two
towers. This additional variablein the reflector orientation provides the means for much
moredensely packed arrays, because patterns of alternatingreflector orientation can be such
that closely packed reflectorscan be positioned without shading and blocking.
Theinterleaving of mirrors between two receiving towers isshown in Fig. 10. The
arrangement minimizes beam blockingby adjacent reflectors and allows high reflector
densities andlow tower heights to be used. Close spacing of reflectors reduces land usage but
this is in many cases not a serious issue as in deserts. The avoidance of large reflector spacing
andtower heights is an important cost issue when the cost ofground preparation, array
substructure cost, tower structurecost, steam line thermal losses and steam line cost
areconsidered. If the technology is to be located in an area withlimited land availability such
as in urban areas or next toexisting power plants, high array ground coverage can lead to
maximum system output for a given ground area

Parabolic dish reflector (PDR)

A parabolic dish reflector, shown schematically in is a point-focus collector that tracks the
sun intwo axes, concentrating solar energy onto a receiver locatedat the focal point of the
dish. The dish structure must trackfully the sun to reflect the beam into the thermal
receiver.For this purpose tracking mechanisms similar to the onesdescribed in previous
section are employed in double so asthe collector is tracked in two axes.The receiver absorbs
the radiant solar energy, convertingit into thermal energy in a circulating fluid. The
thermalenergy can then either be converted into electricity using anengine-generator coupled
directly to the receiver, or it canbe transported through pipes to a central power-
conversionsystem. Parabolic-dish systems can achieve temperatures inexcess of 1500 8C.
Because the receivers are distributedthroughout a collector field, like parabolic troughs,
parabolicdishes are often called distributed-receiver systems.

Parabolic dishes have several important advantages:

1. Because they are always pointing the sun, they are themost efficient of all collector
systems;

2. They typically have concentration ratio in therange of 600–2000, and thus are highly
efficient atthermal-energy absorption and power conversion systems;

3. They have modular collector and receiver units that caneither function independently or as
part of a larger systemof dishes.

The main use of this type of concentrator is for parabolicdish engines. A parabolic dish-
engine system is an electricgenerator that uses sunlight instead of crude oil or coal toproduce
electricity. The major parts of a system are the solardish concentrator and the power
conversion unit. Moredetails on this system are given in Section 5.6.3.Parabolic-dish systems
that generate electricity from acentral power converter collect the absorbed sunlight
fromindividual receivers and deliver it via a heat-transfer fluid tothe power-conversion
systems. The need to circulate heattransferfluid throughout the collector field raises
designissues such as piping layout, pumping requirements, andthermal losses.
Systems that employ small generators at the focal pointof each dish provide energy in the
form of electricity ratherthan as heated fluid. The power conversion unit includes thethermal
receiver and the heat engine. The thermal receiverabsorbs the concentrated beam of solar
energy, converts it to heat, and transfers the heat to the heat engine. A thermalreceiver can be
a bank of tubes with a cooling fluidcirculating through it. The heat transfer medium
usuallyemployed as the working fluid for an engine is hydrogen orhelium. Alternate thermal
receivers are heat pipes whereinthe boiling and condensing of an intermediate fluid is usedto
transfer the heat to the engine. The heat engine systemtakes the heat from the thermal
receiver and uses it toproduce electricity. The engine-generators have severalcomponents; a
receiver to absorb the concentrated sunlightto heat the working fluid of the engine, which
then convertsthe thermal energy into mechanical work; an alternatorattached to the engine to
convert the work into electricity, awaste-heat exhaust system to vent excess heat to
theatmosphere, and a control system to match the engine’soperation to the available solar
energy. This distributedparabolic dish system lacks thermal storage capabilities, butcan be
hybridised to run on fossil fuel during periodswithout sunshine. The Stirling engine is the
most commontype of heat engine used in dish-engine systems. Otherpossible power
conversion unit technologies that areevaluated for future applications are micro-turbines
andconcentrating photovoltaics.

Heliostat field collector

For extremely high inputs of radiant energy, a multiplicity of flat mirrors, or heliostats, using
altazimuth mounts, can be used to reflect their incident direct solar radiation ontoa common
target as shown in Fig.. This is called theheliostat field or central receiver collector. By using
slightlyconcave mirror segments on the heliostats, large amounts ofthermal energy can be
directed into the cavity of a steamgenerator to produce steam at high temperature and
pressure.The concentrated heat energy absorbed by the receiver istransferred to a circulating
fluid that can be stored and later used to produce power. Central receivers have several
advantages:

1. They collect solar energy optically and transfer it to a singlereceiver, thusminimizing

thermal-energy transport requirements;

2. They typically achieve concentration ratios of 300–1500and so are highly efficient both in
collecting energy and inconverting it to electricity;

3. They can conveniently store thermal energy;

4. They are quite large (generallymore than 10 MW) and thusbenefit from economies of
scale.
Each heliostat at a central-receiver facility has from 50 to150 m2 of reflective surface.

The heliostats collect andconcentrate sunlight onto the receiver, which absorbs the
concentrated sunlight, transferring its energy to a heattransferfluid. The heat-transport
system, which consistsprimarily of pipes, pumps, and valves, directs the transferfluid in a
closed loop between the receiver, storage, andpower-conversion systems. A thermal-storage
system typicallystores the collected energy as sensible heat for laterdelivery to the power-
conversion system. The storagesystem also decouples the collection of solar energy fromits
conversion to electricity. The power-conversion systemconsists of a steam generator, turbine
generator, and supportequipment, which convert the thermal energy into electricityand supply
it to the utility grid.

In this case incident sunrays are reflected by largetracking mirrored collectors, which
concentrate the energyflux towards radioactive/convective heat exchangers, whereenergy is
transferred to a working thermal fluid. Afterenergy collection by the solar system, the
conversion ofthermal energy to electricity has many similarities withthe conventional fossil-
fuelled thermal power plants .

The average solar flux impinging on the receiver hasvalues between 200 and 1000 kW/m2.
This high flux allowsworking at relatively high temperatures of more than1500 8C and to
integrate thermal energy in more efficientcycles. Central receiver systems can easily integrate
infossil-fuelled plants for hybrid operation in a wide variety ofoptions and have the potential
to operate more than half thehours of each year at nominal power using thermal
energystorage.

Central receiver systems are considered to have a largepotential for mid-term cost reduction
of electricity comparedto parabolic trough technology since they allow manyintermediate
steps between the integration in a conventionalRankine cycle up to the higher energy cycles
using gasturbines at temperatures above 1000 8C, and this subsequentlyleads to higher
efficiencies and larger throughputs. Another alternative is to use Brayton cycle
turbines,which require higher temperature than the ones employed inRankine cycle.

There are three general configurations for the collectorand receiver systems. In the first,
heliostats completelysurround the receiver tower, and the receiver, which iscylindrical, has an
exterior heat-transfer surface. In thesecond, the heliostats are located north of the receiver
tower(in the northern hemisphere), and the receiver has anenclosed heat-transfer surface. In
the third, the heliostats arelocated north of the receiver tower, and the receiver, whichis a
vertical plane, has a north-facing heat-transfer surface.
In the final analysis, however, it is the selection of theheat-transfer fluid, thermal-storage
medium, and powerconversioncycle that defines a central-receiver plant. Theheat-transfer
fluid may either be water/steam, liquid sodium,or molten nitrate salt (sodium
nitrate/potassium nitrate),whereas the thermal-storage medium may be oil mixed withcrushed
rock, molten nitrate salt, or liquid sodium. All relyon steam-Rankine power-conversion
systems, although amore advanced system has been proposed that would use airas the heat-
transfer fluid, ceramic bricks for thermal storage,and either a steam-Rankine or open-cycle
Brayton powerconversionsystem.

Thermal analysis of collectors

In this section the thermal analysis of the collectors ispresented. The two major types of
collectors, i.e. flat-plateand concentrating are examined separately. The basicparameter to
consider is the collector thermal efficiency.This is defined as the ratio of the useful energy
delivered tothe energy incident on the collector aperture. The incidentsolar flux consists of
direct and diffuse radiation. WhileFPC can collect both, concentrating collectors can only
 UNIT-II
Solar collector applications
Solar collectors have been used in a variety ofapplications. These are described in this section.
InTablethe most important technologies in use are listedtogether with the type of collector that can be
used in eachcase.

Solar water heating systems

The main part of a SWH is the solar collector array thatabsorbs solar radiation and converts it into
heat. This heat isthen absorbed by a heat transfer fluid (water, non-freezingliquid, or air) that passes
through the collector. This heatcan then be stored or used directly. Portions of the solarenergy system
are exposed to the weather conditions, sothey must be protected from freezing and from
overheatingcaused by high insolation levels during periods of lowenergy demand.In solar water
heating systems, potable water can either be heated directly in the collector (direct systems)
orindirectly by a heat transfer fluid that is heated in thecollector, passes through a heat exchanger to
transfer its heatto the domestic or service water (indirect systems). The heattransfer fluid is
transported either naturally (passivesystems) or by forced circulation (active systems).
Naturalcirculation occurs by natural convection (thermosyphoning),whereas for the forced circulation
systems pumps orfans are used. Except for thermosyphon and integratedcollector storage (ICS)
systems, which need no control,solar domestic and service hot water systems are controlled using
differential thermostats.

types of solar energy systems can be used to heatdomestic and service hot water: thermosyphon, ICS,
directcirculation, indirect, and air. The first two are called passivesystems as no pump is employed,
whereas the others arecalled active systems because a pump or fan is employed inorder to circulate
the fluid. For freeze protection, recirculationand drain-down are used for direct solar water
heatingsystems and drain-back is used for indirect water heatingsystems.

All these systems offer significant economic benefitswith payback times, depending on the type of
fuel theyreplace, between 4 years (electricity) and 7 years (diesel oil).Of course, these payback times
depend on the economicindices, like the inflation rates and fuel price applied in acountry. A wide
range of collectors have been used for solarwater heating systems. A review of the systems
manufacturedin the last 20 years is given in Ref.

Thermosyphon systems (passive)

Thermosyphon systems, shown schematically in Fig.heat potable water or heat transfer fluid and use
naturalconvection to transport it from the collector to storage. The water in the collector expands
becoming less dense asthe sun heats it and rises through the collector into the top ofthe storage tank.
There it is replaced by the cooler water thathas sunk to the bottom of the tank, from which it flows
downthe collector. The circulation continuous as long as there issunshine. Since the driving force is
only a small densitydifference larger than normal pipe sizes must be used tominimise pipe friction.
Connecting lines must be wellinsulated to prevent heat losses and sloped to preventformation of air
pockets which would stop circulation. Atnight, or whenever the collector is cooler than the water inthe
tank the direction of the thermosyphon flow will reverse,thus cooling the stored water. One way to
prevent this is toplace the top of the collector well below (about 30 cm) the bottom of the storage
tank.

The main disadvantage of thermosyphon systems is the fact that they are comparatively tall units,
which makes them not very attractive aesthetically. Usually, a cold water storage tank is installed on
top of the solar collector, supplying both the hot water cylinder and the cold water needs of the house,
thus making the collector unit taller and even less attractive. Additionally, extremely hard or acidic
water can cause scale deposits that clog or corrode the absorber fluid passages. For direct systems,
pressurereducing valves are required when the city water is used directly (no cold water storage tank)
and pressure is greaterthan the working pressure of the collectors. There have been extensive analyses
of the performance of thermosyphon SWH, both experimentally and analytically by numerous
researchers. Some of the most importantare shown here.

Gupta and Gargdeveloped one of the first modelsfor thermal performance of a natural circulation
SWH withno load. They represented solar radiation and ambienttemperature by Fourier series, and
were able to predict aday’s performance in a manner that agreed substantially with experiments.Ong
performed two studies to evaluate thethermal performance of a SWH. He instrumented arelatively
small system with five thermocouples on thebottom surface of the water tubes and six thermocouples
onthe bottom surface of the collector plate. A total of sixthermocouples were inserted into the storage
tank and a dyetracer mass flow meter was employed. Ong’s studies appearto be the first detailed ones
on a thermosyphonic system.
Kudish et al.in their study measured thethermosyphon flow rate directly by adapting a simple and
well-known laboratory technique, a constant level device, toa solar collector in the thermosyphon
mode. The thermosyphonflow data gathered were utilised to construct astandard efficiency test curve,
thus showing that thistechnique can be applied for testing collectors in thethermosyphon mode. Also,
they determined the instantaneouscollector efficiency as a function of time of day.

Morrison and Braunhave studied system modellingand operation characteristics of thermosyphon

SWHwith vertical or horizontal storage tank. They found that thesystem performance is maximised
when the daily collectorvolume flow is approximately equal to the daily load flow,and the system
with horizontal tank did not perform as wellas a vertical one.

Hobson and Norton in their study developed acharacteristic curve for an individual directly heated
thermosyphon solar energy water heater obtained fromdata of a 30 days tests. Using such a curve, the
calculatedannual solar fraction agreed well with the corresponding value computed from the
numerical simulation. Furthermore,the analysis was extended, and they produced asimple but
relatively accurate design method for directthermosyphon solar energy water heaters.

Shariah and Shalabi have studied optimisation ofdesign parameters for a thermosyphon SWH for two
regionsin Jordan represented by two cities, namely Amman andAqaba through the use of TRNSYS
simulation program.Their results indicate that the solar fraction of the system can be improved by 10–
25% when each studied parameteris chosen properly. It was also found that the solar fractionof a
system installed in Aqaba (hot climate) is less sensitiveto some parameters than the solar fraction of a
similarsystem installed in Amman (mild climate).

Integrated collector storage systems (passive)

ICS systems use hot water storage as part of thecollector, i.e. the surface of the storage tank is used
alsoas an absorber. As in all other systems, to improvestratification, the hot water is drawn from the
top of thetank and cold make-up water enters to the bottom of the tankon the opposite side.The main
disadvantage of the ICS systems is the highthermal losses from the storage tank to the
surroundingssince most of the surface area of the storage tank cannot bethermally insulated as it is
intentionally exposed for theabsorption of solar radiation. In particular, the thermallosses are greatest
during the night and overcast days withlow ambient temperature. Due to these losses the
watertemperature drops substantially during the night especiallyduring the winter. Various techniques
have been used toavoid this from happening. Tripanagnostopoulos et al. presented a number of
experimental units in which thereduction of thermal losses was achieved by consideringand double
cylindrical horizontal tanks properlyplaced in truncated symmetric and asymmetric CPCreflector
troughs.Details of an ICS unit developed by the author arepresented here. The system employs a non-
imagingCPC cusp type collector. A fully developed cuspconcentrator for a cylindrical receiver is
shown inFig. The particular curve illustrated has an acceptancehalf-angle, ϴA; of 608, or a full
acceptance angle, 2ϴA; of1208. Each side of the cusp has two mathematicallydistinct segments
smoothly joined at a point P related to ϴA: The first segment, from the bottom of the receiverto point
P; is the involute of the receiver’s circular crosssection.The second segment is from point P to the
topof the curve, where the curve becomes parallel to they-axis.

With reference to Fig, for a cylindrical receiver theradius R and acceptance half-angle, ϴA; the
distance, r;along a tangent from the receiver to the curve, is related tothe angle ϴ; between the radius
to the bottom of the receiverand the radius to the point of tangency, T; by the following
shows a full un-truncated curve which is themathematical solution for a reflector shape with
themaximum possible concentration ratio. The reflector shapeshown in Figis not the most practical
design for a costeffectiveconcentrator, because reflective material is noteffectively used in the upper
portion of the concentrator. Asin the case of the CPC, a theoretical cusp curve should betruncated to a
lower height and slightly smaller concentrationratio. Graphically, this is done by drawing ahorizontal
line across the cusp at a selected height anddiscarding the part of the curve above the line.
Mathematically,the curve is defined to a maximum angle u value lessthan 3p=2 2uA: The shape of the
curve below the cut-offline is not changed by truncation, so the acceptance angleused for the
construction of the curve (using Eq. (101)) of atruncated cusp is equal to the acceptance angle of the
fullydeveloped cusp from which it was truncated.

A large acceptance angle of 758 is used in this design soas the collector would be able to collect as
much diffuseradiation as possible. The fully developed cusptogether with the truncated one is shown
in Fig. Thereceiver radius considered in the construction of the cusp is0.24 m. The actual cylinder is
0.20 m. This is done in orderto create a gap at the underside of the receiver and the edgeof the cusp in
order to minimise the optical and conductionlosses. The final design is shown in Fig. 28. The
collectoraperture is 1.77 m2, which in combination with the absorber diameter used, gives a
concentration ratio of 1.47 It should be noted that, as shown in Fig. 28, the system isinclined at the
local latitude in order to work effectively
Direct circulation systems (active)
In direct circulation systems, shown schematically in Fig. , a pump is used to circulate potable water
fromstorage to the collectors when there is enough available solarenergy to increase its temperature
and then return the heatedwater to the storage tank until it is needed. As a pumpcirculates the water,
the collectors can be mounted eitherabove or below the storage tank. The optimum flow rate forsuch
units is about 0.015 l/m2 of collector area. Directcirculation systems can be used in areas where
freezing isnot frequent. For extreme weather conditions, freezeprotection is usually provided by
recirculating warm waterfrom the storage tank. Direct circulation systems often use asingle storage
tank equipped with an auxiliary water heater,but two-tank storage systems can also be used.

Direct circulation systems can be used with watersupplied from a cold water storage tank or
connecteddirectly to city water mains. Pressure-reducing valves andpressure relief valves are required
however when the citywater pressure is greater than the working pressure of thecollectors. Direct
water heating systems should not be usedin areas where the water is extremely hard or acidic
becausescale deposits may clog or corrode the collectors.A variation of the direct circulation system is
the draindownsystems shown in Fig. 30. In this case also potablewater is pumped from storage to the
collector array where itis heated. When a freezing condition or a power failureoccurs, the system
drains automatically by isolating
the collector array and exterior piping from the make-upwater supply and draining it using the two
normally open(NO) valves, shown in Fig. 30. It should be noted that thesolar collectors and associated
piping must be carefullysloped to drain the collector’s exterior piping whencirculation stops. The
same comments about pressure andscale deposits apply here as for the direct circulation systems.

Indirect water heating systems (active)

Indirect water heating systems, shown schematically inFig. circulate a heat transfer fluid through the
closedcollector loop to a heat exchanger, where its heat istransferred to the potable water. The most
commonly usedheat transfer fluids are water/ethylene glycol solutions,although other heat transfer
fluids such as silicone oils andrefrigerants can also be used. When fluids that are non-potableor toxic
are used double-wall heat exchangers should be employed. The heat exchanger can be locatedinside
the storage tank, around the storage tank (tankmantle) or can be external. It should be noted that the
collector loop is closed and therefore an expansion tank anda pressure relief valve are required.
Additional overtemperatureprotection may be needed to prevent thecollector heat transfer fluid from
decomposing or becomingcorrosive.

A variation of indirect water heating systems is the drainbacksystem. Drain-back systems are
generally indirectwater heating systems that circulate water through theclosed collector loop to a heat
exchanger, where its heat istransferred to the potable water. Circulation continues aslong as usable
energy is available. When the circulationpump stops the collector fluid drains by gravity to a
drainback tank. If the system is pressurised the tank serves also as an expansion tank when the system
is operating and in this case it must be protected with a temperature and pressure relief valves. In the
case of an unpressurised system(Fig.), the tank is open and vented to the atmosphere.As the collector
loop is isolated from the potable water,no valves are needed to actuate draining, and scaling is not
aproblem, however, the collector array and exterior pipingmust be adequately sloped to drain
completely.

Air systems
Air systems are indirect water heating systems thatcirculate air via ductwork through the collectors to
an air-to-liquidheat exchanger. In the heat exchanger, heat istransferred to the potable water, which is
also circulated through the heat exchanger and returned to the storage tank. shows a double storage
tank system. This type ofsystem is used most often, because air systems are generallyused for
preheating domestic hot water and thus auxiliary isused only in one tank as shown.

The main advantage of the system is that air does notneed to be protected from freezing or boiling, is
noncorrosive,and is free. The disadvantages are that airhandling equipment (ducts and fans) need
more space thanpiping and pumps, air leaks are difficult to detect, andparasitic power consumption is
generally higher than that ofliquid systems.

Solar space heating and cooling

The components and subsystems discussed in Section may be combined to create a wide variety of
buildingsolar heating and cooling systems. There are again twoprincipal categories of such systems,
passive and active.

The term passive system is applied to buildings that includeas integral part of the building elements,
that admit, absorb,store and release solar energy and thus reduce the needs for auxiliary energy for
comfort heating. As no solar collectorsare employed in the passive systems in this paper, only active
systems are considered.

Systems for space heating are very similar to those forwater heating, described in Section 5.1, and as
the sameconsiderations for combination with an auxiliary source,boiling and freezing, controls, etc.,
apply to both these maynot be repeated again. The most common heat transfer fluidsare water, water
and antifreeze mixtures and air. The load isthe building to be heated. Although it is technically
possibleto construct a solar heating or cooling system which cansatisfy 100% the design load, such a
system would be nonviablesince it would be oversized for most of the time. Thesize of the solar
system may be determined by a life-cyclecost analysis described in Section 4.7.

Active solar space systems use collectors to heat a fluid,storage units to store solar energy until
needed, and distributionequipment to provide the solar energy to the heatedspaces in a controlled
manner. A complete system includesadditionally pumps or fans for transferring the energy tostorage
or to the load which require a continuous availabilityof non-renewable energy, generally in the form
of electricity.

The load can be space cooling, heating, or a combination of these two with hot water supply. In
combination with conventional heating equipment solar heating provides the same levels of comfort,
temperature stability, and reliability as conventional systems. Active solar energy systems can also be
combined with heat pumps for water heating and/or space heating. In residential heating the solar
system can be used in parallel with a heat pump, which supplies auxiliary energy when thesun is not
available. Additionally, for domestic watersystems requiring high water temperatures, a heat pump
can be placed in series with the solar storage tank.

During daytime the solar system absorbs solar radiationwith collectors and conveys it to storage using
a suitablefluid. As the building requires heat it is obtained fromstorage. Control of the solar system is
exercised bydifferential temperature controllers, i.e. the controllercompares the temperature of the
collectors and storageand whenever the temperature difference is more than acertain value (7–10 8C),
the solar pump is switched ON. Inlocations where freezing conditions are possible to occur, alow-
temperature sensor is installed on the collector whichcontrols the solar pump when a pre-set
temperature isreached. This process wastes some stored heat, but itprevents costly damages to the
solar collectors.

Solar cooling of buildings is an attractive idea as thecooling loads and availability of solar radiation
are in phase.Additionally, the combination of solar cooling and heatinggreatly improves the use
factors of collectors compared toheating alone. Solar air conditioning can be accomplished by three
types of systems: absorption cycles, adsorption(desiccant) cycles and solar mechanical processes.
Some ofthese cycles are also used in solar refrigeration systems and are described in Section 5.3. The
rest of this section dealswith solar heating and service hot water production. Itshould be noted that the
same solar collectors are used forboth space heating and cooling systems when both arepresent.

A review of the various solar heating and coolingsystems is presented in Ref. A review of solar and
lowenergy cooling technologies is presented in Ref.

Space heating and service hot water

It is useful to consider solar systems as having five basicmodes of operation, depending on the
conditions that existin the system at a particular time:

1. If solar energy is available and heat is not needed in thebuilding, energy gain from the collector is
added tostorage.

2. If solar energy is available and heat is needed in thebuilding, energy gain from the collector is used
to supplythe building need.

3. If solar energy is not available, heat is needed in thebuilding, and the storage unit has stored energy
in it, thestored energy is used to supply the building need.
4. If solar energy is not available, heat is needed in thebuilding, and the storage unit has been
depleted,auxiliary energy is used to supply the building need.

5. The storage unit is fully heated, there are no loads to met,and the collector is absorbing heat.

When the last mode occurs, there is no way to use orstore the collected energy, and this energy must
bediscarded. This can be achieved through the operation ofpressure relief valves or if the stagnant
temperature will notbe detrimental to the collector materials, the flow of fluids isturned off, thus the
collector temperature will rise until theabsorbed energy is dissipated by thermal losses. This ismore
suitable to solar air collectors.Additional operational modes can also be employed suchas to provide
service hot water. It is also possible to combinemodes, i.e. to operate in more than one mode at a
time.Moreover, many systems do not allow direct heating fromsolar collector to building, but always
transfer heatfrom collector to storage whenever this is available andfrom storage to load whenever
needed. In Europe solarheating systems for combined space and water heating areknown as
combisystems. The following sections describethe design of residential-scale installations.

Air systems
A schematic of a basic solar heating system using air as the heat transfer fluid, with pebble bedstorage
unit and auxiliary heating source is shown in Fig. The variousmodes of operations are achieved by
appropriate positioningof the dampers. In most air systems it is not practical tocombine the modes of
adding energy to and removingenergy from storage at the same time. Auxiliary energy canbe
combined with energy supplied from collector or storageto top-up the air temperature in order to
cover the buildingload. As shown in Fig, it is possible to bypass thecollector and storage unit when
auxiliary alone is being usedto provide heat. Fig. shows a more detailed schematic ofan air system.
Blowers, controls, means of obtaining servicehot water, and more details of ducting are shown.

The advantages of using air as a heat transfer fluid areoutlined in water heating air systems (Section
5.1.5).Additionally, other advantages include the high degree ofstratification possible in the pebble
bed which leads to lowercollector inlet temperatures. The working fluid is air, andwarm air heating
systems are in common use. Controlequipment that can be applied to those systems is alsoreadily
available. Additional to the disadvantages of waterheating air systems (Section 5.1.5) is the difficulty
of addingsolar air conditioning to the systems. Finally, air collectorsare operated at lower fluid
capacitance rates and thus withlower values of FR than the liquid heating collectors.Usually, air
heating collectors in space heating systemsare operated at fixed air flow rates, thus the
outlettemperature varies through the day. It is also possible tooperate them at a fixed outlet
temperature by varying theflow rate. This however results in reduced FR and thusreduced collector
performance when flow rates are low

Water systems

There are many variations of systems used for both solar space heating and service hot water
production. The basic configuration is similar to the solar water heating systems outlined in Sections
5.1.3 and 5.1.4. When used for both space and hot water production this system allows independent
control of the solar collector-storage and storage-auxiliary-load loops as solar-heated water can be
added to storage at the same time that hot water is removed from storage to meet building loads.
Usually, a bypass is provided around the storage tank to avoid heating the storage tank, which can be
of considerable size, with auxiliary energy.
A detailed schematic of a liquid-based system is shownin Fig. 36 [97]. In this case a collector heat
exchanger isshown between the collector and the storage tank, whichallows the use of antifreeze
solutions to the collector circuit.Relief valves are also required for dumping excess energy if
the collector temperature reaches saturation. Means ofextracting energy for service hot water are
indicated.Auxiliary energy for heating is added so as to ‘top off’that available from solar energy
system.

A load heat exchanger is shown in Fig.to transferenergy from the tank to the air in the heated spaces.
The loadheat exchanger must be adequately designed to avoidexcessive temperature drop and
corresponding increase inthe tank and collector temperatures. Advantages of liquid heating systems
include highcollector FR; smaller storage volume, and relatively easyadaptation to supply energy to
absorption air conditioners

Heat pump systems

Heat pumps use mechanical energy to transfer thermalenergy from a source at a lower temperature to
a sink at ahigher temperature. Electrically driven heat pump heatingsystems have two advantages
compared to electric resistanceheating or expensive fuels. The heat pump’s COP ishigh enough to
yield 11 to 15 MJ of heat for each kW h ofenergy supplied to the compressor, which saves onpurchase
of energy, and usefulness for air conditioning inthe summer. Water-to-air heat pumps, which use
solarheated water from the storage tank as the evaporator energysource, are an alternative auxiliary
heat source. Use of water involves freezing problems which need to be taken intoconsideration. Solar
heating systems using liquids willoperate at lower temperatures than conventional hydronicsystems
and will require more baseboard heater area totransfer heat into the building.
Solar refrigeration

Solar cooling can be considered for two relatedprocesses: to provide refrigeration for food
and medicinepreservation and to provide comfort cooling. Solar refrigerationsystems usually
operate at intermitted cycles andproduce much lower temperatures (ice) than in
airconditioning. When the same cycles are used in spacecooling they operate on continuous
cycles. The cyclesemployed for solar refrigeration are the absorption andadsorption. During
the cooling portion of the cycles, therefrigerant is evaporated and reabsorbed. In these
systemsthe absorber and generator are separate vessels. Thegenerator can be integral part of
the collector, withrefrigerant absorbent solution in the tubes of the collectorcirculated by a
combination of a thermosyphon and a vapourlift pump.

There are many options available which enable theintegration of solar energy into the process
of ‘cold’production. Solar refrigeration can be accomplished byusing either a thermal energy
source supplied from a solarcollector or electricity supplied from photovoltaics. This canbe
achieved by using either thermal adsorption or absorptionunits or conventional refrigeration
equipment powered fromphotovoltaics. Solar refrigeration is employed mainly tocool vaccine
stores in areas with no mains electricity and forsolar space cooling.

Photovoltaic refrigeration, although uses standardrefrigeration equipment which is an

advantage, has notachieved widespread use because of the low efficiency andhigh cost of the
photovoltaic cells. As photovoltaics are notcovered in this paper details are given only on the
solar adsorption and absorption units with more emphasison the latter.

Adsorption units

Porous solids, called adsorbents, can physically andreversibly adsorb large volumes of a
vapour, called theadsorbate. Though this phenomenon, called solar adsorption,was
recognised in the 19th century its practicalapplication in the field of refrigeration is relatively
recent.The concentration of adsorbate vapours in a solid adsorbentis a function of the
temperature of the pair, i.e. the mixtureof adsorbent and adsorbate, and the vapour pressure of
thelatter. The dependence of adsorbate concentration ontemperature, under constant pressure
conditions, makes itpossible to adsorb or desorb the adsorbate by varying thetemperature of
the mixture. This forms the basis of theapplication of this phenomenon in the solar-powered
intermittent vapour sorption refrigeration cycleAn adsorbent–refrigerant working pair for a
solarrefrigerator requires the following characteristics:

1. A refrigerant with a large latent heat of evaporation.

2. A working pair with high thermodynamic efficiency.

3. A small heat of desorption under the envisaged operatingpressure and temperature

conditions.
4. A low thermal capacity.

Water–ammonia has been the most widely usedsorption–refrigeration pair and research has
been undertakento utilise the pair for solar-operated refrigerators.The efficiency of such
systems is limited by thecondensing temperature, which cannot be lowered
withoutintroduction of advanced and expensive technology. Forexample, cooling towers or
desiccant beds have to be usedto produce cold water to condensate ammonia at
lowerpressure. Amongst the other disadvantages inherent inusing water and ammonia as the
working pair are theheavy gauge pipe and vessel walls required to withstandthe high
pressure, the corrosiveness of ammonia, and theproblem of rectification, i.e. removing water
vapour fromammonia during generation. A number of different solidadsorption working pairs
such as zeolite–water, zeolite–methanol, and activated carbon–methanol, have beenstudied in
order to find the one that performed better.

The activated carbon–methanol working pair was foundto perform the best.Because complete
physical property data are availablefor only a few potential working pairs, the
optimumperformance remains unknown at the moment. In addition,the operating conditions
of a solar-powered refrigerator, i.e.generator and condenser temperature, vary with its
geographicallocation.

The development of three solar/biomass adsorption airconditioning refrigeration systems is

presented by Critoph. All systems use active carbon–ammonia adsorptioncycles and the
principle of operation and performanceprediction of the systems are given.Thorpepresented
an adsorption heat pump systemwhich uses ammonia with granular active adsorbate. A
highCOP is achieved and the cycle is suitable for the use of heatfrom high temperature (150–
200 8C) solar collectors for airconditioning.

Absorption units

Absorption is the process of attracting and holdingmoisture by substances called desiccants.

Desiccants aresorbents, i.e. materials that have an ability to attract and holdother gases or
liquids, which have a particular affinity forwater. During absorption the desiccant undergoes
achemical change as it takes on moisture; for example, thetable salt, which changes from a
solid to a liquid as it
absorbs moisture. The characteristic of the binding ofdesiccants to moisture, makes the
desiccants very useful inchemical separation processes.

Absorption systems are similar to vapour-compressionair conditioning systems but differ in

the pressurisationstage. In general an absorbent, on the low-pressure side,absorbs an
evaporating refrigerant. The most usual combinationsof fluids include lithium bromide-water
(LiBr–H2O)where water vapour is the refrigerant and ammonia–water(NH3–H2O) systems
where ammonia is the refrigerant.

The pressurisation is achieved by dissolving therefrigerant in the absorbent, in the absorber

section
 Subsequently, the solution is pumped to a highpressure with an ordinary liquid pump. The
addition of heatin the generator is used to separate the low-boilingrefrigerant from the
solution. In this way the refrigerantvapour is compressed without the need of large amounts
ofmechanical energy that the vapour-compression air conditioningsystems demand.

The remainder of the system consists of a condenser,expansion valve and evaporator, which
function in a similarway as in a vapour-compression air conditioning system.The NH3–H2O
system is more complicated than theLiBr–H2O system, since it needs a rectifying column
thatassures that no water vapour enters the evaporator where itcould freeze. The NH3–H2O
system requires generatortemperatures in the range of 125–170 8C with air-cooledabsorber
and condenser and 95–120 8C when water-coolingis used. These temperatures cannot be
obtained with FPCs.

The coefficient of performance (COP), which is defined asthe ratio of the cooling effect to
the heat input, is between0.6 and 0.7.The LiBr–H2O system operates at a generator
temperaturein the range of 70–95 8C with water used as a coolant inthe absorber and
condenser and has COP higher than the
NH3–H2O systems. The COP of this system is between 0.6and 0.8 [97]. A disadvantage of
the LiBr–H2O systems isthat their evaporator cannot operate at temperatures muchbelow 5
8C since the refrigerant is water vapour. Commerciallyavailable absorption chillers for air
conditioningapplications usually operate with a solution of lithiumbromide in water and use
steam or hot water as the heatsource. In the market two types of chillers are available,
thesingle and the double effect.

The single effect absorption chiller is mainly used forbuilding cooling loads, where chilled
water is required at6–7 8C. The COP will vary to a small extent with the heatsource and the
cooling water temperatures. Single effectchillers can operate with hot water temperature
rangingfrom about 80 to 150 8C when water is pressurised.

The double effect absorption chiller has two stages ofgeneration to separate the refrigerant
from the absorbent.Thus the temperature of the heat source needed to drive thehigh-stage
generator is essentially higher than that neededfor the single-effect machine and is in the
range of155–205 8C. Double effect chillers have a higher COP ofabout 0.9–1.2. Although
double effect chillers aremore efficient than the single-effect machines they areobviously
more expensive to purchase. However, everyindividual application must be considered on its
merits sincethe resulting savings in capital cost of the single-effect
units can largely offset the extra capital cost of the doubleeffect chiller.The Carrier
Corporation pioneered lithium–bromideabsorption chiller technology in the United States,
withearly single-effect machines introduced around 1945. Due tothe success of the product
soon other companies joined the production. The absorption business thrived until 1975.Then
the generally held belief that natural gas supplies werelessening, let to US government
regulations prohibiting theuse of gas in new constructions and together with the lowcost of
electricity led to the declination of the absorptionrefrigeration market. Today the major factor
on thedecision on the type of system to install for a particularapplication is the economic
trade-off between the differentcooling technologies. Absorption chillers typically cost lessto
operate, but they cost more to purchase than vapourcompression units. The payback period
depends strongly onthe relative cost of fuel and electricity assuming that theoperating cost for
the needed heat is less than the operating cost for electricity.

The technology was exported to Japan from the US early in the 1960s, and the Japanese
manufacturers set a researchand development program to improve further the
absorptionsystems. The program led to the introduction of the directfireddouble-effect
machines with improved thermalperformance.

Today gas-fired absorption chillers deliver 50% ofcommercial space cooling load worldwide,
but less than5% in the US, where electricity-driven vapour compressionmachines carry the
majority of the load.Many researchers have developed solar assisted absorptionrefrigeration
systems. Most of them have beenproduced as experimental units and computer codes
werewritten to simulate the systems. Some of these designs arepresented here.

Hammad and Audi described the performance of a non-storage, continuous, solar operated
absorption refrigeration cycle. The maximum ideal COP of the system wasdetermined to be
equal to 1.6, while the peak actual COPwas determined to be equal to 0.55.performed a
simulation and analysis oftwo open-cycle absorption systems. Both systems comprisea closed
absorber and evaporator as in conventional singlestage chillers. The open part of the cycle is
the regenerator,used to re-concentrate the absorber solution by means ofsolar energy. The
analysis was performed with a computercode developed for modular simulation of
absorptionsystems under varying cycle configurations (open- andclosed-cycle systems) and
with different working fluids.

Based on the specified design features, the code calculatesthe operating parameters in each
system. Results indicate adefinite performance advantage of the direct-regenerationsystem
over the indirect one.Hawlader et al. developed a lithium bromideabsorption cooling system
employing an 11 £ 11 m2collector/regenerator unit. They also have developed acomputer
model, which they validated against real experimentalvalues with good agreement. The
experimentalresults showed a regeneration efficiency varying between 38and 67% and the
corresponding cooling capacities ranged
from 31 to 72 kW.

performance predictions ofalternative low-cost absorbents for open cycle absorptionusing a

number of absorbents. The most promising of theabsorbents considered, was a mixture of two
elements,lithium chloride and zinc chloride. The estimated capacitiesper unit absorber area
were 50–70% less than those oflithium bromide systems.presented modelling and
simulationof a solar absorption system for Beirut. The results showedthat, for each ton of
refrigeration, it is required to have aminimum collector area of 23.3 m2 with an optimum
water storage capacity ranging from 1000 to 1500 l, for the systemto operate solely on solar
energy for about 7 h per day. Themonthly solar fraction of total energy use in cooling
isdetermined as a function of solar collector area and storagetank capacity. The economic
analysis performed showed that the solar cooling system is marginally competitive onlywhen
it is combined with domestic water heating.
a solarpoweredabsorption cooling machine. The main part of thedevice is an
absorber/desorber unit, which is mounted insidea concentrating solar collector. Results
obtained from fieldtests are discussed and compared with the results obtainedfrom a
simulation program developed for this purpose.

Described the performance ofa 1.5 ton solar cooling unit. The unit comprises a 14 m2
flatplatesolar collector system and five shell and tube heatexchangers. The unit was tested in
April and May in Jordan.The maximum value obtained for actual COP was 0.85.describe a
solar absorption airconditioning system which uses an array of 2160 evacuatedtubular
collectors of total aperture area of 540 m2 and a LiBrabsorption chiller. Thermal efficiencies
of the collectorarray are 40% for space cooling, 35% for space heating and50% for domestic
water heating. It was found that thecooling efficiency of the entire system is around 20%.
A new family of ICPC designs was developed byWinston et al.which allows a simple
manufacturingapproach to be used and solves many of the operationalproblems of previous
ICPC designs. A low concentrationratio is used that requires no tracking together with an
offthe-shelf 20 ton double effect LiBr direct fired absorptionchiller, modified to work with
hot water. The new ICPCdesign and double effect chiller was able to produce coolingenergy
for the building using a collector field that was abouthalf the size of that required for a more
conventionalcollector and chiller.

A method to design, construct and evaluate theperformance of a single stage lithium

bromide–waterabsorption machine is presented in Ref. In this thenecessary heat and mass
transfer relations and appropriateequations describing the properties of the working fluids
arespecified. Information on designing the heat exchangers ofthe LiBr–water absorption unit
is also presented. Singlepassvertical-tube heat exchangers have been used for theabsorber and
for the evaporator. The solution heatexchanger was designed as a single-pass annulus
heatexchanger. The condenser and the generator were designedusing horizontal tube heat
exchangers.5.4. Industrial process heatBeyond the low temperature applications there
areseveral potential fields of application for solar thermalenergy at a medium and medium–
high temperature level(80–240 8C). The most important of them is heat productionfor
industrial processes. The industrial heat demandconstitutes about 15% of the overall demand
of final energyrequirements in the southern European countries. Thepresent energy demand
in the EU for medium andmedium-high temperatures is estimated to be about300 T W h/yr.
From a number of studies on industrial heat demand,several industrial sectors have been
identified with favourableconditions for the application of solar energy. The mostimportant
industrial processes using heat at a meantemperature level are: sterilising, pasteurising,
drying,hydrolysing, distillation and evaporation, washing andcleaning, and polymerisation.
Some of the most importantprocesses and the range of the temperatures required foreach are
outlined in Ref.

Large-scale solar applications for process heat benefit from the effect of scale. Therefore, the
investment costs should be comparatively low, even if the costs for the collector are higher.
One way to cause economically easy terms is to design systems without heat storage, i.e. the
solar heat is fed directly into a suitable process (fuel saver). In this case the maximum rate at
which the solar energy system delivers energy must not be appreciably larger than the rateat
which the process uses energy. This system howevercannot be cost-effective in cases, where
heat is needed at theearly or late hours of the day or at nighttimes when theindustry operates
on a double shift basis.

The types of industries that spent most of the energy arethe food industry and the
manufacture of non-metallicmineral products. Particular types of food industries, whichcan
employ solar process heat, are the milk and cooked pork meats industries and breweries.
Most of the process heat is used in food and textile industry forsuch diverse applications as
drying, cooking, cleaning,extraction and many others. Favourable conditions exist infood
industry, because food treatment and storage areprocesses with high energy consumption and
high running time.

Temperature for these applications may vary fromnear ambient to those corresponding to
low-pressure steam,and energy can be provided either from flat-plate or lowconcentration
ratio concentrating collectors.The principle of operation of components and systemsoutlined
in the previous sections apply directly to industrialprocess heat applications. The unique
features of the latterlie in the scale on which they are used, and the integration ofthe solar
energy supply system with the auxiliary energysource and the industrial process.
The two primary problems that need to be consideredwhen designing an industrial process
heat applicationconcern the type of energy to be employed and thetemperature at which the
heat is to be delivered. Forexample, if a process requires hot air for direct drying, an
airheating system is probably the best solar energy systemoption. If hot water is needed for
cleaning in foodprocessing, the solar energy will be a liquid heater. Ifsteam is needed to
operate an autoclave or sterilizer, thesolar energy system must be designed to produce
steamprobably with concentrating collectors. Another importantfactor in determination of the
most suitable system for aparticular application is the temperature of the fluid to thecollector.
Other requirements concern the fact that theenergy may be needed at particular temperature
or over arange of temperatures and possible sanitation requirementsof the plant that must also
be met as for example in foodprocessing applications.

The investments in industrial processes are generallylarge, and the transient and intermittent
characteristics ofsolar energy supply are so unique that the study of options in solar industrial
applications can be done by modellingmethods (Section 4.6) at costs that are very small
comparedto the investments.Many industrial processes use large amounts of energy insmall
spaces. If solar is to be considered for theseapplications, the location of collectors can be a
problem.It may be necessary to locate the collector arrays on adjacentbuildings or grounds,
resulting in long runs of pipes or ducts.

Where feasible, collectors can be mounted on the roof of afactory especially when no land
area is available. In this caseshading between adjacent collector rows should be avoided and
considered. However, collector area may be limited byroof area and orientation. Existing
buildings are generally not designed or orientated to accommodate arrays ofcollectors, and in
many cases structures to support collectorarrays must be added to the existing structures.
Newbuildings can be readily designed, often at little or noincremental cost, to allow for
collector mounting andaccess.

In a solar process heat system, interfacing of thecollectors with conventional energy supplies
must be donein a way compatible with the process. The easiest way toaccomplish this is by
using heat storage, which can alsoallow the system to work in periods of low irradiation
and/ornighttime.

The central system for heat supply in most factories useshot water or steam at a pressure
corresponding to the highesttemperature needed in the different processes. Hot water orlow
pressure steam at medium temperatures (150 8C) canbe used either for preheating of water
(or other fluids) usedfor processes (washing, dyeing, etc.) or for steam generationor by direct
coupling of the solar system to an individualprocess working at temperatures lower than that
of thecentral steam supply . In the case of waterpreheating, higher efficiencies are obtained
due to the lowinput temperature to the solar system, thus low-technology
collectors can work effectively and the required load supplytemperature has no
or little effect on the performance of thesolar system.

A number of research papers on the subject have beenpresented recently by a

number of researchers. Norton presented the most common applications of
industrialprocess heat. In particular the history of solar industrialand agricultural
process applications were presented andpractical examples were described.

A system for solar process heat for decentralisedapplications in developing

countries was presented bySpate et al. The system is suitable for
communitykitchen, bakeries and post-harvest treatment. The systememploys a
fix-focus parabolic collector, a high temperatureFPC and a pebble bed oil
storage.
Benz et al. presented the planning of two solarthermal systems producing
process heat for a brewery and adairy in Germany. In both industrial processes
the solaryields were found to be comparable to the yields of solarsystems for
domestic solar water heating or space heating. In another paper, Benz et
al.presented a study for theapplication of non-concentrating collectors for food
industryin Germany. In particular the planning of four solar thermalsystems
producing process heat for a large and a smallbrewery, a malt factory and a
dairy are presented. In thebreweries, the washing machines for the returnable
bottleswere chosen as a suitable process to be fed by solar energy,in the dairy
the spray-dryers for milk and whey powderproduction and in the malt factory
the wither and kilnprocesses. Up to 400 kW h/m2 per annum were
deliveredfrom the solar collectors, depending on the type of collector.5.4.1.
Solar industrial air and water systems

There are two types of applications employing solar aircollectors the open
circuit, and the recirculating applications.In open circuit, heated ambient air is
used inindustrial applications where because of contaminantsrecirculation of air
is not possible. Examples are drying,paint spraying, and supplying fresh air to
hospitals. It shouldbe noted that heating of outside air is an ideal operation
forthe collector, as it operates very close to ambienttemperature, thus more
efficiently.In recirculating air systems a mixture of recycled airfrom the dryer
and ambient air is supplied to the solarcollectors. Solar-heated air supplied to a
drying chamber,can be applied to a variety of materials, including foodcrops,
and lumber. In these applications, adequate control ofthe rate of drying, which
can be obtained by controlling thetemperature and humidity of the supply air,
can lead toimproved product quality.

Similarly, there are also two types of applicationsemploying solar water

collectors the once-through systemsand the recirculating water heating
applications. The latterare exactly similar to domestic water heating
systemspresented in Section 5.1. Once-through systems areemployed in cases
where large quantities of water areused for cleaning in food industries, and
recycling of usedwater is not practical because of the contaminants picked upby
the water in the cleaning process.5.4.2. Solar steam generation systems

PTC are frequently employed for solar steam generation,because relatively high
temperatures can be obtainedwithout any serious degradation in the collector
efficiency.Low temperature steam can be used in industrial
applications,sterilisation, and for powering desalinationevaporators.

Three methods have been employed to generate steam using PTC:

1. The steam-flash concept, in which pressurised water isheated in the collector

and then flashed to steam in aseparate vessel.

2. The direct or in situ concept, in which two phase flow isallowed in the
collector receiver so that steam isgenerated directly.

3. The unfired-boiler concept, in which a heat-transferfluid is circulated through

the collector and steam isgenerated via heat-exchange in an unfired boiler.

All these systems have certain advantages and disadvantages. In a steam-flash

system, shown schematically inwater, pressurised to prevent boiling, is
circulatedthrough the collector and then flashed across a throttlingvalve into a
flash vessel. Treated feedwater input maintainsthe level in the flash vessel and
the subcooled liquid isrecirculated through the collector. The in situ
boilingconcept, shown in Fig. , uses a similar systemconfiguration without a
flash valve. Subcooled water isheated to boiling and steam forms directly in the
receivertube. Capital costs associated with a direct-steam and aflash-steam
system would be approximately the same

Although both systems use water, a superior heattransport fluid, the in situ
boiling system is moreadvantageous. The flash system uses a sensible heat
changein the working fluid, which makes the temperaturedifferential across the
collector relatively high. The rapidincrease in water vapour pressure with
temperature requires

corresponding increase in system operating pressure toprevent boiling. Increased operating

temperatures reducethe thermal efficiency of the solar collector. Increasedpressures within
the system require a more robust design ofcollector components, such as receivers and
piping. The differential pressure over the delivered steam pressurerequired to prevent boiling
is supplied by the circulationpump and is irreversibly dissipated across the flash valve.When
boiling occurs in the collectors, as in an in situ boiler,the system pressure drop and
consequently, electrical power consumption is greatly reduced. In addition, the latent
heattransferprocess minimises the temperature rise across thesolar collector. Disadvantages of
in situ boiling arethe possibility of a number of stability problems andthe fact that even with a
very good feedwater treatmentsystem, scaling in the receiver is unavoidable. In multiplerow
collector arrays, the occurrence of flow instabilities could result in loss of flow in the affected
row. This in turncould result in tube dryout with consequent damage of thereceiver selective
coating. No significant instabilities werereported by Hurtado and Kastwhen
experimentallytesting a single row 36 m system. Recently, once throughsystems are
developed on a pilot scale for direct steamgeneration in which PTC are used inclined at 2–
48 .
A diagram of an unfired boiler system is shown in Fig.In this system, the heat-transfer fluid
should be non-freezingand non-corrosive, system pressures are low and control
isstraightforward. These factors largely overcome the disadvantagesof water systems, and are
the main reasons forthe predominant use of heat-transfer oil systems in currentindustrial
steam-generating solar systems.
The major disadvantage of the system result from thecharacteristics of the heat-transfer fluid.
These fluids arehard to contain, and most heat-transfer fluids are flammable.Decomposition,
when the fluids are exposed to air, cangreatly reduce ignition-point temperatures, and leaks
intocertain types of insulation can cause combustion attemperatures that are considerably
lower than measured self-ignition temperatures. Heat-transfer fluids are alsorelatively
expensive and present a potential pollutionproblem that makes them unsuitable for food
industry applications. Heat-transfer fluids have much poorer heat-transfer characteristics
than water. They are moreviscous at ambient temperatures, are less dense, and havelower
specific heats and thermal conductivities than water.
These characteristics mean that higher flow rates, highercollector differential temperatures,
and greater pumpingpower are required to obtain the equivalent quantity ofenergy transport
when compared to a system using water. Inaddition, heat-transfer coefficients are lower, so
there is a larger temperature differential between the receiver tube andthe collector fluid.
Higher temperatures are also necessary toachieve cost effective heat exchange. These effects
result inreduced collector efficiency.For every application the suitable system has to
beselected by taking into consideration all the above factorsand constrains.

Solar desalination systems

Water is one of the most abundant resources on earth,covering three-fourths of the planet’s
surface. About 97% ofthe earth’s water is salt water in the oceans; 3% of all freshwater is in
ground water, lakes and rivers, which supplymost of human and animal needs. Water is
essential to life.The importance of supplying potable water can hardly be overstressed. Man
has been dependent on rivers, lakes and underground water reservoirs for fresh water
requirements in domestic life, agriculture and industry. However, rapid industrial growth and
the population explosion all over theworld have resulted in a large escalation of demand for
freshwater. Added to this is the problem of pollution of rivers andlakes by industrial wastes
and the large amounts of sewagedischarged. On a global scale, manmade pollution of
naturalsources of water is becoming the single largest cause for fresh water shortage. The
only nearly inexhaustiblesources of water are the oceans. Their main drawback,however, is
their high salinity. It would be attractive totackle the water-shortage problem with
desalination of thiswater.

Desalination can be achieved by using a number oftechniques. These may be classified into
the followingcategories:

(i) phase-change or thermal processes; and

(ii) membrane or single-phase processes.

In Table , the most important technologies in use arelisted. In the phase-change or thermal
processes, thedistillation of sea water is achieved by utilising a thermalenergy source. The
thermal energy may be obtained from aconventional fossil-fuel source, nuclear energy or
from anon-conventional solar energy source. In the membraneprocesses, electricity is used
either for driving high pressurepumps or for ionisation of salts contained in the sea
water.Desalination processes require significant quantities ofenergy to achieve separation.
This is highly significant as itis a recurrent cost which few of the water-short areas of
theworld can afford. Many countries in the Middle East,because of oil income, have enough
money to invest and rundesalination equipment. People in many other areas of theworld have
neither the cash nor the oil resources to allowthem to develop in a similar manner. It is
estimated that theinstalled capacity of desalinated water systems in year 2000is about 25
million m3/day, which is expected to increasedrastically in the next decades. The dramatic
increase indesalinated water supply will create a series of problems, themost significant of
which are those related to energy

consumption. It has been estimated that the production of25 million m3/day requires 230
million tons of oil per year.Even if oil were much more widely available, could weafford to
burn it on the scale needed to provide everyonewith fresh water? Given current understanding
of the greenhouse effect and the importance of CO2 levels, thisuse of oil is debatable. Thus,
apart from satisfying the additional energy demand, environmental pollution wouldbe a major
concern. Fortunately, there are many parts of theworld that are short of water but have
exploitable renewablesources of energy that could be used to drive desalinationprocesses.

Solar energy can be used for sea-water desalination eitherby producing the thermal energy
required to drive the phasechangeprocesses or by producing electricity required todrive the
membrane processes. Solar desalination systemsare thus classified into two categories, i.e.
direct and indirectcollection systems. As their name implies, direct collectionsystems use
solar energy to produce distillate directly in thesolar collector, whereas in indirect collection
systems, twosub-systems are employed (one for solar energy collectionand one for
desalination). Conventional desalination systemsare similar to solar systems since the same
type of equipmentis applied. The prime difference is that in the former, either aconventional
boiler is used to provide the required heat ormains electricity is used to provide the required
electricpower, whereas in the latter, solar energy is applied.A representative example of
direct collection systems isthe conventional solar still, which uses the greenhouse effectto
evaporate salty water. It consists of a basin, in which aconstant amount of seawater is
enclosed in a veeshapedglass envelope. The sun’s rays pass through the glass roofand are
absorbed by the blackened bottom of the basin. Asthe water is heated, its vapour pressure is
increased. Theresultant water vapour is condensed on the underside ofthe roof and runs down
into the troughs, which conduct the distilled water to the reservoir. The still acts as a heat
trapbecause the roof is transparent to the incoming sunlight, but it is opaque to the infrared
radiation emitted by the hot water(greenhouse effect). The roof encloses all of the
vapour,prevents losses and, at the same time, keeps the wind fromreaching the salty water
and cooling it. The stills requirefrequent flushing, which is usually done during the
night.Flushing is performed to prevent salt precipitation .

Design problems encountered with solar stills are brinedepth, vapour tightness of the
enclosure, distillate leakage,methods of thermal insulation, and cover slope, shape
andmaterial . A typical still efficiency, defined as theratio of the energy utilised in vaporising
the water in the stillto the solar energy incident on the glass cover, is 35%(maximum) and
daily still production is about 34 l/m2
The interested readers can find more details and a survey ofindirect systems in Ref. [18]. For
these systems a number ofcollectors ranging from stationary to low concentration ratioPTC
can be used according to the temperature required by the desalination process. The usual
temperature thatthe thermal desalination evaporators work is around 100 8C.The use of PTC
for seawater desalination is described inRef.

Solar thermal power systems

Conversion of solar to mechanical and electrical energyhas been the objective of experiments
for more than acentury, starting from 1872 when Mouchot exhibited asteam-powered printing
press at the Paris Exposition. Theidea is to use concentrating collectors to produce and
supplysteam to heat engines. A historical review of this and otherexperiments is given in
Section 1. Much of the earlyattention to solar thermal–mechanical systems was forsmall scale
applications (up to 100 kW) and most of themwere designed for water pumping. Since 1975
there havebeen several large-scale power systems constructed andoperated. Commercial
plants of 30 and 80 MW electric(peak) generating capacity are nowadays in operation
formore than a decade.

The process of conversion of solar to mechanical andelectrical energy by thermal means is

fundamentally similarto the traditional thermal processes. These systems differfrom the ones
considered so far as these operate at muchhigher temperatures.

This section is concerned with generation of mechanicaland electrical energy from solar
energy by processes basedmainly on concentrating collectors and heat engines. Thereare also
another three kinds of power systems, which are notcovered in this paper. These are the
photovoltaic cells for thedirect conversion of solar to electrical energy by solid statedevices,
solar-biological processes that produce fuels foroperation of conventional engines or power
plants and solarponds.
The basic process for conversion of solar to mechanicalenergy is shown schematically in Fig.
42. Energy iscollected by concentrating collectors, stored (if appropriate),and used to operate
a heat engine. The main problem ofthese systems is that the efficiency of the collector is
reduced as its operating temperature increases, whereas the efficiencyof the heat engine
increases as its operatingtemperature increases. The maximum operating temperatureof
stationary collectors is low relative to desirable inputtemperatures of heat engines, therefore
concentratingcollectors are used exclusively for such applications.Identifying the best
available sites for the erection ofsolar thermal power plants is a basic issue of
projectdevelopment. Recently the planning tool STEPS wasdeveloped by the German
Aerospace Centre (DLR) ,which uses satellite and Geographic Information System(GIS) data
in order to select a suitable site. The factors takeninto account are the slope of the terrain,
land use (forest,desert, etc.), geomorphological features, hydrographicalfeatures, the
proximity to infrastructure (power lines,roads, etc.) and of course solar irradiation of the
area.Three system architectures have been used for suchapplications, the PTC system, the
power tower system, andthe dish system. These are described in this section.5 Parabolic
trough collector systemsSeveral parabolic trough solar thermal systems have beenbuild and
operated throughout theworld.Most of these systemsprovide process steam to industry. They
displace fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas as the energy source for producingsteam. These
systemsincorporate fields ofPTChaving apertureareas from 500 to 5000 m2. Most of these
systems howeversupply industrial process steam from 150 to 200 8C.

The most current example of power production usingparabolic trough is the nine commercial
solar energygenerating systems (SEGS). The total installed capacity ofSEGS is 354 MWand
are designed, installed and operated inthe Mojave Desert of Southern California. These plants
arebased on large parabolic trough concentrators providingsteam to Rankine power plants.
The first of these plants is a 14 MW electric (MWe) plant, the next six are 30 MWeplants,
and the two latest are 80 MWe.

The plants can supply peaking power, using solely solarenergy, solely natural gas, or a
combination of the two,regardless of time or weather, within the constraint of theannual limit
on gas use. The most critical time for powergeneration and delivery, and the time in which
the sellingprice of the power per kW h is highest. This is between noon and 6 p.m. in the
months from June to September. Operatingstrategy is designed to maximise solar energy use.
Naturalgas is used to provide power during cloudy periods. Theturbine-generator efficiency is
best at full load, therefore theuse of natural gas supplement to allow full-load
operationmaximises plant output
A schematic of a typical plant is shown in Fig. 43. As itcan be seen the solar and natural gas
loops are in parallel toallow operation with either or both of the energy resources.The plants
do not have energy storage facilities. The majorcomponents in the systems are the collectors,
the fluidtransfer pumps, the power generation system, the natural gasauxiliary subsystem, and
the controls.A synthetic heat transfer fluid is heated in the collectorsand is piped to the solar
steam generator and superheaterwhere it generates the steam which drives the
turbine.Reliable high-temperature circulating pumps are critical tothe success of the plants,
and significant engineering efforthas gone into assuring that pumps will stand the high
fluidtemperatures and temperature cycling. The normal temperatureof the fluid returned to
the collector field is 304 8Cand that leaving the field is 390 8C. Experience indicates
thatavailability of the collector fields is about 99%.

The power generation system consists of a conventionalRankine cycle reheat steam turbine
with feedwater heatersdeaerators, etc. The condenser cooling water is cooled inforced draft
cooling towers.The reflectors are made of black-silvered, low-iron floatglasspanels which are
shaped over parabolic forms.Metallic and lacquer protective coatings are applied to theback
of the silvered surface, and no measurable degradationof the reflective material has been
observed. The glass is mounted on truss structures, with the position of largearrays of
modules adjusted by hydraulic drive motors. Thereflectance of the mirrors is 0.94 when
clean. Maintenanceof high reflectance is critical to plant operation. With a total of 2.32 £ 106
m2 of mirror area, mechanised equipment hasbeen developed for cleaning the reflectors,
which is doneregularly at intervals of about 2 weeks.The receivers are 70 mm diameter steel
tubes withcement selective surfaces surrounded by a vacuum glassjacket in order to minimise
heat losses. The selectivesurfaces have an absorptance of 0.96 and an emittance of0.19 at 350
8C.

The collectors rotate about horizontal north–south axes,an arrangement which results in
slightly less energy incidenton them over the year but favours summertime operationwhen
peak power is needed and its sale brings the greatestrevenue. Tracking of the collectors is
controlled by a systemthat utilise an optical system to focus radiation on two
lightsensitivesensors. Any imbalance of radiation falling on thesensors causes corrections in
the positioning of thecollectors. There is a sensor and controller on each collectorassembly,
the resolution of the sensor is 0.58.
A promising new configuration that combined SEGSparabolic-trough technology with a gas-
turbine combinedcyclepower plant is conceived to meet utility needs forcontinuous operation
and peaking power with minimalenvironmental damage. Such a hybrid combined-cycle
plantuses the solar field as the evaporation stage of an integratedsystem, with the gas-turbine
exhaust being recycled forsuperheating and preheating, thus, the solar field serves asthe
boiler in an otherwise conventional combined-cycleplant. This approach has several
advantages:
1. The direct steam generation system can take advantageof the steam turbine, generator, and
other facilities of thecombined-cycle plant at a modest increase in capitalcost.

2. Adding the direct steam generation facility requires noadditional operators or electrical
interconnectionequipment.

3. Thermodynamic efficiencies are maximized becausesteam is evaporated outside the waste-

heat recoverysystem; only the remaining thermal-heat exchangeprocesses take place in the
recovery heat exchanger.Thus, higher working-steam conditions can be achievedfor the same
degree of heat use which increases overallcycle efficiency.

This new configuration is preferable from the perspectiveof the second law of
thermodynamics because the solarfield reduces the production of entropy in the
system.Power tower systemsIn power tower systems, heliostats reflect and
concentratesunlight onto a central tower-mounted receiver wherethe energy is transferred to a
heat transfer fluid. This energyis then passed either to storage or to power-conversionsystems
which convert the thermal energy into electricityand supply it to the grid.

The major components of the system are the heliostatfield, the heliostat controls, the receiver,
the storage system,and the heat engine which drives the generator. The heliostatdesign must
ensure that radiation is delivered to the receiverat the desired flux density at minimum cost.
Variousreceiver shapes have been considered, including cavityreceivers and cylindrical
receivers. The optimum shape is afunction of the radiation intercepted and absorbed,
thermallosses, receiver cost and design of the heliostat field. For alarge heliostat field a
cylindrical receiver has advantageswhen used with Rankine cycle engines, particularly
forradiation from heliostats at the far edges of the field. Cavity receivers with larger tower
height to heliostat field arearatios are used for higher temperatures required for theoperation
of Brayton cycle turbines.As the collector represents the largest cost in the systeman efficient
engine is justified to obtain maximum usefulconversion of the collected energy. Several
possiblethermodynamic cycles can be considered. Brayton orStirling gas cycle engines
operated at inlet temperatures of800–1000 8C provide high engine efficiencies, but arelimited
by low gas heat transfer coefficients and by practicalconstrains on collector design (i.e. the
need for cavityreceivers) imposed by the requirements of very hightemperatures. Rankine
cycle engines employing turbinesdriven from steam generated in the receiver at 500–550
8Cand have several advantages over the Brayton cycle. Heattransfer coefficients in the steam
generator are high,allowing the use of high energy densities and smallerreceivers. Cavity
receivers are not needed and cylindricalreceivers that are usually employed permit larger
heliostatfields to be used. The use of reheat cycles improves steamturbine performance, but
entail mechanical design problems.

Additionally, it is also possible to use steam turbineswith steam generated from an

intermediate heat transfer fluid circulated through the collector or boiler. With suchsystems
the fluids could be molten salts or liquid metals, andcylindrical receivers could be operated at
around 600 8C. Infact, these indirect systems are the only ones that can becombined with
thermal storage.Power tower plants are defined by the options chosen fora heat transfer fluid,
for the thermal storage medium and forthe power-conversion cycle. The heat transfer fluid
may bewater/steam, molten nitrate salt, liquid metals or air. Thermal storage may be provided
by phase change materialsor ceramic bricks. Power tower systems usually
achieveconcentration ratios of 300–1500, can operate at temperaturesup to 1500 8C, and are
quite large, generally 10 MWeor more.

Power tower systems currently under development useeither nitrate salt or air as the heat
transfer medium. In theUSA, the Solar One plant in Barstow, CA was originally awater/steam
plant and is now converted to Solar Two, anitrate salt system. The use of nitrate salt for
storage allowsthe plant to avoid tripping off line during cloudy periods andalso allow the
delivery of power after sunset. The heliostatsystem consists of 1818 individually oriented
reflectors, each consisting of 12 concave panels with a total area of39.13 m2, for a total array
of 71 100 m2. The reflectivematerial is back-silvered glass. The receiver is a single
passsuperheated boiler, generally cylindrical in shape, 13.7 m high, 7 m in diameter, with the
top 90 m above the ground. Itis an assembly of 24 panels, each 0.9 m wide and 13.7 mlong.
Six of the panels on the south side, which receives theleast radiation, are used as feedwater
preheaters and thebalance are used as boilers. The panels are coated with anon-selective flat
black paint which was heat cured in placewith solar radiation. The receiver was designed to
produce50 900 kg/h of steam at 516 8C with absorbing surfaceoperating at a maximum
temperature of 620 8C.

Meanwhile the PHOEBUS consortium, a European industry group, is leading the way with
air-based systems. Gaseous heat transfer media allow for significantly higher receiver outlet
temperatures, but require higher operating pressures. Pressure-tolerant gas-cooled ceramic-
tube receivers have, however, relatively high heat lossescompared to water/steam or advance
receivers. ThePHOEBUS consortium is developing a novel Technology Solar Air (TSA)
receiver, a volumetric air receiver whichdistributes the heat-exchanging surface over a
threedimensionalvolume and operates at ambient pressures.Because of its relative simplicity
and safety, these plants canbe used for applications in developing countries.Future work will
concentrate on the scaling up of thenitrate salt and TSA/PHOEBUS systems. The targetsize
for nitrate salt plants in south–west USA is100–200 MWe, while a 30 MWe plant is the aim
for thePHOEBUS consortium. In addition to these two systems,a 20 MW Solgas plant, using
a combined cycle plant witha solar power tower back-up, is planned for southern Spain.

Recent research and development efforts have focusedon polymer reflectors and stretched-
membrane heliostats. Astretched-membrane heliostat consists of a metal ring,across which
two thin metal membranes are stretched. Afocus control system adjusts the curvature of the
frontmembrane, which is laminated with a silvered-polymerreflector, usually by adjusting the
pressure (a very slightvacuum) in the plenum between the two membranes.Stretched-
membrane heliostats are potentially muchcheaper than glass/metal heliostats because they
weighless and have fewer parts.

Parabolic dish systems

A parabolic dish concentrates solar energy onto areceiver at its focal point. The receiver
absorbs the energyand converts it into thermal energy. This can be useddirectly as heat or
supply for powergeneration. The thermalenergy can either be transported to a central
generator forconversion, or it can be converted directly into electricity ata local generator
coupled to the receiver.Dishes track the sun on two axes, and thus they are themost efficient
collector systems because they are alwaysfocussed. Concentration ratios usually range from
600 to2000, and they can achieve temperatures in excess of1500 8C. Rankine-cycle engines,
Brayton-cycle engines,and sodium-heat engines have been considered for systemsusing dish-
mounted engines the greatest attention thoughwas given to Stirling-engine systems.

Current developments in the USA and Europe arefocussed on 7.5 kWe systems for remote
applications. InEurope, three dish/Stirling systems are demonstrated at PSAin Spain, whereas
in the USA a program has been set todemonstrate water pumping and village power
applications. Stretched-membrane concentrators are currently thefocus of considerable
attention because they are most likely to achieve the goals of low production cost and
adequateperformance. Both multifaceted and single-facet designs arebeing pursued. Recently,
a 7-meter single-facet dish was developed, which demonstrated excellent performancein tests.

The greatest challenge facing distributed-dish systems isdeveloping a power-conversion unit,

which would have lowcapital and maintenance costs, long life, high conversionefficiency,
and the ability to operate automatically. Severaldifferent engines, such as gas turbines,
reciprocating steam engines, and organic Rankine engines, have been explored,but in recent
years, most attention has been focused onStirling-cycle engines. These are externally heated
pistonengines in which heat is continuously added to a gas(normally hydrogen or helium at
high pressure) that iscontained in a closed system. The gas cycles between hotand cold spaces
in the engine stores and releases the heat that is added during expansion and rejected
duringcompression.

Solar furnaces
Solar furnaces are made of high concentration and thushigh temperature collectors of the
parabolic dish andheliostat type. They are primarily used for materialprocessing. Solar
material processing involves affectingthe chemical conversion of materials by their
directexposure to concentrated solar energy. A diverse range ofapproaches are being
researched for applications related to high added value products such as fullerenes, large
carbonmolecules with major potential commercial applications insemiconductors and
superconductors, to commodity productssuch as cement . None of these processeshowever,
have achieved large-scale commercial adoption.

Some pilot systems are shortly described here.A solar thermochemical process has been
developed which combines the reduction of zincoxide with reforming of natural gas leading
to theco-production of zinc, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Atthe equilibrium chemical
composition in a black-body solarreactor operated at a temperature of 1250 K at
atmosphericpressure with solar concentration of 2000, efficienciesbetween 0.4 and 0.65 have
been found, depending onproduct heat recovery. A 5 kW solar chemical reactor hasbeen
employed to demonstrate this technology in a high-fluxsolar furnace. Particles of zinc oxide
were introducedcontinuously in a vortex flow natural gas contained within asolar cavity
receiver exposed to concentrated insolationfrom a heliostat field. The zinc oxide particles are
exposeddirectly to the high radiative flux avoiding the inefficienciesand cost of heat
exchangers.A 2 kW concentrating solar furnace has been used tostudy the thermal
decomposition of titanium dioxide attemperatures of 2300–2800 K in an argon atmosphere.
The decomposition rate was limited by the rate atwhich oxygen diffuses from the liquid–gas
interface. It wasshown that this rate is accurately predicted by a numericalmodel which
couples the equations of chemical equilibriumand steady-state mass transfer

Solar energy is essentially unlimited and its utilization isecologically benign. However, solar
radiation reaching theearth is intermittent and not distributed evenly. There is thusa need to
store solar energy and transport it from the sunnyuninhabited regions to the industrialized
populated regionswhere energy is needed. The way to achieve this is by thethermochemical
conversion of solar energy into chemicalfuels. This method provides a thermo-chemically
efficientpath for storage and transportation. For this purpose highconcentration ratio
collectors similar to the ones used forpower generation are employed. Thus by concentrating
solarradiation in receivers and reactors, energy can be supplied tohigh-temperature processes
to drive endothermic reactions.Solar energy can also assist in the processing of
energyintensiveand high-temperature materials.

Applications include the solar reforming of lowhydrocarbon fuels such as LPG and natural
gas and upgradeit into a synthesis gas that can be used in gas turbines. Thusweak gas
resources diluted with carbon dioxide can be useddirectly as feed components for the
conversion process.Therefore, natural gas fields currently not exploited due tohigh CO2
content might be opened to the market.Furthermore, gasification products of non-
conventionalfuels like biomass, oil shale and waste asphaltenes canalso be fed into the solar
upgrade process .Other applications include the solar gasification ofbiomass and the
production of solar aluminium themanufacture of which is one of the most energy
intensiveprocesses. Another interesting application is the solar zinc and syngas production
which are both very valuablecommodities. Zinc finds application in Zn/air fuel cellsand
batteries. Zinc can also react with water to formhydrogen which can be further processed for
heat and electricity generation. Syngas can be used to fuel highlyefficient combined cycles or
can be used as the buildingblock of a wide variety of synthetic fuels, including methanol,
which is a very promising substitute of gasolinefor fuelling cars.

A model for solar volumetric reactors for hydrocarbonsreforming operation at high

temperature and pressure. The system is based ontwo achievements: the development of a
volumetric receivertested at 5000–10 000 suns, gas outlet temperature of1200 8C and
pressure at 20 atm and a laboratory scalechemical kinetics study of hydrocarbons reforming.
Otherrelated applications are a solar driven ammonia basedthermochemical energy storage
system and anammonia synthesis reactor for a solar thermochemical energy storage
system.Another field of solar chemistry applications is the solarphotochemistry. Solar
photochemical processes make use of the spectral characteristics of the incoming solar
radiationto effect selective catalytic transformations which findapplication in the
detoxification of air and water and in theprocessing of fine chemical commodities.In solar
detoxification photo catalytic treatment of non-biodegradable persistent chlorinated water
contaminantstypically found in chemical production processes isachieved. For this purpose
PTC with glass absorbers areemployed and the high intensity of solar radiation is used for the
photo catalytic decomposition of organic contaminants.The process uses ultraviolet (UV)
energy, available insunlight, in conjunction with the photo catalyst, titaniumdioxide, to
decompose organic chemicals into non-toxiccompounds. Another application concerns
thedevelopment of a prototype employing lower concentrationCPC. Recent developments in
photo catalytic detoxificationand disinfection of water and air are. The development of a
compound parabolic concentratortechnology for commercial solar detoxification applications
is given in Ref The objective is to develop a simple,efficient and commercially competitive
water treatmenttechnology. A demonstration facility is planned to beerected by the project
partners at PSA in Southern Spain..

Photovoltaic generation
Introduction
Only two methods are used to generate significant electric power. The first,discovered by
Michael Faraday in 1821 and in commercial production by1885, requires the relative
movement of a magnetic field and a conductorand hence an external engine or turbine. The
second is photovoltaicgeneration using solar cells (more technically called photovoltaic
cells).These devices produce electricity directly from electromagnetic radiation,especially
light, without any moving parts. The photovoltaic effect was discoveredby Becquerel in 1839
but not developed as a power source until1954 by Chapin, Fuller and Pearson using doped
semiconductor silicon.Photovoltaic power has been one of the fastest growing renewable
energytechnologies: annual production of cells grew tenfold from about 50MWin 1990 to
more than 500MW by 2003 (see Figure 7.31), with this growthcontinuing since. Demand has
been driven by the modular character, standaloneand grid-linked opportunities, reliability,
ease of use, lack of noiseand emissions, and reducing cost per unit energy produced.
Photovoltaic generation of power is caused by electromagnetic radiationseparating positive
and negative charge carriers in absorbing material.If an electric field is present, these charges
can produce a current foruse in an external circuit. Such fields exist permanently at junctions
orinhomogeneities in photovoltaic (PV) cells as ‘built-in’ electrostatic fieldsand provide the
electromotive force (EMF) for useful power production.Power generation is obtained from
cells matched to radiation with wavelengthsfrom the infrared _∼10_m_ to the ultraviolet
_∼0_3_m_, however,unless otherwise stated, we consider cells matched to solar short wave
radiation_∼0_5_m_. The built-in fields of most semiconductor/semiconductorand
metal/semiconductor cells produce potential differences of about 0.5Vand current densities of
about 400Am−2 in clear sky solar radiation of1_0kWm−2. Commercial photovoltaic cells,
dependent on price, have efficienciesof 10–22% in ordinary sunshine, although laboratory
specimensand arrangements reach greater efficiency. The cells are usually linked inseries and
fixed within weather-proof modules, with most modules producingabout 15 V. The current
from the cell or module is inherently direct current,DC. For a given module in an optimum
fixed position, daily output dependson the climate, but can be expected to be about 0.5–
1.0kWh /_m2 day−1_.Output can be increased using tracking devices and solar concentrators.

Junction devices are usually named ‘photovoltaic cells’_ although thesolar radiation photons
produce the current, since the voltage is alreadypresent across the junction. The cell itself
provides the source of EMF. Itis important to appreciate that photovoltaic devices are
electrical currentsources driven by a flux of radiation. Efficient power utilization depends
notonly on efficient generation in the cell, but also on dynamic load matching inthe external
circuit. In this respect, photovoltaic devices are similar to otherrenewable sources of power,
although the precise methods may vary (e.g.by using DC-to-DC converters as ‘maximum
power tracking’ interfaces,Section 7.9.2).On a reasonably sunny site of insolation 20MJ/ _m2
day_−1, power canbe produced that is significantly cheaper over extended use than that
fromdiesel generators, especially in remote areas where fuel supply and maintenance costs
may be large. The eventual aim is to be competitive with somedaytime peak grid-electricity
prices, which is most likely if the pollutingforms of generation are charged for external
costs.Sections 7.2–7.5 outline the basic science and technology of photovoltaiccells.
Preliminary analysis will always refer to the silicon p–n junction singlecrystal solar cell
(Figure 7.1) since this is the most common and wellestablishedtype. Section 7.6 considers
how cells are constructed, and howthis has been improved over the years to overcome many
of the limitationsof such cells. Variations, including the development of cells of
materialsother than Si, are discussed in Section 7.7. Sections 7.8 and 7.9 examineand
illustrate the circuits and systems in which photovoltaics are actuallyused. Readers whose
main interest is in applications may wish to read thesesections first, along with Section 7.10,
which examines economic, socialand environmental aspects of the use and production of
photovoltaics.Before 2000, most photovoltaics were in stand-alone systems, progressing from
space satellites to lighting, water pumping, refrigeration, telecommunications,solar homes,
proprietary goods and mobile or remotely isolatedequipment (e.g. small boats, warning lights,
parking meters). Grid connectedPV power, e.g. incorporated with buildings, has become a
majoractivity for the 21st century
 The silicon p–n junction
The properties of semiconductor materials are described in an ample rangeof solid state
physics and electronics texts, almost all of which include theproperties of the p–n junction
without illumination, because of its centralityto microelectronics and the vast industry that
springs from that. This theoryis summarised in this section, and extended to the illuminated
junction forsolar applications in Sections 7.3 and 7.4.

Silicon

Commercially pure (intrinsic) silicon, Si, has concentrations of impurityatoms of <1018m−3

(by atom, <1 in 109) and electrical resistivity _e≈2500%m. As the basis of the
microelectronics industry it is of great commercialimportance, and its properties and ways to
manipulate them have been extensively studied.The electrical properties of Si are described
by the theory of the band gap between conduction and valence bands (Figure 7.2). The
density of chargecarrier electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band
ofpure intrinsic material is proportional to exp_−Eg/_2kT__ if impurity atomshave no effect.
This is equivalent to there being no electron or hole chargecarriers with an energy state
within the forbidden band gap. Table 7.1 givesbasic data of silicon.
Doping

Controlled quantities of specific impurity ions are added to the verypure (intrinsic) material
to produce doped (extrinsic) semiconductors. Si istetravalent, in group IV of the periodic
table. Impurity dopant ions of lessvalency (e.g. boron, group III) enter the solid Si lattice and
become electron
acceptor sites which trap free electrons. These traps have an energy levelwithin the band gap,
but near to the valence band. The absence of the freeelectrons produces positively charged
states called holes that move throughthe material as free carriers. With such electron acceptor
impurity ions, thesemiconductor is called p (positive) type material, having holes as
majoritycarriers.Conversely, atoms of greater valency (e.g. phosphorus, group V) areelectron
donors, producing n (negative) type material with an excess of conductionelectrons as the
majority carriers. A useful mnemonic is ‘acceptor–p-type’, ‘donor–n-type’.

In each case, however, charge carriers of the complementary polarity also exist in much
smaller numbers and are called minority carriers (electrons in p-type, holes in n-type). Holes
and electrons may recombine when they meet freely in the lattice or at a defect site. Both p-
and n-type extrinsic material have higher electrical conductivity than the intrinsic basic
material. Indeed the resistivity _e is used to define the material. Common values for silicon
photovoltaics range between _e ≈0_010%m=1_0%cm_Nd ≈1022m−3_ and _e∼0_10%m =
10%cm_Nd≈ 1021m−3_, where we use the symbol Nd for dopantion concentration.

Fermi level
The n-type material has greater conductivity than intrinsic material becauseelectrons easily
enter the conduction band by thermal excitation. Likewisep-type has holes that easily enter
the valence band. The Fermi level is adescriptive and analytical method of explaining this
(Figure 7.3). It is theapparent energy level within the forbidden band gap from which
majoritycarriers (electrons in n-type and holes in p-type) are excited to becomecharge
carriers. The probability for this varies as exp_−e_/_kT _ , where eis the charge of the
electron and hole, e =1_6×10−19 C, and _ is the electric potential difference between the
Fermi level and the valence or conductionbands as appropriate; _ _ Eg. Note that electrons
are excited ‘up’ intothe conduction band, and holes are excited ‘down’ into the valence
band.Potential energy increases upwards for electrons and downwards for holeson the
conventional diagram.

Junctions

The p-type material can have excess donor impurities added to specified regions so that these
become n-type in the otherwise continuous material, and vice versa. The region of such a
dopant change is a junction (which is not formed by physically pushing two separate pieces
of material together!).Imagine, however, that the junction has been formed instantaneously in
theotherwise isolated material (Figure 7.4(a)). Excess donor electrons from then-type material
cross to the acceptor p-type material, and vice versa for holes.A steady state is eventually
reached. The electric field caused by the accumulationof charges of opposite sign on each
side of the junction balances thediffusive forces arising from the different concentrations of
free electrons andholes. As a result the Fermi level is at constant potential throughout the
wholematerial. However, a net movement of charge has occurred at the junction,with excess
negative charge now on the p side and positive on the n side.The band gap Eg still exists
throughout the material, and so the conductionand valence bands have a step at the junction
as drawn in Figure 7.4(b).The depth of the step is eVB in energy and VB in electric potential
difference (voltage). VB_I=O_ is the band step potential at zero current through thematerial
and is the built-in field potential of the isolated junction. Note that
 UNIT-III
Wind Energy Resources:

The technology of obtaining wind energy has become more and more important over the last
few decades. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general discussion bout wind power
technology. The fundamental knowledge of wind powersystems and their design aspects are
presented. The description of the fundamentaltopics which are essential to understand the
wind energy conversion and its eventualuse is also provided in the chapter. This chapter
discusses the wind farms and hybrid
power systems as well.

Introduction
Wind power is one of the renewable energy sources which has been widely developed in
recent years. Wind energy has many advantages such as no pollution, relatively low capital
cost involved and the short gestation period. The first wind turbine forelectricity generation
was developed at the end of the 19th century. From 1940 to1950, two important technologies,
i.e., three blades structure of wind turbine andtheAC generator which replaced DC generator
were developed.1 During the periodof 1973 to 1979, the oil crises led to A lot of
developments have been taken place in the design of wind energy conversionsystems
(WECS). Modern wind turbines are highly sophisticated machinesbuilt on the aerodynamic
principles developed from the aerospace industry, incorporatingadvanced materials and
electronics and are designed to deliver energy acrossa wide-range of wind speeds. The
following sections will discuss the different issuesrelated to wind power generation and wind
turbines design.The rest of the chapter is organized as follows. A number of important
topicsincluding aerodynamic principle of wind turbine, power available in the wind,
rotorefficiency, factors affecting power in the wind, wind turbine power curve,
optimizingrotor diameter and generator rated power have been presented in Sec. 2.Section 3
discusses a number of design considerations such as choice between twoand three blades
turbine, weight and size considerations. Grid connected wind farms,problems related with
grid connections and latest trends of wind power generationare described in Sec. 4. Section 5
discusses hybrid power system and economics ofwind power system. The conclusion is
presented in Sec. 7, followed by references atthe end of chapter.
lots of research about the wind generation. Atthe end of 1990s, wind power had an important
role in the sustainable energy. At thesame time, wind turbine technologies were developed in
the whole world, especiallyin Denmark, Germany, and Spain. Today, wind energy is the
fastest growing energysource. According to the GlobalWind Energy Council (GWEC), global
wind powercapacity has increased from 7600MW at the end of 1997 to 195.2 GW by
2009.However wind power accounts for less than 1.0% of world’s electrical demand. Itis
inferred that the wind power energy will develop to about 12% of the world’selectrical supply
by 2020.2

Classification of wind turbine rotors, different types of generators used in the wind turbines,
types of wind turbines, dynamic models of wind turbine will be discussed in detail Fig. 1.1.
The lift in (a) is the result of faster air sliding over the top of the wind foil. In (b),the
combination of actual wind and the relative wind due to blade motion creates a resultantthat
creates the blade lift
Power in theWind

Aerodynamics principle of wind turbine

Figure.shows an airfoil, where the air moving the top has a greater distanceto pass before it
can rejoin the air that takes the short cut under the foil. So the airpressure on the top is lower
than the air pressure under the airfoil. The air pressuredifference creates the lifting force
which can hold the airplane up.In terms of the wind turbine blade, it is more complicated than
the aircraft wing. From Fig. we can find that a rotating turbine blade sees air moving towardit
not only from the wind itself, but also from the relative motion of the blade. Sothe
combination of the wind and blade motion is the resultant wind which movestoward the blade
at a certain angle.The angle between the airfoil and the wind is called the angle of attack as
shownin Fig. 1.2. Increasing the angle of attack can improve the lift at the expense
ofincreased drag. However, if we increase the angle of attack too much the wing willstall and
the airflow will have turbulence and damage the turbine blades.

Power available in the wind

The total power available in wind is equal to the product of mass flow rate of windmw, and
V2/2. Assuming constant area or ducted flow, the continuity equation states
Wind Energy Potential

With a wind speed distribution and a turbine power curve (the electrical power generated by
the turbineat each wind speed) properly adjusted for the local air density, the wind energy
potential, or grossannual wind energy production, for a specific site can be estimated as:

The leading 0.85 factor assumes 15% in losses (10% due to power transfer to the grid, control
systemlosses, and decreased performance due to dirty blades; 5% due to operation within an
array of wind
turbines). If the turbine is not inside an array, replace 0.85 with 0.90. Wind energy potential
is typically20%–35% of the wind energy resource.

Defining Terms
Wind energy potential: Total amount of energy that can actually be extracted from the wind,
taking intoaccount the efficiency of the wind turbine.
Wind energy resource: Total amount of energy present in the wind.
Wind shear: Change in wind velocity with increasing height above the ground.
Wind speed distribution: Probability density of occurrence of each wind speed over the
course of a year
for the site in question.

Horizontal and Vertical Wind Turbines

SIGNIFICANCE

Wind turbines are good media for generating electricity from a clean and renewable resource
for
our homes and businesses. It comes with a couple of advantages for both humans and the
environment, namely the following:

• A wind turbine can harness a plentiful energy source, wind.

• The use of wind electricity can cut our carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse
gases used to support human activity2) because it doesn't release any harmful gases or
pollutants in the process of generating electricity.

• The use of wind energy can cut our electricity bills because wind is free, and thus, after the
payment for the initial installation, electricity costs will be reduced.

• We can store energy even on a calm day. If our houses are not connected to the National
Power
Grid, we can store the excess electricity produced from the wind turbine in batteries and use
it
when there is no wind.

• We can sell electricity back to the grid, meaning if our wind system is producing more than
what we need, someone else can use it, and thus, we can sell it.

DEFINITION OF WIND TURBINES

Wind turbines are machines that generate electricity from the kinetic energy of the wind. In
history,they were more frequently used as a mechanical device that turned machinery. Today,
turbines can be used to generate large amounts of electrical energy in wind farms both
onshore and offshore. 3There are two kinds of wind turbine, namely the Horizontal Axis
Wind Turbine (HAWT)and the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). Though many VAWTs
are used nowadays toproduce electricity, the HAWT still remains more practical and popular
than the VAWT and isassumed as the focus of most wind turbine discussions.

HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES

a. Definition
The horizontal wind turbine is a turbine in which the axis of the rotor's rotation isparallel to
the wind stream and the ground. Most HAWTs today are two- or three-bladed, though some
may have fewer or more blades. There are two kinds of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines: the
up win dwind turbine and the downwind wind turbine.

The HAWT works when the wind passes over both surfaces of the airfoil shaped blade but
passes more rapidly at the upper side of the blade, thus, creating a lower-pressure area above
the airfoil.The difference in the pressures of the top and bottom surfaces results in an
aerodynamic lift. The blades of the wind turbine are constrained to move in a plane with a
hub at its centre, thus, the lift force causes rotation about the hub. In addition to the lifting
force, the drag force, which is perpendicular to the lift force, impedes rotor rotation
Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of the HAWT over the VAWT, according to the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology, is:

• blades are to the side of the turbine's center of gravity, helping stability

• the turbine collects the maximum amount of wind energy by allowing the angle of attack to
beremotely adjusted

• the ability to pitch the rotor blades in a storm so that damage is minimized

• the tall tower allows the access to stronger wind in sites with wind shear and placement on
uneven land or in offshore locations
most HAWTs are self-starting

• can be cheaper because of higher production volumeOn the other hand, the disadvantages of
the HAWT compared to the VAWT is that:

• it has difficulties operating near the ground

• the tall towers and long blades are hard to transport from one place to another and they need
a
special installation procedure

• they can cause a navigation problem when placed offshore

VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINES

Definition

The vertical axis wind turbine is an old technology,dating back to almost 4,000 years
ago.Unlike the HAWT, the rotor of the VAWT rotates vertically around its axis instead of
horizontally. Though it is not as efficient as a HAWT, it does offer benefits in low wind
situations wherein HAWTs have a hard time operating. It tends to be easier and safer to build,
and it can be mounted close to the ground and handle turbulence better than the HAWT.
Because its maximum efficiency is only 30%,it isonly usually just for private use.

Darrieus Wind Turbine

The Darrieus turbine is composed of a vertical rotor and several verticallyorientedblades. A

small powered motor is required to start its rotation, since it isnot self-starting. When it
already has enough speed, the wind passing through theairfoils generate torque and thus, the
rotor is driven around by the wind. TheDarrieus turbine is then powered by the lift forces
produced by the airfoils. Theblades allow the turbine to reach speeds that are higher than the
actual speed ofthe wind, thus, this makes them well-suited to electricity generation when
thereis a turbulent wind.

Characteristics of the wind

Basic meteorological data and wind speed time series

All countries have national meteorological services that record and publishweather related
data, including wind speeds and directions. The methods are well established and co-
ordinated within the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva, with a main aim of
providing continuous runs of data for many years. Consequently only the most basic data
tend to be recorded at a few permanently staffed stations using robust and trusted equipment.
Unfortunately for wind power prediction, measurements of wind speed tendto be measured
only at the one standard height of 10 m, and at stations nearto airports or towns where
shielding from the wind might be a natural feature of the site. Therefore to predict wind
power conditions at a specific site, standard meteorological wind data from the nearest station
are only useful to provide first order estimates, but are not sufficient for detailed planning.
Usually careful measurements around the nominated site are needed at several locations and
heights for several months to a year. These detailed measurements can then be related to the
standard meteorological data, and these provide a long-term base for comparison. In addition,
information is held at specialist wind power data banks that are obtained from aircraft
measurements, wind power installations and mathematical modelling, etc. organised and
accessible information is increasingly available on the Internet. Wind power prediction
models (e.g. the propriety Wasp models developed in Denmark) enable detailed wind power
prediction for wind turbine prospective sites, even in hilly terrain.

Classification of wind speeds by meteorological offices is linked to the historical Beaufort

scale, which itself relates to visual observations. Table 9.1gives details together with the
relationship between various units of wind speed.

A standard meteorological measurement of wind speed measures the‘length’ or ‘run’ of the

wind passing a 10m high cup anemometer in 10 min. Such measurements may be taken
hourly, but usually less frequently. Such data give little information about fluctuations in the
speed and direction of the wind necessary for accurately predicting wind turbine
performance. Continuously reading anemometers are better, but these too will have afinite
response time. A typical continuous reading trace, Figure (a),shows the rapid and random
fluctuations that occur. Transformation ofsuch data into the frequency domain gives the range
and importance of these variations, Figure.(b).

The direction of the wind refers to the compass bearing from which thewind comes.
Meteorological data are usually presented as a wind rose, Figure (a), showing the average
speed of the wind within certain ranges of direction. It is also possible to show the
distribution of speeds from these directions on a wind rose, Figure (b). Such information is of
great importance when siting a wind machine in hilly country, near buildings, orin arrays of
several machines where shielding could occur. Changes in wind direction may be called
‘wind shift’; 0_5 rad s−1_30_ s−1_ is a rapid change, e.g. in hilly terrain. Such changes may
damage a wind turbine more than an extreme change in wind speed.

Variation with height

Wind speed varies considerably with height above ground; this is referred to as wind shear. A
machine with a hub height of (say) 30m above other obstacles will experience far stronger
winds than a person at ground level. Figure. shows the form of wind speed variation with
height z in the near-to-ground boundary layer up to about 100 m. At z = 0 the air speeds
always zero. Within the height of local obstructions wind speed increases erratically, and
violent directional fluctuations can occur in strong winds. Above this erratic region, the
height/wind speed profile is given by expressions of the form

Here d is the zero plane displacement with magnitude a little less than the height of local
obstructions, the term z0 is called the roughness length and V is a characteristic speed. On
Figure. the function is extrapolated nonnegative values of u to show the form of the
expression. Readers should
Wind speed analysis, probability and prediction

Implementation of wind power requires knowledge of future wind speed at the turbine sites.
Such information is essential for the design of the machines and the energy systems, and for
the economics. The seemingly random nature of wind and the site-specific characteristics
makes such information challenging, yet much can be done from statistical analysis, from
correlation of measurement time-series and from meteorology. The development of wind
power has led to great sophistication in the associated analysis, especially involving data
handling techniques and computer modelling. However, Example 9.1 and Table 9.3 illustrate
the principles of such analysis, by showing how the power available from the wind at
particular site can be calculated from very basic measured data on the distribution of wind
speed at that site. Commercial measurement techniques are more sophisticated, but the
principles are the same.
The analysis of Example 9.1 is entirely in terms of the probability of wind characteristics; in
essence we have considered a ‘frequency domain’ analysis and not the ‘time domain’. The
time domain, including turbulence and gustiness, is considered in Section 9.6.5.

Wind speed and direction variation with time

From Figure 9.15, note the importance of fluctuations ∼ 10 s. These notonly contain
significant energy, but lead to damaging stresses on windmachines. A measure of all such
time variations is the turbulence intensity,equal to the standard deviation of the instantaneous
wind speed divided bythe mean value of the wind speed. Turbulence intensity is a useful
measureover time intervals of a few minutes; values of around 0.1 imply a ‘smooth’wind, as
over the sea, and values of around 0.25 imply a very gusty, largeturbulence, wind, as in
mountainous locations. Turbulence can be expected to reduce with height above ground.
There are similar expressions for thevariation of wind direction with time, sometimes called
‘wind shift’.
A wind turbine, especially medium to large size, will not respond quickly enough, or have the
aerodynamic properties, to ‘follow’ rapid changes inwind speed and direction. Therefore
energy in wind turbulence and shift may not be captured, but this is an advantage if fatigue
damage is thereby lessened.

The more wind turbines and wind farms are dispersed on a grid, the less correlated are the
short-term variations and the easier it is to accept increased capacity of wind power. The
product of wind speed and the correlation time period is called the coherence distance. For
short periods, say 10 s of turbulence, the coherence distance will be usually less than the
‘length’ of a wind farm, so such variations are averaged out. For periods of about 30 min, the
correlation distance may be about 20 km; in which case wind farm output dispersed over
distances of the order of 100km will also not correlate, with variations in power not apparent
over the whole grid. Only when the coherence distance becomes larger than the scale of the
grid are fluctuations not smoothed out by diversity of the site locations.

Power extraction by a turbine

The fraction of power extracted from the wind by a turbine is, by (9.15), the power
coefficient CP as discussed in Section 9.3. At any instant, CPis most dependent on the tip-
speed ratio _, unless the machine is controlled for other reasons (as happens below the cut-in
wind speed and usually above the rated output). The strategy for matching a machine to a
particular wind regime will range between the aims of (1) maximizing total energy
production in the year (e.g. for fuel saving in a large electricity network), and (2) providing
minimum supply even in light winds (e.g. for water pumping to a cattle trough). In addition
secondary equipment, such as generators or pumps, has to be coupled to the turbine, so its
power matching response has to be linked to the turbine characteristic. The subject of power
extraction is therefore complex, incorporating many factors, and in practice a range of
strategies and types of system will be used according to different traditions and needs.

This section considers power extracted by the turbine, which will havea rated power capacity
PR produced at the specified rated wind speed uR. From Section 9.6.3, &u is the probability
per wind speed interval that the wind speed will be in the interval u to _u+du_ (i.e. &u du is
the probability of wind speed between u and u+du). Let E be the total energy extracted by the
turbine in the period T , and let Eu be the energy extracted per interval of wind speed when
the wind speed is u. Then
In practice, turbines will often be operating in the region between cutin and rated output, and
it is wasteful of energy potential if the machine is unduly limited at large wind speeds. There
are two extreme theoretical conditions of operation, see Figure 9.24:

1 Variable rotor speed for constant tip-speed ratio, hence constant CP. This is the most
efficient mode of operation and captures the most energy, see Problem 9.13 (and its answer)
for details of calculating the energy capture. Variable speed turbines usually cut in at wind
speeds less than for constant speed turbines, which also increase energy capture.

2 Constant (fixed) turbine rotational frequency, hence varying CP.Although less efficient
than variable speed turbines, the use of standardinduction generators allows easy grid
connection (the small frequencyslip of induction generators is not significant, so the
machines aredescribed as ‘constant speed’).

From Figure 9.24, it can be seen that CP can be obtained as a function ofunperturbed wind
speed u0, and the turbine power calculated by numericalmethods. By operating at constant
frequency there is a loss of possibleenergy extraction. This may be particularly serious if
there is a mismatchof optimum performance at larger wind speeds.

In practice, a measured (or estimated) operating power curve of a windturbine is usually

supplied by the maker, in the form of a curve likeFigure 9.23 or as a data table, and the term
‘capacity factor’ is used forthe ratio of actual annual average generated power at a site,
divided by thegenerator name-plate rated power.

WIND TURBINE ROTOR DESIGN ISSUES

Wind turbine rotor blades are a high-technology product that must be produced at moderate
cost for the resulting energy to be competitive in price. This means that the basic materials
must provide a lot of long-term mechanical performance per unit cost and that they must be
efficiently manufactured into their final form, including the cost of sufficient quality control.
Unless a material choice and fabrication system can satisfy both of these requirements, it will
not be appropriate for advancing the state of the art for economical production of power from
the wind.

Both fiberglass-reinforced and wood/epoxy composites have been shown to have the
combination of strength and low material and fabrication costs required for competitive blade
manufacture. Their fabrication requirements and constraints, the current state of their
materials database, and the areas where further research could advance their efficient use are,
however, often quite different. The gradual evolution of wind turbine configuration and rotor
designs also places a continuing demand on both systems to meet new requirements. In turn,
the strengths and limitations of each material system also feed back into the process of
system configuration selection and detailed design, as any design that cannot be efficiently
produced will be at a competitive cost disadvantage. A really good design will already
include the compromises necessary so that it can be effectively manufactured with acceptable
quality in the material system chosen. A number of these considerations are discussed below.

AIRFOIL EVOLUTION
Early wind turbine blades typically used airfoil shapes borrowed from helicopter or low-
speed aircraft use, such as the NACA 23xxx or 44xx series (Figure 4-1). These airfoils have
shapes that are everywhere convex and in particular do not have a concave or reflex aft
portion. While these were a natural starting point, they were found to be sensitive to the
buildup of insects on the leading edge, which caused substantial loss of power output for
many wind turbine designs.

Further evolution of airfoil choice in view of field experience has led to the use of the more
modern Wortmann or NACA laminar designs, as well as the aft loaded LS-1 type. These
airfoil designs generally employ a reflex or concave aft portion, which feature is also evident
on the special-purpose SERI wind turbine airfoils (Figure 4-2). That concavity effectively
eliminates certain manufacturing processes, such as filament winding, from consideration for
producing the outer airfoil shell. While it also forces some modification to the female mold
fabrication technique, both fiberglass and wood/epoxy composites have successfully been
produced in reflex shapes without significant cost penalty.

Precise control of airfoil geometry is quite important in providing blades with consistent
aerodynamic properties. Small variations in outboard airfoil camber (±1/4 percent of chord)
or twist (±1/4°) can lead to substantial aerodynamic imbalance and rotor and turbine life
reduction. For stall-controlled machines, off design peak power can further reduce cost-
effectiveness by either overstressing driveline and generator components, and thereby
increasing replacement costs, or by reducing total power output and revenue. This need for
aerodynamic consistency and accuracy has led to the adoption of molding as the fabrication
method of choice for both fiberglassand wood/epoxy composites, as it provides control right
at the outer aerodynamic surface, which determines ultimate performance. Both material
systems are able to provide the complete range of outboard airfoil shapes currently of
interest.

Commonly used early HAWT airfoils.

 SERI advanced wind turbine airfoils

While the outboard portion of the rotor changes little with material choice, the inboard region
is a different matter. Fiberglass rotor blades often incorporate a large amount of inboard
planform area and twist, and may carry the maximum chord quite far in toward the root
(Figure 4-3) (Stoddard, 1989). For a given rotor diameter, this will produce the most power,
albeit at the cost of a significant increase in total blade surface area and materials. The flat
sheet nature of the veneers used in wood/epoxy construction does not lend itself well to large
inboard planform and the twist and the double curvature surfaces that result. Instead, a
gradual transition from the inboard airfoil shape to an oval root is performed over the inner
third of the blade (Figure 4-4). To regain the minor power loss due to lessened inboard
planform area, a slight increase in blade length is provided. Since the turbine rotor designer is
free to sweep energy out of the flow at whatever radius provides the least rotor cost, this is an
effective solution because the cost of the slight extra length is small compared to the large
reduction in inboard planform area. Low wind start-up torque is reduced, which could be a
limitation for some turbine designs, but the reduction of planform area also reduces storm
wind loading on the turbine as a whole, so the cost trade-off at the system level may or may
not be favorable depending on start-up requirements.

AERODYNAMIC TIP BRAKES

Turbine designs, which incorporate full span blade pitch control, can use that system to
provide aerodynamic shutdown. Many current turbine designs, which use a mechanical brake
for normal shutdown, do not have full span pitch control and must therefore depend on some
other method of aerodynamic braking for safety. A great many methods have been tried, but
most machines have used either a pivoting outboard tip section or a rotating tip plate.

The pivoting tip design has been dominant for the Danish fiberglass blades. The usual
arrangement employs a centrifugal latch that releases the tip when an overspeed condition
occurs. The tip is then allowed to move outboard, and a cam rotates it (in pitch) until it is
perpendicular to the plane of rotation, thereby providing the drag needed to slow the machine
aerodynamically. The typical arrangement to accomplish this uses steel parts for the
mechanism, including cam, follower, attachment feet, and the structural tubes, which carry
the tip loads back into the inboard blade. The feet that form the attachment to the blade are
typically glassed (i.e., embedded in resin/fiber) onto one of the blade shells to secure the
mechanism to the inner blade and to secure the tip to the pivoting tube.

Tip failures have been observed with this system, typically near the cut that separates the tip
from the inner blade. That is where the bending moment in the tube is at the maximum, and
indenting or scuffing from a loosely fitting bearing or collar can help initiate a failure.
Damage in this area due to saw cuts, welding, or other manufacturing operations has also
been known to lead to tube failure. These problems are not generally due to insufficient
fatigue knowledge of the steels used, but rather to manufacturing and quality control issues,
and the fact that a small geometric cross section for the embedded tube leads to rather high
working stresses. The bonded retention of the assembly to the blade has generally been quite
satisfactory (Poore and Patterson, 1990; Stoddard, 1989; Faddoul, 1981).

Composites can be considered as a replacement for steel in this high-stress fatigue

application. Fiberglass, while strong enough, has a low modulus that leads to large angular
deflections and consequent problems with bearing alignment. Carbon fiber has the stiffness,
strength, and fatigue endurance needed for the tip tube application, but it is considerably
more costly than steel. However, as the cost of carbon fiber drops, the weightsavings and
corrosion resistance that it provides may make it attractive for this application.

The wood/epoxy composite blades produced by Howden also use the pivoting tip
arrangement. While operating hours and machine numbers are not nearly as large as for the
Danish designs, application with the wood/epoxy material system has not shown any unusual
problems to date.

The Enertech and ESI designs of U.S. origin both used pivoting tip plates for overspeed
protection. These were retained in place using threaded rod epoxy bonded into a veneer
buildup at the blade tip. The load takeoff principle is identical to the well-tested root stud
method and has proven highly reliable in service, except for cases of massive overspeed due
to failure of the latch mechanism to deploy. This is not a material knowledge or fatigue
problem.

Future wind turbines may employ techniques such as outboard blade ailerons or boundary
layer control for overspeed protection. Such methods are not only potentially preferable from
an aerodynamic standpoint, but also require much less disruption of the primary load path
within the blade and could thereby reduce the possibility of long-term fatigue failure as well.

BLADE ROOT RETENTION

Glass-Reinforced Plastic (Grp) Blade Roots

For both fiberglass and wood/epoxy composites, the blade-to-hub interface requires a high-
performance fatigue design that can take loads from the composite blade structure into a
metal hub assembly. Mating these dissimilar materials in high-cycle fatigue has been a
serious design challenge in both material systems.

Two major Danish fiberglass blade builders used a flanged root design. One variation, called
the Hutter root after its originator, used thick unidirectional roving bundles wrapped around
tubular bushings within the flange (Figure 4-5). These thick bundles bent around the root
radius and terminated well up inside the root tube, so that an extensive bonding area was
provided to the skin and spar reinforcing. Since the bolts attaching the blade to the machine
passed through the flange bushings, the blade wasmechanically captured both via the
bolts/bushings and the flange clamping plates. Polyester-based filler material was used to fill
the gaps between the hub, metal clamping plates, and the GRP flange to render the assembly
as stiff and free of movement as possible.

The other major variation of the flanged root used root roving material that was molded
uniformly outward to form the flange, after which the flange drilled and metal bushings were
added. While the extra security of a wrap around the bushings was no longer present,
mechanical clamping between the hub and flange plates provided positive mechanical
capture. While filler material was again used to resist movement and render the final
assembly as solid as possible, like the Hutter root, this design again did not depend a metal-
to-GRP bond. Given the modulus and strain values of these designs, some motion between
metal and GRP appears virtually unavoidable in the long run.

Both of these flanged root designs encountered considerable trouble in service (Stoddard,
1989). Partly due to quality control and manufacturing problems, and partly due to the
inevitable shrinkage of polyester upon cure, the GRP flange was often not clamped well
between the hub and flange plates. Once some gap occurred, the blade root was free to move
somewhat and could then begin to reduce the filler material to powder. At the same time, the
GRP bundles would begin to move relative to the steel flange plates (Figure 4-6) and would
often floss deep grooves into their surfaces due to the repetitive motion. Loss of root stiffness
and the appearance of fine powder at the root were the symptoms of this degeneration. It was
estimated by Stoddard (1989) that this problem was observed on 5 to 10 percent of the blades
in service and was expected on 30 to 50 percent of the blades, given operation and
management attention. This amounts to over 20,000 blades.

A procedure called a root pack was developed to deal with these root problems. In essence,
the flanges were removed, and fresh filler material was added to take up the gaps and restore
a tight fit. In many instances the bushings were shortened or recesses were machined into the
flange plates so that the bolt pretension could clamp directly against the GRP flange.
Bushings with a carefully selected crushing stress were also employed in some of the later
designs, so that the GRP and steel bushing could each share some of the bolt preload, which
was the original design intent of all the flange designs. It should be pointed out that some
known flanged blades have over 5 years of operation with no problems and no root pack.

There is no doubt that the root pack procedure extended the useful life of many blades in the
field. However, the increased clamping stresses within the GRP may now be taking a toll, as
long-term tensile failure right through the fiber bundles has now begun to appear (Poore and
Patterson, 1990). While a well-designed, well-manufactured flanged root may offer life of
several years, it does not yet appear able to offer the desired decades of life. This is true even
though the blades in question are generally less than 10 m in length. Life expectancy is only
likely to get worse as larger blades with increased gravitational bending moments are
designed.
Another class of fiberglass root design is based on a tapered metal tube that is bonded to the
root region of the blade (Figure 4-7a). The tubes may be interior, exterior, or both and may
occur with or without through bolts. For its long-term fatigue performance, this class of roots
generally depends on a metal-to-GRP bond to transfer load via shear from one material to the
other. These steel root tubes are provided with a steel flange so that they can be bolted to the
hub assembly. The increased amount of metal required for this class of retention may be more
costly compared to the types where the flange is formed directly from the GRP. However,
roots of this sort appear to be reliable when properly designed and manufactured and have
served well up to the present time.

Wind Power - Site Evaluation - Power of Wind

The Power of Wind

Air moving at 40 km/h through one square metre theoretically has an energy content of 400
watts if it were stopped. The power extracted from the wind cannot exceed 59% of the power
in the wind.

Wind Variations
Whereas with Solar or Hydro-electric power the batteries receive some recharge on a daily
basis, at times there may not be any significant wind for charging the batteries for weeks on
end. Winds are notoriously variable, and most installations must include an auxiliary
generating system to recharge the batteries in low wind periods.

Winds are the result of differences between temperatures in the atmosphere, the turning
motion of the planet and the varied topography of the earth's surface. The winds that are
significant to a discussion of wind-plants may be divided into two categories: the planetary
winds and local winds

Planetary Winds
Planetary wind systems, normally called prevailing winds, are those great moving air masses
that dominate whole areas and show constant directional characteristics, varying only with
the movement of high or low pressure systems and with the seasons of the year.

In many locations these are the dominant winds, and good wind-plant sites are those that take
maximum advantage of prevailing winds. Included among such sites are exposed hill tops;
shore lines facing the prevailing winds; an open plain or plateau; the floor of an open valley
running parallel to the prevailing winds, or the windward side of a gently sloping hill.

Local Winds
Local winds, by contrast, are caused by temperature differences created by local topographic
conditions. Land-sea breezes, for example, will blow from the land towards the sea by night,
simply because land temperatures are more subject to change than the great mass of the
ocean. Mountain and valley breezes are caused by the same local effects. On a warm sunny
day winds may rise strongly off the floor of a valley and up the slopes of adjacent hills. The
best site for a wind-plant is one where dominant planetary wind patterns are reinforced by
local winds.

SITE SELECTION CONSIDERATION FOR WECS

The power available in the wind increases rapidly with the speed, hence wind energy
conversion machines should be located preferable in areas where the winds are strong and
persistent. Although daily winds at a given site may be highly variable, the monthly and
especially annual average are remarkably constant from year to year.

The major controbution to the wind power available at a given site is actually made by winds
with speeds above the average. Nevertheless, the most suitable sites for wind turbines would
be found in areas where the annual average wind speeds are known to be moderately high or
high.

The site choice for a single or a spatial array of WECS is an important matter when wind
electrics is looked at from the systemspoint of view of aeroturbine generators feeding power
into a convertional electric grid.

If the WECS sites are wrongly or poorly chosen the net wind electrics generated energy per
year may be sub optimal with resulting high capital cost for the WECS apparatus, high costs
for wind generated electric energy, and low Returns on Investment. Even if the WECS is to
be a small generator not tied to the electric grid, the sitting must be carefully chosen if
inordinately long break even times are to be avoided. Technical, Economic, Evironmental,
Social and Other actors are examined before a decision is made to erect a generating plant on
a specific site.

Some of the main site selection consideration are given below:

1. High annual average wind speed:

2. Availability of anemometry data:

3. Availability of wind V(t) Curve at the proposed site:

4. Wind structure at the proposed site:

5. Altitude of the proposed site:

6. Terrain and its aerodynamic:

7. Local Ecology

8. Distance to road or railways:

9. Nearness of site to local centre/users:

10. Nature of ground:

11. Favourable land cost:

1. High annual average wind speed:

The speed generated by the wind mill depends on cubic values of velocity of wind, the small
increases in velocity markedly affect the power in the wind. For example, Doubling the
velocity, increases power by a factor of 8. It is obviously desirable to select a site for WECS
with high wind velocity. Thus a high average wind velocity is the principle fundamental
parameter of concern in initially appraising WESCS site. For more detailed estimate value,
one would like to have the average of the velocity cubed.

2. Availability of anemometry data:

It is another improvement sitting factor. The aenometry data should be available over some
time period at the precise spot where any proposed WECS is to be built and that this should
be accomplished before a sitting decision is made.

3. Availability of wind V(t) Curve at the proposed site:

This important curve determines the maximum energy in the wind and hence is the principal
initially controlling factor in predicting the electrical output and hence revenue return o the
WECS machines.

It is desirable to have average wind speed ‘V’ such that V>=12-16 km/hr (3.5 – 4.5 m/sec)
which is about the lower limit at which present large scale WECS generators ‘cut in’ i.e., start
turning. The V(t) Curve also determines the reliability of the delivered WECS generator
power, for if the V(t) curve goes to zero there be no generated power during that time.

If there are long periods of calm the WECS reliability will be lower than if the calm periods
are short. In making such realiability estimates it is desirable to have measured V(t) Curve
over about a 5 year period for the highest confidence level in the reliability estimate.

4. Wind structure at the proposed site:

The ideal case for the WECS would be a site such that the V(t) Curve was flat, i.e., a smooth
steady wind that blows all the time; but a typical site is always less than ideal. Wind specially
near the ground is turbulent and gusty, and changes rapidly in direction and in velocity. This
depature from homogeneous flow is collectively referred to as “the structure of the wind”.

5. Altitude of the proposed site:

It affects the air density and thus the power in the wind and hence the useful WECS electric
power output. Also, as is well known, the wind tend to have higher velocities at higher
altitudes. One must be carefully to distinguish altitude from height above ground. They are
not the same except for a sea level WECS site.

6. Terrain and its aerodynamic:

One should know about terrain of the site to be chosen. If the WECS is to be placed near the
top but not on the top of a not too blunt hill facing the prevailing wind, then it may be
possible to obtain a ‘speed-up’ of the wind velocity over what it would otherwise be. Also the
wind here may not flow horizontal making it necessary to tip the axis of the rotor so that the
aeroturbine is always perpendicular to the actual wind flow.

It may be possible to make use of hills or mountains which channel the prevailing wind into a
pass region, thereby obtaining higher wind power.

7. Local Ecology

If the surface is base rock it may mean lower hub height hence lower structure cost. If trees or
grass or vegetation are present, all of which tend to destructure the wind, the higher hub
heights will be needed resulting in larges system costs that the bare ground case.

8. Distance to road or railways:

This is another factor the system engineer must consider for heavy machinery, structure,
materials, blades and other apparatus will have to be moved into any choosen WECS site.

9. Nearness of site to local centre/users:

This obvious criterion minimizes transmission line length and hence losses and cost. After
applying all the previous string criteria, hopefully as one narrows the proposed WECS sites to
one or two they would be relatively near to the user of the generated electric energy.

10. Nature of ground:

Ground condition should be such that the foundation for a WECS are secured. Ground
surface should be stable. Erosion problem should not be there, as it could possibly later wash
out the foundation of a WECS, destroying the whole system.

11. Favourable land cost:

Land cost should be favourable as this along with other siting costs, enters into the total
WECS system cost.

12. Other conditions such as icing problem, salt spray or blowing dust should not present at
the site, as they may affect aeroturbine blades or environmental is generally adverse to
machinery and electrical apparatus.

Wind Turbine Control

• The control system on a wind turbine is designed to:
1. seek the highest efficiency of operation that maximizes the coefficient of power, Cp,
2. ensure safe operation under all wind conditions.
• Wind turbine control systems are typically divided into three functional elements:
1. the control of groups of wind turbines in a wind farm,
2. the supervising control of each individual wind turbine, and
3. separate dedicated dynamic controllers for different wind turbine sub-systems.
• The wind farm controller’s function is “power management”. – It can initiate and shut down
turbine operation as well as coordinate the operation of numerous wind turbines in response
to environmental and operating conditions.
• The wind turbine supervisory controller manages the individual turbine operation. –
Including power production, low-wind shutdown, high-wind shutdown, high load limits, and
orderly start-up and shutdown – Also provides control input to the dynamic controllers for
r.p.m. control to maintain an optimum tip-speed-ratio, and blade pitch control.

Aerodynamic Torque Control

• One of the approaches to control λ is through control of the rotor aerodynamic torque.
– This ultimately comes by controlling the rotor L/D.
• For L/D control, there are two approaches:
1. stall-regulated rotor designs
2. pitch regulated rotor designs
• Stall-regulated rotors are designed with section shapes and mean angles of attack to cause
the rotor to stall at higher wind speeds, beginning at rated power wind speeds. (More detail
on this later)
• Pitch-regulated rotors reduce the aerodynamic torque by reducing the pitch and thereby the
local angle of attack of the rotor sections.
– The lower angles of attack reduce the section lift coefficients and thereby the aerodynamic
torque on the rotor.
– The pitch control initiates when the wind velocity is sufficient to generate the turbine rated
power level. – It continues to reduce the pitch to seek to maintain an optimum λ while also
maintaining a constant rated power up to the cut-out wind speed.

Electrical Torque Control

• Another approach to control λ is through electrical torque control.
• Synchronous generators are most commonly used in large wind turbines
• Synchronous machines are commonly used as generators especially for large power
systems, such as turbine generators and hydroelectric generators in the grid power supply.
• The reactive power generated by a synchronous machine can be adjusted by controlling the
magnitude of the rotor field current unloaded synchronous machines are also often installed
in power systems solely for power factor correction, or for control of reactive kV-A flow.
• For a general case of a synchronous machine with P poles, the relationship between the
electrical and mechanical angular velocities, ω and ωm is ω = P 2 ωm. (1)
• In terms of physical frequency, f(Hz) and n (r.p.m), n = 120f P . (2)
• For a fixed r.p.m. wind turbine, a gear box would be designed so that at the optimum tip-
speed ratio, the generator rotor would spin at the r.p.m. that would produce 60 Hz. – This
approach is quite restrictive • An alternate approach is converting the AC power to DC
power, after which it is converted back to AC power with the U.S. standard 60 Hz frequency.

Wind Turbine Operation Strategy

• Four strategic objectives to wind turbine operation:
1. to maximize energy production while keeping operation within speed and load constraints,
2. to prevent extreme loads and to minimize fatigue damage that can occur as a result of
repeated bending caused by weight on the rotors and unsteady aerodynamics loads,
3. to provide acceptable power quality at the point of connection to the power grid, and
4. to provide safe operation.
• The control approach depends on the wind turbine design:
1. For (Ucut−in < U∞ < Urated) the object is to maximize power production.
2. For (Urated < U∞ < Ucut−out) the object is to limit power to the rated value.
• Two approaches to accomplish this:
1. Fixed Speed Designs
2. Variable Speed Designs

Axial Induction Control

Standard control of wind turbines has focused on changing the pitch of the rotor and control
of the rotor RPM in order to maintain an λ.
• Standard practice is to have a fixed pitch angle for Region II wind speeds
• The fixed pitch in Region II wind speeds is intended to maximize the average efficiency
from Ucut−in to Urated
• However, with a rigid rotor, the optimum (Betz) efficiency is generally only approached at a
single wind speed, and As a result, performance falls short of optimum.

Lift Control
• Lift control techniques that have been developed for general airfoils can be applied to wind
turbine rotors. These include
1. plane trailing edge flaps
2. split trailing edge flaps
 3. Gurney flaps
4. trailing edge blowing
5. plasma actuators

Drivetrains
What Is the Drivetrain?
The drivetrain of a wind turbine is composed of the gearbox and the generator, the necessary
components that a turbine needs to produce electricity. The gearbox is responsible for
connecting the low-speed shaft attached to the turbine blades to the high-speed shaft attached
to the generator. Assisted by a series of gears of varying sizes, the gearbox converts the slow
rotation of the outer blades—typically 30–60 rotations per minute—to the roughly 1,000–
1,800 rotations per minute that the generator needs to begin producing electricity.

A gearbox is typically used in a wind turbine to increase rotational speed from a low-speed
rotor to a higher speed electrical generator. A common ratio is about 90:1, with a rate 16.7
rpm input from the rotor to 1,500 rpm output for the generator. Some multimegawatt wind
turbines have dispensed with a gearbox. In these so-called direct-drive machines, the
generator rotor turns at the same speed as the turbine rotor. This requires a large and
expensive generator. Other wind turbines on the market sit in-between, with gearbox ratios of
about 30:1, dispensing with the highest speed stage in a typical gearbox. There is a trade-off
between the reliability of gearboxes and gear stages and the cost of slower, higher torque
generators.

The design of a wind turbine gearbox is challenging due to the loading and environmental
conditions in which the gearbox must operate. Torque from the rotor generates power, but the
turbine rotor also applies large moments and forces to the wind-turbine drivetrain. It is
important to ensure that the drivetrain effectively isolates the gearbox, or to ensure that the
gearbox is designed to support these loads, otherwise internal gearbox components can
become severely misaligned. This can lead to stress concentrations and failures.
Wind-turbine drivetrains undergo severe transient loading during start-ups, shut-downs,
emergency stops, and during grid connections. Load cases that result in torque reversals may
be particularly damaging to bearings, as rollers may be skidding during the sudden relocation
of the loaded zone. Seals and lubrication systems must work reliably over a wide temperature
variation to prevent the ingress of dirt and moisture, and perform effectively at all rotational
speeds in the gearbox.

Gear and bearing fatigue standards by AGMA and ISO are used for design, these only
capture a subset of the potential failure modes of the components. For instance, the ISO 6336
gear standard provides an established method for calculating resistance to subsurface contact
failure and for tooth root breakage. The standards are doing their job, but these are not the
most common failure modes observed in windturbine gearboxes. More common causes of
failure are manufacturing errors such as grind temper or material inclusions, surface related
problems, such as scuffing or micropitting, and fretting problems from small vibratory
motions, such as may occur when a machine is parked. Scuffing is adhesive wear and
subsequent detachment and transfer of particles from one or both of the meshing teeth (ref
ISO13989-1). It can happen quickly and is generally considered to be associated with an
absence or breakdown of the lubricant film under high loads (ISO 13989-2). Micropitting is a
surface fatigue resulting from generation or numerous surface cracks, and is associated with
insufficient film thickness (ISO 15144-1). Film thickness is affected by sliding speed, load,
temperature, surface roughness, and chemical composition of the lubricant.
Many wind-turbine gearboxes have also suffered from fundamental design issues such as
ineffective interference fits that result in unintended motion and wear, ineffectiveness of
internal lubrication paths and problems with sealing. Improving the resistance of future
gearbox designs to all these issues is a key for the future cost of energy generated by wind
turbines.

Control Methods
You can use different control methods to either optimize or limit power output. You can
control a turbine by controlling the generator speed, blade angle adjustment, and rotation of
the entire wind turbine. Blade angle adjustment and turbine rotation are also known as pitch
and yaw control, respectively. A visual representation of pitch and yaw adjustment is shown
in Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 5. Pitch Adjustment Figure 6. Yaw Adjustment

The purpose of pitch control is to maintain the optimum blade angle to achieve certain rotor
speeds or power output. You can use pitch adjustment to stall and furl, two methods of pitch
control. By stalling a wind turbine, you increase the angle of attack, which causes the flat side
of the blade to face further into the wind. Furling decreases the angle of attack, causing the
edge of the blade to face the oncoming wind. Pitch angle adjustment is the most effective
way to limit output power by changing aerodynamic force on the blade at high wind speeds.

Yaw refers to the rotation of the entire wind turbine in the horizontal axis. Yaw control
ensures that the turbine is constantly facing into the wind to maximize the effective rotor area
and, as a result, power. Because wind direction can vary quickly, the turbine may misalign
with the oncoming wind and cause power output losses. You can approximate these losses
with the following equation:

EQ : ∆P=α cos(ε) Where ∆P is the lost power and ε is the yaw error angle

he final type of control deals with the electrical subsystem. You can achieve this dynamic
control with power electronics, or, more specifically, electronic converters that are coupled to
the generator. The two types of generator control are stator and rotor. The stator and rotor are
the stationary and nonstationary parts of a generator, respectively. In each case, you
disconnect the stator or rotor from the grid to change the synchronous speed of the generator
independently of the voltage or frequency of the grid. Controlling the synchronous generator
speed is the most effective way to optimize maximum power output at low wind speeds.
Figure 7 shows a system-level layout of a wind energy conversion system and the signals
used. Notice that control is most effective by adjusting pitch angle and controlling the
synchronous speed of the generator.

Control Strategies
Recall that controlling the pitch of the blade and speed of the generator are the most effective
methods to adjust output power. The following control strategies use pitch and generator
speed control to manage turbine functionality throughout the power curve: fixed-speed fixed-
pitch, fixed-speed variable-pitch, variable-speed fixed-pitch, and variable-speed variable-
pitch. Figure 8 shows the power curves for different control strategies explained below, with
variable-speed variable-pitch, VS-VP, being the ideal curve.

Fixed-speed fixed-pitch (FS-FP) is the one configuration where it is impossible to improve

performance with active control. In this design, the turbine’s generator is directly coupled to
the power grid, causing the generator speed to lock to the power line frequency and fix the
rotational speed. These turbines are regulated using passive stall methods at high wind
speeds. The gearbox ratio selection becomes important for this passive control because it
ensures that the rated power is not exceeded. Figure 8 shows the power curve for FS-FP
operation.

From the figure, it is apparent that the actual power does not match the ideal power, implying
that there is lower energy capture. Notice that the turbine operates at maximum efficiency
only at one wind speed in the low-speed region. The rated power of the turbine is achieved
only at one wind speed as well. This implies poor power regulation as a result of constrained
operations.

Fixed-speed variable-pitch (FS-VP) configuration operates at a fixed pitch angle below the
rated wind speed and continuously adjusts the angle above the rated wind speed. To clarify,
fixed-speed operation implies a maximum output power at one wind speed. You can use both
feather and stall pitch control methods in this configuration to limit power. Keep in mind that
feathering takes a significant amount of control design and stalling increases unwanted thrust
force as stall increases. Figure 8 shows the power curve for FS-VP using either feather or
stall control.

Below the rated wind speed, the FS-VP turbine has a near optimum efficiency around Region
II. Exceeding the rated wind speed, the pitch angles are continuously changed, providing
little to no loss in power.

Variable-speed fixed-pitch (VS-FP) configuration continuously adjusts the rotor speed

relative to the wind speed through power electronics controlling the synchronous speed of the
generator. This type of control assumes that the generator is from the grid so that the
generator’s rotor and drive-train are free to rotate independently of grid frequency. Fixed-
pitch relies heavily on the blade design to limit power through passive stalling. Figure 8
shows the power curve for VS-FP.
Figure 8 shows that power efficiency is maximized at low wind speeds, and you can achieve
rated turbine power only at one wind speed. Passive stall regulation plays a major role in not
achieving the rated power and can be attributed to poor power regulation above the rated
wind speed. In lower wind speed cases, VS-FP can capture more energy and improve power
quality.

Variable-speed variable-pitch (VS-VP) configuration is a derivation of VS-FP and FS-VP.

Operating below the rated wind speed, variable speed and fixed pitch are used to maximize
energy capture and increase power quality. Operating above the rated wind speed, fixed
speed and variable pitch permit efficient power regulation at the rated power. VS-VP is the
only control strategy that theoretically achieves the ideal power curve shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Power Curves for Different Control Strategies (Variable-speed variable-pitch, VS-
VP, is the ideal curve.)

Electrical System
An offshore wind farm electrical system consists of six key elements:

 Wind turbine generators;

 Offshore inter-turbine cables (electrical collection system);
 Offshore substation (if present);
 Transmission cables to shore;
 Onshore substation (and onshore cables); and
 Connection to the grid.

Figure 5.11: Typical Single Line Diagram

The design of the electrical system is determined by the characteristics of the wind
turbine generators and of the network to which the project is to be connected, as
well as regulations imposed upon it, notably through Grid Codes. The network
operator controls the grid to meet its operational objectives and also requires a
degree of control over large generators (which may include offshore wind farms).
Additionally, the wind farm must be designed to respond appropriately to grid
faults. These demands can be expected for any large wind farm located offshore
(see Part II).

Wind turbine control and electrical systems are constantly evolving to provide
improved characteristics and fault response for the purpose of grid integration.
Nevertheless, the wind farm electrical system can be expected to have additional
functional requirements in addition to the basic transmission from turbines to the
grid connection point.

OFFSHORE SUBSTATIONS
Offshore substations are used to reduce electrical losses by increasing the voltage
and then exporting the power to shore. Generally a substation does not need to be
installed if:

 The project is small (~100 MW or less);

 It is close to shore (~15 km or less); or
 The connection to the grid is at collection voltage (e.g. under 36 kV).

Most early offshore wind projects met some or all of these criteria, so were built
without an offshore substation. However, most future offshore wind farms will be
large and/or located far from shore, and so will require one or more offshore
substations.

Offshore substations typically serve to step-up the voltage from the site distribution
voltage (30 to 36 kV) to a higher voltage (say 100 to 220 kV), which will usually be
the connection voltage. This step-up dramatically reduces the number of export
circuits (subsea cables) between the offshore substation and the shore. Typically,
each export circuit may be rated in the range 150 to 200 MW.

Such substations may be configured with one or more export circuits. Future units
will be larger and more complex. To date, no standard substation layout has yet
evolved.

For projects located far from the grid connection point, or of several hundred
megawatts in capacity, AC transmission becomes costly or impossible, due to cable-
generated reactive power using up much of the transmission capacity. In such
cases, high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission is becoming an option. Such a system
requires an AC/DC converter station both offshore and onshore; both stations are
large installations.
ONSHORE SUBSTATIONS
Design of the onshore substation may be driven by the network operator, but there
will be some choices to be made by the project developer. Generally, the onshore
substation will consist of switchgear, metering, transformers and associated plant.
The onshore substation may also have reactive compensation equipment, depending
on the network operator requirements and the design of the offshore network.

SUBSEA CABLES
Subsea cables are of well-established design. Each circuit runs in a single cable
containing all three phases and optical fibre for communications, with a series of
fillers and protective layers and longitudinal water blocking to prevent extensive
flooding in the event of the external layers failing.

Inter-turbine (array) cables are typically rated at 30 to 36 kV and installed in single

lengths from one turbine to its neighbour, forming a string (collection circuit)
feeding the substation. Each collection circuit is usually rated up to 30 MW.
Export cables are of similar design but for higher voltage, typically 100 to 220 kV.
Cables are terminated at each structure through a vertical tube from seabed to above
water level (J-tube or I-tube) and into conventional switchgear.

Long-term reliability of the subsea cables is a major concern, addressed mainly by

ensuring the safe burial of the cables at a depth that avoids damage from trawlers
and anchors and the exposure of cables to hydrodynamic loading.

UNIT-IV
BIO-MASS
Biomass energy is essentially solar energy captured bygreen plants in photosynthesis and then stored
chemically, usually as carbohydrate, but sometimes ashydrocarbon, molecules. Any fuel
subsequentlyderived from biomass is known as a biofuel, thoughbiomass can be used as a biofuel
directly, such as whenfirewood is burned.

Wood may be considered as a primary biofuel, whileethanol (formed via the microbial fermentation
anddistillation of crops), biogas (mostly methane producedby the bacterial degradation of biomass)
and charcoal(the solid product of pyrolysis of biomass) areexamples of secondary biofuels. All
biofuels aresubjected to, in the widest sense of the term,bioconversion, which is the overall process in
whichbiomass is harvested and either converted to, or usedas, a fuel.

The biomass resource consists of natural vegetation,energy crops cultivated specifically for their
energycontent on terrestrial or aquatic energy farms, biomassresidues and biomass wastes. Biomass
residues are theplant remains following agricultural or forestryoperations. They generally have an
alternative use oruses to providing energy, thus incurring a positive cost for their collection,
transportation and utilisation asbiofuels. This distinguishes residues from actual wastes for which no
useful purpose has yet been found. Where pollution controls are enforced, biomass wastes usuallyincur
a cost, in both energy and financial terms, beforebeing returned to the environment. Their utilisationas
energy sources, therefore, provides a credit whichcan be offset against collection, transportation
andbioconversion costs. Nevertheless, the distinctionbetween residues and wastes and between useful
and not useful vegetation are not clearcut. Ralph WaldoEmerson’s 19th century definition of a weed
as ‘a plantwhose virtues have not yet been discovered’ certainlyhas some relevance when discussing
potential biomassenergy resources today.
The material of plants and animals, including their wastes and residues,is called biomass. It is organic,
carbon-based, material that reacts with\ oxygen in combustion and natural metabolic processes to
release heat.Such heat, especially if at temperatures >400 _C, may be used to generate work and
electricity. The initial material may be transformed by chemicaland biological processes to produce
biofuels, i.e. biomass processed intoa more convenient form, particularly liquid fuels for transport.
Examplesof biofuels include methane gas, liquid ethanol, methyl esters, oils and solid charcoal. The
term bioenergy is sometimes used to cover biomass andbiofuels together.

The initial energy of the biomass-oxygen system is captured from solarradiation in photosynthesis, as
described in Chapter 10. When released incombustion the biofuel energy is dissipated, but the
elements of the materialshould be available for recycling in natural ecological or agricultural
processes,as described in Chapter 1 and Figure 11.1. Thus the use of industrialbiofuels, when linked
carefully to natural ecological cycles, may be non-polluting and sustainable. Such systems are called
agro-industries, of whichthe most established are the sugarcane and forest products industries;
however,there are increasing examples of commercial products for energy andmaterials made from
crops as a means of both diversifying and integratingagriculture.

The dry matter mass of biological material cycling in the biosphere isabout 250×109 t y−1
incorporating about 100×109 t y−1 of carbon. Theassociated energy bound in photosynthesis is
2×1021 Jy−1_=0_7×1014W_.Of this, about 0.5% by weight is biomass as crops for human food.
Biomassproduction varies with local conditions, and is about twice as great per unitsurface area on
land than at sea.Biomass provides about 13% of mankind’s energy consumption, includingmuch for
domestic use in developing countries but also significantamounts in mature economies; this
percentage is comparable to that offossil gas. The domestic use of biofuel as wood, dung and plant
residues

for cooking is of prime importance for about 50% of the world’s population.The industrial use of
biomass energy is currently comparativelysmall for most countries, except in a few sugarcane-
producing countrieswhere crop residues (bagasse) burnt for process heat may be as much as40% of
national commercial supply. Nevertheless, in some industrialisedcountries, the increasing use of
biomass and wastes for heat and electricitygeneration is becoming significant, e.g. USA (about 2% of
all electricity at11GWe capacity); Germany (at 0_5GWe capacity) and in several countriesfor co-
firing with coal.

If biomass is to be considered renewable, growth must at least keep pacewith use. It is disastrous for
local ecology and global climate control thatfirewood consumption and forest clearing is significantly
outpacing treegrowth in ever increasing areas of the world.

The carbon in biomass is obtained from CO2 in the atmosphere viaphotosynthesis, and not from fossil
sources. When biomass is burnt ordigested, the emitted CO2 is recycled into the atmosphere, so not
addingto atmospheric CO2 concentration over the lifetime of the biomass growth.Energy from
biomass is therefore ‘carbon neutral’. This contrasts with theuse of fossil fuels, from which extra CO2
is added to the atmosphere. Theuse of biomass in place of fossil fuels leaves the fossil fuel
underground andharmless; the use of biomass ‘abates’ the extra CO2 otherwise emitted. Thus use of
renewable biofuels, on a large scale, is an important component ofmost medium- to long-term policies
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The energy storage of sunshine as biomass and biofuels is of fundamentalimportance. All of the many
processes described in this chapter havethe aim of producing convenient fuels, at economical prices,
for a fullrange of end-uses, including liquid fuel for transport. The heat energyavailable in
combustion, equivalent in practice to the enthalpy or the netenergy density, ranges from about
8MJkg−1 (undried ‘green’ wood) and 15MJkg−1 (dry wood), to about 40MJkg−1 (fats and oils) and
56MJkg−1(methane). Biomass is, however, mostly carbohydrate material with aheat of combustion of
about 20MJkg−1 dry matter; refer to Table B.6,
Appendix B for detail.

The success of biomass systems is regulated by principles that are oftennot appreciated:

1 Every biomass activity produces a wide range of products and services.For instance where sugar is
made from cane, many commercial productscan be obtained from the otherwise waste molasses and
fibre. If thefibre is burnt, then any excess process heat can be used to generateelectricity. Washings
and ash can be returned to the soil as fertilizer.

2 Some high-value fuel products may require more low-value energy tomanufacture than they
produce, e.g. ethanol from starch crops, hydrogen.Despite the energy ratio being >1, such an energy
deficiency neednot be an economic handicap provided that process energy can be availablecheaply by
consuming otherwise waste material, e .g. straw, cropfibre, forest trimmings.

3 The full economic benefit of agro-industries is likely to be widespreadand yet difficult to assess.
One of many possible benefits is an increasein local ‘cash flow’ by trade and employment.

4 Biofuel production is only likely to be economic if the productionprocess uses materials already
concentrated, probably as a by-productand so available at low cost or as extra income for the
treatment andremoval of waste. Thus there has to be a supply of biomass alreadypassing near the
proposed place of production, just as hydro-powerdepends on a natural flow of water already
concentrated by acatchment. Examples are the wastes from animal enclosures, offcutsand trimmings
from sawmills, municipal sewage, husks and shellsfrom coconuts and straw from cereal grains. It is
extremely importantto identify and quantify these flows of biomass in a national orlocal economy
before specifying likely biomass developments. If nosuch concentrated biomass already exists as a
previously establishedsystem, then the cost of biomass collection is usually too great and toocomplex
for economic development. Some short-rotation crops may begrown primarily for energy production
as part of intensive agriculture;however, within the widespread practice of agricultural subsidies it
isdifficult to evaluate fundamental cost-effectiveness.

5 The main dangers of extensive biomass fuel use are deforestation, soil erosion and the displacement
of food crops by fuel crops.

6 Biofuels are organic materials, so there is always the alternative of using these materials as chemical
feedstock or structural materials. For instance, palm oil is an important component of soaps; many
plastic and pharmaceutical goods are made from natural products; and much buildingboard is made
from plant fibres constructed as composite materials.

7 Poorly controlled biomass processing or combustion can certainly produceunwanted pollution,

especially from relatively low temperaturecombustion, wet fuels and lack of oxygen supply to the
combustionregions. Modern biomass processes require considerable care andexpertise.

8 The use of sustainable biofuels in place of fossil fuels abates theemission of fossil-CO2 and so
reduces the forcing of climate change.Recognition of this is a key aspect of climate change policies.
Section 11.2 sets out a classification of biofuels, while the sections followingit consider the different
types one by one. The concluding section bringstogether the social, economic and environmental
considerations that arevital if biofuels are to contribute positively, and not negatively, to sustainable
development.

Biofuel classification
Biomass is largely composed of organic material and water. However, significantquantities of soil,
shell or other extraneous material may be present incommercial supplies. It is essential that biomass is
clearly assessed as eitherwet or dry matter mass, and the exact moisture content should be given.

If m is the total mass of the material as it is and m0 is the mass whencompletely dried, the dry basis
moisture content is w = _m−m0_/m0 andthe wet basis moisture content is w_ = _m−m0_/m. The
moisture content isin the form of extracellular and intracellular water, and so drying processesmay be
necessary, see Section 6.3. When harvested, the wet basis moisturecontent of plants is commonly
50%, and may be as large as 90% in aquaticalgae including seaweed (kelps). The material is
considered ‘dry’ whenit reaches long-term equilibrium with the environment, usually at about
10–15% water content by mass.

Carbon-based fuels may be classified by their reduction level,Section 10.4. When biomass is
converted to CO2 and H2O, the energymade available is about 460 kJ per mole of carbon (38MJper
kg of carbon;∼16MJper kg of dry biomass), per unit of reduction level R. This is not anexact quantity
because of other energy changes. Thus sugars _R = 1_ havea heat of combustion of about 450 kJ per
12 g of carbon content. Fullyreduced material, e.g. methane CH4_R = 2_, has a heat of combustion
ofabout 890 kJ per 12 g of carbon (i.e. per 16 g of methane).

The presence of moisture in biomass fuel usually leads to a significant lossin useful thermal output
because (i) evaporation uses 2_3MJkg−1 of waterand (ii) the subsequently reduced combustion
temperature increases smoke

and air pollution. With condensing boilers, much of such latent heat can berecovered by condensing
water vapour in the emission and so pre-heatingincoming cold water. Nevertheless, the task of clean
combustion remains.

The density of biomass, and the bulk density of stacked fibrous biomass,is important. In general three
to four times the volume of dry biologicalmaterial has to be accumulated to provide the same energy
as coal. Thustransport and fuel handling become difficult and expensive, especially if the biofuels are
not utilised at source.

We have identified three classifications and nine general types of biomass energy process for fuller
discussion in the later sections. These are as follows(Figure 11.2).

Thermochemical, heat

1 Direct combustion for immediate heat. Dry homogeneous input ispreferred.

2 Pyrolysis. Biomass is heated either in the absence of air or by the partial combustion of some of the
biomass in a restricted air or oxygen supply.

The products are extremely varied, consisting of gases, vapours, liquidsand oils, and solid char and
ash. The output depends on temperature,type of input material and treatment process. In some
processes thepresence of water is necessary and therefore the material need not bedry. If output of
combustible gas is the main product, the process iscalled gasification.

3 Other thermochemical processes. A wide range of pre-treatment andprocess operations are possible.
These normally involve sophisticatedchemical control and industrial scale of manufacture; methanol
productionis such a process, e.g. for liquid fuel. Of particular importanceare processes that break
down cellulose and starches into sugars, forsubsequent fermentation.

Biochemical

4 Aerobic digestion. In the presence of air, microbial aerobic metabolismof biomass generates heat
with the emission of CO2, but not methane.This process is of great significance for the biological
carbon cycle,e.g. decay of forest litter, but is not used significantly for commercial bioenergy.

5 Anaerobic digestion. In the absence of free oxygen, certain microorganismscan obtain their own
energy supply by reacting with carboncompounds of medium reduction level (see Section 10.4) to
produceboth CO2 and fully reduced carbon as CH4. The process (the oldestbiological ‘decay’
mechanism) may also be called ‘fermentation’, but isusually called ‘digestion’ because of the similar
process that occurs inthe digestive tracts of ruminant animals. The evolved mix of CO2_CH4 and
trace gases is called biogas as a general term, but may be namedsewage gas or landfill-gas as
appropriate.

6 Alcoholic fermentation. Ethanol is a volatile liquid fuel that may beused in place of refined
petroleum. It is manufactured by the action ofmicro-organisms and is therefore a fermentation
process. Conventionalfermentation has sugars as feedstock.

7 Biophotolysis. Photolysis is the splitting of water into hydrogen andoxygen by the action of light.
Recombination occurs when hydrogenis burnt or exploded as a fuel in air. Certain biological
organismsproduce, or can be made to produce, hydrogen in biophotolysis. Similarresults can be
obtained chemically, without living organisms, underlaboratory conditions. Commercial exploitation
of these effects has notyet occurred, see Section 10.7.2.

Agrochemical

8 Fuel extraction. Occasionally, liquid or solid fuels may be obtaineddirectly from living or freshly
cut plants. The materials are called exudatesand are obtained by cutting into (tapping) the stems or
trunksof the living plants or by crushing freshly harvested material. A wellknownsimilar process is
the production of natural rubber latex. Relatedplants to the rubber plant Herea, such as species of
Euphorbia, producehydrocarbons of less molecular weight than rubber, which may be usedas
petroleum substitutes and turpentine.
9 Biodiesel and esterification. Concentrated vegetable oils from plantsmay be used directly as fuel in
diesel engines; indeed Rudolph Dieseldesigned his original 1892 engine to run on a variety of fuels,
includingnatural plant oils. However, difficulties arise with direct use of plantoil due to the high
viscosity and combustion deposits as compared withstandard diesel-fuel mineral oil, especially at low
ambient temperature_≤∼5_C_. Both difficulties are overcome by converting the vegetableoil to the
corresponding ester, which is arguably a fuel better suited todiesel engines than conventional
(petroleum-based) diesel oil.
Figure 11.3 (a) Sugar cane agro-industry; process flow diagram. Bagasse is plant fibre residue:
molasses is sugar-rich residue. (b) A 30MWe co-generation plantin Queensland (Australia) fuelled by
bagasse and wood waste from nearbyindustry. Sugar cane is growing in the foreground; wood waste
and bagasseare stockpiled in the open. [Photo by courtesy of Stan well Corporation.
The variety of opportunities for energy farming has distinct advantages and disadvantages (Table
11.2). A major disadvantage is that energy cropsmay substitute for necessary food production. For
example, the grain farmsof the United States grow about 10% of the world’s cereal crops, andexport
about one-third of this. A sudden change to producing biofuels, e.g.ethanol from corn, on a large scale
would therefore decrease world foodsupplies before alternatives could be established. A second major
dangeris that intensive energy farming would be a further pressure towards soilinfertility and erosion.
The obvious strategy to avoid these excesses is (a) toalways grow plants that can supply both human
foods (e.g. grain) andenergy (e.g. straw), (b) to decrease dramatically the feeding of animals
fromcrops; and (c) to use all resources more efficiently.

Geographical distribution

Perhaps the greatest potential for energy farming occurs in tropical countries, especially m
thosewithadequaterainfallandsoil condition.Table11.3gives estimates of the potential bioenergy
production of various regions of the world.
The assumptions used are generally optimistic about what is ‘recoverable’,how much land is available
for plantations and the possible biomass yieldson that land (see notes on Table 11.3). Thus, present
fuelwood use appearsto be only about half of the ‘forest’ residue potential, although assessment
isdifficult, since most use is non-commercial. Moreover, it would be negligentnot to leave significant
amounts of rotting wood for ecological sustainability.Dung from cattle is often more valuable as
fertiliser than as fuel and onlywhere animals are penned is it easily collected for biogas production.
Nevertheless,only by establishing extensive sustainable biomass plantations withthe associated post-
harvest mechanisms and markets can biomass become asignificant proportion of commercial energy
supply.

Crop yield

It is not possible to predict crop yields without detailed knowledge of meteorological conditions, soil
type, farming practice, fertiliser use, irrigation, etc. Comparison between different crops is made even
more difficult by differences in growing seasons and harvesting methods. Some arable crops are
planted annually, e.g. cereal grains, and may be cropped more than once, e.g. grasses. Others are
planted every few years and harvested annually, e.g. sugarcane, or may grow for long periods before
harvesting, e.g. more than ten months for some varieties of cassava. Trees may grow for many years
and be totally harvested (timber logging); other tree crops may grow from the continuing roots and be
harvested as coppice every few years, e.g. willow, hazel and some eucalyptus. Table 11.4 is a
summary of data to estimate the maximum biofuel potential of crops in terms of heat of combustion
and continuing energy supply. The data for aquatic crops assume abundant nutrients. Grasses are
assumed to have frequent harvesting in the growing season. We emphasise the considerable
uncertainty of such data and the rule that such generalisations should never be applied for actual
developments without site-specific testing.

Bio-Mass
Transformation of waste materials into energy can generally be accomplished through biological,
thermal, and chemical processes. The energy produced from these processes can be in the form of
heat, gas, or liquid fuel.This chapter is organized into three parts. Part 1 deals with anaerobic
digestion process which is used to convert waste material into biogas composed of methane and
carbon dioxide. Major emphasis is given to the recovery of energy from the organic fraction of MSW,
as there are numerous commercial-scale digesters in operation throughout the world using processed
MSWas a source of feedstock. In Part 2, the focus is on chemical conversion processing of biomass
for the production of liquid fuel. Part 2 deals with combustion and gasification process es for the
generation of electric power. In Part 3, the focus is onconverting biomass into liquid fuels.

Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Digestion

Introduction
The anaerobic digestion process, carried out in the absence of oxygen, involves the use of
microorganisms for the conversion of biodegradable biomass material into energy, in the form of
methane gas and a stable humus material. Anaerobic digestion can occur under control conditions in
specially designed vessels (reactors), semi-control conditions such as in a landfill, or under
uncontrolled conditions as it does in the environment. The focus in this part of controlled anaerobic
digestion process. It should be noted that anaerobic digestion is differentiated from anaerobic
fermentation, which is the term usually applied to processes employing anaerobic microbes for the
production of fermentation products such as alcohol, or lactic acid.

To describe anaerobic conversion of the biodegradable organic fraction of waste materials into
energy, the following topics are examined in this chapter: (1) organic wastes and biomass used as feed
stocks in anaerobic digestion process, (2) issue of organic waste biodegradability, (3) fundamental of
anaerobic digestion process, (4) monitoring of anaerobic digestion process, (5) reactor types used in
for anaerobic digestion, (6) modes of operation for anaerobic digestion, (7) utilization of an in-vessel
anaerobic digestion process by-products, and (8) commercial-scale in-vessel anaerobic digestion
technologies.

Organic Wastes and Biomass Used as Feed stocks in Anaerobic Digestion Process

The general scheme for a controlled anaerobic digestion process is shown in As shown, the recovery
of energy involves feedstock preparation, methane gas generation, stabilization of digested solids, and
the utilization of digester gas and humus as a source of energy and soil amendment, respectively.
Major sources of waste materials considered as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion process are (1)
municipal solid wate (MSW), (2) agricultural animal waste, (3) crop residues, biomass, and energy
crops, and (4) wastewater treatment plant sludge (WWTPS). The typical composition of MSW in the
U.S. is shown in The composition of MSW may vary greatly by season, geographical area, and
community socio-economic level. The extrapolation of results from one location to another, therefore,
may not be valid and should be done with caution. As shown in Figure 22.2, paper, yard waste, and
food waste are the principal biodegradable organic fractions. The biodegradability of these waste
materials varies substantially as reported in Table The issue of biodegradability is discussed further in
the following section.

As illustrated in Figure 22.1, some waste materialmust be preprocessed to: (1) remove toxic
constituents, (2) remove nonbiodegradablematerials, and (3) prepare a balanced feedstock in termsof
nutrient availability for methane recovery. Most livestock wastes and treatment plant sludge are
relatively homogeneous, biologically active, and contain sufficient nutrients. Therefore, little or no
preprocessing of feedstock may be needed. Also, because dairy andpigwastes contain a variety of
anaerobicmicroorganisms,methane gas will be produced when proper conditions are provided. Thus,
for the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes other than livestock wastes, the addition of dairy or pig
manure is commonly used. The addition of livestock waste to activate a biological process is
commonly known as “inoculation.”

The Issue of Biodegradability

While each organic waste may contain a constant ultimate biodegradable fraction, practical
biodegradability can be quite variable. Factors such as particle size, time, and environmental
conditions Biomass Conversion Processes For Energy Recovery 22-3 (i.e., temperature, nutrient
requirements, etc.) will influence the final outcome of biodegradation. For example, because
favorable conditions do not exist in most landfills, the biodegradability estimated from\ analytical test
will usually be greater than the actual biodegradation that occurs in landfills. For practical purposes,
the discussion in this section deals with the biodegradability of the organic fraction of waste materials
used in in-vessel anaerobic digestion processes. Substrate biodegradability is of special importance in
an invessel anaerobic digestion processes, where the production of energy is of concern.

Fundamentals of Anaerobic Digestion

The purpose of this section is to familiarize the reader with the basic microbiology related to an
anaerobic digestion process. Topics discussed include: (1) an introduction to anaerobic bacteria, (2)
nutrient requirements for the anaerobic bacteria, (3) physical and chemical parameters that affect
anaerobic bacteria, (4) basic biochemical reaction in anaerobic digestion process, and (5) pathway of
complex organic substrate in anaerobic digestion process.

Anaerobic Bacteria

Effective anaerobic degradation of complex organic waste is a result of the combined and coordinated
metabolic activity of the digester microbial population. This population of microorganisms is
composed of several major trophic groups. At present, as reported in Table 22.5, four different groups
of anaerobic bacteria are recognizable.With respect to methane recovery, the anaerobic bacteria are
generally grouped

Four Major Groups of Anaerobic Bacteria and their Function

Methane bacteria are among the most strictly anaerobic microorganisms known and occur naturally in
the rumen of cows, marshes, and brackish waters, as well as in wastewater treatment plant digesters.
Methanogenic bacteria have been isolated from anaerobic digesters, together with other obligate
anaerobes, such as the Propionibacter, Butyrobactor, and Lactobacillus. The true methane bacteria
include the following identified genera: Methanococcus, Methanobacterium, Methanosarcina,
Methanospirillium, and Methanobacillus. The main group of methane bacteria along with some of
their morphological and growth characteristics are given in Table 22.6.
As reported in Table 22.6, methane bacteria are rod, cocci, or sarcinate in shape. As a group, methane
bacteria are nearly always Gram-positive (a stain used to identify bacterial types) and usually not
motile. Many methane bacteria are pleomorphic; that is, they exhibit variable morphology when
viewed under the microscope, which makes their identification very difficult. Their length can vary
between 2 and 15 mm. Nutritionally, the methanogenic bacteria are said to be cemolihoheterotrophic,
which means tha they can build up their cell structures from either carbonate or organic compounds.
Morphologically,cvmethanogens are a diverse group; however, physiologically, they are quite similar
as all share the common
metabolic capacity to produce methane. The methanogens are possibly the most important group of
anaerobic bacteria. They have scientific significance in their exclusive and distinctive properties
among the bacteria.

Nutrient Requirements for Anaerobic Bacteria

To operate a high-solids anaerobic digestion process at a commercial level, attention must be focused
on process stability. Successful operational parameters have been established for the high-solids
process studies conducted at the University of California at Davis.11 However, in the anaerobic
digestion of BOF/MSW, bacterial nutritional requirements have often been overlooked. Nutritional
deficiencies may result in reactor instability and incomplete bioconversion of the organic substrates.
When the anaerobic digestion process is applied to the biodegradable organic fraction of MSW,
bacterial nutritional requirements must be addressed and nutrient supplementation may be
required.

Methanogenic bacteria have a variety of mineral nutrient requirements for robust growth.For a proper
bacterial metabolism, a variety of nutrients must be present in the substrate. The nutrient requirements
for anaerobic bacteria can generally be categorized as macro- and micronutrient. For a stable
anaerobic digestion process, these nutrients must be present in the substrate in the correct ratios.
Morphological Characteristics of Methane Bacteria and concentrations. Based on studies conducted at
UC Davis, it was found that typical BOF/MSW usedas a feedstock for the anaerobic digestion process
is deficient in many essential nutrients.16 To overcome feedstock nutrient deficiencies, supplementary
nutrients must be added to stimulate the digestion process. The range of nutrient concentrations
needed to stimulate the anaerobic treatment of BOF/MSW for gas production is not well known. The
nutrient values reported in Table are based on three years of experience at the UC Davis high-solids
biogasification project.

Physical and Chemical Parameters that Affect Anaerobic Bacteria

The alteration of several physical and chemical environmental parameters in anaerobic digesters can
influence microbial populations and digester performance. Major environmental factors are
summarized and shown in Table . Changing temperature from the mesophilic range to (i.e., below
458C) the thermophilic range (i.e., above 558C) increases organic mineralization and establishes a
different species composition (i.e., thermophilic bacteria). Zeikus17 found that thermophilic bacteria
have a limited species composition, but they possess all the major nutritional categories and
metabolize the same substrate as mesophilic bacteria. The ability to proliferate at growth temperature
optima well above 608C is associated with extremely thermo-stable macromolecules. As a
consequence of growth at high temperatures and unique micromolecular properties, thermophilic
bacteria can possess high metabolic rates, physically and chemically stable enzymes, and lower
growth but higher end product yields than similar mesophilic species. Thermophilic digesters are
generally digester substrates within shorter retention time than mesophilic digesters. Values of pH
well below neutral are indicative of digester failure. The pH ranges for growth of many bacterial
species inherent to anaerobic methane digester are not known and may vary considerably.
Nevertheless, important hydrogen-producing (e.g., C. thermocellum) and hydrogenconsuming (e.g.,
M. thermoautitrophicum) anaerobes do not grow at pH value below 6. Digester imbalances that favor
more rapid growth of non-methanogens (e.g., high feed rate or chemical composition of feed) can lead
to low pH and inhabitation of methanogenesis. Low pH values favor proton reduction to hydrogen,
but not hydrogen oxidation to protons. Thus, methanogens may not function at low pH because they
employ oxidoreductases for hydrogen oxidation and establishment of proton gradients during the
catabolism of one carbon compound and acetate.

The organic composition of digester wastes affects species composition and methane yield. Most
notably, methane yields from municipal wastes and animal manures are often limited by polymeric
lignin surrounding cellulose and retarding its fermentation. High molecular weight lignin is not
metabolized significantly by anaerobic bacteria. However, methane yield from digestion of
lignocellulosics can be enhanced greatly by physico-chemical pretreatment that separates lignin from
cellulose and/or solubilize lignin into anaerobically digestible substrates. To accomplish lignin
solubilization, an adaptation period is required to obtain an active microbial population from untreated
waste digestersthat metabolized soluble chemical hydrolysis products of lignin. The organic
composition modification caused by waste pretreatment is considered to be associated with change in
species compositional change.

The most significant parameter affecting methanogenesis during anaerobic digestion processes is
sulfate inhabitation. The addition of high levels of sulfate to decomposing organic matter can result in
nearly complete inhabitation of methane formation as a result of species compositional change. The
basis for this inhabitation is that carbon and electron flow during organic mineralization is diverted
from methane formation to hydrogen sulfide production. The response of sulfide on many
methanogens is concentration dependent. Sulfide is required by many methanogens as a sulfur source
for growth. The addition of low sulfide concentrations often stimulates mixed culture methanogenesis,
whereas addition of high concentrations can be inhibitory.

Pathway of a Complex Organic Substrate in Anaerobic Digestion Process A generalized scheme for
the anaerobic digestion of complex organic substrate is shown in Figure Anaerobic digestion is
generally considered to take place in three distinct stages. The three stages have been described as: (1)
hydrolysis, (2) acetogenesis, and (3) methanogenesis. Each of the three stages has distinct bacterial
groups and chemical reactions, and it proceeds in an assemblyline As depicted in Figure 22.5, the
overall process begins with the hydrolysis of complex organic compounds into soluble components.
Next, the acid-forming bacteria ferment the soluble components into a group of extracellular
intermediates, including various volatile fatty acids (VFA’s), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide
(CO2). The concentrations of the intermediate acids are usually small in proportion to their production
and degradation rates, and they are quickly transformed to methanogenic substrates, including acetate,
methanol, and formate. These products are then converted to methane by the methanogenic bacteria.

Methane bacteria can only use limited range of substrates for growth and energy production. During
anaerobic digestion, a varied mixture of complex compounds is converted to a very narrow range of
simple compounds, mainly methane and carbon dioxide. The ecology of the system is much more
complicated and involves an interacting succession of microbes which influences each others’ growth
and metabolism. Nearly all anaerobic bacteria can use hydrogen and carbon dioxide, most can use
formate, a few acetate, and fewer still methanol and methylamines. However, in the mixed population
and with many organisms, the range of fermentation products is restricted. The restriction is due to the
phenomenon of interspecies hydrogen transfer by which methanogens utilize hydrogen and thus
benefit other organisms. Hydrogen removal is helpful as it allows some organisms to dispose of more
electrons via hydrogen rather than via the production of more reduced carbon compounds, such as
ethanol or butyrate. In general, fatty acids are the “key” intermediate products of the anaerobic
fermentation of organic compounds prior to methane formation. Acetate is by far the predominant
fatty acid in normally operated systems, being responsible for about 70% of the fatty acid present. The
VFA measurements are usually expressed in mg/l, therefore, as being acetate equivalent.

Basic Biochemical Reaction in Anaerobic Digestion Process

The anaerobic bacteria described in previous sections are responsible for biochemical transformation
of a wide variety of waste materials. These transformations are involved in the breakdown of complex
polymers, such as cellulose, fats, and proteins, to long- and short-chain fatty acids and finally
methane, carbon dioxide, and water. The basic biochemical reactions affected by anaerobic microbial
population are oxidation/reduction reactions, where a number of organic compounds are oxidized by
the removal of hydrogen. Carbon dioxide, is thereby, reduced in providing an oxidant for the methane
bacteria. The hydrogen produced can be replaced by some of the organic acids and alcohols as direct
reductants of carbon dioxide. The basic biochemical reactions utilizing hydrogen, carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, alcohols, organic acids, methylamines, and other protein derivative compounds as a
substrate are summarized in the energy-yielding equations given in Table

Monitoring of the Anaerobic Digestion Process

Although the high-solids anaerobic digestion process is generally robust, care must be taken to ensure
balanced operation. To aid the prevention of unbalanced digester operation and to prevent digester
failure, proper methods of monitoring the high-solids anaerobic digestion process are described, and
possible operational problems are identified along with suggested remedial actions to be taken when
these problems arise.

Balanced Digestion

A balanced digester is one in which anaerobic digestion proceeds with a minimum of control.
Balanced operation means that the environmental parameters of the system remain within their
optimum range, with only occasional fluctuations. When an imbalance does occur, the two main
problems are: (1) identifying the beginning of an unbalanced condition and (2) identifying the cause
of the imbalance. Unfortunately, there is no single parameter that will always indicate the
commencement of an unhealthy anaerobic process. The parameters shown in Table 22.10 must all be
monitored daily. None of these parameters can be used individually as a positive indicator of the
development of digester imbalance.

The most immediate indication of impending operational problems is a significant decrease in the rate
of gas production. If the growth of the microorganisms is being inhibited by one or more factors, it
will be reflected in the total gas production. However, a decrease in the gas production rate may also
be caused by a decrease in either the digester temperature or the rate at which the feed material is
being added to the digester.
The most significant single indicator of a digester problem is a gradual decrease in pH. In an
operating system, a decrease in pH is associated with an increase in organic acid
concentration.Measurement of the increase in organic acids is also a good control parameter;
however, proper laboratory facilities, equipment, and trained personnel are required to monitor this
and most of the other control parameters affecting the anaerobic process. Gas production rate and pH
are simple, quick measurements and are performed easily.

Batch Reactor
A batch reactor is fed once, and then the biotransformation is allowed to proceed until completion
before any material is added or removed. The evolution of compounds in the reactor can be monitored
and a similar level of decomposition can be achieved by all the material in the reactor at one time.
Additionally, the systems are generally simple, with less support equipment than continuous fed
reactors (see below). Batch processes are necessary when the biotransformation being performed
requires a long reaction time. Solids which are treated undiluted are often treated with batch reactors.
Usually, batch processes require more operator labor, for feeding and unloading, than continuous feed
processes, and especially so for liquids and slurries, which are easily piped and pumped. For solids,
the material handling needs are more similar for the two processes. Storage facilities are needed to
contain waste received between batches. The need for storage can be inconvenient for large-scale,
continuously produced wastes. A simplified diagram of a batch digestion is shown in Figure 22.6a.

In a complete-mix reactor, the reactor contents are blended to homogeneity with a mixing device. The
effluent leaving the reactor is exactly the same as the material in every part of the reactor. If fed
continuously, the input waste is considered to be immediately mixed completely with the reactor
contents. These reactors can also be described as well-mixed or as continuous stirred-tank reactors.

(CSTRs). A simplified diagram of a complete-mix reactor is shown in Figure. One advantage of a

complete-mix process is that fluctuations in feed concentration or composition are diluted into the
larger reactor mass. Because of this dilution and the concentration of waste nutrient determines the
rate of waste decomposition, complete-mix reactors have a slower decomposition rate.

Anaerobic Contact Reactor

The anaerobic contact process (ACP) is used to overcome the disadvantages of the complete-mix
reactor without recycle. To enhance the rate of treatment, biomass is separated from the effluent and
returned to the reactor. Biomass recycle can be used to reduce the reactor size and cost. A simplified
ACP is shown in. Hydraulic retention times as low as a half-day have been achieved resulting in a
significant reduction in plant size. ACP has been appliedsuccessfully for the treatment of meat-
packing waste, where a retention time of several hours was measured. ACP is also used for the
treatment of a high-strength waste material and is usually operated under low solids (TS less than
8%).

Plug-Flow Reactor
All plug-flow reactors are continuously or semi-continuously fed. In a plug-flow reactor, material
passes through, ideally, without interacting with the material fed in before or after it. These reactors
can be thought of as tubes through which independent batches of reacting material pass. The reactor
can be either vertical or horizontal flow as shown in Figure 22.6d and e, respectively.

The retention time for a plug-flow reactor is the length of time it takes a mass introduced at the
beginning of the reactor to pass through and be removed from the other end (see also Equation 22.5).
Most horizontal plug-flow digesters are operated under low solids (usually with TS of less than 10%).
Because the incoming, high-nutrient wastes are not diluted into the rest of the digester contents, the
plug-flow digesters are more susceptible to system upsets due to sudden increases in waste
concentration, called shock loadings. Fortunately, a certain degree of back mixing is unavoidable
throughout the reactor due to longitudinal dispersion.

Anaerobic Attached Growth Reactor

Anaerobic attached growth reactors are used to prevent the depletion of the bacterial population
within the reactor and, thus, improve digester efficiency. The retention of bacteria within the reactor is
achieved by introducing some type of packing material on which the bacteria can grow. Various
materials such as stone granules, wood chips, and plastic materials of various shapes and sizes have
been used as packing material. The bacteria adhering to the filter particles bring about the treatment of
the liquid as it passes through the reactor. Excess biomass dies and/or sloughs off and passes out as
sludge. The anaerobic filtration process is usually used for the treatment of a high-strength waste
material and usually operated under low solids (TS less than 8%). A simplified anaerobic filtration
process is shown in Figure 22.6f.

conditions of nutrient addition, gas production could be enhanced and a more stable process could be
achieved. Other studies conducted by Rivard et al. Babbitt et al.29 and Cecchi et al. confirmed the
stabilizing effect of sludge to the digestion of MSW, with sludge comprising between 8 and20% of
feedstock VS.

One large-scale co-digestion of MSW and wastewater sludge has been demonstrated in the U.S. by
the REFCOM project in Tampa, Florida.31 The REFCOM system was based on a conventional low-
solids digester design and operated as part of a total resource recovery process. The successful
operation of the REFCOM process for mixed MSWat a rate of 50 tn./d or greater has confirmed the
technical feasibility of the anaerobic digestion process. Reliable gas production was achieved in this
facility for more than a year, indicating that MSW with wastewater sludge as a co-substrate can
support an anaerobic biological conversion process. Most co-digestion studies conducted prior to
1990 were low-solids processes, typically at a TS of 4%–8%. Only recently has the high-solids
anaerobic digestion process been utilized for the co-digestion of MSW and WWTPS.12,13,32 In these
high-solids digestion studies, the sludge was mainly used to provide sufficient nutrients for microbial
growth and metabolism. Nearly 10 years ago, the technical feasibility of the anaerobic composting
process was demonstrated for co-management of BOF/MSWand
WWTPS at UC Davis, as described below.

Two-Stage Anaerobic Composting

In anaerobic composting, the focus is twofold: (1) production of methane as a source of energy and
(2) complete waste stabilization to produce humus like material. Anaerobic digestion normally occurs
at much higher solids content (e.g., 25%–32%). When a high-solids anaerobic digestion process is
combined with a second stage aerobic biodryer, the two-stage process is termed “anaerobic
composting”.34,35 The principal differences between the conventional aerobic and anaerobic
composting processes are summarized in Table 22.12. The process flow diagram, physical
characteristics of the reactors, and the energy recovery and volume reduction achieved are described
below.

Process Flow Diagram

The process flow diagram for the anaerobic composting process studied at the University of
California, Davis (UC Davis) is illustrated in Figure 22.8. As shown in Figure 22.8, the process
involves two separate stages. The first stage of the two-stage process involves the high-solids
anaerobic digestion of the biodegradable organic fraction of MSW to produce a gas, composed
principally of CH4 and CO2, and digested solids. The second stage of the two-stage process is used to
decrease the moisture content of the an aerobically digested solids. Typically, the solids content of the
digested solids is increased from 25 to about 65%. Because the second stage aerobic process is used to
dry the digested solids, the term biodryer is also used to describe the process. The physical and
operational characteristics of the pilot anaerobic composting facilities used at UC Davis are briefly
described below.

22.1.7.7.2 Physical Characteristics

The physical characteristics of the pilot-scale anaerobic composting facilities are summarized inTable
As reported in Table 22.13, both the anaerobic digester and the biodryer are designed to operate as
complete-mix reactors. Additionally, both units are equipped with thermal blankets and individual
control panels so that they may be operated either manually or automatically. Further information on
the UC Davis pilot-scale anaerobic digestion process design and performance can beobtained from
Kayhanian and Tchobanoglous10; Kayhanian and Rich33; Kayhanian et al.35; Kayhanian36;
Kayhanian and Hardy,37 and Kayhanian et al.38
 Energy Recovery and Volume Reduction
The results of the UC Davis co-digestion pilot study based on energy recovery and volume
reduction are
illustrated by the following two example calculations.

Energy Recovery—Example Calculation

Computation of the energy value that can be produced from the digestion of a 1000 tn./d
MSW processing facility using primary sludge as a co-substrate.

Characteristics of Biogas
The gas produced during anaerobic digestion of biodegradable organic material in a healthy
fermentation system, called biogas, consists mainly of a mixture of methane (CH4) and
carbon dioxide (CO2) with small amounts of other gases, including hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), and lowmolecular weight hydrocarbons. Typically, digester
gas has 50%–75% methane and 25%–50% carbon dioxide; the remaining gases are present in
very small quantities. The composition of biogas, as obtained from various sources, is
reported in Table 22.14. As reported in Table 22.14, a large variation exists in the
composition of biogas, primarily due to differences in feedstocks and operating conditions.
Because biogas normally consists of a mixture of gases, biogas characteristics must be
evaluated for each individual case. However, in many cases, the physical characteristics of
the three main gas constituents,namely methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, can
be used to characterize biogas. Some physical and chemical characteristics of the principal
gases found in biogas are presented in Table 22.15. As a comparison, the weight of methane
is roughly half that of air at 208C (weight ratioZ1 m3 of methane/1 m3 of airZ0.716 kg/1.293
kgZ0.554). Methane gas is not very soluble in water. Only three units of methane (by
volume) can be dissolved in100 units of water at 208C and 1 atmosphere pressure. Methane
is a very stable hydrocarbon compound and upon complete combustion it produces a blue
flame and a large amount of heat. The complete combustion of 1 m3 of methane can release
38 MJ or about 9500 kcal (1 kcal of heat will raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 18C).
In comparison, a complete combustion of biogas yields a caloric value of about 20–26 MJ/m3
(depending on the methane content), which represents a low fuel value compared with
methane gas alone. In addition, biogas requires a pressure of about 34,450 kPa

Utilization of Biogas
To understand the potential use of biogas, it is important to gain a perspective on its energy
potential by comparing it with more familiar uses of energy. The following are some
examples of the use of 1 m3 of biogas, at 60%–70% methane content, for common energy-
consuming purposes (see Table 22.16): The potential commercial uses of biogas as a source
of energy are summarized in Table 22.17. Some applications listed in Table 22.17 are
presently practiced and others are in the process of research and development. The physical
characteristics of the humus which are of interest are bulk density, color, moisture
content, odor, and particle size distribution. The physical characteristics of the humus are
summarized in Table 22.18. The chemical characteristics of the humus which are of interest
can be determined by ultimate analysis, metal analysis, fiber analysis, nutrient analysis,
energy content, and other tests. The chemical characteristics of the humus are summarized in
Table 22.19. The biological characteristics of the humus which are of interest are the
presence and the concentration of pathogenic bacterial, biodegradability, and phytotoxicity.
The biological characteristics of the humus are summarized in

Utilization of Humus Material

Representative applications for the humus produced from anaerobic digestion processes are
summarized in Table 22.21. The most effective use of the humus material is as a soil
amendment. Alternatively, because the humus is combustible, it appears that it can be fired
directly in a boiler, when mixed with other fuels, or palletized for use as a fuel source. The
application of the humus as a fuel source has been further studied and readers are referred to
Jenkins et al.It is important to note that, depending on the final use, further aerobic
composting of the digestate may be necessary to produce humus with no phytotoxic affect to
be used as a soil amendment. For other applications specified in Table 22.21, no further
stabilization may be needed.

Commercial-Scale In-Vessel Anaerobic Digestion Technologies In the U.S., initial efforts to

commercialize anaerobic digestion technology for converting biomass into energy and other
products have been conducted primarily by livestock enterprises. The barrier to
commercialization of anaerobic technology in the U.S. has been described by Lusk.21 In
addition, the commercial firms interested in the technology, the economics of the process, the
statutes which apply, and the future prospects for application in the U.S. are identified and
discussed. In general, the biggest barriers up to now have been financial rather than technical
in nature. With rising energy costs and examples of successful anaerobic digester operation,
more interest has been generated recently in these systems. Most large-scale anaerobic
digestion applications for methane recovery in the U.S. are related to animal waste and
wastewater treatment.20,21 For instance, two large-scale farm digesters have been in
operation in California since 1980.21 below.

Introduction

Choosing a right biogas digester is a very important while constructing a biogas plant. From the
standpoint of fluid dynamics and structural strength, an egg-shaped vessel is about the best possible
solution. This type of construction, however, is comparatively expensive, therefore, its use is usually
restricted to large-scale sewage treatment plants. The Chinese fixed-dome designs are of similar
shape, but less expensive. The hemispherical CAMARTEC design is optimized in structural strength,
but does not make optimal use of the excavation required.

Simplified versions of such digester designs include cylinders with conical covers and bottoms. They
are much easier to build and are sometimes available on the market as prefabricated units. Their
disadvantage lies in their less favorable surface-volume ratio. The cylinder should have a height equal
to its diameter. Prone cylinders have become quite popular on farms, since they are frequently the
more favorable solution for small-scale bio-methanation. Cuboid digesters are often employed in
batch-fed systems used primarily for fermenting solid material, so that fluid dynamics are of little
interest.

Types of Small-Scale Digesters

1 Fixed Dome Biogas Plants

2 Floating Drum Plants

3 Low-Cost Polyethylene Tube Digester

4 Balloon Plants

5 Horizontal Plants

6 Earth-pit Plants

7 Ferro-cement Plants

Industrial Digester Types

1 Batch plants

1.1 Continuous plants

1.2 Semi-batch basis

Fixed-dome Plants

A fixed-dome plant consists of a digester with a fixed, non-movable gas holder, which sits on
top of the digester. When gas production starts, the slurry is displaced into the compensation
tank. Gas pressure increases with the volume of gas stored and the height difference between
the slurry level in the digester and the slurry level in the compensation tank. The costs of a
fixed-dome biogas plant are relatively low. It is simple as no moving parts exist. There are
also no rusting steel parts and hence a long life of the plant (20 years or more) can be
expected. The plant is constructed underground, protecting it from physical damage and
saving space. While the underground digester is protected from low temperatures at night and
during cold seasons, sunshine and warm seasons take longer to heat up the digester. No
day/night fluctuations of temperature in the digester positively influence the bacteriological
processes. The construction of fixed dome plants is labor-intensive, thus creating local
employment. Fixed-dome plants are not easy to build. They should only be built where
construction can be supervised by experienced biogas technicians. Otherwise plants may not
be gas-tight (porosity and cracks).
Function

A fixed-dome plant comprises of a closed, dome-shaped digester with an immovable, rigid

gas-holder and a displacement pit, also named 'compensation tank'. The gas is stored in the
upper part of the digester. When gas production commences, the slurry is displaced into the
compensating tank. Gas pressure increases with the volume of gas stored, i.e. with the height
difference between the two slurry levels. If there is little gas in the gas-holder, the gas
pressure is low.

Digester

The digesters of fixed-dome plants are usually masonry structures, structures of cement
and ferro-cement exist. Main parameters for the choice of material are:

 Technical suitability (stability, gas- and liquid tightness);

 cost-effectiveness;
 availability in the region and transport costs;
 availability of local skills for working with the particular building material.
Fixed dome plants produce just as much gas as floating-drum plants, if they are gas-tight.
However, utilization of the gas is less effective as the gas pressure fluctuates substantially.
Burners and other simple appliances cannot be set in an optimal way. If the gas is required at
constant pressure (e.g., for engines), a gas pressure regulator or a floating gas-holder is
necessary.

Gas-Holder

The top part of a fixed-dome plant (the gas space) must be gas-tight. Concrete, masonry and
cement rendering are not gas-tight. The gas space must therefore be painted with a gas-tight
layer (e.g. 'Water-proofer', Latex or synthetic paints). A possibility to reduce the risk of
cracking of the gas-holder consists in the construction of a weak-ring in the masonry of the
digester. This "ring" is a flexible joint between the lower (water-proof) and the upper (gas-
proof) part of the hemispherical structure. It prevents cracks that develop due to the
hydrostatic pressure in the lower parts to move into the upper parts of the gas-holder.

Types of Fixed-dome Plants

 Chinese fixed-dome plant is the archetype of all fixed dome plants. Several million have
been constructed in China. The digester consists of a cylinder with round bottom and top.
 Janata model was the first fixed-dome design in India, as a response to the Chinese fixed
dome plant. It is not constructed anymore. The mode of construction lead to cracks in the
gasholder - very few of these plant had been gas-tight.
 Deenbandhu, the successor of the Janata plant in India, with improved design, was more
crack-proof and consumed less building material than the Janata plant. with a hemisphere
digester
 CAMARTEC model has a simplified structure of a hemispherical dome shell based on a
rigid foundation ring only and a calculated joint of fraction, the so-called weak / strong
ring. It was developed in the late 80s in Tanzania.
 AKUT fixed dome plant is an improvement of the above mentioned Nicaragua design.
Digester volumes ranges from 8 to 124 m³ with gas storages from 2 to 19,4 m³; the gas
production can reach 60 m³/d. The units from 32 m³ onwards are often used for small
scale productive use including electricity generation. It has a cylindrical base with a
spheric top. The expansion chamber acts as overpressure outlet.
 AKUT Maendaleo (kisuaheli "progress") adds a gas storage ballon to collect access gas
from the digestion chamber. This can be used for converted Diesel generators.
 Advantages: Low initial costs and long useful life-span; no moving or rusting parts
involved; basic design is compact, saves space and is well insulated; construction
creates local employment. Advantages are the relatively low construction costs, the
absence of moving parts and rusting steel parts. If well constructed, fixed dome plants
have a long life span. The underground construction saves space and protects the
digester from temperature changes. The construction provides opportunities for
skilled local employment.
Disadvantages: Masonry gas-holders require special sealants and high technical
skills for gas-tight construction; gas leaks occur quite frequently; fluctuating gas
pressure complicates gas utilization; amount of gas produced is not immediately
visible, plant operation not readily understandable; fixed dome plants need exact
planning of levels; excavation can be difficult and expensive in bedrock.
Disadvantages are mainly the frequent problems with the gas-tightness of the
brickwork gas holder (a small crack in the upper brickwork can cause heavy losses
of biogas). Fixed-dome plants are, therefore, recommended only where construction
can be supervised by experienced biogas technicians. The gas pressure fluctuates
substantially depending on the volume of the stored gas. Even though the
underground construction buffers temperature extremes, digester temperatures are
generally low. Fixed dome plants can be recommended only where construction can
be supervised by experienced biogas technicians.
 A specific environmental disadvantage is methane emission from the expansion
chamber.
Variations: Some companies are now looking into small pre-fab fixed dome plants
made of fibreglass which appears to be a low cost alternative to construction
intensive masoned plants. A custom made plant can be produced in 2 days and -after
transport- installed in less than 1 day!

Floating Drum Biogas Plants

Om 1956, Jashu Bhai J Patel from India designed the first floating drum biogas plant,
popularly called Gobar gas plant. Floating-drum plants consist of an underground digester
(cylindrical or dome-shaped) and a moving gas-holder. The gas-holder floats either directly
on the fermentation slurry or in a water jacket of its own. The gas is collected in the gas
drum, which rises or moves down, according to the amount of gas stored. The gas drum is
prevented from tilting by a guiding frame. When biogas is produced, the drum moves up adn
when it is consumed, the drum goes down.

If the drum floats in a water jacket, it cannot get stuck, even in substrate with high solid
content. After the introduction of cheap Fixed-dome Chinese model, the floating drum plants
became obsolete as they have high investment and maintenance cost along with other design
weakness

size

In the past, floating-drum plants were mainly built in India. They are chiefly used for
digesting animal and human feces on a continuous-feed mode of operation, i.e. with daily
input. They are used most frequently by small to middle-sized farms (digester size: 5-15m 3)
or in institutions and larger agro-industrial estates (digester size: 20-100m3).
Disadvantages: The steel drum is relatively expensive and maintenance-intensive. Removing
rust and painting has to be carried out regularly. The life-time of the drum is short (up to 15
years; in tropical coastal regions about five years). If fibrous substrates are used, the gas-
holder shows a tendency to get "stuck" in the resultant floating scum

Material of Digester and Drum

The digester is usually made of brick, concrete or quarry-stone masonry with plaster. The gas
drum normally consists of 2.5 mm steel sheets for the sides and 2 mm sheets for the top. It
has welded-in braces which break up surface scum when the drum rotates. The drum must be
protected against corrosion. Suitable coating products are oil paints, synthetic paints and
bitumen paints. Correct priming is important. There must be at least two preliminary coats
and one topcoat. Coatings of used oil are cheap. They must be renewed monthly. Plastic
sheeting stuck to bitumen sealant has not given good results. In coastal regions, repainting is
necessary at least once a year, and in dry uplands at least every other year. Gas production
will be higher if the drum is painted black or red rather than blue or white, because the
digester temperature is increased by solar radiation. Gas drums made of 2 cm wire-mesh-
reinforced concrete or fiber-cement must receive a gas-tight internal coating. The gas drum
should have a slightly sloping roof, otherwise rainwater will be trapped on it, leading to rust
damage. An excessively steep-pitched roof is unnecessarily expensive and the gas in the tip
cannot be used because when the drum is resting on the bottom, the gas is no longer under
pressure. Floating-drums made of glass-fiber reinforced plastic and high-density polyethylene
have been used successfully, but the construction costs are higher compared to using steel.
Floating-drums made of wire-mesh-reinforced concrete are liable to hairline cracking and are
intrinsically porous. They require a gas-tight, elastic internal coating. PVC drums are
unsuitable because they are not resistant to UV.

Types of Floating-drum Plants

 KVIC model with a cylindrical digester, the oldest and most widespread floating
drum biogas plant from India.
 Pragati model with a hemisphere digester
 Ganesh model made of angular steel and plastic foil
 floating-drum plant made of pre-fabricated reinforced concrete compound units
 floating-drum plant made of fibre-glass reinforced polyester
 low cost floating-drum plants made of plastic water containers or fiberglass
drums: ARTI Biogas plants
 BORDA model: The BORDA-plant combines the static advantages of hemispherical
digester with the process-stability of the floating-drum and the longer life span of a water
jacket plant.

Balloon Plants

A balloon plant consists of a heat-sealed plastic or rubber bag (balloon), combining digester
and gas-holder. The gas is stored in the upper part of the balloon. The inlet and outlet are
attached directly to the skin of the balloon. Gas pressure can be increased by placing weights
on the balloon. If the gas pressure exceeds a limit that the balloon can withstand, it may
damage the skin. Therefore, safety valves are required. If higher gas pressures are needed, a
gas pump is required. Since the material has to be weather- and UV resistant, specially
stabilized, reinforced plastic or synthetic caoutchouc is given preference. Other materials
which have been used successfully include RMP (red mud plastic), Trevira and butyl. The
useful life-span does usually not exceed 2-5 years.

Advantages:

 Standardized prefabrication at low cost,

 low construction sophistication,
 ease of transportation,
 shallow installation suitable for use in areas with a high groundwater table;
 high temperature digesters in warm climates;
 uncomplicated cleaning,
 emptying and maintenance;
 difficult substrates like water hyacinths can be used
Balloon biogas plants are recommended, if local repair is or can be made possible and the
cost advantage is substantial.

Disadvantages:

 Low gas pressure may require gas pumps;

 scum cannot be removed during operation;
 the plastic balloon has a relatively short useful life-span and is susceptible to mechanical
damage and usually not available locally. In addition, local craftsmen are rarely in a
position to repair a damaged balloon. There is only little scope for the creation of local
employment and, therefore, limited self-help potential.
Earth-pit Plants

Masonry digesters are not necessary in stable soil (e.g. laterite). It is sufficient to line the pit
with a thin layer of cement (wire-mesh fixed to the pit wall and plastered) in order to prevent
seepage. The edge of the pit is reinforced with a ring of masonry that also serves as
anchorage for the gas-holder. The gas-holder can be made of metal or plastic sheeting. If
plastic sheeting is used, it must be attached to a quadratic wooden frame that extends down
into the slurry and is anchored in place to counter its buoyancy. The requisite gas pressure is
achieved by placing weights on the gas-holder. An overflow point in the peripheral wall
serves as the slurry outlet.
Advantages

 Low cost of installation (as little as 20% of a floating-drum plant);

 high potential for self help approaches.
Disadvantages

 Short useful life; serviceable only in suitable, impermeable types of soil.

 Earth-pit plants can only be recommended for installation in impermeable soil located
above the groundwater table. Their construction is particularly inexpensive in connection
with plastic sheet gas-holders.

Ferro-cement Plants

The ferro-cement type of construction can be applied either as a self-supporting shell or an

earth-pit lining. The vessel is usually cylindrical. Very small plants (Volume under 6 m 3) can
be prefabricated. As in the case of a fixed-dome plant, the ferrocement gasholder requires
special sealing measures (proven reliability with cemented-on aluminium foil).

Disadvantages

 Substantial consumption of essentially good-quality cement;

 workmanship must meet high quality standards;
 uses substantial amounts of expensive wire mesh;
 construction technique not yet adequately time-tested;
 special sealing measures for the gas-holder are necessary. Ferro-cement biogas plants are
only recommended in cases where special ferro-cement know-how is available.

Industrial Digester Types

o give an overview, some fictitious designs have been chosen as they could be found in, for
example, Europe. The designs are selected in a way that all the typical elements of modern
biogas technology appear at least once. All designs are above-ground, which is common in
Europe. Underground structures, however, do exist.
Mixing pit varies in size and shape according to the nature of substrate. It is equipped with
propellers for mixing and/or chopping the substrate and often with a pump to transport the
substrate into the digester. At times, the substrate is also pre-heated in the mixing pit in order
to avoid a temperature shock inside the digester.

Fermenter or digester is insulated and made of concrete or steel. To optimize the flow of
substrate, large digesters have a longish channel form. Large digesters are almost always
agitated by slow rotating paddles or rotors or by injected biogas. Co-fermenters have two or
more separated fermenters. The gas can be collected inside the digester, then usually with a
flexible cover. The digester can also be filled completely and the gas stored in a separate gas-
holder.

Gas-holder is usually of flexible material, therefore to be protected against weather. It can be

placed either directly above the substrate, then it acts like a balloon plant, or in a separate
'gas-bag'.

Slurry store for storage of slurry during winter. The store can be open (like conventional
open liquid manure storage) or closed and connected to the gas-holder to capture remaining
gas production. Normally, the store is not heated and only agitated before the slurry is spread
on the field.

Gas use element is in Europe in 95% of the cases a thermo-power unit which produces
electricity for the farm, the grid and heat for the house, greenhouses and other uses. The
thermo-power unit has the advantage, that the required energy can be produced in any
mixture of gas and fossil energy. It can, therefore, react to periods of low gas production and
high energy requirements or vice versa.

Batch plants

Batch plants are filled and then emptied completely after a fixed retention time. Each design
and each fermentation material is suitable for batch filling, but batch plants require high labor
input. As a major disadvantage, their gas-output is not steady.
Continuous plants

Continuous plants are fed and emptied continuously. They empty automatically through the
overflow whenever new material is filled in. Therefore, the substrate must be fluid and
homogeneous. Continuous plants are suitable for rural households as the necessary work fits
well into the daily routine. Gas production is constant, and higher than in batch plants. Today,
nearly all biogas plants are operating on a continuous mode.
Semi-batch basis

If straw and dung are to be digested together, a biogas plant can be operated on a semi-batch
basis. The slowly digested straw-type material is fed in about twice a year as a batch load.
The dung is added and removed regularly.

Dry Fermentation Plants

Dry fermentation is an anaerobic process in which micro-organism break down

biodegradable material. Renewable organic feedstocks are used as a the source of energy for
the process. The nutrient-rich solids resulting from the digestion can be used as a fertiliser
subsequently.

Almost any organic material can be processed with dry fermentation. This includes
biodegradable waste materials such as waste paper, grass clippings, leftover food, sewage and
animal waste.

GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT:

Geothermal energy—the heat of the Earth—is a clean, renewable resource that provides
energy in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S. has been using commercial, large-scale
geothermal power plants at deep resource temperatures (between 200˚F and 700˚F) since the
1960s. Geothermal energy development and production is a thriving international market.

1.1.What is geothermal energy? Heat has been radiating from the center of the Earth for some
4.5 billion years. At 6437.4 km (4,000 miles) deep, the center of the Earth hovers around the
same temperatures as the sun's surface, 9932°F (5,500°C) (Figure 1). Scientists estimate that
42 million megawatts (MW) of power flow from the Earth’s interior, primarily by conduction
Geothermal energy is a renewable resource.1 One of its biggest advantages is that it is
constantly available. The constant flow of heat from the Earth ensures an inexhaustible and
essentially limitless supply of energy for billions of years to come.
The uses of geothermal for heat and other purposes were indigenous practices across a variety of
world cultures: “The Maoris in New Zealand and Native Americans used water from hot springs for
cooking and medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks and Romans had geothermal
heated spas. The people of Pompeii, living too close to Mount Vesuvius, tapped hot water from the
earth to heat their buildings. Romans used geothermal waters for treating eye and skin disease. The
Japanese have enjoyed geothermal spas for centuries.”2

The uses of geothermal for heat and other purposes were indigenous practices across a variety of
world cultures: “The Maoris in New Zealand and Native Americans used water from hot springs for
cooking and medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks and Romans had geothermal
heated spas. The people of Pompeii, living too close to Mount Vesuvius, tapped hot water from the
earth to heat their buildings. Romans used geothermal waters for treating eye and skin disease. The
Japanese have enjoyed geothermal spas for centuries.”
At the Larderello, Italy dry steam field, Prince Piero Ginori Conti first proved the viability of
geothermal power plant technology in 1904 (Figure 3). Larderello is still producing today.

1.2. What is a baseload power source? What is a dispatchable power source? A baseload
power plant produces energy at a constant rate. In addition to geothermal, nuclear and coal-
fired plants are also baseload. Because the energy is constant, its power output can remain
consistent nearly 24 hours a day, giving geothermal energy a higher capacity factor than solar
or wind power, which must wait for the sun to shine or the wind to blow, respectively.3 This
means a geothermal plant with a smaller capacity than a solar or wind plant can provide more
actual, delivered electricity.

A geothermal plant can also be engineered to be firm, flexible, or load following, and
otherwise support the needs of the grid. 4 Most geothermal plants being built now have
adjustable dispatching capabilities. In addition to geothermal, natural gas is dispatchable. This
means a geothermal plant can meet fluctuating needs, such as those caused by the intermittency of
solar and wind power.
The USGS has defined moderate-temperature resources as those between 90°C and 150°C
(194 to 302°F), and high-temperature geothermal systems as those greater than 150°C.5
Figures 5-7 depict the three commercial types of conventional geothermal power plants:
flash, dry steam, and binary. In a geothermal flash power plant, high pressure separates steam
from water in a “steam separator” (Figure 5) as the water rises and as pressure drops. The
steam is delivered to the turbine, and the turbine then powers a generator. The liquid is
reinjected into the reservoir. Under one-third of the installed geothermal capacity in the U.S.
is comprised of flash power plants, with the majority in California.

In a geothermal dry steam power plant, steam alone is produced directly from the geothermal
reservoir and is used to run the turbines that power the generator (Figure 6). Because there is no
water, the steam separator used in a flash plant is not necessary. Dry-steam power plants account
for approximately 50% of installed geothermal capacity in the U.S. and are located in California.
In 1981 at a project in Imperial Valley, California, Ormat Technologies established the
technical feasibility of the third conventional type of large-scale commercial geothermal
power plant: binary. The project was so successful that Ormat repaid its loan to the
Department of Energy (DOE) within a year. 7 Binary geothermal plants have made it
possible to produce electricity from geothermal resources lower than 302°F (150°C). This has
expanded the U.S. industry’s geographical footprint, especially in the last decade. Binary
plants use an Organic Rankine Cycle system, which uses geothermal water to heat a second
liquid that boils at a lower temperature than water, such as isobutane or pentafluoropropane.
This is called a working fluid (or “motive fluid” in Figure 7). A heat exchanger separates the
water from the working fluid while transferring the heat energy. When the working fluid
vaporizes, the force of the expanding vapor, like steam, turns the turbines that power the
generators. The geothermal water is then reinjected in a closed loop, separating it from
groundwater sources and lowering emission rates further (see section 5). Most new
geothermal plants under development in the U.S. are binary’
Hybrid power plants allow for the integration of numerous generating technologies. In
Hawai’i, the Puna flash/binary combined cycle system optimizes both flash and binary
geothermal technologies. Geothermal fluid is flashed to a mixture of steam and liquid in a
separator. The steam is fed to a turbine as in a flash-steam generator and the separated liquid
is fed to a binary cycle generator (Figure 8).
Another type of hybrid plant is Enel Green Power’s solar-geothermal plant in Stillwater,
Nevada. This type of hybrid could be an option in areas that are rich in resources but require
extra economic or technological support to make them viable for energy development.

1.4. How do geothermal heat pumps work? Animals burrow underground for warmth in the
winter and to escape the heat of the summer. The same basic principle of constant, moderate
temperature in the subsurface is applied to geothermal heat pumps (GHPs). 8 GHPs utilize
average ground temperatures between 40˚and 70˚F.9 In 1948, a professor at Ohio State
University developed the first GHP for use at his residence. A groundwater heat pump came
into commercial use in Oregon around the same time. 10

GHP heating and cooling systems circulate water or other liquids to pull heat from the Earth
through pipes in a continuous loop through a heat pump and conventional duct system. For
cooling, the process is reversed; the system extracts heat from the building and moves it back
into the Earth loop. The loop system can be used almost everywhere in the world at depths
below 10 ft to 300 ft. GHPs are used in all 50 states and are over 45% more energy efficient
than standard heating and cooling system options. 11 Homeowners who install qualified
GHPs are eligible for a 30% federal tax credit through December 31, 2016. They can be
buried conveniently on a property such as under a landscaped area, parking lot, or pond,
either horizontally or vertically (Figure 9). A GHP system can also direct the heat to a water
heater unit for hot water use.

1.5. How do direct use applications work? Geothermal heat is used directly, without a power
plant or a heat pump, for applications such as space heating and cooling, food preparation,
hot spring bathing and spas (balneology), agriculture, aquaculture, greenhouses,
snowmelting, and industrial processes. Geothermal direct uses are applied at aquifer
temperatures between 90˚F and 200˚F. 12 Examples of direct use applications exist all across
the U.S. Boise, Idaho’s Capitol Building uses geothermal for direct heating and cooling.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt frequented Georgia’s healing hot springs and founded the
Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for polio treatment in 1927. And the City of Klamath Falls,
Oregon began piping hot spring water to homes as early as 1900. 1

In a typical geothermal direct use configuration, geothermal water or steam is accessed and brought
to a plate heat exchanger (Figure 10). New direct use projects in numerous states, including some on
Indian reservations, are encouraged by the provisions of the Geothermal Steam Act Amendments
passed by Congress in 2005 (see section 4).

UNIT-V
Fuel Cells
Through this website we are seeking historical materials relating to fuel cells. We have
constructed the site to gather information from people already familiar with the technology–
people such as inventors, researchers, manufacturers, electricians, and marketers. This Basics
section presents a general overview of fuel cells for casual visitors.

What is a fuel cell?

A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction. Every fuel cell has
two electrodes called, respectively, the anode and cathode. The reactions that produce
electricity take place at the electrodes.

Every fuel cell also has an electrolyte, which carries electrically charged particles from one
electrode to the other, and a catalyst, which speeds the reactions at the electrodes.

Hydrogen is the basic fuel, but fuel cells also require oxygen. One great appeal of fuel cells is
that they generate electricity with very little pollution–much of the hydrogen and oxygen
used in generating electricity ultimately combine to form a harmless byproduct, namely
water.

One detail of terminology: a single fuel cell generates a tiny amount of direct current (DC)
electricity. In practice, many fuel cells are usually assembled into a stack. Cell or stack, the
principles are the same.

How do fuel cells work?

he purpose of a fuel cell is to produce an electrical current that can be directed outside the cell
to do work, such as powering an electric motor or illuminating a light bulb or a city. Because
of the way electricity behaves, this current returns to the fuel cell, completing an electrical
circuit. (To learn more about electricity and electric power, visit "Throw The Switch" on the
Smithsonian website Powering a Generation of Change.) The chemical reactions that produce
this current are the key to how a fuel cell works.

There are several kinds of fuel cells, and each operates a bit differently. But in general terms,
hydrogen atoms enter a fuel cell at the anode where a chemical reaction strips them of their
electrons. The hydrogen atoms are now "ionized," and carry a positive electrical charge. The
negatively charged electrons provide the current through wires to do work. If alternating
current (AC) is needed, the DC output of the fuel cell must be routed through a conversion
device called an inverter.

Oxygen enters the fuel cell at the cathode and, in some cell types (like the one illustrated above), it
there combines with electrons returning from the electrical circuit and hydrogen ions that have
traveled through the electrolyte from the anode. In other cell types the oxygen picks up electrons and
then travels through the electrolyte to the anode, where it combines with hydrogen ions.
The electrolyte plays a key role. It must permit only the appropriate ions to pass between the anode
and cathode. If free electrons or other substances could travel through the electrolyte, they would
disrupt the chemical reaction.

Whether they combine at anode or cathode, together hydrogen and oxygen form water, which drains
from the cell. As long as a fuel cell is supplied with hydrogen and oxygen, it will generate electricity.

Even better, since fuel cells create electricity chemically, rather than by combustion, they are not
subject to the thermodynamic laws that limit a conventional power plant (see "Carnot Limit" in the
glossary). Therefore, fuel cells are more efficient in extracting energy from a fuel. Waste heat from
some cells can also be harnessed, boosting system efficiency still further.

Different types of fuel cells.

Alkali fuel cells

Alkali fuel cells operate on compressed hydrogen and oxygen. They generally use a solution
of potassium hydroxide (chemically, KOH) in water as their electrolyte. Efficiency is about
70 percent, and operating temperature is 150 to 200 degrees C, (about 300 to 400 degrees F).
Cell output ranges from 300 watts (W) to 5 kilowatts (kW). Alkali cells were used in Apollo
spacecraft to provide both electricity and drinking water. They require pure hydrogen fuel,
however, and their platinum electrode catalysts are expensive. And like any container filled
with liquid, they can leak.

Molten Carbonate fuel Cell

 Drawing of how both phosphoric acid and PEM fuel cells operate.

Molten Carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) use high-temperature compounds of salt (like sodium or
magnesium) carbonates (chemically, CO3) as the electrolyte. Efficiency ranges from 60 to 80 percent,
and operating temperature is about 650 degrees C (1,200 degrees F). Units with output up to 2
megawatts (MW) have been constructed, and designs exist for units up to 100 MW. The high
temperature limits damage from carbon monoxide "poisoning" of the cell and waste heat can be
recycled to make additional electricity. Their nickel electrode-catalysts are inexpensive compared to
the platinum used in other cells. But the high temperature also limits the materials and safe uses of
MCFCs–they would probably be too hot for home use. Also, carbonate ions from the electrolyte are
used up in the reactions, making it necessary to inject carbon dioxide to compensate.

Phosphoric Acid fuel cells (PAFC) use phosphoric acid as the electrolyte. Efficiency ranges from 40
to 80 percent, and operating temperature is between 150 to 200 degrees C (about 300 to 400 degrees
F). Existing phosphoric acid cells have outputs up to 200 kW, and 11 MW units have been tested.
PAFCs tolerate a carbon monoxide concentration of about 1.5 percent, which broadens the choice of
fuels they can use. If gasoline is used, the sulfur must be removed. Platinum electrode-catalysts are
needed, and internal parts must be able to withstand the corrosive acid.

Phosphoric Acid fuel cells (PAFC)

Phosphoric Acid fuel cells (PAFC) use phosphoric acid as the electrolyte. Efficiency ranges from 40
to 80 percent, and operating temperature is between 150 to 200 degrees C (about 300 to 400 degrees
F). Existing phosphoric acid cells have outputs up to 200 kW, and 11 MW units have been tested.
PAFCs tolerate a carbon monoxide concentration of about 1.5 percent, which broadens the choice of
fuels they can use. If gasoline is used, the sulfur must be removed. Platinum electrode-catalysts are
needed, and internal parts must be able to withstand the corrosive acid.
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells work with a polymer electrolyte in the form of a thin,
permeable sheet. Efficiency is about 40 to 50 percent, and operating temperature is about 80 degrees
C (about 175 degrees F). Cell outputs generally range from 50 to 250 kW. The solid, flexible
electrolyte will not leak or crack, and these cells operate at a low enough temperature to make them
suitable for homes and cars. But their fuels must be purified, and a platinum catalyst is used on both
sides of the membrane, raising costs.

Solid Oxide fuel cells (SOFC)

Solid Oxide fuel cells (SOFC) use a hard, ceramic compound of metal (like calcium or
zirconium) oxides (chemically, O2) as electrolyte. Efficiency is about 60 percent, and
operating temperatures are about 1,000 degrees C (about 1,800 degrees F). Cells output is up
to 100 kW. At such high temperatures a reformer is not required to extract hydrogen from the
fuel, and waste heat can be recycled to make additional electricity. However, the high
temperature limits applications of SOFC units and they tend to be rather large. While solid
electrolytes cannot leak, they can crack.
More detailed information about each fuel cell type, including histories and current applications, can
be found on their specific parts of this site. We have also provided a glossary of technical terms–a link
is provided at the top of each technology page.

Factors Affecting the Performance of Hydrogen Fuel Cell

The performance of a PEMFC can be affected by many reasons. The load current,
temperature, relative humidity, membrane thickness, membrane-active area, electrode active
area, corrosion, purity, pressure, and concentration of hydrogen fuel, maintenance of water
inside the cell, pressure in the electrode particularly on both side of the membrane etc. are the
factors.

Activation, ohmic and concentration losses make the fuel cell voltage less than before.
Humid condition and thermal condition are two significant factors for PEMFC operation. The
change in the temperature of a fuel cell affects the electrochemical reaction, proton exchange,
and water production. The bipolar plate has two sides.30,31 On one side there is a gas flow
path and on the other side, external water flow is used for temperature maintenance in the
fuel cell. Rising current density accelerates the reaction process. 17-19 Besides, the heat
production in the fuel cell is proportional to the rate of the reaction process. In the outer part
of the plate, the proton exchange membrane becomes dried because of the rising temperature.
Additionally, the density of the electron flow rate becomes lower over time in the fuel cell.
19,28The density of the electron flow is higher when the supplied gas is enough. The current
distribution is also an important factor and it is inversely proportional to the density of
electron flow rate. The rising reactant flow rate creates a uniform current flow. Inappropriate
thermal energy will decrease the performance of the proton exchange membrane.

Effect of Temperature on PEMFC

Though several factors such as operating temperature, electrolytes used, humidity, catalyst,
produced heat etc. have vital effects on the performance of Hydrogen Fuel Cell, in this paper,
we will discuss the effects of temperature elaborately. The effects of temperature on different
parameters are shown in Table 2 and discussed elaborately below:

Performance and Efficiency

Heat generates during the PEMFC operation. For better efficiency and consistence output
there must be a cooling process either by air or fluid to get rid of the cell generated heat.
10The proton exchange membrane fuel cell shows better performance with the rise in
temperature and pressure. Because the entropy change is small during the rise in temperature
and pressure. A less chance of entropy indicates better and stable performance in a fuel cell.
As the thermal energy is improved, the overall performance like current, current density,
voltage, electricity production of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell improves. 24 It has
been observed in another study that fuel cell performance increased when the temperature
increased to 120℃.

Normally it is considered that the efficiency of the PEMFC is increased in terms of the
increase in temperature. A hydrated proton exchange membrane normally works in a range
of temperatures below 100℃ and if we include some new elements in the PEMFC then the
FC will operate in the temperature range higher than 100 ℃. A new technology has been
found for high-temperature fuel cells with a temperature range from 90 ℃ to 200 ℃. At this
high-temperature range from 90 to 200℃, the rate of proton exchange through the membrane
becomes high and that’s why there is a rapid rise in reaction mechanism in anode and
cathode. The transfer of mass positively rises with the rise of the temperature.

Thermodynamic aspects of fuel cell

Thermodynamics is the study of energy changing from one form to another. Many predictions can be
made using thermodynamic equations, and these are essential for understanding fuel cell and
electrolyzer performance because these devices transform chemical energy into electrical energy or
vice versa. Studying these concepts allows a scientist or engineer to predict states of the fuel cell
system, such as voltage, temperature, pressure, and amounts of hydrogen, oxygen, water in an
electrolyzer or fuel cell system. Some concepts need to be defined to understand thermodynamic
analysis, such as absolute enthalpy, specific heat, entropy and Gibbs free energy. The definitions are
as follows:

1. Absolute enthalpy and enthalpy: Absolute enthalpy includes both chemical and sensible thermal
energy. Chemical energy or the enthalpy of formation (hf) is associated with the energy of the
chemical bonds, and sensible thermal energy (Δhs) is the enthalpy difference between the given and
reference state. When analyzing thermodynamic systems, the sum of the internal energy (U) and the
product of pressure (P) and volume (V) appears so frequently that it has been termed “enthalpy” (H),
and is denoted as: H = U + pV. The values for the internal energy and enthalpy can be obtained from
thermodynamic tables when the temperature and pressure are known.

2. Specific heat: Another property that is important in the study of fuel cells and electrolyzers are the
specific heats – which are useful when using the ideal gas model. Specific heat is a measure of the
amount of heat energy required to increase the temperature of a substance by 1 ºC (or another
temperature interval). The specific heat is available in many thermodynamic property tables. The
specific heat and similar quantities are all very usual in thermodynamics and energy balances because
they relate the temperature change of a system to the amount of energy added by heat transfer.

3. Entropy: Entropy is another important concept, which can be loosely defined as the amount of
“disorder” in a system. It is a measure of the quantity of heat that shows the possibility of conversion
into work.

4. Gibbs free energy: Gibbs free energy is the amount of useful work that can be obtained from an
isothermal, isobaric system when the system changes from one set of steady-state conditions to
another.

Voltage Losses
In addition to calculating energy quantities, when the conversion from chemical energy into electrical
energy or vice versa creates electron flow through the materials in the fuel cell or electrolyzer. The
single fuel cell or electrolyzer cell provides a voltage dependent on operating conditions such as
temperature,applied load, and fuel/oxidant flow rates. The standard measure of performance is the
polarization curve, which represents the cell voltage behavior against operating current density.
Depending upon how the curvature of the polarization curve, you can obtain an idea of why where in
the fuel cell the voltage is being lost. The maximum fuel cell performance is then examined through
the ideal (reversible) voltage of the system, which is calculated using thermodynamics, and the net
(actual) output voltage of the system.

Net output voltage: The reversible cell potential minus the irreversible potential at a certain current
density. The irreversible potential is the actual voltage. The net output voltage can be expressed
mathematically as: V = Vrev - Virrev, where Vrev = Er is the maximum (reversible) voltage of the
fuel cell, and Virrev is the irreversible voltage loss (overpotential) occurring in the cell.

The actual voltage is lower than the theoretical model due to reaction, charge and mass transfer losses.
As shown in Figure 1, the performance of an electrolyzer or fuel cell can be illustrated using a
polarization curve that can be broken into three sections: (1) activation losses, (2) ohmic losses, and
(3) mass transport losses. Therefore, the operating voltage of the cell can be represented as the
departure from ideal voltage caused by these three losses (polarizations): V = Er + Vact + Vohmic + Vconc,
where V is the cell potential, E is the thermodynamic potential or Nernst voltage, Vact is the voltage
loss due to activation polarization, Vohmic is the voltage loss due to ohmic polarization and Vconc is the
voltage losses due to concentration polarization.
The explanation of the terms in Equation 3 and Figure 1 stems from the detailed study of different
disciplines. The Nernst (ideal thermodynamic) voltage comes from the study of thermodynamics,
activation losses are described by electrochemistry, charge transport examines ohmic losses and
concentration losses can be explained by mass transport. These subjects are often studied in advanced
college programs such as chemistry, physics, chemical or mechanical engineering. The Nernst (ideal
thermodynamic) voltage is calculated using thermodynamics and is the ideal (theoretical) system
voltage. Activation losses mainly occur when the electrochemical reactions are slow to produce
current. As the PEM fuel cell produces more current, the activation losses increase at a slower rate
than the ohmic losses.
Ohmic losses are due to electrons not transferring between materials and terminals. Charges move
from the electrode where they are produced to the load where they are consumed. The two major
types of charged particles are electrons and ions, and both electronic and ionic losses occur in the fuel
cell. The electronic loss between the bipolar, cooling and contact plates are due to the degree of
contact that the plates make with each other. The ionic charge losses occur in the fuel cell membrane
when H+ ions travel through the electrolyte.
Concentration losses are due to the reactant (gases or water) not adequately arriving at the electro-
catalytic sites for the reaction to occur, which can significantly affect device performance. These mass
transport losses can be minimized by making sure that the right amount of hydrogen, air and water
travel through the flow field plates, gas diffusion layer and catalyst layers.

The actual voltage is lower than the theoretical model due to reaction, charge and mass transfer losses.
As shown in Figure 1, the performance of an electrolyzer or fuel cell can be illustrated using a
polarization curve that can be broken into three sections: (1) activation losses, (2) ohmic losses, and
(3) mass transport losses. Therefore, the operating voltage of the cell can be represented as the
departure from ideal voltage caused by these three losses (polarizations): V = Er + Vact + Vohmic +
Vconc, where V is the cell potential, E is the thermodynamic potential or Nernst voltage, Vact is the
voltage loss due to activation polarization, Vohmic is the voltage loss due to ohmic polarization and
Vconc is the voltage losses due to concentration polarization.
The explanation of the terms in Equation 3 and Figure 1 stems from the detailed study of different
disciplines. The Nernst (ideal thermodynamic) voltage comes from the study of thermodynamics,
activation losses are described by electrochemistry, charge transport examines ohmic losses and
concentration losses can be explained by mass transport. These subjects are often studied in advanced
college programs such as chemistry, physics, chemical or mechanical engineering. The Nernst (ideal
thermodynamic) voltage is calculated using thermodynamics and is the ideal (theoretical) system
voltage. Activation losses mainly occur when the electrochemical reactions are slow to produce
current. As the PEM fuel cell produces more current, the activation losses increase at a slower rate
than the ohmic losses.

Ohmic losses are due to electrons not transferring between materials and terminals. Charges move
from the electrode where they are produced to the load where they are consumed. The two major
types of charged particles are electrons and ions, and both electronic and ionic losses occur in the fuel
cell. The electronic loss between the bipolar, cooling and contact plates are due to the degree of
contact that the plates make with each other. The ionic charge losses occur in the fuel cell membrane
when H+ ions travel through the electrolyte.

Concentration losses are due to the reactant (gases or water) not adequately arriving at the electro-
catalytic sites for the reaction to occur, which can significantly affect device performance. These mass
transport losses can be minimized by making sure that the right amount of hydrogen, air and water
travel through the flow field plates, gas diffusion layer and catalyst layers.

Biological Fuel Cells (BFCs) and the Bio-production of Hydrogen

A biological fuel cell (BFC) or microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a type of fuel cell that converts
biochemical energy into electrical energy. Like other types of fuel cells, a biological fuel cell consists
of an anode, a cathode, and a membrane that conducts ions. In the anode compartment, fuel is
oxidized by microorganisms, and the result is protons and electrons. In the cathode compartment, ions
are consumed, and the by-product is water. In BFCs, there is the redox reaction between the
carbohydrate substrate (such as glucose and methanol) and the catalyst -- which is a microorganism or
enzyme. The biological fuel cell is illustrated in Figure 1. The main difference between a standard
fuel cell and a BFC is the catalyst is a microorganism or enzyme. Therefore, noble metals are not
needed for the catalyst in BFCs. The fuel cell operates in a liquid media in a near neutral environment
and at a low temperature. The potential applications for biological fuel cells are (1) low power energy
sources; (2) sensors based upon direct electrode interactions; and (3) electrochemical synthesis of
chemicals.

Figure 1: A biological fuel cell (BFC)

During the last decade, improvements have been made in the selection of the
microorganisms, process kinetics, and the use of different mediators to improve electron
transfer. Also, many types of electrodes have been studied for reaction efficiency.
In bacteria cells, mitochondria serve as the energy storage unit by accumulating or releasing
chemical energy in the form of substances like nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide with high-
energy hydrogen (NADH) or nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). The
NADH and NADPH act as electron transfer paths from the substrate to the metabolites. The
NADH/NAD ratio increases as the oxygen limitation becomes more severe.

Most of the substrate is converted into an electroactive substance through control of bacteria
metabolism. However, the biological reactions mentioned earlier only take place in diluted
aqueous media -- which is not always suitable for charge-transfer reactions. The electron
transfer from these electroactive substances to the electrode is a slow process. Therefore, a
suitable redox mediator is needed to improve the electron transfer and the electrode reaction.

In a study done by the Helinski University of Toronto, a mediator 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphtho-

quinone (HNQ) was used to improve the electron transfer. When this mediator substance is
present in the system, the color in the biofilm reactor changes. The changes in the color
occurs because of the metabolic activity of the biofilm reactor and the electron transfer in the
fuel cell anode. Thus, it offers a simple method of monitoring and controlling functions of the
fuel cell.

Experimental tests of the bacterial fuel cells have resulted in several conclusions. First, the
conversion rate of electrical energy is lower (15 to 25 percent) than chemical fuel cells due to
the complex reactions. Secondly, the current density per anode volume increases when the
size of the fuel cell decreases. Finally, the power output increases if the bacteria are
immobilized. Another similar type of fuel cell that has been investigated is the enzymatic fuel
cell. Replacing the bacteria with an enzyme could potentially make the process easier to
control because enzymatic reactions are simpler. According to researchers at the Helinski
University of Technology, the conversion rate of the Enzymatic Fuel Cell (EFC) is expected
to be greater than 50 percent. Experiments have shown that the rate is in the range of 40 to 55
percent for the bacterial fuel cell when the substrate is glucose. Similarly, the current density
of the EFC is likely to improve significantly compared to that of the bacterial fuel cell.

Bio-production of Hydrogen
In addition to using bacteria or enzymes to create energy in BFCs, there are also different
ways to produce hydrogen through biological methods. Three main categories of hydrogen
creation through biological processes are:

• Photosynthesis using unicellular organisms that use hydrogenase or nitrogenase

reactions
• Bacteria that produce hydrogen anaerobically
• Processes that use a combination of bacteria to break down complex organic
molecules into a compound that can be transformed to hydrogen using hydrogen-
producing organisms
We will briefly introduce the photosynthesis and digestion processes that are currently under
development.
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis consists of the conversion of light energy to biochemical energy through a
photochemical reaction and reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide to organic compounds
such as sugars. Certain plants and algae absorb solar energy, and several types of algae and
cyanobacteria produce hydrogen instead of sugars during photosynthesis. These organisms
have hydrogenase or nitrogenase enzymes to catalyze hydrogen formation.

Several types of green algae produce hydrogen. Some common ones that have been
investigated are Scenedesmus, Chlamydomonas, C. reinhardtii, Anabaena Cylindrica,
Synechococcus, Rhodobacter sp, Rubrivivax gelatinosus, Rhodovulum sulfidophilum, R.
sphaeroides as well as many others. Scenedesmus produces hydrogen on light exposure after
being kept in the dark under anaerobic conditions. This green alga is a “water splitting”
organism, which means that it performs biophotolysis using hydrogenase to reduce water to
hydrogen. Additional research work has been conducted with a mutant of Chlamydomonas to
produce a continuous flow reactor using this type of algae. Although high efficiencies of
light: hydrogen have been obtained, the hydrogenase reaction is very sensitive to oxygen,
which has prohibited advances in development with this type of bacteria. New methods have
been developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to improve hydrogen
by controlling oxygen and sulfur in the environment of C. reinhardtii. The algae culture is
grown under normal conditions and then deprived of oxygen and sulfur, which makes it
switch to an alternate metabolism to produce hydrogen. This cycle can be continuously
repeated to generate hydrogen.

A nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena Cylindrica, produces hydrogen and oxygen

simultaneously in an argon atmosphere for several hours. Hydrogen production occurs under
normal atmospheric conditions, but at a much slower rate than nitrogen fixation. The
hydrogen production can be increased by starving the algae of nitrogen.

Most of the photosynthetic systems being studied have low efficiencies. However, recent
advances in genetic engineering may help create more efficient systems. One example is R.
Sphaeroides, which has a photoenergy conversion of 7 percent, which seems low; however, it
is significant considering the efficiency of photovoltaic systems is 10 percent.

Digestion Processes
Hydrogen can also be produced by the microbial digestion of organic matter in the absence of
light. Many of these bacteria types produce hydrogen with low molecular weight acids.
Unfortunately, the reaction rates are low, and a lot of hydrogen is not generated due to the
inhibition of microbial hydrogenases, along with the reaction of hydrogen with other species.
Hydrogen typically reacts with organic species or carbon dioxide, which produces methane.
Thus, one of the main challenges in digestion processes is inhibiting methane production to
favor hydrogen production. Increasing the temperature in these types of systems is not an
effective method of improving the process efficiency because this usually denatures enzymes
and bacteria. Some of the most promising bacteria include Escherichia coli, Aerobacter
aerogenes, Aerobactin cloacae, Pseudomonas sp, and Clostridium butyricum. Clostridium
butyricum has yielded 35 mmol (784 ml) of hydrogen per hour from 1 g of microorganism at
37 ºC. The use of biological processes for hydrogen production is at the point of technical
system development, and the photosynthesis-algae-bacteria systems currently seem to be the
most promising.
Regenerative Fuel Cell

A regenerative fuel cell, currently being developed for utility applications, uses hydrogen and
oxygen or air to produce electricity, water, and waste heat as a conventional fuel cell does.
However, the regenerative fuel cell also performs the reverse of the fuel cell reaction, using
electricity and water to form hydrogen and oxygen. In the reverse mode of the regenerative
fuel cell, known as electrolysis, electricity is applied to the electrodes of the cell to force the
dissociation of water into its components.

The “closed” system of a regenerative fuel cell could have a significant advantage because it
could enable the operation of a fuel cell power system without requiring a new hydrogen
infrastructure. There are two concerns to be addressed in the development of regenerative
fuel cells. The first is the extra cost that would be incurred in making the fuel cell reversible.

The second drawback to the operation of the regenerative fuel cell is the use of grid
electricity to produce the hydrogen. In the United States, most electricity comes from burning
fossil fuels. The fossil fuel ➔ electricity ➔ hydrogen energy route generates significantly
more greenhouse gases than simply burning gasoline in an internal combustion engine.
Although the concept of a regenerative fuel cell is attractive, until renewable electricity, e.g.
electricity from solar or wind sources, is readily available, this technology will not reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

UNIT-VI

DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION It is the method of transformation of one type of energy

into another without passing through the intermediate stage such as steam, generators etc.
Most of these energy converters, sometimes called static energy-conversion devices, use
electrons as their “working fluid” in place of the vapour or gas employed by such dynamic
heat engines as the externalcombustion and internal-combustion engines mentioned above. In
recent years, direct energy-conversion devices have received much attention because of the
necessity to develop more efficient ways of transforming available forms of primary energy
into electric power. Direct energy-conversion devices are of interest for providing electric
power in spacecraft because of their reliability and their lack of moving parts. As have solar
cells, fuel cells, and thermoelectric generators, thermionic power converters have received
considerable attention for space applications. Thermionic generators are designed to convert
thermal energy directly into electricity. Direct Energy Conversion devices like thermionic
and thermoelectric converters are heat engines The heat engine operates between two
reservoirs to and from which heat can be transferred. We put heat into the system from the
hot reservoir and heat is expelled in to the cold reservoir. The Carnot cycle The Carnot cycle
is a theoretical thermodynamic cycle proposed by Nicolas Léonard SadiCarnot . It can be
shown that it is the most efficient cycle for converting a given amount of thermal energy into
work, or conversely, creating a temperature difference (e.g. refrigeration) by doing a given
amount of work. Every single thermodynamic system exists in a particular state. When a
system is taken through a series of different states and finally returned to its initial state, a
thermodynamic cycle is said to have occurred. In the process of going through this cycle, the
system may perform work on its surroundings, thereby acting as a heat engine. A system
undergoing a Carnot cycle is called aCarnot heat engine, although such a "perfect" engine is
only a theoretical limit and cannot be built in practice The Carnot cycle when acting as a heat
engine consists of the following steps: 1. Reversible isothermal expansion of the gas at the
"hot" temperature, T1 (isothermal heat addition or absorption). During this step the gas is
allowed to expand and it does work on the surroundings. The temperature of the gas does not
change during the process, and thus the expansion is isothermal. The gas expansion is
propelled by absorption of heat energy Q1 and of entropy ∆S=Q1/T1 from the high
temperature reservoir. 2. Isentropic (reversible adiabatic) expansion of the gas (isentropic
work output). For this step the mechanisms of the engine are assumed to be thermally
insulated, thus they neither gain nor lose heat. The gas continues to expand, doing work on
the surroundings, and losing an equivalent amount of internal energy. The gas expansion
causes it to cool to the "cold" temperature, T2. The entropy remains unchanged. 3. Reversible
isothermal compression of the gas at the "cold" temperature, T2. (isothermal heat rejection)
Now the surroundings do work on the gas, causing an amount of heat energy Q2 and of
entropy ∆S=Q2/T2 to flow out of the gas to the low temperature reservoir. (This is the same
amount of entropy absorbed in step 1, as can be seen from the Clausius inequality.) 4.
Isentropic compression of the gas (isentropic work input). Once again the mechanisms of the
engine are assumed to be thermally insulated. During this step, the surroundings do work on
the gas, increasing its internal energy and compressing it, causing the temperature to rise to
T1. The entropy remains unchanged. At this point the gas is in the same state as at the start of
step 1. Principles of DEC The pioneer in thermoelectrics was a German scientist Thomas
Johann Seebeck (1770-1831) Thermoelectricity refers to a class of phenomena in which a
temperature difference creates an electric potential or an electric potential creates a
temperature difference.Thermoelectric power generator is a device that converts the heat
energy into electrical energy based on the principles of SeebeckeffectLater, In 1834, French
scientist, Peltierand in 1851, Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) described the thermal effects on
conductors Seebeck effect When the junctions of two different metals are maintained at
different temperature, the emf is produced in the circuit. This is known as Seebeck effect.
Peltier effect Whenever current passes through the circuit of two dissimilar conductors,
depending on the current direction, either heat is absorbed or released at the junction of the
two conductors. This is known as Peltier effect Thomson effect Heat is absorbed or produced
when current flows in material with a certain temperature gradient. The heat is proportional
to both the electric current and the temperature gradient. This is known as Thomson effect
Thermoelectric effect The thermoelectric effect, is the direct conversion of heat differentials
to electric voltage and vice versa The good thermoelectric materials should possess large
Seebeck coefficients, high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity Principle,
construction and working of Thermoelectric power generator Thermoelectric power generator
based on the principle of Seebeck effect that when the junctions of two different metals are
maintained at different temperature, the emf is produced in the circuit Construction
Thermoelectric power generation (TEG) devices typically use special semiconductor
materials, which are optimized for the Seebeck effect. The simplest thermoelectric power
generator consists of a thermocouple, comprising a p-type and n-type material connected
electrically in series and thermally in parallel. Heat is applied into one side of the couple and
rejected from the opposite side. An electrical current is produced, proportional to the
temperature gradient between the hot and cold junctions. For any TEPG, there are four basic
component required such as Heat source (fuel), P and N type semiconductor stack ,Heat sink
(cold side) and electrical load (output voltage) Working When the two sides of
semiconductor are maintained with different temperature, the emf flows across the output
circuit

An MHD generator is a device for converting heat energy of a fuel directly into electrical
energy without conventional electric generator. In this system. An MHD converter system is
a heat engine in which heat taken up at a higher temperature is partly converted into useful
work and the remainder is rejected at a temperature. Like all heat engines, the thermal
efficiency of an MHD converter is increased by supplying the heat at the highest practical
temperature and rejecting it at the lowest practical temperature. This effect is a result of
Faradays laws of electro magnetic induction. The induced EMF is given by Eind = u x B
where u = velocity of the conductor. B = magnetic field intensity. The induced current is
given by, Jind = C x Eind where C = electric conductivity The retarding force on the
conductor is the Lorentz force given by Find = Jind X B

Direct energy conversion systems

 Thermo electric conversion system

  Thermionic conversion system

 Photovoltaic power system

 Magneto hydro dynamic system

 Electrostatic mechanical generators

 Electro Gas dynamic generators

 Fuel cells

Nuclear batteries

THERMOELECTRIC SYSTEMS

Thermo electric conversion system

Works on thermo electric effect ( seeback effect)

PRINCIPLE OF WORKING

A loop of two dissimilar metals develops an e.m.f. when the two junctions of the loop
are keptat different temperatures. This is called Seebeck effect. This effect is used in a
thermocouple to measuretemperature.

Thermoelectric generator is a device which directly converts heat energy into

electrical energy using the Seebeck thermoelectric effect. The device is very simple but
thermal efficiency is very low of the order of 3%. Efficiency of thermoelectric generator
depends upon the temperature of hot and cold junctions and the material properties. The
semiconductor materials have more favourable properties which can withstand high
temperatures and can give reasonable efficiency. The probability of developing peak load
power stations of the order of 100 mW working at 20 percent thermal efficiency is high.
Where cheap fuels are available thermoelectric generators can be developed for base load and
standby power generation also. Another important application is the use of radioactive decay
heat to generate power in space and other remote locations. The use of solar energy to supply
heat for generating electricity can be an attractive application of thermoelectric devices if
high efficiency materials can be developed.
Thermo electric materials

 Lead telluride

 Bismuth telluride

 Germanium telluride

 Cesium Sulphide

 Zinc antimode

Thermionic

conversion system

THERMIONIC SYSTEMS AND THENNIONIC EMISSION

A thermionic converter transforms heat directly into electrical energy by utilizing thermionic
emission. All metals and some oxides have free electrons which are released on heating.
These electrons can travel through a space and collected on a cooled metal. These electrons
can return to hot metal through an external load thereby producing electrical power.
A thermionic converter has two electrodes enclosed in a tube. The cathode is called an
emitter and is heated enough to release electrons from its surface. The electrons cross a small
gap and accumulateon a cooled metal anode called the collector. The space between the
electrodes is maintained at high vacuum or filled with a highly conducting plasma like
ionised cesium vapour to minimal energy losses. The external load R is connected through
anode to cathode. The electrons return to cathode through the external load and electrical
power is produced.

Thermionic conversions is a sealed and evacuated device comprising of

1. A heated cathode (electron emitter)
2. An anode (electron collector)
3. Vacuum gap between 1 and 2 (with ionisedvapour to neutralise space charge).
The gap is only about a mm. External electrical circuit is connected between anode and
cathode.
(Ref. Fig. 2.25). The thermionic converter converts thermal energy directly to electrical
energy by virtue of flow of electrons through the vacuum gap. Heat is supplied to emitter.
Electrons released from emitter flow through small vacuum gapseeded with ionising
substance. Heat is rejected from collector. Electrical energy is tapped from theterminals.

–THERMOIONIC CONVERSION

The emission of an electron from a metal surface is opposed by a potential barrier equal to
the
difference between the energies of an electron outside and inside the metal. Therefore, a
certain amount
of energy has to be spent to release the electron from the surface. This energy is called
surface work
function ().
The maximum electron current per unit area emitted from the surface is given by the
following
Richardson Dushman equation:
J = A1T2 e kT
where J = current density, [A/m2]
T = Temperature, [K]
= work function, [eV]
K = 1.38 × 10–23 J/molecule K
= Boltzmann constant
A1 = 120 A/cm2-K2) = Emission constant.
The kinetic energy of the free electrons at absolute zero would occupy discrete energy levels
from zero upto some maximum value defined by the Fermi energy level, f. Each energy
level contains
a limited number of free electrons.

Above absolute zero temperature, some electrons may have energies higher than the Fermi
level.
The energy that must be supplied to overcome the weak attrac-tive force on the outermost
orbital
electrons is the work functionso that the electron leaving the emitter has an energy level
When emitter is heated, some high energy free electrons at the Fermi level receive energy
equal to
emitter work function and escape the emitter surface. They move through the gap and strike
the
collector. The K.E. plus the energy equal to collector work function a is given up and this
energy
is rejected as heat from the low temperature collector.
The electron energy is reduced to the Fermi energy level of the anode faThis energy state is
higher than that of the electron at the Fermi energy level of cathode fc. Therefore, the
electron is able to pass through the external load from anode to cathode. The cathode
materials are selected with low Fermi levels as comprised to anode materials which must
have higher Fermi level.

Fuel cells produce electricity from an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and
oxygen. Fuel cells are efficient, environmentally benign and reliable for power production.
The use of fuel cells has been demonstrated for stationary/portable power generation and
other applications. Fuel cell is device that converts the chemical energy stored in a fuel
directly to electrical energy. Fuel cell is an open system.

There are two Principles of the fuel cell

1. Chemo electricity
— Chemistry must occur before energy flows
— F/C system like an entire chemical plant
2. Match Energy Source to Application
— Stationary/Vehicle/Portable
— Sometimes F/Cs won’t work.
2.17.1 REVERSIBLE CELLS
Since oxidation and reduction are physically separate, two things must happen to complete
the
reaction in a fuel cell:
1. Ions travel through electrolyte:
— acidic f/c: cations to cathode
— alkaline f/c: anions to anode
2. Electrons travel anode to cathode electrons fall through ‘‘potential gradient’’ and thus do
work.
Cathode: electrode to which cations migrate
Anode: electrode to which anions migrate
Mnemonic
— Reduction occurs at the cathode (redcats)
— Oxidation occurs at the anode
Cell Potential: Cell potential E or Eois the difference between the cathode potential Ecand
the
anode potential Ea.
E = Ec– Eaor Eo= Ec
o – Ea
o
In Fuel cells: Cathode (+); Anode (–) ; E, Eo> 0
In Electrochemical cells: Cathode (–); Anode (+); E, Eo< 0
By definition, the hydrogen reaction is defined to be 0.000 V at standard conditions
she = standard hydrogen electrode; hydrogen electrode in equilibrium at standard conditions
(298 K, unit activity of species)
In Reversible Cell
For H2/O2 fuel cell:
Cathode (reduction) :Eo
she/v
O2 + 4H+ + 4e–  → 2H2O
Anode (oxidation):
H2 →2H+ + 2e–
Reversible cell potential
Eo= Ec
o – Ea
o

IDEAL FUEL CELLS

Over Potentials.In a real process the electrodes cannot operate at their equilibrium
potentials.
Nonidealities in real processes lead to efficiency losses or resistances to the process.
Electrodes must shift to potentials more favorable for oxidation or reduction to overcome
efficiency
losses. These shifted potentials are called overpotentials.
is delivered per electron transferred.
Conversely, over potentials always increase
electrochemical cell potentials so that more voltage is
required per electron transferred.
Ideal Cell Potentials
E = Ec– Ea= (Eeq, c – ec) = (Eeq, a + ea)
Ideal fuel cell Energy Conversion
1. Reactant/product transport
3. Ion transport through e-lyte
4. Electron transport
2. Reaction at electrocatalyst

OTHER TYPES OF FUEL CELLS

Fuel cells are a means of converting a fuel

to electrical energy using an electrochemical
membrane. The most popular to date has been the
proton exchange hydrogen fuel cell. It takes two molecules
of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen and
produces two molecules of water leaving behind four
spare electrons to generate an electric current. In
terms of the energy value of the hydrogen, the conversion
process is around 75% to 80% efficient.
Some fuel cells use other chemical fuels as
a source of hydrogen such as methanol, which is
processed into hydrogen for the use by the fuel cell

Although this means that the system doesn’t have to store large quantities of highly explosive
hydrogen,
it does reduce the efficiency of the electricity generation process to 30% or 40%. This is still
more efficient than burning the methanol directly combustion engines are only around 20%
efficient in terms of the energy of the fuel that is actually transferred into motion on the
ground.
The problem with hydrogen fuel cells is generating the hydrogen to fuel them. To get those 4
electrons out by combining two hydrogen molecules with an oxygen molecule, you have to
put them in at the point you manufacture of the hydrogen. There are four common processes:
Reformation of hydrocarbons. Hydrogen can be produced from any fossil fuel, such as oil or
coal, by heating and then ‘reforming’ the hydrogen with steam.
Steam reformation of natural gas. Like the above, but without the need to initially turn the
solid
hydrocarbons into hydrocarbon gases. Biomass pyrolysis organic matter can be
gasified/pyrolysed to produce hydrogen rich gases than can then be reformed with steam to
hydrogen. Electrolysis.Producing hydrogen from water directly using electricity. In general,
the case for fuel cells in mobile uses is marginal to the use of other fuels. They potentially
have an application in balancing out the variations from certain forms of renewable
energysuch as wind or tidal power.
EFFICIENCY OF CELLS

The performance evaluation of fuel cells is represented in terms of current density at

electrode
surface (range 100 to 400 mA/cm2) at specified temperature and reactant partial pressures
and voltage.
Let, Vo= No load voltage of cell, Volts, DC
Vc= Cell voltage on load
Ic= Cell current on load, Ampere
Pc, = Cell power, Watts
Vp= Polarization voltage = Voltage drop in the cell?
= No load voltage Vo– On load voltage V,
A = Surface area of on face of an electrode, m
Id = Current density of cell, = Ic/A.... A/m....
= Efficiency
During no current (no load or open circuit), the cell voltage is maximum and is called no load
voltage (Vo).
The performance is illustrated by actual Vcvs. Id curve. Increase in operating temperature
and
partial pressure, improves the fuel cell performance (increase in Vcand Pc). There is a trade-
off between
the higher performance and higher cost (for high temperature, pressure design).
VOLTAGE VC-CURRENT DENSITY Id CHARACTERISTIC (POLARIZATION
CURVE)
The performance of a fuel cell is evaluated by the cell voltage Vcvs. electrode current density
Id
curve (Fig. 2.22). Cell voltage Vcdrops with increase in current density due to polarization
within the
cell. Hence, the curve is also called the polarization curve of the fuel cell.

MAGNETIC HYDRO DYNAMICS POWER GENERATION

Due to increasing cost and decreasing availability of natural gas and fuel oil, Coal play an
important role in energy resources. There are many ways by which coal can be used, but the
most promising way is with the magneto hydrodynamic system. From a long year we are
going to search direct conversion from thermal to electrical energy but it is not available till
date. Conversion from thermal to mechanical and then mechanical to electrical contain less
efficiency (less than 12%) The most prominent way is the direct burning coal in a MHD
generator. The Potential of the magneto hydrodynamic system was first assessed in 1959 for
commercial power generator applications. Avacon and group of Electrical utilities entered
into an cooperation for investigation the development of MHD system.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF MHD

The MHD power generation technology deals with the production of electricity using a high
temperature conducting plasma that passed through the intense magnetic field. The heat
rejected by the MHD system can also be used to drive the conventionally used steam turbine
system. The operating principle of MHD generator is as depicted in the Fig.1.An MHD can
be designed to use different types of fuel such natural gas, fuel, coal and nuclear. Coal is
mainly used as energy resource in MHD system. In case of MHD generator a pressure
difference is needed to force the gas through the field when the current is drawn. The
observed force of moving plasma to focus on plasma atoms

F = J .B

Where J shows the density of plasma circuit and

B shows magnetic flux of density vector.

Thermodynamically, the operation of generator is similar to that of the turbine. Useful work
is extracted from the gas flow at the expanse of the pressure and enthalpy drop and its
efficiency can be observed for the different gas flow. It has no highly stressed moving part of
closed tolerance. Its walls are cooled at below the temperature of the working fluid.

Principle of operation of MHD Generator

The biggest problem lies in the concept of MHD is conduction of electricity by the gas
particles. The electrical conductivity in the gas is function of temperature and is being
dependent on the one or more species in gas having low ionization potential. The potential
difference is obtained by
 U =V .B. d

Where d is the distance between two electrodes,

V as the average speed of plasma and

B is density of magnetic flux it is found that for MHD generator the electrical conductivity
of combustion product is too low even at a temperature of 5000 F. To deal with this difficulty
a material having low ionization properties is being added which is known as seed which
gives us better result. Temperature from 2000 to 3200 is adequate for conductivity in
combustive gases.

TYPES OF MHD

MHD generator is classified in three different ways:

 Faraday generator.
 Hall generator.
 Disk generator.
1. Faraday generator: It consists of a non-conductive wedge-shaped pipe or tube.
When ionized plasma flows through the tube in the presence of a magnetic field than
current is induced, which can be extracted by placing electrodes on the sides of
wedged shaped pipe or tube at perpendicular to magnetic field. The main practical
issue with faraday generator is differential voltages and currents in the fluid short
through the electrodes on the sides of the tube.

2. Hall generator: The Faraday field in hall generator across each sector of the channel
is short-circuited and the sectors are series connected. This allows the connection of a
single electric load between the ends of the channel. Consideration of the electric
potentials at different points in the channel leads to the observation that an equi
potential runs diagonally across the insulating walls and that electrodes may be
appropriately staggered to match the equi potential. The series connection of these
electrodes in this diagonal generator permits a single electric load to be used.

3. Disk generatorThis design currently grasps the efficiency and energy concentration
records for MHD generation. A disc generator has plasma (ionized gas) or fluid
flowing between the centre of a disc, and a duct wrapped around the edge. The
magnetic excitation field is made by a pair of circular Helmholtz coils under the
circular disk. There are two major types of Fluid cycle in MHD Generator

1. Open Cycle MHD

2. Closed Cycle MHD

A) Open Cycle MHD :In Open Cycle MHD, the electrically conducting Gases are
released from MHD channel to the atmosphere. Coal is burned in the Combustion
chamber required high temperature with oxygen to form conducing plasma. The
conductivity of working fluid increased by a small seed material (potassium
carbonate) is added. The resulting mixture having an electrical conductivity about
 10 siemens/m is expanded through nozzle, so as to have a high velocity and then
passed through the magnetic field . During the expansion of the gas at high
temperature, the positive and negative ions move to the electrodes and thus
produce an electric current. The gas is then exhaust through the generator. Since
the same air cannot be reused again hence it forms an open cycle . In addition to
the cost of MHD, the seed recovery and reprocessing efficiencies as well as their
cost are added for economic and feasibility of MHD.

B) Closed Cycle MHD:

In a Closed Cycle MHD, Working gas is not mixed with combustor material. Gases like
helium or argon is heated by the regenerative heat exchanger, Caesium is mainly used as seed
material to increase the ionization capacity of the gas. In the open cycle Magnetic Hydro
Dynamics both seed material and inert gases are recovered with small makeup required.
Major advantage of closed cycle MHD are simple operation and do not require seed
processing facility. As the name suggests the working fluid in a closed cycle MHD is rotated
in a closed loop. So, in this case inert gas or liquid metal is used to transfer the heat. The
liquid metal has typically the advantage of high electrical conductivity, hence the heat
provided by the combustion material does not required too high. Where as in the open loop
system there is no inlet and outlet for the atmospheric air. Hence the process is simplified to a
great extent, as the same fluid is circulated timely and again for effective heat transfer.
method to increase efficiency and capacity of existing thermal power plant. In the future,
MHD systems may also be used to upgrade obsolete fossil plants. Design and operating
experiences gained from the retrofit approach may also be applicable to the construction of
new large-scale MHD installations with improve efficiency. From the national point of view,
there are no of existing generating units that are potential candidate sites for MHD
retrofitting. Once the retrofit concept confirmed, utilities can begin to investigate the
feasibility of converting some of their existing generating units to MHD operation. The
acceptability of the MHD technology depends heavily on the commercial availability and
cost of components (for economical purpose) which depend On the learning curve of the
manufacturers. An MHD system designed for large-scale base-load applications could
achieve efficiency upto 60-70%.The efficiency upto this level is acceptable and trying to
improve upto 90%. A small MHD system (100 to 300MW) might only achieve efficiency in
the range of 38-42% due to the reduced volume of the MHD generator. However, for the
retrofit facility, it was only required that the combined efficiency of the total facility (MHD
and the bottoming unit) should not be lower than the current bottoming plant.

ADVANTAGES OF MHD
An MHD system offers various advantages that are attractive for the electric utility industry.
An MHD system with a conventional bottoming unit designed for large scale base-load
application and is capable of having a thermal conversion efficiency of up to 50% at a cost of
electricity (COE) between 29 and 47 mills/kWh . This high efficiency will result in lower fuel
cost to electric utilities. It is estimated that the total capital cost for MHD is $720/ kWh and a
COE of 31.8 mills/ kWh. In addition, the reduced amount of coal that has to be mined and
transported will offer additional societal and economic benefits as well as extending the
availability of domestic coal reserves for a longer period. The more thorough heat utilization
will also decrease the amount of waste heat that has to be discharged to the environment, and
thus the cooling water requirements can be reduced by as much as 60% .The reason that
MHD power generation is not popular because numerous technological advancements are
still needed prior to the commercialization of MHD systems. One of them is related to
material problems created by the

MHD generators are devices employed to generate electric power by interacting with
a moving fluid like ionized gas or plasma and magnetic field. The use of
Magnetohydrodynamic power generators was first observed by ‘Michael Faraday’
during 1791-1867 while moving a fluid electric substance through a fixed magnetic
field. MHD power plants provide the potential to generate electric power in large-
scale with reduced environmental impact. There are different types of MHD
generators designed based on the type of application and fuel used. Pulsed MHD
generator is used for remote sites are used to generate electrical power of large pulses.

What is MHD Generator?

Definition: A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator is a device that generates
power directly by interacting with a rapidly moving stream of fluid, usually ionized
gases/plasma. MHD devices transform heat or kinetic energy into electrical energy.
The typical setup of an MHD generator is that both turbine and electric power
generator coalesce into a single unit and has no moving parts, thus, eliminating
vibrations and noise, limiting wear and tear. MHDs have the highest thermodynamic
efficiency as it operates at higher temperatures than mechanical turbines.

MHD Generator Design

The efficiency of conductive substances should be increased to increase the
operational efficiency of a power generating device. The required efficiency can be
achieved when a gas is heated to become plasma/fluid or adding other ionizable
substances like the salts of alkali metals. To design and implement an MHD
generator, several issues like economics, efficiency, contaminated hypo ducts are
considered. Three most common designs of MHD generators are:

Faraday MHD Generator Design

The design of a simple Faraday generator includes a wedge-shaped pipe or tube made
of a non-conductive substance. The powerful electromagnet produces a magnetic field
and allows the conductive fluid to pass through it perpendicularly, inducing the
voltage. The electrodes are placed at right angles to the magnetic field to extract the
output electrical power.
This design offers limitations such as the kind of field used and density. Eventually,
the amount of power drawn using the Faraday design is directly proportional to the
area of the tube and the speed of the conductive fluid.

Hall MHD Generator Design

The very high output current produced through the Faraday flows along with the fluid
duct and reacts with the applied magnetic field resulting in Hall Effect. In other
words, the current flowing along with the fluid would lead to loss of energy. The total
current produced is equal to the vector sum of the components of traverse (Faraday)
and axial current. To capture this energy loss (Faraday and Hall Effect components)
and improve efficiency, different configurations were developed.

One such configuration is to use the electrode pairs that are split into a chain of
segments and placed side by side. Each electrode pair is insulated from one another
and connected in series to attain a higher voltage with a lower current. As an
alternative, the electrodes, instead of being perpendicular, they are slightly skewed to
align with the vector sum of the Faraday and Hall Effect currents, allowing to extract
the maximum energy from the conductive fluid. The figure below illustrates the
design process.

hall-effect-generator-design
Disc MHD Generator Design
The Hall Effect disc MHD generator design is highly efficient and is the most
commonly used design. A fluid flows at the center of the disc generator. The ducts
enclose the disc and the flowing fluid. The pair of Helmholtz coils are used to
generate the magnetic field above as well as below the disc.

The Faraday currents flow over the boundary of the disc, while the Hall-Effect current
flows between ring electrodes located at the center and the boundary of the disc.

current-flow-in-disc
Principle of MHD Generator
MHD generator is commonly referred to as a fluid dynamo, which is compared to a
mechanical dynamo – a metal conductor when passed through a magnetic field
generates a current in a conductor.

However, in the MHD generator, conducting fluid is used instead of a metal

conductor. As the conducting fluid (conductor) moves through the magnetic field, it
produces an electrical field perpendicular to the magnetic field. This process of
electric power generation through MHD is based on the principle of Faraday’s law of
electromagnetic induction.
When the conducting fluid flows through a magnetic field, a voltage is generated
across its fluid and it is perpendicular to both the fluid flow and the magnetic field as
per Fleming’s Right Hand Rule.

Applying Fleming’s Right-Hand Rule to the MHD generator, a conducting fluid is

passed through a magnetic field ‘B’. The conducting fluid has free charge particles
moving with a velocity ‘v’.

The effects of a charged particle moving with a velocity ‘v’ in a constant magnetic
field are given by the Lorentz Force Law. The simplest form of this description is
given below by the vector equation.

F = Q (v x B)
Where,

‘F’ is the force acting on the particle.

‘Q’ is the charge of the particle,
‘v’ is the velocity of the particle, and
‘B’ is the magnetic field.

The vector ‘F’ is perpendicular to both ‘v’ and ‘B’ according to the right-hand rule.

MHD Generator Working

The MHD electricity generation diagram is shown below with possible system
modules. To begin with, the MHD generator requires a gas source of high
temperature, which can be either a coolant of a nuclear reactor or can be high-
temperature combustion gases produced from coal.

MHD-Generator-Working
As the gas and fuel pass through the expansion nozzle, it decreases the pressure of the
gas and increases the speed of fluid/plasma through the MHD duct, and increasing the
overall efficiency of the power output. The exhaust heat produced from the fluid
through the duct is the DC power. It used to run the compressor to boost the fuel
combustion rate.

MHD Cycles and Working Fluids

Fuels like coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are capable of producing high
temperatures can be utilized in MHD generators. Besides this, MHD generators can
use nuclear energy to generate electricity.

MHD generators are of two types – open cycle and closed-cycle systems. In an open
cycle system, the working fluid is passed only once through the MHD duct. This
produces exhaust gases after generating electrical energy, which is released to the
atmosphere via a stack. The working fluid in a closed cycle system is recycled to the
heat source for reusing it repeatedly.

The working fluid used in an open cycle system is air, whereas helium or argon is
used in a closed cycle system.

Advantages
The advantages of the MHD generator include the following.

 MHD generators convert heat or thermal energy directly into electrical energy
 It has no moving parts, so mechanical losses would be minimal
 Highly efficient Has higher operational efficiency more than conventional
generators, therefore, the overall cost of an MHD plant is less compared to
conventional steam plants
 Operational and maintenance costs are less
  It works on any type of fuel and has better fuel utilization

Disadvantages
The disadvantages of the MHD generator include the following.

 Aids in the high amount of losses that include fluid friction and heat transfer
losses
 Needs large magnets, leading to higher costs in implementing MHD
generators
 High operating temperatures in the range of 200°K to 2400°K will corrode the
components sooner
 Applications of MHD Generator
The applications are
MHD generators are used for driving submarines, aircraft, hypersonic wind tunnel
experiments, defense applications, and so on.
They are used as an uninterrupted power supply system and as power plants in
industries
They can be used to generate electric power for domestic applications

FAQs
1). What is a practical MHD generator?

Practical MHD generators were developed for fossil fuels. However, these were
overtaken by low-cost combined cycles, where the exhaust of gas turbines heats the
steam to run a steam turbine.

2). What is seeding in MHD generation?

Seeding is a process of injecting a seeding material like potassium carbonate or

cesium into the plasma/fluid to increase the electrical conductivity.

3). What is MHD flow?

The slow movement of a fluid can be described as a regular and orderly movement.
Any disturbance in the flow velocity, leads to turbulence, changing the flow
characteristics rapidly.

4). Which fuel is used in MHD power generation?

The coolant gases like helium and carbon dioxide are used as plasma in nuclear
reactors to direct MHD power generation.

5). Can plasma generate electricity?

 Plasma is a good conductor of electricity as it has plenty of free electrons. It becomes
electrically conductive when electric and magnetic fields are applied and that
influence the behavior of charged particles.

13. OHD/LCD sheets/ CDS/ DVDs/ PPT (soft/ Hard copies)

14. University Previous Question papers
 15. Mid exam descriptive question papers
16.

B V Raju Institute of Technology

(UGC - Autonomous)
Vishnupur, Narsapur, Medak District
B.Tech I Semester First MID R18-2018 Batch – November 2020
Year : III B.Tech Branch : ME
Subject : Renewable Energy Sources (PE-1) Date :
06.11.2020_AN
Time : 1 hr 15 minutes (02:30 pm to 03:45 pm) Marks : 15
Answer all THREE questions (For each question there will be an either-or choice). All questions carry equal marks.

Q. No Question Description CO Marks BL

1 Explain the working of Central Tower receiver solar collector CO1 5 L5
(or)
2 Distinguish Between solar Flat plate and concentrating collector CO1 5 L4
###
3 Explain about sensible heat solar energy storage CO2 5 L2
 (or)
4 What are the advantages and Disadvantages of box type solar cooker. CO2 5 L2
###
5 Describe the detailed classification of wind turbines. CO3 5 L3
(or)
6 Explain about main components of Horizontal Axis wind turbine CO3 5 L5

16. Mid exam objective question papers

1. Assignment topics with materials
2. Write short notes on the following a) Solar radiation data b) Solar constant
3. Write short notes on the following a) Pyrheliometer. b) Pyranometer.
4. Explain the following: a) Solar radiation on inclines surface. b) The hour angle.
5. Explain the procedure to estimate the average solar radiation.
6. Explain the principle of working of sunshine recorder.
7. what are the advantages and disadvantages of concentrating collection over a flat-plate
collectors.
8. Explain the physical principles of conversion of solar energy into heat.
9. Explain briefly about Compound parabolic concentrator(CPC)
10. Why Orientation is need in concentrating type collectors
11. Write short notes on advantages of flat-plate collectors.
12. Explain mirror-strip collector with a neat sketch
13. What are the main components of a flat-plate solar collector, explain the functions of
 each.
14. Classification of concentrating collectors

18. Tutorial topics and questions

1. What are the advantages and limitations of solar energy
2. Compare the properties HAWT and VAWT.
3. Discuss the present status of development of biomass energy resources in India
4. Discuss about the potential of geo-thermal energy in India. What is geothermal
energy? List out the geothermal regions in India.
5. Write short notes on i) Principles of DEC systems ii) Need for DEC
6. What is fuel cell? .Classify fuel cells. Explain the construction and operation of any
three fuel cells in detail.
7. Explain the principle of MHD generation

19. Unit wise question bank

UNIT-1

Subjective Questions
1. Elucidate the principle behind the collection of solar energy used in a non
collective solar pond? Describe a non convective solar pond for solar energy
collection and storage.
2. With a neat schematic, describe the working principle of the parabolic trough
collector. Mention the advantages and disadvantages of concentrating
collectors over flat plate
3. Explain the construction and working of solar flat plate collector .
4. Explain the different factors that need to be considered for accessing the
performance of Solar collector
5. List the advantages of concentrating collector over flat collector?
6. What is a solar constant. Differentiate direct and diffused solar radiation

Short answer questions

1. . Distinguish between flat plate and concentrating collectors
2. How the energy being continuously produced in the sun?
3. Explain in solar energy collection? List out its advantages and applications.
4. Why orientation is needed in concentrating type collectors?

Objective Questions
1. _________ is the non-conventional source of energy
(a) natural gas (b) petrol (c) solar (d) coal
2. ________ instrument used to measure the intensity of direct solar radiation at normal
incidence
(a) pyradiometer (b) pyrheliometer (c) pyranometer (d) solarimeter
3. The sum of the beam radiation and diffuse radiation is __________
(a) Global radiation (b) local radiation (c) spot radiation (d) massive radiation
4. _______ is the angle made in the horizontal plane between the line due south and the
projection of the normal to the surface on the horizontal plane
(a) latitude (b) declination (c) slope (d) surface azimuth angle
5. ………….. is a device for collecting solar radiation and transfer the energy to a fluid
passing in contact with it.
6. The instrument used to measure the total irradiance is ………………….
7. The angle between sun rays and its projection on horizontal surface is called as
…………… angle.
8. …………………. type of collector requires orientation towards the sun
9. ___________ is an instrument which collimates the radiation to determine the beam
intensity as afunction of incident
(a) pyranometer (b) pyrheliometer (c) angstrom meter (d) pyrmeliometer
10. At the time of sunset or sunrise the zenith angle is
(a) 360 (b) 0 (c) 90 (d) 180
UNIT-2

Subjective Questions
1. Explain the construction and working of a solar pond with neat sketch. What are its
advantages and disadvantages?
2. Discuss in detail the various parameters to be considered in detail for the design of
Solar water heating systems and its efficiency
3. Explain the non-convective solar ponds with its new design features
4. Discuss in detail the various parameters to be considered in detail for the design of
solar water heating systems and its efficiency
5. Derive an expression for daily yield that can be obtained in a solar still.
6. Discuss in detail the various parameters to be considered in detail for the design of
solar water heating systems and its efficiency
7. Explain the working of conventional solar still with a neat diagram
8. Explain any two solar heating applications Comprehension 3
9. Explain the construction and operation of a solar still
10. What is Photo voltaic cell? Discuss about its 3 characteristics?
11.
Short Answer Questions
1. Difference between sensible heat and latent heat? ii. What is core and explain how to
make a core?
2. What are the main applications of a solar pond? Describe briefly.
3. Define Sensible heat with units
4. List out two application of solar heating
Analytical Questions
Objective Questions

1. Solar collectors for home heating usually are called _________ collectors.
(a) flat plate (b) distributed plate (c)concentrating plate (d) broad plate
2. Advantage of concentrating collectors over flat plate type collectors are
(a) absorber area of a concentrator is small (b) high initial cost (c) non-uniform flux (d)
additional optical losses.
3. In S.I units the useful gain is 4360W, collector efficiency factor is 15.28m2 incident
beam radiation on the aperture of the collector is 698W/m2. The collector efficiency for
a cylindrical parabolic concentrator system is
(a)17 (b)22.5 (c)39 (d)68.5
4. Two advantages of flat plate collectors are …………………..
5. The biogas can be utilized effectively for
(a)household cooking (b)lighting (c)operating small engines (d)all the above
6. When the biomass is fermented an aerobically the gaseous fuel obtained is……
7. In a box type solar cooker, the solar radiations that enter and leave the box are of
(a) Short & long wavelength respectively (b) Long & short wavelength respectively (c)
Similar wavelengths (d) None of the above
8. Pyranometer is an instrument used for measuring the
(a) Temperature of solar photovoltaic cell (b) Solar irradiance of a solar photovoltaic cell
(c) Wind speed of a solar photovoltaic cell (d) Efficiency of a solar photovoltaic cell
13. A solar still is device used for
(a) Heating water (b) Cooling water (c) Distilling water (d) Production of electricity
9. Which of the following solar energy devices is designed to reflect & concentrate
energy from sunlight?
(a) Solar cooker (b) Solar cell (c) Solar water heater (d) Solar concentrator

10. Which of the following is not related to solar photovoltaic systems?

(a) Cooking (b) Lighting (c) Irrigation (d) Generation of electricity

UNIT-3

Subjective Questions

1. Explain various configurations of wind turbines in detail with neat diagram

2. Derive an expression for axial force on the turbine blade
3. Explain the phenomenon of dynamic matching in wind turbine
4. Briefly explain the significance of Betz limit
5. Explain the phenomenon of dynamic matching in wind turbine
6. Briefly explain the significance of Betz limit
7. Classify different wind turbines with diagram
8. Explain the importance of torque coefficient of a wind turbine
9. List out the differences between horizontal and vertical wind mills
10. Derive an expression for axial force on the turbine blade
Short Answer Questions

1. Explain the terms Lift force and Drag force w.r.t air flow over the blades of wind turbine?i.
Distinguish between gas and arc welding
2. Define Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).
3. What factors led to accelerated development of wind power?
4. Explain the problems associated with the wind power.
5. What is meant by Pitch control in Horizontal axis Wind turbine ?
Analytical Questions

Objective Questions

1. _____ factor/s determine/s the output from a wind energy converter]

(a) wind speed (b)cross section of wind swept by rotor (c) efficiency of rotor, transmission
system and generator (d) a, b, & c
2. Darrieus type of wind mill comes under ___________
(a) horizontal (b) inclined (c) vertical (d) both vertical and horizontal
3. Which factor determines the output from a wind energy converter (a) wind speed (b)cross
section of wind swept by rotor (c) efficiency of rotor, transmission system and generator
(d)all the above
4. Which of the following is an advantage of one bladed rotor in wind energy machines
(a) counter weight costs more than a second blade (b) counter weight can be declined to
increase blade coning (c) blade root spar can be large diameter(more rugged) (d)both a and b
5. The characteristic of Savonius rotor is
(a) self starting (b) low speed (c) both a and b (d) high efficiency
6. What kind of energy does a wind turbine use?
(a) Kinetic energy (b) Potential energy (c) Chemical Energy (d) Thermal energy
7. Which of the following states in India ranks first in the installation of wind power?
(a) Gujarat (b) Andhra Pradesh (c) Maharashtra (d) Tamil Nadu
8. Horizontal axis windmills of modern design can
(a) Always turn towards the direction of the wind (b) Never adjust the energy output (c)
Never turn towards the direction of the wind (d) None of the above
9 . Which of the following sources emit fewer pollutants?
(a) Coal (b) Petroleum (c) Charcoal (d) Wind energy
10. The maximum energy conversion efficiency of a wind turbine for a given swept area is
(a) 25.1% (b) 50.4% (c) 59.3% (d) 99.9% 1
UNIT-4
Subjective Questions
1. What kinds of biomass can be used to generate fuel and products?
2. Why would the United States want to use its biomass resources for fuel and products?
3. What is the current economic value of biofuels produced domestically?
4. How much biomass could we sustainably produce in the United States?
5. How many actual gallons of biofuels could we produce in years to come?
6. How will we efficiently grow, collect, and transport the bulky, dispersed biomass
required for biofuels?
7. Explain the harnessing techniques of geothermal energy.
8. Explain the operation of various various geo-thermal systems with schematic
diagrams?
9. Explain the energy extraction from hot dry rocks.
10. Discuss about the potential of geo-thermal energy in India. What is geothermal
energy?
Short Answer Questions
1. What is “biomass?”
2. What can be done with biomass
3. What are wood pellets used for?
4. How does the production of biomass and ethanol affect the environment?
5. Why develop the biomass industry?
6. List out the geothermal regions in India.
7. What are the various types of geothermal resources?

Analytical questions

Objective Questions

1. Bacteria that grows in the presence of oxygen are called ________

(A) aerobic (B) anaerobic (C) bio scopic (D) both b and c
2. Biomass is derived from ________
A) Water power (B) solar energy (C) plants and animals (D) wind power
3. Biochemical conversion takes two forms, they are………… and ………………
4. When the biomass is fermented an aerobically the gaseous fuel obtained
is………….
5) Which of the following is not a source of power? ……………
(A) Solar cell (B) Photovoltaic cell (C) Photoelectric cell (D) Thermocouple.
6) Biomass is derived from:
(A) Water power (B) solar energy (C) plants and animals (D) wind power
7) An example of dry process is……………..
8) The container in which digestion process takes place is known as …………………
9) ……………….System is suitable for water in higher temperature, in liquid-
dominated systems. 10. Which of the following factors affect bio digestion
(a) Temperature (b) Seeding (c) PH (d) All the above
Unit-5

Subjective Questions
1. Elaborate the principle of operation of H2O2 fuel cell with neat sketches
2. Explain about biochemical and regenerative fuel cells
3. Elaborate the principle of operation of H2O2 fuel cell with neat sketches
4. What is a fuel cell? Explain its operation
5. What are advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells.
6. What are advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells.
Short Answer Questions

1. What is a fuel cell?

2. How does a fuel cell differ from traditional methods of energy generation?
3. How is a fuel cell different than a battery?
4. What are the benefits of fuel cells?
5. What types of fuel cells are available?
6. What are the different types of PEM fuel cells?
7. Where can I learn more about fuel cells
8. Where are fuel cells used?

Analytical Questions

Objective Questions

1. Fuel cell converts chemical energy to electrical energy using a reaction that __________

a) eliminates combustion of fuel b) requires combustion of fuel c) requires no ignition of fuel

d) fuel is not required

2. Fuel cell performance is not limited by __________

a) First law of Thermodynamics b) Second law of Thermodynamics c) Third law of

Thermodynamics

d) All three laws are applicable.

3.For which of these devices does negative charge carriers flow from anode to cathode in the
external circuit?

a) MHD generator b) Thermionic generator c) Thermoelectric generator d) Fuel cell

4. The fuel cell is considered a battery in which ___________ is continuously replaced.

a) fuel only b) oxidizer c) both fuel and oxidizer d) none of the mentioned

5. The type of reactions in a fuel cell is not determined by __________

a) fuel and oxidizer combination b) composition of electrolyte c) materials of anode and

cathode
d) catalytic effects of reaction containe

6. What is the voltage output of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell?(in V)

a) -1.23 b) -1.45 c) -1.01 d) -.93

7. What is the voltage output of carbon-oxygen fuel cell?(in V)

a) -.91 b) -1.24 c) -1.02d) -1.17

8. What is the voltage output of methane-oxygen fuel cell?(in V)

a)-1.16 b)-1.06 c)-1.26 d) -0.96

9. Which of these gases or liquids are not used as source of hydrogen in fuel cells?

a) C2H6 b) C2H2 c) C6H6 d) C2H5OH

10. The hydrocarbons cracked with steam in fuel cells do not give rise to __________

a) CO b) CO2 c) H2 d) H2O

Unit-VI

Subjective Questions
1. What is the need for DEC? What are its limitations?
2. Explain the thermionic energy conversion
3. Write short notes on a) Carnot cycle b) Biogas for IC Engines
4. Write short notes on a) limitations of DEC b)PV Energy conversion systems
5. Write short notes on I) need for DEC ii) Carnot cycle
6. Write short notes on i) Principles of DEC systems ii) Need for DEC
7. What is fuel cell? .Classify fuel cells. Explain the construction and operation of
any three fuel cells in detail.
8.Explain the criterion for the selection of thermo electric materials.
Short Answer Questions

1. State the principle of MHD power generation.

2. Write Principles of DEC
3. What is the need for DEC?
4. What are its limitations of DEC
Objective Questions

1. The _____ generator that transforms thermal energy to electrical energy at high
temperatures
(A) ionic (B) MHD (C) dc (D) all the above
2. In a fuel cell electricity is produced by ______
(A) Combustion of fuel in absence of oxygen (B) oxidation of fuel (C) Thermionic action
(D) any of the above
3. _______________ are devices which convert heat directly to electrical energy using a
Phenomenon called See beck effect.
(A) Ionic generators (B) DC generators (C) Thermo generators (D) all the above
 4. Through MHD power generation………………….power is generated directly.
5. The thermal energy contained in the interior of the earth is called as………………
6. The container in which digestion process takes place is known as……………….
7. …………… Laws used for working of fuel cells.
8) Direct conversion of heat into electrical power is possible through…………..
(A) Thermionic converter (B) fuel cell (C) Batteries (D) all of the above.
9) In a fuel cell electricity is produced by
(A) Combustion of fuel in absence of oxygen (B) oxidation of fuel
(C) Thermionic action (D) any of the above
10) Fuel formed under the earth's surface by the decomposition of organic matter is called
(A) Organic fuel (B) biogas (C) fossil fuel (D) underground fuel

20. Content beyond syllabus with material

POPULAR WORLD POWER GENERATION FUEL & METHODS METHODS AND
TECHNIQUES OF POWER GENERATION

1. COAL POWER GENERATION Steam coal, also known as thermal coal, is used in power
stations to generate electricity. Coal is first milled to a fine powder, which increases the
surface area and allows it to burn more quickly. In these pulverized coal combustion (PCC)
systems, the powdered coal is blown into the combustion chamber of a boiler where it is
burnt at high temperature (see diagram below). The hot gases and heat energy produced
converts water – in tubes lining the boiler – into steam

2. THERMAL POWER GENERATIONS Small electricity generators are often powered by

reciprocating engines burning diesel, biogas or natural gas. Diesel engines are often used for
back up generation, usually at low voltages. However most large power grids also use diesel
generators, originally provided as emergency back up for a specific facility such as a hospital,
to feed power into the grid during certain circumstances. Biogas is often combusted where it
is produced, such as a landfill or wastewater treatment plant, with a reciprocating engine or a
micro turbine, which is a GE-Gas turbine and CAT –IE- Engine as below.

3.NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION A nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy
from splitting the atoms of uranium. Uranium-fuelled nuclear power is a clean and efficient way of
boiling water to make steam which drives turbine generators. Except for the reactor itself, a nuclear
power station works like most coal or gas-fired power stations

4. HYDRO-POWER GENERATION Hydro power is generated by using electricity

generators to extract energy from moving water. Historically people used the power of rivers
for agriculture and wheat grinding. Today, rivers and streams are re-directed through hydro
generators to produce energy, although there are pros and cons as far as local ecosystems are
concerned and diagram as below.

5. COMBINE CYCLE POWER PLANT & GENERATION In electric power generation a

combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of
heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators.
The principle is that the working fluid of the first heat engine is; after completing its cycle (in
the first engine), still low enough in its Entropy, that a second; subsequent, heat engine may
extract energy from the waste heat (energy) of the working fluid of the first engine.

6. A gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel. The fuel is burned and the resultant
hot air-fuel mixture is expanded through turbine blades, making them spin about a shaft. The
spinning turbine drives a generator that converts the spinning energy into electricity.

• Fuel is burned in a combustor

• The resulting energy in the gas turbine turns the generator drive shaft

• Exhaust heat from the gas turbine is sent to a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)

• The HRSG creates steam using the gas turbine exhaust heat and delivers it to the steam
turbine

• The steam turbine delivers additional energy to the generator drive shaft

• The generator converts the energy into electricity

Part -II

1. Academic Calendar

B V RAJU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(AUTONOMOUS)

Vishnupur,Narsapur,Medak (Dist)

ACADEMIC CALENDAR FOR B.TECH II,III and IV Year ( I & II SEMESTER)

FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2019-20.

I SEMESTER
II SEMESTER
2. Attendance Register/ Teacher log book
3. Individual timetable

4. Teaching diary / Delivery record

5. Continuous Internal Evaluation(Test, Assignments, Mid marks etc.)
 Assignment(5
S No Roll No Subjective(15) Objective(10) ) Total(30)
18211A0303 10 8 5 23
1
18211A0307 15 7 5 27
2
18211A0316 9 7 4 20
3
18211A0320 14 8 5 27
4
18211A0322 10 8 4 22
5
18211A0325 12 0 4 16
6
18211A0331 12 7 5 24
7
18211A0332 11 8 4 23
8
18211A0333 13 9 5 27
9
18211A0334 8 4 5 17
10
18211A0335 10 8 5 23
11
18211A0337 13 7 4 24
12
18211A0339 9 8 5 22
13
18211A0340 13 5 4 22
14
18211A0341 14 8 4 26
15
18211A0343 13 8 5 26
16
18211A0344 13 6 4 23
17
18211A0345 14 8 4 26
18
18211A0358 13 7 5 25
19
18211A0361 8 6 5 19
20
18211A0362 11 6 5 22
21
18211A0363 7 4 5 16
22
18211A0365 15 8 5 28
23
18211A0366 13 8 5 26
24
18211A0371 14 8 4 26
25
18211A0372 12 5 4 21
26
27 18211A0376 13 7 4 24
 18211A0378 11 3 3 17
28
18211A0379 11 7 4 22
29
18211A0381 12 8 5 25
30
18211A0383 14 5 4 23
31
18211A0387 8 3 5 16
32
18211A0388 13 8 5 26
33
18211A0391 7 1 3 11
34
18211A0392 6 2 3 11
35
18211A0394 9 8 5 22
36
18211A0395 13 8 5 26
37
18211A0399 6 5 4 15
38
18211A03A
5 11 5 4 20
39
18211A03A
6 12 5 4 21
40
18211A03A
7 12 0 5 17
41
18211A03a9 14 8 5 27
42
18211A03B3 9 8 5 22
43
18211A03B4 11 6 3 20
44
18211A03B6 11 2 3 16
45
18211A03B8 12 5 5 22
46
19215A0307 13 6 5 24
47
19215A0309 13 7 5 25
48

6. Assignment evaluation marks/ Grades

 Assignment
S.No Roll No
(5)

18211A0303 5
1
18211A0307 5
2
18211A0316 4
3
18211A0320 5
4
18211A0322 4
5
18211A0325 4
6
18211A0331 5
7
18211A0332 4
8
18211A0333 5
9
18211A0334 5
10
18211A0335 5
11
18211A0337 4
12
18211A0339 5
13
18211A0340 4
14
18211A0341 4
15
18211A0343 5
16
18211A0344 4
17
18211A0345 4
18
18211A0358 5
19
18211A0361 5
20
18211A0362 5
21
18211A0363 5
22
18211A0365 5
23
18211A0366 5
24
18211A0371 4
25
18211A0372 4
26
18211A0376 4
27
18211A0378 3
28
18211A0379 4
29
18211A0381 5
30
18211A0383 4
 7. Continuous Internal Evaluation – Attainments
Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

Mapping of COs with POs and PSOs CO

PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 AVG
CO1 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO2 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO3 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO4 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO5 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO6 2 3 2 2 2.25
PO Avg. 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00 2.38

CIE Set target in % = 70 Corresponding CIE Level = 2

ASSESSMENT OF COs FOR THE COURSE

Subjective CO Attainm
CO Obj Asg CO Avg
1a 1b 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b Level ent

CO1 96.0 95.2 57.8 98.1 86.78 3 YES

CO2 92.9 94.1 52.1 96.2 83.80 3 YES
CO3 88.2 68.2 96.2 84.20 3 YES
CO4 75.0 84.2 79.6 72.4 77.80 2 YES
CO5 78.6 90.0 84.3 77.1 82.49 3 YES
CO6 81.8 77.3 83.3 80.81 3 YES

ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE INTERNAL EVALUATION CO

PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 AVG

CO1 3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.50

CO2 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.25

CO3 3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.50

CO4 3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.50

CO5 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.25

CO6 2.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.25
Attainment 2.83 2.67 - - - - - - - - - - 2.00 2.00 - 2.38
Target 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00 2.38

ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE IN CIE

Avg
Course No PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3
203 2.8 2.7 - - - - - - - - - - 2.0 2.0 - 2.38

8. Sample students descriptive Answer Sheets

9. Result Analysis – Remedial / Corrective action
List of students below benchmark (18 marks)
S No. Roll No. Marks
1 18211A0325 16
2 18211A0334 17
3 18211A0363 16
4 18211A0378 17
5 18211A0387 16
6 18211A0399 15
7 18211A03B6 16

10.Sample students Assignment Sheets

11.Record of Tutorial and / or Remedial Classes.
Remedial Class Time Table for III B.Tech A & B Sections from 30/2/2019 to 15/3/2019

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6
Mon L
Tue U
Wed N
Thur C
Fri H
Sat RES RES

12.Record of guest lectures / seminars / workshops conducted.

13.Any other documents which you feel are contributing to the course
attainments.
 Assessment of Semester End Examination
Mapping of COs with the Questions :
Map the COs with Questions by marking 1 in the respective cells, otherwise leave BLANK
Semester End Examination
CO No. PART A - Q.No. 1 PART B - Q.No. 2 to 13
a b c d e 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b
CO1 1 1 1 1 1
CO2 1 1 1 1
CO3 1 1 1 1
CO4 1 1 1 1
CO5 1 1 1 1 1
CO6 1 1 1 1 1

Mapping of COs with POs and PSOs ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE SEE
PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3
CO1 3 3 2 2 CO1 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0
CO2 3 2 2 2 CO2 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.7
CO3 3 3 2 2 CO3 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0
CO4 3 3 2 2 CO4 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0
CO5 3 2 2 2 CO5 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.7
CO6 2 3 2 2 CO6 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.0
CO Avg. 2.8 2.7 2.0 2.0 Level 2.2 2.2 - - - - - - - - - - 1.6 1.6 -
SEE Set target in % = 60 Corresponding Target level = 2
SEE Set target in % = 60 Corresponding SEE Level = 2 Attainment YES YES - - - - - - - - - - NO NO -
ASSESSMENT OF COs FOR THE COURSE
Semester End Examination
PART A - Q.No. 1 PART B - Q.No. 2 to 13 CO CO Attainm
CO No. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
a b c d e Avg Level ent
a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b
CO1 87 33 0 100 62 70.73 3 YES
CO2 72 77 3.33 50.71 1 NO
CO3 85 96.2 87.5 89.66 3 YES
CO4 85 100 0 83.3 89.44 3 YES
CO5 54.3 0 53.8 50 52.71 1 NO
CO6 89 92.6 100 25.6 100 81.42 3 YES
ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE IN SEE
Avg
Course No PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 BENCHMARK=40 LEVELS 70=3,60=2,50=1
203 2.2 2.2 - - - - - - - - - - 1.6 1.6 - 1.88
Sl.No. DESCRIPTION
1 Course Exit Survey
2 External Question Paper – Mapping
3 Result Analysis
4 External Attainment Calculations
5 Course Attainment Calculations
6 Comparison of Attainments with Previous Results
7 Continuous Improvement Plan based on Attainment

PART-3

1. Course exit survey

Course No: 203
INDIRECT ASSESSMENT - COURSE END SURVEY
Levels
CO Description GRADE % age
5 4 3 2 1

CO1 List and describe the primary renewable energy resources and technologies. 6 15 13 2 0 2.22 74.00

CO2 Analyse harnessing of solar energy 5 21 9 1 0 2.3 76.67

CO3 Explain different types of wind millsand their ofwind energy 4 20 11 1 0 2.25 75.00

CO4 Analyse harnessingofBiomass and Geothermal energy 6 14 13 3 0 2.18 72.67

CO5 Explain the components and extraction of Magneto HydrodynamicGenerator 5 16 12 3 0 2.18 72.67

CO6 Explain the significance of Fuel cell technology 1 19 12 4 0 2.08 69.33

 External question paper mapping

3. Result analysis

SEE

1 No of students attempted 47
2 No of students passed 47
3 Absentees 0
4 No of students failed 0
5 Pass Percentage 100
S Performance Number of students
No O A+ A B+ B C F Ab
1 Semester 01 11 13 11 09 02 14 0
End Exam
 B V RAJU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NARSAPUR
Academic Year: 2020-21 Class: B.Tech II Year I Semester Section: B
Course Name: Material Science & Metallurgy Course No: 203 Course Code: A33C2
Faculty Name: P. ANILBABU Designation: Assistant Professor Branch: ME

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

NOTE: 1. For Absentees : Enter -1 in the first column and leave Blank at other places
2. In case of Questions having NO sub questions, enter the marks in column 'a' of that question
FIRST MID EXAMINATION Benchmark in % age 50
Subjective Questions OBJ ASG
S. Reg.No TOT
1 2 3 4 5 6 O-1 A-1
No Tot AL
a b a b a b a b a b a b
Enter max Marks 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 15 10 5 30
1 18211A0303 5 5 10 1 2 14
2 18211A0307 5 5 5 15 0 3 18
3 18211A0316 4 5 9 0 2 11
4 18211A0320 5 4 5 14 4 5 24
5 18211A0322 5 5 10 4 2 17
6 18211A0325 5 5 2 12 2 2 16
7 18211A0331 5 5 2 12 0 3 15
8 18211A0332 5 3 3 11 7 2 20
9 18211A0333 4 5 4 13 7 5 26
10 18211A0334 5 3 8 0 5 13
11 18211A0335 5 5 10 0 3 13
12 18211A0337 3 5 5 13 5 5 23
13 18211A0339 3 3 3 9 0 0 9
14 18211A0340 5 5 3 13 5 5 24
15 18211A0341 5 5 4 14 6 5 25
16 18211A0343 5 4 4 13 6 5 24
17 18211A0344 5 4 4 13 3 5 21
18 18211A0345 4 5 5 14 2 5 22
19 18211A0358 3 5 5 13 8 4 25
20 18211A0361 3 2 3 8 6 5 19
21 18211A0362 4 5 2 11 8 5 24
22 18211A0363 4 3 7 9 5 21
23 18211A0365 5 5 5 15 1 3 19
24 18211A0366 3 5 5 13 3 3 19
25 18211A0371 4 4 4 12 6 5 23
26 18211A0372 3 4 5 12 3 5 20
27 18211A0376 4 4 5 13 9 5 27
28 18211A0378 3 4 4 11 0 3 14
29 18211A0379 5 4 2 11 0 2 13
30 18211A0381 4 4 4 12 2 3 18
31 18211A0383 5 5 4 14 1 3 19
32 18211A0387 2 2 4 8 7 5 20
33 18211A0388 4 5 5 14 1 5 20
34 18211A0391 4 3 7 1 2 11
35 18211A0392 3 3 6 8 5 20
36 18211A0394 3 4 2 9 4 5 18
37 18211A0395 4 4 5 13 3 5 21
38 18211A0399 2 2 2 6 7 5 18
39 18211A03A5 0 4 5 9
40 18211A03A6 4 3 5 12 3 5 20
41 18211A03A7 3 5 4 12 8 5 25
42 18211A03a9 5 4 5 14 5 5 25
43 18211A03B3 3 3 3 9 6 5 21
44 18211A03B4 4 4 3 11 7 5 23
45 18211A03B6 4 4 3 11 5 2 18
46 18211A03B8 5 4 3 12 9 5 26
47 19215A0307 4 4 5 13 7 5 25
48 19215A0309 5 5 3 13 7 5 25
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
 B V RAJU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NARSAPUR
Academic Year: 2020-21 Class: B.Tech II Year I Semester Section: B
Course Name: Material Science & Metallurgy Course No: 203 Course Code: A33C2
Faculty Name: P. ANILBABU Designation: Assistant Professor Branch: ME

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

NOTE: 1. For Absentees : Enter -1 in the first column and leave Blank at other places
2. In case of Questions having NO sub questions, enter the marks in column 'a' of that question
FIRST MID EXAMINATION Benchmark in % age 50
Subjective Questions OBJ ASG
S. Reg.No TOT
1 2 3 4 5 6 O-1 A-1
No Tot AL
a b a b a b a b a b a b
Enter max Marks 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 15 10 5 30
1 18211A0303 5 5 10 1 2 14
2 18211A0307 5 5 5 15 0 3 18
3 18211A0316 4 5 9 0 2 11
4 18211A0320 5 4 5 14 4 5 24
5 18211A0322 5 5 10 4 2 17
6 18211A0325 5 5 2 12 2 2 16
7 18211A0331 5 5 2 12 0 3 15
8 18211A0332 5 3 3 11 7 2 20
9 18211A0333 4 5 4 13 7 5 26
10 18211A0334 5 3 8 0 5 13
11 18211A0335 5 5 10 0 3 13
12 18211A0337 3 5 5 13 5 5 23
13 18211A0339 3 3 3 9 0 0 9
14 18211A0340 5 5 3 13 5 5 24
15 18211A0341 5 5 4 14 6 5 25
16 18211A0343 5 4 4 13 6 5 24
17 18211A0344 5 4 4 13 3 5 21
18 18211A0345 4 5 5 14 2 5 22
19 18211A0358 3 5 5 13 8 4 25
20 18211A0361 3 2 3 8 6 5 19
21 18211A0362 4 5 2 11 8 5 24
22 18211A0363 4 3 7 9 5 21
23 18211A0365 5 5 5 15 1 3 19
24 18211A0366 3 5 5 13 3 3 19
25 18211A0371 4 4 4 12 6 5 23
26 18211A0372 3 4 5 12 3 5 20
27 18211A0376 4 4 5 13 9 5 27
28 18211A0378 3 4 4 11 0 3 14
29 18211A0379 5 4 2 11 0 2 13
30 18211A0381 4 4 4 12 2 3 18
31 18211A0383 5 5 4 14 1 3 19
32 18211A0387 2 2 4 8 7 5 20
33 18211A0388 4 5 5 14 1 5 20
34 18211A0391 4 3 7 1 2 11
35 18211A0392 3 3 6 8 5 20
36 18211A0394 3 4 2 9 4 5 18
37 18211A0395 4 4 5 13 3 5 21
38 18211A0399 2 2 2 6 7 5 18
39 18211A03A5 0 4 5 9
40 18211A03A6 4 3 5 12 3 5 20
41 18211A03A7 3 5 4 12 8 5 25
42 18211A03a9 5 4 5 14 5 5 25
43 18211A03B3 3 3 3 9 6 5 21
44 18211A03B4 4 4 3 11 7 5 23
45 18211A03B6 4 4 3 11 5 2 18
46 18211A03B8 5 4 3 12 9 5 26
47 19215A0307 4 4 5 13 7 5 25
48 19215A0309 5 5 3 13 7 5 25
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
 B V RAJU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NARSAPUR
Academic Year: 2020-21 Class: B.Tech II Year I Semester

Course Name: MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

Course No: 203 C. Code: A33C2

Faculty Name: P ANIL BABU Branch: ME

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

NOTE: 1. For Absentees : Enter -1 in the first column and leave Blank at other places
FIRST MID EXAMINATION Benchmark in % age 50
S. Reg.No OBJECTIVE EXAM
TOTAL
No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Enter max Marks 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10
1 18211A0303 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 8
2 18211A0307 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 8
3 18211A0316 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 7
4 18211A0320 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 8
5 18211A0322 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 8
6 18211A0325 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 18211A0331 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 7
8 18211A0332 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
9 18211A0333 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 9
10 18211A0334 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4
11 18211A0335 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 8
12 18211A0337 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 7
13 18211A0339 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 8
14 18211A0340 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
15 18211A0341 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8
16 18211A0343 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8
17 18211A0344 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 6
18 18211A0345 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 8
19 18211A0358 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 7
20 18211A0361 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 6
21 18211A0362 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 6
22 18211A0363 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4
23 18211A0365 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8
24 18211A0366 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 8
25 18211A0371 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 8
26 18211A0372 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 5
27 18211A0376 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 7
28 18211A0378 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
29 18211A0379 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 7
30 18211A0381 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 8
31 18211A0383 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 5
32 18211A0387 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3
33 18211A0388 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 8
34 18211A0391 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
35 18211A0392 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
36 18211A0394 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 8
37 18211A0395 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8
38 18211A0399 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 5
39 18211A03A5
40 18211A03A6
No of students
48 48 48 48 48 48 48 48 48 48 48
attempted
Benchmark marks 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 5
No of students scored
38 26 25 38 27 20 27 25 38 25 38
> = benchmark
Assessment 79.2 54.2 52.1 79.2 56.3 41.7 56.3 52.1 79.2 52.1 79.2
Attainment 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 2

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

Mapping of COs with the Questions :

Map the COs with Questions by marking 1 in the respective cells, otherwise leave BLANK
CO No. Mid exam - I
Objective
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CO1 1 1 1 1
CO2 1 1
CO3 1 1 1 1
CO4
CO5
CO6

Map the Course Outcome LEVEL with the Program Outcomes(POs) and Program Specific Outcomes(PSOs)

Mapping of COs with POs and PSOs CO

PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 AVG
CO1 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO2 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO3 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO4 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO5 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO6 2 3 2 2 2.25
PO Avg. 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00 2.38
Course Target Value 2.38

CIE Set target in % = 70 Corresponding CIE Level = 2

ASSESSMENT OF COs FOR THE COURSE Attai

Objective CO nme
CO CO Avg
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Level nt
CO1 79.2 54.2 41.7 56.3 57.81 0.00 NO
CO2 52.1 52.1 52.08 0.00 NO
CO3 79.2 56.3 79.2 52.1 66.67 1.00 NO
CO4 - - -
CO5 - - -
CO6 - - -

CO
ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE INTERNAL EVALUATION AVG
PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3
CO1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -
CO2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -
CO3 1.00 1.00 0.67 0.67 0.83
CO4 -
CO5 -
CO6 -
Attainment 0.33 0.33 - - - - - - - - - - 0.22 0.22 - 0.83
Course Target = 2.38 Course Attainment = 0.83
Target 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00
 B V RAJU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NARSAPUR
Academic Year: 2020-21 Class: B.Tech II Year I Semester

Course Name: Material Science & Metallurgy

Course No: Assistant Professor
C. Code: ME
Faculty Name: P. ANILBABU Branch: ME

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

NOTE: 1. For Absentees : Enter -1 in the first column and leave Blank at other places
FIRST MID EXAMINATION Benchmark in % age 50
S. Reg.No Assignments TOTA
No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 L
Enter max Marks 5 5 5 5
1 18211A0303 4 5 5 5
2 18211A0307 5 4 5 5
3 18211A0316 4 3 4 4
4 18211A0320 5 5 4 5
5 18211A0322 4 4 4 4
6 18211A0325 4 4 4 4
7 18211A0331 5 5 5 5
8 18211A0332 4 4 5 4
9 18211A0333 5 5 5 5
10 18211A0334 5 5 5 5
11 18211A0335 5 5 4 5
12 18211A0337 4 5 4 4
13 18211A0339 5 5 5 5
14 18211A0340 3 4 4 4
15 18211A0341 4 5 4 4
16 18211A0343 5 4 5 5
17 18211A0344 4 4 5 4
18 18211A0345 4 3 4 4
19 18211A0358 4 5 5 5
20 18211A0361 5 4 5 5
21 18211A0362 5 5 4 5
22 18211A0363 5 4 5 5
23 18211A0365 5 5 4 5
24 18211A0366 5 4 5 5
25 18211A0371 4 4 3 4
26 18211A0372 4 5 4 4
27 18211A0376 4 4 4 4
28 18211A0378 3 4 3 3
29 18211A0379 4 4 4 4
30 18211A0381 5 5 4 5
31 18211A0383 4 5 4 4
32 18211A0387 5 5 5 5
33 18211A0388 5 4 5 5
34 18211A0391 3 3 2 3
35 18211A0392 3 2 3 3
36 18211A0394 4 5 5 5
37 18211A0395 5 5 5 5
38 18211A0399 3 4 4 4
39 18211A03A5
40 18211A03A6
64 20215A0328 5 4 5 5
65 20215A0329 5 5 4 5
66 18211A0364 0 0 0 0
67 18211A0367 3 5 3 4
No of students attempted 52 52 52 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 66
Benchmark marks 2.5 2.5 2.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.5
No of students scored
51 50 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 51
> = benchmark
Assessment 98.1 96.2 96.2 77.3
Attainment 3 3 3 2

Assessment of Continuous Internal Evaluation

Mapping of COs with the Questions :

Map the COs with Questions by marking 1 in the respective cells, otherwise leave BLANK
CO No. Mid exam - I
Assignments
1 2 3 4 `5 6 7 8 9 10
CO1 1
CO2 1
CO3 1
CO4
CO5
CO6

Map the Course Outcome LEVEL with the Program Outcomes(POs) and Program Specific Outcomes(PSOs)

Mapping of COs with POs and PSOs CO

PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 AVG
CO1 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO2 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO3 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO4 3 3 2 2 2.50
CO5 3 2 2 2 2.25
CO6 2 3 2 2 2.25
PO Avg. 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00 2.38
Course Target Value 2.38

CIE Set target in % = 70 Corresponding CIE Level = 2

ASSESSMENT OF COs FOR THE COURSE

Assignments CO CO Attain
CO
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Avg Level ment
CO1 98.1 98.08 3.00 YES
CO2 96.2 96.15 3.00 YES
CO3 96.2 96.15 3.00 YES
CO4 - - -
CO5 - - -
CO6 - - -

ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE INTERNAL EVALUATION CO

PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 AVG
CO1 3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.50
CO2 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.25
CO3 3.00 3.00 2.00 2.00 2.50
CO4 -
CO5 -
CO6 -
Attainment 3.00 2.67 - - - - - - - - - - 2.00 2.00 - 2.42
Course Target = 2.38 Course Attainment = 2.42
Target 2.83 2.67 2.00 2.00
 CO 1 CO 2 CO 3
Not Attained Roll Numbers
Total Total Total
(<50%)
Marks % Marks % Marks %
S.No. Roll Numbers 14 100 12 100 14 100 CO 1 CO 2 CO 3
1 18211A0303 12 86 6 43 14 100 18211A0303
2 18211A0307 13 93 11 79 13 93
3 18211A0316 11 79 8 58 8 58
4 18211A0320 8 58 11 79 12 86
5 18211A0322 8 58 10 72 12 86
6 18211A0325 4 29 9 65 6 43 18211A0325 18211A0325
7 18211A0331 13 93 12 86 9 65
8 18211A0332 6 43 8 58 9 65 18211A0332
9 18211A0333 13 93 12 86 12 86
10 18211A0334 6 43 5 36 11 79 18211A0334 18211A0334
11 18211A0335 13 93 7 50 12 86
12 18211A0337 6 43 11 79 13 93 18211A0337
13 18211A0339 11 79 10 72 11 79
14 18211A0340 5 36 10 72 9 65 18211A0340
15 18211A0341 12 86 11 79 12 86
16 18211A0343 8 58 9 65 13 93
17 18211A0344 12 86 9 65 11 79
18 18211A0345 7 50 10 72 12 86
19 18211A0358 10 72 17 122 7 50
20 18211A0361 10 72 7 50 11 79
21 18211A0362 7 50 11 79 9 65
22 18211A0363 10 72 4 29 11 79 18211A0363
23 18211A0365 7 50 12 86 13 93
24 18211A0366 11 79 11 79 13 93
25 18211A0371 7 50 10 72 10 72
26 18211A0372 7 50 10 72 13 93
27 18211A0376 7 50 9 65 12 86
28 18211A0378 7 50 8 58 8 58
29 18211A0379 7 50 9 65 9 65
30 18211A0381 13 93 14 100 7 50
31 18211A0383 12 86 10 72 10 72
32 18211A0387 9 65 7 50 10 72
33 18211A0388 12 86 11 79 13 93
34 18211A0391 3 22 6 43 3 22 18211A0391 18211A0391 18211A0391
35 18211A0392 3 22 5 36 5 36 18211A0392 18211A0392 18211A0392
36 18211A0394 7 50 11 79 10 72
37 18211A0395 11 79 11 79 14 100
38 18211A0399 4 29 7 50 9 65 18211A0399
39 18211A03A5 7 50 4 29 5 36 18211A03A5 18211A03A5
40 18211A03A6 10 72 8 58 11 79
41 18211A03A7 5 36 10 72 8 58 18211A03A7
42 18211A03a9 13 93 10 72 13 93
43 18211A03B3 8 58 9 65 12 86
44 18211A03B4 11 79 7 50 8 58
45 18211A03B6 4 29 7 50 7 50 18211A03B6
46 18211A03B8 11 79 10 72 10 72
47 19215A0307 7 50 8 58 14 100
48 19215A0309 13 93 11 79 11 79
 Not attained 10 6 4
Student Count

Remidial class was conducted on 'Constitution of alloys', 'Alloying

CO 1 10
Elements' and 'Rules for Solid Solution'
Remidial class was conducted on 'Phase Diagrams and its
Action Taken CO 2 6
importance with examples'
CO 3 4 Doubt Clarifying session was arranged on 'Fe-Fe3C and TTT'

4. External attainment calculations

ASSESSMENT OF COs FOR THE COURSE
Semester End Examination
PART A - Q.No. 1 PART B - Q.No. 2 to 13 CO CO Attainm
CO No. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
a b c d e Avg Level ent
a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b a b
CO1 87 33 0 100 62 70.73 3 YES
CO2 72 77 3.33 50.71 1 NO
CO3 85 96.2 87.5 89.66 3 YES
CO4 85 100 0 83.3 89.44 3 YES
CO5 54.3 0 53.8 50 52.71 1 NO
CO6 89 92.6 100 25.6 100 81.42 3 YES
ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE IN SEE
Avg
Course No PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3 BENCHMARK=40 LEVELS 70=3,60=2,50=1
203 2.2 2.2 - - - - - - - - - - 1.6 1.6 - 1.88

5. Course attainment calculations

Direct attainment Course End Survey Total attainment Analysis
COs CIE SEE Total COs Indirect COs Direct Indirect Total CO CO Target
COs Attained
Average Target Achieved
CO1 86.8 70.7 75.55 CO1 74.00 CO1 75.55 74 75.24 CO1 83.33 58.33 75.24 YES
CO2 83.8 50.7 60.64 CO2 76.67 CO2 60.64 76.667 63.84 CO2 75.00 52.50 63.84 YES
CO3 83.7 89.7 87.87 CO3 75.00 CO3 87.87 75 85.29 CO3 83.33 58.33 85.29 YES
CO4 77.8 89.4 85.95 CO4 72.67 CO4 85.95 72.667 83.29 CO4 83.33 58.33 83.29 YES
CO5 82.5 52.7 61.64 CO5 72.67 CO5 61.64 72.667 63.85 CO5 75.00 52.50 63.85 YES
CO6 80.8 81.4 81.24 CO6 69.33 CO6 81.24 69.333 78.86 CO6 75.00 52.50 78.86 YES
Avg 75.48 Avg 73.39 Avg 75.48 73.39 75.06 Avg 79.17 55.42 75.06 YES
total = CIE (30%)+ SEE (70%) total = Direct(80)+Indirect (20)

Course Contribution towards POs and PSOs attainment

Course No ASSESSMENT OF POs and PSOs through the COURSE
203 Avg
PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3
CIE 2.83 2.67 - - - - - - - - - - 2.00 2.00 - 2.38
SEE 2.17 2.22 - - - - - - - - - - 1.56 1.56 - 1.88
Total 2.37 2.36 - - - - - - - - - - 1.69 1.69 - 2.03

6. Comparison of attainments with previous results

Grade O A+ A B+ B C P F
7. Continuous improvement plan based on attainment.
Actions taken based on the results of evaluation of each of the COs, POs & PSOs

Identify the areas of weaknesses in the program based on the analysis of evaluation of COs,
POs & PSOs attainment levels. Measures identified and implemented to improve POs& PSOs
attainment levels for the assessment year including curriculum intervention, pedagogical
initiatives, support system improvements, etc.

COs Mapped Target Attainment Target

POs and Achieved
PSOs
CO1: List and describe the primary renewable energy resources and technologies
CO1 PO 1,
PO 2 58.33 75.24 YES
PSO2
Action:
Revision done on the basic concepts
Explained clearly the solar collectors.

CO2: Analyse harnessing of solar energy

CO2 PO 1,
PO 2 52.50 63.84 YES
PSO1,
PSO2
Action: Design procedure of solar energy storage was clearly explained to the students

CO3: Explain different types of wind mills and their of wind energy
CO3 PO 1, 58.33 85.29 YES
PO 2
PSO1,
PSO2
Action:
Topics were revised by conducting activity( Mind maps were done by the
students on the given concepts)

CO4: Analyse harnessing of Biomass and Geothermal energy

CO4 PO 1,
PO 2 58.33 83.29 YES
PSO1,
PSO2
Action:
Revision of topics was done by conducting activity (Alphabetical word game)

CO5: Explain the components and extraction of Magneto Hydrodynamic Generator

CO5 PO 1,
PO 2, PO 52.50 63.85 YES
3, PSO1,
 PSO2
Action:
Class tests were conducted to revise the concepts to students.
CO6: Explain the significance of Fuel cell technology
CO6 PO 1,
PO 2, PO 52.50 63.85 YES
3, PSO1,
PSO2
Action: Most of the students lack fundamental concepts on fuel cells and its properties,
thereby emphasis must be given in conducting more fundamental sessions
Course Mapped Target Attainment Target
No POs and Achieved
PSOs
A26C2 PO1 ,PO
2 PSO 1 55.42 75.06 YES
PSO 2
Action
Planned: .