Editorial Solar Thermal Engineeringdownloads.hindawi.com/journals/ijp/2017/7493781.pdf · Editorial...
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Editorial Solar Thermal Engineering Alibakhsh Kasaeian, 1 Michel Feidt, 2 Stoian Petrescu, 3 and Adel Mellit 4 1 Department of Renewable Energies, Faculty of New Sciences & Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Physics and Mechanics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France 3 Department of Engineering Thermodynamics, Engines, Thermal and Refrigeration Equipments, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania 4 Renewable Energy Laboratory, Jijel University, 1800 Jijel, Algeria Correspondence should be addressed to Alibakhsh Kasaeian; [email protected] Received 14 August 2017; Accepted 14 August 2017; Published 2 November 2017 Copyright © 2017 Alibakhsh Kasaeian et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The increasing demands to energy, from one side, and the global warming crisis of the world, from other side, are the reasons for developing renewable energies [1]. Among all resources of renewable energies, solar energy is the unlimited resource which can be exploited all over the world. The prices for solar generation technologies continue to rapidly decrease; so that, in some cases, the cost is competitive with the fossil fuel costs [2]. The thermal conversion of solar energy is possible by different collectors including flat and concentrating collectors. For the purpose of reaching large- scale energy conversion in both forms of electricity and thermal, the usage of different solar concentrating collectors would be a favorite selection [1]. Besides the application of solar flat and concentrating collectors, other kinds of energy conversion units have been focused by different researchers. For achieving wind and rotating turbines, solar chimneys would be a preferred option in the windless zones [3]. Also, for the purpose of supplying potable water, the solar stills have been developed in different types and designs [4]. In the recent years, in case of the application of solar thermal systems, the usage of special materials has been paid attention for increasing the efficiency. For instance, using of nanofluids has been the subject of research by many researchers [5]. Nanofluids are capable to enhance the heat transfer coefficient of the working fluids, which are circulat- ing through the absorber tubes of the solar thermal units. Also, the phase change materials (PCMs) are another materials which have found a special situation in the solar thermal systems. PCMs can store/release a large amount of heat during melting/solidification or gasification/liquefaction processes. Since the phase-transition enthalpy of PCMs is usually much higher than sensible heat, latent heat storage has much higher storage density than sensible heat storage [6]. So, this case will be another potential for the future studies in the field of solar thermal energy. Regarding the importance of solar energy as the main sustainable resource among all renewable resources, it was interesting to gather the research findings of this subject in a special issue. The issue covers all new research articles about solar radiation and solar thermal energy systems. The aim was focused on the thermal conversion aspect of solar energy. So, the conversion systems including flat collecting and concentrating systems were gathered in this issue. Besides the technical issues related to solar thermal energy, the economic and environmental subjects were of interest for review. So, the topics including solar radiation, potential and feasibility study, flat and evacuated tube collectors, trough and Fresnel collectors, solar Stirling systems, heliostat fields, solar chimney, solar desalination, nanofluid in solar thermal systems, green buildings, passive solar systems, solar biomimetic systems, optimization in solar thermal systems, economic aspects of solar power plants, and solar CHP were announced for this special issue. Here, the published papers are placed in the categories of flat and evacuated tube collec- tors, trough and Fresnel collectors, solar chimney, green buildings, and photovoltaic thermal systems. Hindawi International Journal of Photoenergy Volume 2017, Article ID 7493781, 2 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7493781
Transcript of Editorial Solar Thermal Engineeringdownloads.hindawi.com/journals/ijp/2017/7493781.pdf · Editorial...
EditorialSolar Thermal Engineering
Alibakhsh Kasaeian,1 Michel Feidt,2 Stoian Petrescu,3 and Adel Mellit4
1Department of Renewable Energies, Faculty of New Sciences & Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran2Department of Physics and Mechanics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France3Department of Engineering Thermodynamics, Engines, Thermal and Refrigeration Equipments, University Politehnica of Bucharest,Bucharest, Romania4Renewable Energy Laboratory, Jijel University, 1800 Jijel, Algeria
Correspondence should be addressed to Alibakhsh Kasaeian; [email protected]
Received 14 August 2017; Accepted 14 August 2017; Published 2 November 2017
Copyright © 2017 Alibakhsh Kasaeian et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work isproperly cited.
The increasing demands to energy, from one side, and theglobal warming crisis of the world, from other side, are thereasons for developing renewable energies [1]. Among allresources of renewable energies, solar energy is the unlimitedresource which can be exploited all over the world. The pricesfor solar generation technologies continue to rapidlydecrease; so that, in some cases, the cost is competitive withthe fossil fuel costs [2]. The thermal conversion of solarenergy is possible by different collectors including flat andconcentrating collectors. For the purpose of reaching large-scale energy conversion in both forms of electricity andthermal, the usage of different solar concentrating collectorswould be a favorite selection [1]. Besides the application ofsolar flat and concentrating collectors, other kinds of energyconversion units have been focused by different researchers.For achieving wind and rotating turbines, solar chimneyswould be a preferred option in the windless zones [3]. Also,for the purpose of supplying potable water, the solar stillshave been developed in different types and designs [4].
In the recent years, in case of the application of solarthermal systems, the usage of special materials has been paidattention for increasing the efficiency. For instance, using ofnanofluids has been the subject of research by manyresearchers [5]. Nanofluids are capable to enhance the heattransfer coefficient of the working fluids, which are circulat-ing through the absorber tubes of the solar thermal units.Also, the phase change materials (PCMs) are anothermaterials which have found a special situation in the solar
thermal systems. PCMs can store/release a large amount ofheat during melting/solidification or gasification/liquefactionprocesses. Since the phase-transition enthalpy of PCMs isusually much higher than sensible heat, latent heat storagehas much higher storage density than sensible heat storage[6]. So, this case will be another potential for the futurestudies in the field of solar thermal energy.
Regarding the importance of solar energy as the mainsustainable resource among all renewable resources, it wasinteresting to gather the research findings of this subject ina special issue. The issue covers all new research articlesabout solar radiation and solar thermal energy systems. Theaim was focused on the thermal conversion aspect of solarenergy. So, the conversion systems including flat collectingand concentrating systems were gathered in this issue.Besides the technical issues related to solar thermal energy,the economic and environmental subjects were of interestfor review. So, the topics including solar radiation, potentialand feasibility study, flat and evacuated tube collectors,trough and Fresnel collectors, solar Stirling systems, heliostatfields, solar chimney, solar desalination, nanofluid in solarthermal systems, green buildings, passive solar systems, solarbiomimetic systems, optimization in solar thermal systems,economic aspects of solar power plants, and solar CHP wereannounced for this special issue. Here, the published papersare placed in the categories of flat and evacuated tube collec-tors, trough and Fresnel collectors, solar chimney, greenbuildings, and photovoltaic thermal systems.
HindawiInternational Journal of PhotoenergyVolume 2017, Article ID 7493781, 2 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7493781
In case of flat collectors, the authors investigated a small-scale solar thermal collector. The absorber was coated with aselective coating, and the study was carried out for a low-pressure environment to increase the performance. Then, anumerical model was developed to predict the performanceof the collector plate. In another study, the researchersconducted a detailed modelling of flat plate solar collectorswith vacuum glazing, based on the combined external andinternal energy balance of the absorber. In this special issue,some authors report the application of phase changematerials for a solar chimney, and the storage capabilityand the night ventilation performance of the systemhave beenassessed. Regarding solar trough collector, a paper is presentedfor elliptical cavity tube receivers in a parabolic trough solarcollector. The authors have designed and optimized the cavityreceivers and concluded that the focal distance has a negativerelation with the cavity open length, whereas the concentra-tion ratio has a positive relation with the cavity open length.Another paper in this special issue is allocated to a water-cooled PVT (photovoltaic thermal) unit. The authors havedemonstrated that the use of maximum power point trackinghas a much better function than the fixed optimized.
In the field of energy in buildings and space heating, twopapers are reported in this special issue. One is specified for anearly zero-energy building, which has been done in China asa case study. A solar heating and cooling system including a35.17 kW cooling absorption chiller, an evacuated tube solarcollector, two hot-water storage tanks, two cold-water stor-age tanks, and a 281 kW cooling tower has been designedand built by the researchers. Another study talks about theeffects of ambient conditions on the performance of adirect-expansion solar-assisted heat pump. In this paper, byapplying bare plate evaporators for space heating, the effectsof ambient temperature, solar irradiation, and relativehumidity on the system performance are assessed.
We hope that many researchers from universities,research centers, and industry read the papers of this specialissue. Also, it is our pleasure to present this special issue inthe field of solar thermal energy; so we hope that the readersfind this special issue helpful and effective.
Alibakhsh KasaeianMichel Feidt
Stoian PetrescuAdel Mellit
References
[1] F. Wang, Z. Cheng, J. Tan, Y. Yuan, Y. Shuai, and L. Liu, “Prog-ress in concentrated solar power technology with parabolictrough collector system: a comprehensive review,” Renewableand Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 79, pp. 1314–1328, 2017.
[2] W. Herche, “Solar energy strategies in the U.S. utility mar-ket,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 77,pp. 590–595, 2017.
[3] M. Ghalamchi, A. B. Kasaeian, M. Ghalamchi, and A. HajiseyedMirzahosseini, “An experimental study on the thermal perfor-mance of a solar chimney with different dimensional parame-ters,” Renewable Energy, vol. 91, pp. 477–483, 2016.
[4] H. Panchal and I. Mohan, “Various methods applied to solarstill for enhancement of distillate output,” Desalination,vol. 415, pp. 76–89, 2017.
[5] O. Mahian, A. Kianifar, S. A. Kalogirou, I. Pop, andS. Wonwises, “A review of the applications of nanofluids insolar energy,” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer,vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 582–594, 2013.
[6] Y. Tian and C. Y. Zhao, “A review of solar collectors andthermal energy storage in solar thermal applications,”Applied Energy, vol. 104, pp. 538–553, 2013.
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