CFD analysis on the performance of a solar chimney power plant system: Case study in Algeria

The solar chimney power plant (SCPP) is a power generator which uses solar radiation to increase the internal energy of the air circulating in the system, thereby transforming the useful gain of the solar collector into kinetic energy. The produced kinetic energy then can be converted into electrical energy by means of an appropriate turbine. In this paper, four locations in Algeria

(Constantine, Ouargla, Adrar, and Tamanrasset) were considered as case studies to describe the SCPP mechanism in detail. Numerical simulation of an SCPP which has the same geometrical dimensions was performed to estimate the power output of SCPP in these regions. Using the CFD software FLUENT we simulated a two-dimensional axisymmetric model of a SCPP with the standard k-ε turbulence model. The simulation results show that the highest power output produced monthly average value 68–73 KW over the year and the highest hourly power produced in June is around 109–113 KW.     

Optimization of thermal performance of the parabolic trough solar collector systems based on GA-BP neural network model

The aim of this paper is to optimize the thermal performance (system output energy, thermal efficiency, and heat loss of cavity absorber) of parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) systems in order to improve its thermal performance, based on the genetic algorithm-back propagation (GA-BP) neural network model. There are a number of undefined problems, fuzzy or incomplete information and a complex thermal performance of the PTC systems. Therefore, the thermal performance prediction of the PTC systems based on GA-BP neural network model was developed. Subsequently, the metrics performances have been adopted to comprehensively understand the algorithm and evaluate the prediction accuracy. Results revealed that the GA-BP neural network model can be successfully used to predict the complex nonlinear relationship between the input variables and thermal performance of the PTC systems. The cosine effect has a great influence on the thermal performance; thereby the geometrical structure of the PTC systems was optimized. It was found that the optimized geometrical structure was beneficial to improve the thermal performance of the PTC system. In conclusion, the GA-BP neural network model has higher prediction accuracy than the other algorithm and it can be feasible and reliable.     

Moisture transfer modeling during solar drying of potato cylinders considering shrinkage

In the present work, the thin layer drying kinetics of potato during natural convection solar drying was investigated experimentally. Cylindrical potato samples with length 50 mm and varying diameter of 8, 10 and 13 mm were dried in an in-house designed and fabricated laboratory scale mixed-mode solar dryer. Thirteen different thin-layer mathematical models were fitted to the experimental moisture ratio (MR) data. The obtained results indicated that the Modified Page model could satisfactorily describe the drying curve of potato cylinders with higher value of R² and lower values of RMSE and χ². The shrinkage parameter is incorporated in the analytical diffusion model to study the moisture transfer mechanism of potato cylinders. It was observed that the values of effective diffusion coefficient (D_eff) and convective mass transfer coefficient (h_m) are overestimated in the range of 85.02–90.27% and 39.11–45.11% for the range of sample diameter examined, without considering the shrinkage effect in the mass transfer analysis. A Multiphysics approach was adopted in this study to get insight into the drying behavior of potato cylinders in terms of food-moisture interactions during the solar drying process. The predicted results of MR are in close agreement with the experimental data. Moreover, the anisotropic behavior of shrinkage as well as the moisture distribution inside the potato cylinder was very well described by Multiphysics model.     

Global solar radiation and energy yield estimation from photovoltaic power plants for small loads

Daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface and duration of sunshine hours have been determined experimentally for five meteorological stations in Saudi Arabia, namely, Abha, Al-Ahsa, Al-Jouf, Al-Qaisumah, and Wadi Al-Dawaser sites. Five-years of data covering 1998–2002 period have been used. Suitable Angstrom models have been developed for the global solar radiation estimation as a function of the sunshine duration for each respective sites. Daily averages of monthly solar PV power outputs have been determined using the Angstrom models developed. The effect of the PV cell temperature on the PV efficiency has been considered in calculating the PV power output. The annual average PV output energy has been discussed in all five sites for small loads. The minimum and maximum monthly average values of the daily global solar radiation are found to be 12.09 MJ/m²/d and 30.42 MJ/m²/d for Al-Qaisumah and Al-Jouf in the months of December June, respectively. Minimum monthly average sunshine hours of 5.89 hr were observed in Al-Qaisumah in December while a maximum of 12.92 hr in Al-Jouf in the month of June. Shortest range of sunshine hours of 7.33–10.12 hr was recorded at Abha station. Minimum monthly average Solar PV power of 1.59 MJ/m²/day was obtained at Al-Qaisumah in the month of December and a maximum of 3.39 MJ/m²/day at Al-Jouf in June. The annual PV energy output was found to be 276.04 kWh/m², 257.36 kWh/m², 256.75 kWh/m², 245.44 kWh/m², and 270.95 kWh/m² at Abha, Al-Ahsa, Al-Jouf, Al-Qaisumah, and Wadi Al-Dawaser stations, respectively. It is found that the Abha site yields the highest solar PV energy among the five sites considered.     

The influences of recycle effect on double-pass V-corrugated solar air heaters

The study of the heat transfer enhancement for the recycling double-pass V-corrugated solar air heaters, which implement the external recycle of flowing air, was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The comparison among different designs of V-corrugated, baffled and fins attached, and flat-plate collectors was made to show the device performance improvement with various operating parameters under the same working dimensions. The recycling double-pass V-corrugated device developed here was proposed in aiming to strengthen the convective heat-transfer coefficient and enlarge the heat transfer area. The error analysis of experimental results deviate by 0.85–2.46% from the theoretical predictions with the fairly good agreement, and both results show that the device performance of the recycling double-pass V-corrugated operation is better than those of the other configurations under various recycle ratios and mass flow rates. The suitable selections were obtained for operating recycling double-pass V-corrugated devices while considering with an economic viewpoint by both the collector efficiency enhancement and the power consumption increment.     

澳洲冷空气活动与长江中下游降水的联系分析

利用澳洲范围700 hPa温度场的再分析资料和长江中下游降水资料,通过谱分析方法,试析了澳洲冷空气活动对我国长江中下游主汛期降水的影响,并进一步分析了西太平洋副热带高压在此中起的作用。研究结果表明：在我国夏季,澳洲变温与涝年长江中下游主汛期的降水都具有77 d的周期,两者存在着77 d周期的遥相关,同时在77 d的周期两者呈现同位相振荡。也就表明在77 d的周期澳洲冷高压变动时经73 d后影响长江中下游降水。同时也得出澳洲冷高压强时,西太平洋副热带高压北移,长江中下游受西太平洋副热带高压控制,晴天少雨;澳洲冷高压弱时,西太平洋副热带高压南落,长江中下游处西太平洋副热带高压边缘,多降水天气。以上结论对长江中下游降水预报有一定的指示意义。     

垃圾渗滤液处理工艺中有机污染物的三维荧光光谱

利用荧光发射和三维荧光光谱研究了三峡库区某垃圾堆场的渗滤液及其处理工艺出水溶解性有机质(DOM)的荧光光谱特性。堆场渗滤液的DOM含有类酪氨酸、色氨酸及紫外区类富里酸,特征荧光峰中心位于E_x/E_m=275 nm/305 nm,为高激发波长类酪氨酸,与前人的研究结果并不一致,这可能与垃圾的堆放期有关。渗滤液和各处理工艺出水的荧光指数f_450/500均大于1.9,表明腐殖质主要为微生物源。渗滤液在处理前后荧光峰特征和强度均发生明显改变,类蛋白荧光强度与DOC值变化趋势基本一致。生化处理工艺中,类蛋白荧光强度降低了66.4%～95.5%,紫外区类富里酸荧光强度只降低了28.8%,显示类蛋白质具有良好的可生化性,而类富里酸相对较难生化降解。三维荧光光谱能反映渗滤液处理过程中污染物的种类、性质和数量等变化信息,能快速地进行定性分析、定量评价。     

Improving the Integration of Recreation Management with Management of Other Natural Resources by Applying Concepts of Scale from Ecology

In this article, we examine how issues of scale affect the integration of recreation management with the management of other natural resources on public lands. We present two theories used to address scale issues in ecology and explore how they can improve the two most widely applied recreation-planning frameworks. The theory of patch dynamics and hierarchy theory are applied to the recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) and the limits of acceptable change (LAC) recreation-planning frameworks. These frameworks have been widely adopted internationally, and improving their ability to integrate with other aspects of natural resource management has significant social and conservation implications. We propose that incorporating ecologic criteria and scale concepts into these recreation-planning frameworks will improve the foundation for integrated land management by resolving issues of incongruent boundaries, mismatched scales, and multiple-scale analysis. Specifically, we argue that whereas the spatially explicit process of the ROS facilitates integrated decision making, its lack of ecologic criteria, broad extent, and large patch size decrease its usefulness for integration at finer scales. The LAC provides explicit considerations for weighing competing values, but measurement of recreation disturbances within an LAC analysis is often done at too fine a grain and at too narrow an extent for integration with other recreation and resource concerns. We suggest that planners should perform analysis at multiple scales when making management decisions that involve trade-offs among competing values. The United States Forest Service is used as an example to discuss how resource-management agencies can improve this integration.     

汽车模拟日照太阳辐射试验设备研制

本文根据汽车整车太阳辐射试验的要求,介绍了自主设计的基于红外线灯泡阵列的无紫外线汽车模拟太阳辐射试验设备的总体方案,并重点讨论了在光源、电气控制等各方面的设计思路及具体实现过程。     

太阳能光伏发电成本及展望

针对太阳能电池的昂贵发电成本,分析和预测了国内外的太阳能光伏产业链的现状与发展;指出研制高效率、低成本太阳能光伏发电系统将是今后的任务。