MILTON MARGAI COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

AND TECHNOLOGY
ASSIGNMENT

“SOLAR ENERGY AND PURE SUBSTANCES”

MODULE:

THERMO-FLUIDS

SUBMITTED BY

NAME:ANDERSON WILLIAMS

ID NO.: 18638

PROGRAMME: NDME 11

DATE:19 DECEMBER, 2019.

SUBMITTED TO

LECTURER: MR LAPPIA

MODULE: THERMO-FLUIDS
 SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a
range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar
heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt
power plants and artificial photosynthesis.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are
broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on
how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power.
Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic
systems, concentrated solar power and solar water heating to harness the
energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun,
selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing
properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION METHODS

The sun emits enormous amount of radiation. When we refer to Types of
Solar Energy we actually mean what are the different methods by which Sun
Radiation is converted to other forms of energy. Sun radiation can be
converted directly to electricity, can be converted to heat, and can be
exploited by bio-chemical reactions. It can also be used directly for tanning,
as long as one is aware to the hazards.

The Photovoltaic Effect | Direct Conversion

to Electricity
Direct generation of electrical power is one of the most important types of
solar energy conversion known. Photovoltaic Effect is the way to directly
convert day light radiation (photons, light particles) into electricity
(electrons, electricity particles). Solar panels are used extensively
for residential solar power generation as well as for utility scale power
plants. Better ways to produce economically more efficient solar panels are
being researched by corporations and research institutes.

Big electrical Power Plants use mirrors or lenses to concentrate more sun
radiation on solar panels to get more output power. The mirrors (or lenses)
are tracking the sun as it changes its position in the sky
Solar Thermal | Converting Sun Radiation
to Heat
The conversion of solar radiation to thermal energy (heating up water or air)
is based on the greenhouse effect. Sun radiation in the visible wavelength
goes through a transparent layer (glass or plastic), then absorbed in a black
layer (black coated material) and heat it up. The black sheet absorber
radiates the absorbed energy in the infrared wavelengths (what we humans
feel as heat) toward the glass layer. Glass however is not transparent to
infrared and the heat is trapped and can be delivered to water or air

For home energy applications, solar thermal principles are used in solar hot
water heaters, in solar pool heaters and in solar space heating.

Big electrical Power Plants use solar energy to generate steam, high
temperature/high pressure water vapors to run steam electrical generators.

Bio-Chemical Sun Light Conversion

Among the different types of solar energy conversion there is one that
nature support for billions of years. Photosynthesis is a well known bio-
chemical reaction. Most plant life forms use photosynthesis; The sun
provides the needed energy to process water and carbon dioxide in a
reaction that produces carbohydrates. A byproduct is released oxygen that
animals use for their internal combustion metabolism process. A lot of
research is done to imitate photosynthesis in manmade environment or to
use algae to produce fuel.

Natural Daylight
Often neglected, a sound building design can save a lot of money spent on
artificial lighting by letting natural daylight to the building. Among the types
of solar energy, natural daylight is generously provided by mother nature.
Using large size windows and skylights can save the need for artificial
lighting. Did you know that solar tubes can bring light to rooms that don't
have windows?
Utility Scale Power Plants
Residential solar power generators are usually not bigger than 5 kW. Public
buildings (schools, public and government offices) as well as business sector
offices solar power generators are usually not bigger than 50 kW. Up to
50kW the solar electric panels dominate the market scene

The output power range of 100 kW to 1 MW is typical to communities that

generate their own electricity, these solar plants are frequently combined
with wind turbines and conventional small steam turbines

Utility scale power plants use types of solar energy such as optical
concentrated solar (photoelectric technology) or Heliostats. Heliostats are
mirrors that track the sun and reflect the sunlight onto a central collector.
Heliostats are usually arranged in an array around a tower. The collector is
mounted on the tower and produce steam at high temperature and high
pressure to operate a steam turbine

OR

The energy that is naturally available from the solar source is quite enormous. The sun
delivers 1.2 x 105 TW of power onto the Earth, the amount that surpasses any other
energy resource by capacity and availability. For comparison, according to Crabtree and
Lewis (2007), all recoverable Earth's oil reserves (~3 trillion barrels) account for 1.7 x
1022 Joules of energy. The sun supplies this amount of energy to the Earth in 1.5 days.
To be utilized, the solar radiation needs to be converted into other forms of energy,
such as electricity or usable heat. The question is: can we effectively do that at the
scale of our demands?

According to International Energy Outlook of the U.S. Energy Information

Association (EIA), current global demand of energy utilization is ~ 13 TW. This converts
to 4.1 x 1020 Joules of energy per year. This demand is expected to grow up to ~20 TW
in 2020.
Apparently, the solar resource contains enough energy to cover those demands.
However, the critical limitations in solar energy conversion will be the efficiency of
existing technologies and their overall capacity to produce power sustainably.

Before considering various types of conversion of solar energy, let us briefly review
what solar radiation actually is. Here are a few main things we know from physics:

 Solar energy is electromagnetic radiation.

 Main components of solar radiation:
 o Infrared ( 52 – 55% λ > 700 nm)
o Visible (42-43% 400 < λ < 700 nm)
o Ultraviolet (3-5% 100 < λ < 400 nm) - see Figure 1.1
 Solar radiation near the earth surface is essentially in the range λ 290 – 2500 nm.
 Quantum (unit energy) of electromagnetic radiation - photon (E = hv) - is a often a
more convenient term in the mechanism of solar conversion.

Figure 1.1. Electromagnetic spectrum.

 Credit: Victor Blacus via Electromagnetic Spectrum from Wikimedia Commons

This diagram lists all existing types of electromagnetic radiation across the scale of
radiation wave length and frequency. The solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface
predominantly consists of infrared (52-55%), visible (42-43%), and ultraviolet (3-5%)
radiation, covering the wave length range from ~ 290 nm to 2.5 μm [Duffie, Beckman,
2013]

This mix of various types of electromagnetic radiation allows the sunlight to be

converted through a variety physical mechanisms, which are:

 direct conversion to electricity (through photovoltaic effect);

 conversion to usable heat (for example, via thermal collectors);
 conversion to matter / fuel (for example, production of biomass through
photosynthesis).

LIMITATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY

 The solar power plant takes a lot of land and is more efficient in sunny
areas; this sunny land is available in desert area remote from the
consumers. Therefore, new super high voltage power lines need to be
built, a long and expensive process that draw a lot of objections by
environmentalists and land owners.
 There is still no large scale technology to store electrical power produced
during day hours and to be used after sunset. Heliostats are more
promising because technologies to store heat are more mature.
 Works only when there is sunlight. So not available after evening.
 Power varies with light intensity. Production is not uniform
throughout the day.
 Affected by passing clouds.
 Varies with season as sunlight varies with season.
 Takes good amount of land area.
 Energy Storage is needed to take care of variation in output over
day, and also night usage.

EQUIPMENTS USED TO HARNESS THE SOLAR

ENERGY
  Mini Portable Solar Oven
A portable solar oven is a great thing to have in a grid down situation. While
you can certainly build a fire and roast food over that, the solar oven allows
you to cook food without having to constantly attend to it. With enough sun,
you should be able to cook anything you can think of on the Sunflair.

It folds down nicely for transport and also comes with a thermometer, a
trivet, a silicone pot (collapsible), and a bag for storage. This is a great tool
that is equally at home in an RV or camping trailer as it is in a survival
kit or bug out bag.

 Solar Lantern
The AGPtek Solar Lantern offers you five different power methods: solar, cranking,
plugging it into an AC adapter or a car adapter, or installing 3 AA batteries. That means
you have alternative options at night and on cloudy days.

Regardless of which method you choose, this lantern consumes very little energy
thanks to its polysilicon solar panels which simultaneously emit a brighter light than
most other lanterns on the market.

 Solar Powered LED Sensor Light

This LED senor light is very easy to install. And since it is solar powered,
there is no need to plug in any wires. Instead, it will charge itself with the
sun’s energy during the day to create over twelve hours of non-stop light
during the night.

The sensor has a total range of ten feet at an angle of one hundred and
twenty degrees. The entire device is completely heatproof and waterproof
and will hold up well in any environment. Total lifespan of the solar panel is
five years.

 Hybrid Solar Powered Flashlight

The Hybrid Solar Powered Flashlight has a total burn time of eleven years
when on LED, or twenty-two years if it is used continuously at night. Of
course, it’s very unlikely that you’ll have your flashlight continuously for
that long, so it’s more than possible that this flashlight will last the rest of
your life.

Other than the fact that it is solar powered rather than battery powered, this
flashlight will act just like any other flashlight. An additional neat feature: it
is completely waterproof and even floats.

 Solar Backpack
You probably didn’t know solar backpacks even exist, but they do, and they
are great for any outdoor enthusiast. Just like any other ordinary backpack,
the ECEEN Solar Backpack comes with more than enough pockets and
compartments for storing gear, equipment, and personal documents. The
durable nylon fabric means it will hold up perfectly well while backpacking,
hunting, hiking, or biking.

But the real standout of this backpack is the fact it is solar powered; to be
more specific, it is powered with seven watts of very efficient and scratch
resistant solar cells. Thanks to this solar power, you can use this backpack
to charge a number of devices including mobile devices, GPS systems, and
MP3 Players.

 Solar Air Lantern

This durable LED lantern just needs a few hours of sunlight to provide you
with light all night long. The best thing about this lantern is how little space
it takes up. When deflated, it’s only 1 inch tall and about 4 inches wide. The
light fills up a 150 square foot area.

It’s waterproof, it floats, and you can even charge it while trekking through
the wilderness by hanging it on your bag.

 5 Gallon Summer Shower

Personal hygiene is very important in any survival or outdoor situation, which is where
the Advanced Elements Summer Shower comes in handy. You simply fill it up with 5
gallons of water through the opening at the top, screw it shut, and leave it out in the sun
for a few hours to heat up.

Once the water reaches your desired temperature, simply tie it to a tree to take a
shower. It also includes side pockets for storing shampoo and soap, while a
temperature gauge tells you how warm or cool the water is.

 Solar Powered LED Flashlight and Radio

This solar powered product is cool because it combines two necessary
survival products into one: a radio and a flashlight. The flashlight part has
an LED light that can deliver over a hundred thousand hours of light during
its lifetime.

Meanwhile, the radio can be used to listen to emergency broadcasts. While

you can power the internal battery for both the radio and the flashlight with
a hand crank , you can also charge it by leaving it in the sun for a few hours.

 Solar Device Charger

Our last item is this solar device charger by Anker. All you have to do is
unfold it, set it in the sun, and it will charge devices such as smartphones
and tablets. You can even hang it on your backpack so it charges your
devices while you’re on the move. You can also charge two devices at the
same time.

The word homogeneous means that the substance should be in only one
phase. It could be either only solid or only liquid or only gas. For example,
A mixture of water and milk is a homogeneous mixture, while a mixture of
water and sand is not a homogeneous mixture.

Examples of pure substance:

Atmospheric air,
steam-water mixture
and combustion products of a fuel are considered as pure substance. It is
very important while studying vapor power cycles and internal combustion
engines.
Now let’s understand two property rules.
 Two property rule
One of the key advantages of the pure substance is that it follows ‘two
property rule’. Which means, to determine thermodynamic state of any pure
substance we need only two thermodynamic states, third state can be
calculated with the help of various available formulae.
One such formula is ideal gas equation (given below)
P*V = n*R*T
Where
P: Pressure
V: Volume
n: Number of moles
R: Universal gas constant, whose value is 8.314 kg m2 s-2 k-1 mol-1
T: Temperature
In the above formula we can easily observe that if we know the value of
any two state variables from P, V and T. We can easily derive the value of
third state variable.
Two property rule is very helpful in plotting graphs of various
thermodynamic relations P-V, P-T etc.
 PURE SUBSTANCE

A substance that has a fixed chemical composition throughout is called pure substance. Water,
helium carbon dioxide, nitrogen are examples. It does not have to be a single chemical element
just as long as it is homogeneous throughout, like air. A mixture of phases of two or more
substance is can still a pure substance if it is homogeneous, like ice and water (solid and liquid)
or water and steam (liquid and gas).