Effect of Ground Condition on the Storage Zone Temperature of Salinity Gradient Solar Pond

Abstract

Salinity gradient solar pond is an integral thermal energy collection and storage device. Energy extracted from the storage zone can be utilized for power generation, process heating, drying agriculture products, and desalination. In case of buried solar pond, the thermal performance of the pond is highly dependent on the ground conditions. A numerical model was used to investigate the effect of depth of ground water table and thermal conductivity of the soil on the storage zone temperature. The model used has a good agreement with the experimental data. It was found that storage zone temperature and warm-up period is highly influence by the ground conditions.