Nowadays energy is continuously in demand and the world is on the one hand facing a problem with the limited availability of conventional energy sources and on the other hand global warming because of pollutants from fossil fuels.
There is a need to use alternative sources like solar, air, and water. The solar energy source is the non-conventional type of energy finding solution for the above problem which can replace conventional fuels for a number of applications.
For lifting and raising liquid levels electrical motor coupled pumps can be replaced by a solar thermal expansion pump which basically operates on the thermal level difference of thermal expansion.
The experiments are conducted to measure the performance of a solar thermal expansion pump. The results obtained are encouraging. This topic includes the design, construction, and working of a solar thermal expansion pump.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Solar Thermal Expansion Pump
The fossil fuels reservoirs are getting depleted due to their continuous use of it in automobiles, industries, and other applications. There is a need to use renewable energy sources like solar, air, water, or a combination of these to meet the requirements of transportation, industrial, and all other application.
Existing pumps are either electrical pumps or hand pumps or foot pumps. Electrically operated pumps require electrical energy, hand or foot-operated pump require human efforts.
As the energy crisis is a problem in front of our country, so we are going to design a pump that works on the principle of solar thermal expansion, and as compared to hand or foot pumps it will reduce human effort.
In the solar thermal expansion pump, we use solar thermal energy for lifting the water. As solar energy is freely available its running cost is very low.
The application of solar thermal expansion pump is not only in thermal industry but also it is used for the chemical industries, it may be used for domestic applications.
Construction And Design of Solar Thermal Expansion Pump
The solar thermal expansion pump consists of a tank, solar panel, PVC pipe, breaded pipe, ball valve, elbow, reducer, lower reservoir, base frame.
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| Fig. Solar Thermal Expansion Pump |
Tank
Keeping in mind that a person requires 30 liters of water a day, a tank of capacity 300 liters have been designed in order to serve a family of 5 members for 2 days. A mild steel sheet is used for the construction and fabrication of the water tank. The tank consists of four ports
- Inlet port
- Outlet port
- Suction port
- Discharge port
The Inlet port and the outlet port are connected to the solar panel ports.
The diameter of the tank is 450 mm and 800 mm long. At the suction port of the tank reducer of 1 inch is provided to the fitting of the flexible pipe to the port.
The flexible pipe is placed in the bucket which is filled by the water placed on the ground. The height of the discharge port from the ground is about 5.5 feet.
The Ball port is attached to the discharge port. The other two ports i.e. one inlet port of the tank is attached to the inlet port of the solar panel and the other outlet port is connected to the outlet port of the solar panel.
Solar Panel
The solar panel is selected for the heating capacity of 300 liters of water in a tank. A flat plate solar collector having 9 tubes in it is selected.
Copper tube
A copper tube of a diameter up to 3 mm is used for producing the throttling effect.
Working of Solar Thermal Expansion Pump
The solar thermal expansion pump is a pistonless or rotor less pump. Solar thermal expansion pump works on solar thermal expansion techniques.
First of all, some water is filled in the solar panel from the inlet valve of the panel. After filling water in the panel inlet valve is closed with the help of clips fitted on the flexible pipe.
The main function of the solar panel is to heat the water with the help of solar radiation without consuming electricity.
As the solar thermal expansion pump is rigid in construction we keep it open to the atmosphere at that time due to solar energy solar panels covert water into wet steam.
That wet steam is collected in the black-coated tank. The tank is black coated and the black body absorbs heat the temperature of steam get increases.
When atmospheric temperature increases the steam inside the tank gets expanded and when atmospheric temperature decreases at that time steam try to contract which results in the creation of a vacuum.
At the same time steam enters into the suction pipe. As steam enters inside the pipe its pressure decreases and velocity increases which results in the creation of a vacuum. As a vacuum is created the water from lower reservoir gets lifted upwards.
Advantages of Solar Thermal Expansion Pump
- Simple in construction.
- Low running cost.
- Corrosion and erosion resistant.
- Vibration-free.
- Easy to install.
Applications of Solar Thermal Expansion Pump
- Solar thermal expansion pump is used for domestic purposes in lifting water from a lower level to a higher level and to store it.
- It is used to supply hot water in industrial applications.
- It is used to lift muddy water which is difficult to lift by conventional pumps.
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