Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500 www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Open bre reinforced plastic (FRP) at plate collector (FPC) and spray network systems for augmenting the evaporation rate of tannery euent (soak liquor)
K. Srithar
b

a,*

, A. Mani

a Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai 625 015, India Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai 600 036, India

Received 1 August 2006; received in revised form 18 November 2006; accepted 16 February 2007 Available online 15 March 2007 Communicated by: Associate Editor G.N. Tiwari

Abstract Presently, tanneries in Tamilnadu, India are required to segregate the euent of soaking and pickling sections from other wastewater streams and send it to shallow solar pans for evaporation to avoid land pollution. A large area of solar pans is required for evaporating the water in the euent at salt concentration in the range of 45%. An experimental study has been made by using bre reinforced plastic at plate collector (FRPFPC) and spray system in a pilot plant with a capacity to handle 5000 l per day, which increases the evaporation rate. After increasing the salt concentration level to near saturation limit, the concentrated liquid was sent to conventional solar pans for its continued evaporation and recovery of salt. In this improved system, the rate of evaporation was found to be 3040% more than that in the conventional solar pans. The performance is compared with the theoretically simulated performance. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Tannery euent treatment; Solar at plate collector; Spray net work system

1. Introduction Total dissolved solids (TDS), especially chlorides, in euent let out by the tanneries to the surroundings pollutes the land in semi-urban and urban areas. Presently, the euent treatment plants are in the form of shallow natural evaporation pans. The euents let by these plants are evaporated over a period of time. The average rate of evaporation in Vellore district, Tamilnadu, is 4.5 mm per day per m2 (Srithar, 2003) from the surface of natural lakes and ponds of non-saline water. During the processing of 1 ton of raw hides, an average volume of soak and pickle liquor (euent) generated ranges between 6500 and 10,000 l.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 0 452 2482240; fax: +91 0 452 2483427. E-mail address: ponsathya@hotmail.com (K. Srithar). 0038-092X/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2007.02.004
*

Therefore, the area of solar pan required for evaporating this volume of saline euent varies in the ranges between 1445 m2 and 2220 m2. But the availability of land in urban and semi-urban sectors is not only scarce but also very costly. Hence, it is required to augment the evaporation rate by adopting some suitable technique. The rate of evaporation from the pans depends strongly on the temperature of the euent and the surrounding air condition. One of the methods in which the evaporation rates can be increased is by increasing the contact area between the euent and air and increasing its temperature. This can be achieved by using at plate collector and/or spray evaporation systems. In this study, the usage of open solar at plate collectors and a spray evaporation system were tried for augmenting the evaporation rate. In the case of at plate collector, the euents are allowed to ow over the collector thereby the

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

1493

Nomenclature A Cps dm dt Ec Ed Ek Er Es Gr Go hsa hfg Ib Id Ig K L m P Pr exposure area, m2 specic heat of the solution, J kg1 K1 mass of water evaporated from the solution, kg s1 time interval, s energy transferred from solution by convection, J energy transferred due to evaporation, J energy conducted through the base, J energy transfer by radiation, J energy transferred to solution, J Grasho number mass ow rate of the solution, kg s1 convective heat transfer coecient between the solution and ambient air, W m2 K1 latent heat of vaporization from the solution, J kg1 K1 intensity of solar radiation on an inclined plane, W m2 diuse radiation intensity on a horizontal plane, W m2 global radiation intensity on a horizontal plane, W m2 thermal conductivity, W m1 K1 characteristic length, m initial mass of the solution, kg atmospheric pressure, N m2 Prandtl number pA ps,ave pw Re RH S Ta Te Tf Ts W x partial pressure of water vapour in the ambient air, N m2 partial pressure of the solution, N m2 partial pressure of the water vapour, N m2 Reynold number relative humidity salinity, g kg1 ambient temperature, K sky temperature, K arithmetic mean temperature between solution and ambient, K solution temperature, K wind speed, m s1 uid ow length, m

Greek symbols a absorptivity of the plate b collector inclination, deg bm mass transfer coecient, m2 s1 cs surface azimuth angle es emissivity of the solution r StefanBoltzmann constant, W m2 K4 / latitude, deg x hour angle, deg d declination, deg DTs temperature rise of the solution, K Dx thickness of the plate, m

temperature of the euent and the exposure area of the euent with the air increases, which in turn increases the evaporation rate. Fibre re-inforced plastic (FRP) is used as the absorber material, which reduces the corrosion of absorber surface. In the spray evaporation system, the euent is sprayed through the PVC piping network and PVC nozzles thereby, the exposure area increases which in turn increases the evaporation rate. In this present work, mathematical expressions in terms of energy gained by the collector and energy lost in various modes are also obtained by writing energy balance equations. These equations are solved simultaneously to obtain, the evaporation rate in an hourly basis. The results obtained are validated with the experimental results. 2. Literature survey Kakabaev and Khandurdyev (1969) developed an absorption solar refrigeration unit with open regeneration of solution. The solutions used were lithium chloride and lithium bromide as absorbent. The authors dened the amount of water evaporated per unit length of regenerator, in terms of the initial solution parameters and the meteorological parameters. Collier (1979) simulated and analysed

an open cycle absorption refrigeration system. The system performance was simulated for ve cities using actual weather data. He related the amount of water removed from the lithium chloride weak solution, as a function of collector length, initial solution parameters and meteorological conditions which is identical to that presented by Kakabaev and Khandurdyev (1969). A more exact numerical method for predicting the performance of an open inclined surface solar regenerator was made by Peng and Howell (1982). Results obtained using these numerical models were compared with results of Collier (1979). A computer simulation of a regenerating type solar collector was presented by Johannsen and Grossman (1983). The collector was used for the regeneration of a liquid desiccant and forms part of an open cycle solar air conditioning system. Correlations for heat and mass transfer coecients and air pressure drop in the collector, derived from earlier experiments, were employed in the computer model. Gandhidasan (1983a) presented a simple expression for the rate of evaporation of the water by assuming the temperature, concentration and vapour pressure are constant at the arithmetic average of these values at the beginning and end of the regenerator. Calcium chloride was chosen

1494

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

for this analysis. Kakabaev and Golaev (1971) have investigated the possibility of using a glazed at surface as the solar regenerator in an absorption solar cooling system intended for air-conditioning. The authors developed a relation for the amount of water evaporated from the weak solution and has plotted the total amount of water evaporated from the solution per day against the rate of ow of solution at the beginning of the regenerator. They found that the amount of water evaporated from the solution per day decreases sharply with increase in the concentration of the solution and depends only slightly on solution ow rate. The authors also compared the daily variation of evaporation rate obtained experimentally for a single day with the theoretical results. Gandhidasan et al. (1978) performed theoretical investigation for laminar ow of solution on at plate collector. An analytical comparative study has also been made for determining the eect of the thickness of the liquid phase on the transfer processes. In this study, the deviations of the instantaneous values from quasi-steady conditions have been analysed by solving the governing unsteady laminar boundary layer equations. Attention has also been focused on the salient features of co-current and counter-current regenerators. A simple expression is derived by Gandhidasan (1983b) to calculate the amount of water evaporated from the weak absorbent solution in a closed type solar regenerator as a function of climatic conditions and initial conditions of the absorbent solution. A comparison was made with a forced ow air circulation regenerator and it was found that the closed type regenerator may be used for regeneration only in hot, humid climates. Feasibility for an open cycle absorption solar cooling was studied by Yang and Wang (2001). Comparison of the sys-

tem performance for two collectors/regenerators was discussed in this study. They were system with natural convection single glazed collectors/regenerators and with the forced convection double glazed collectors/regenerators. The results show the inuence of the solar collectors/regenerators performance on the total performance of the cooling system. It was shown that the double glazed forced convection collectors/regenerators give a better performance. Theoretical analysis of an open type at plate collector for tannery euent treatment was presented by Mani and Srinivasamurthy (1994). The eects of parameters like orientation of collector, lm thickness, insolation, ambient temperature and relative humidity on the euent evaporation rate were studied. The performance of this open type at collector was compared with that of the conventional shallow pond. 3. Features of pilot plant Experimental studies to augment the evaporation in an improved evaporation system have been carried out by establishing a pilot plant in a tannery, Ambur (l = 13N), India. The two important features of the system are usage of at plate collector and spray system. The principle involved is rst to increase the temperature of the euent by passing it over a at plate collector (Mani and Srinivasamurthy, 1994; Srithar and Mani, 2001, 2003) as a thin lm and then sprinkling (Srithar et al., 2003; Srithar, 2003) it through nozzles to increase the area of contact of liquid with air. This system is designed to handle 5000 l of saline euent per day. In this paper, the eect of operational and meteorological parameters on the rate of evaporation of water from the euent is presented.

Fig. 1. Schematic view of the improved evaporation system.

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

1495

A schematic diagram of the improved system is shown in Fig. 1. The saline waste water generated in soaking and pickling sections of the tannery is collected in the collection tank. As the euent contains organic wastes, it is pumped into a settling tank after chemical dosing. The euent is held for about 2 h to allow complete settling, and then the supernatant is discharged into the shallow storage tank A provided below the roof of the evaporation system. Adjoining the storage tank and at a slightly lower level are two tanks tank B, to collect liquid falling from the spray network platform and tank C, to collect the heated liquid owing down the inclined at plate collector (open FPC). The cross sectional view of the system is given in Fig. 2. Euent from tank A is transferred to tank B by gravity. Euent from tank B is pumped to the distribution channel on the roof from where it ows over the inclined open FPC. When owing down over the open FPC, its temperature is raised and the heated euent is collected in tank C. Then, it is pumped to the pipeline network mounted on the FRP base plate and sprinkled through the nozzles. In order to control the height of the jet to the desired level to ensure that the sprinkled liquid is not carried away by the wind, bypass valves are provided to control the mass ow rate. The sprinkled liquid is collected in the tank B. This completes one cycle. This process is repeated till the salt concentration in the liquor reached the desired level (near the saturation level), approximately 40% of the total volume of soak liquor. Beyond this it was experienced that severe blocking of pipes and nozzles due to high concentration of salt. Then, concentrated soak liquor is transferred to the natural shallow evaporation pond for further evaporation and recovery of salt. To prevent corrosion, the material selected for the open FPC is bre reinforced plastic (FRP), materials selected for

Table 1 TDS and chloride in saline euent Sl. no. Parameter Combined saline euent Before concentration Total dissolved solids, mg/l Chlorides, mg/l 56,619 30,457 After concentration 90,089 47,117

1 2

the pipes and valves are Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). Concrete structures are coated with Micocious iron oxide paint (MIO). Pumps components are manufactured with Bronze, Stainless steel, Neoprene rubber, etc. Open FPC is oriented to face south with surface azimuth angle and inclination of the collector are 0 and 13, respectively. The characteristic of the euent (soak liquor) is shown in Table 1. 4. Experiments Experiments were conducted using this system to nd the eect of the following parameters on the rate of evaporation: (a) operational parameters like the mass ow rate and the nozzle diameter of spray system and (b) meteorological parameters like insolation, wind speed and relative humidity. During experimentation, hourly measurements were taken over a period of one year during 1998 and 1999. Experimentation was carried out with open FPC and spray system, both together and individually, during the day time, generally for 8 h from 0900 h to 1700 h.

Fig. 2. Cross sectional view of the improved evaporation system at XX.

1496

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

Table 2 Accuracies, ranges and uncertainty of measuring instruments Sl. no. 1 2 3 4 Instrument Kipp-Zonon solarimeter Digital Anemometer Wet and dry bulb thermometer Mercury-in-glass thermometer Accuracy 0.05 W/m 0.1 m/s 0.5 C 0.5 C
2

Range 05000 W/m 0100 m/s 10 to 50 C 0120 C

2

Error % 2.5% 5% 4% 4%

Insolation was measured by a calibrated Kipp-Zonon solarimeter with integrator. Relative humidity was measured by calibrated wet and dry bulb thermometers. Initial temperature of the euent entering to the open FPC and the nal temperature of the euent leaving the open FPC are measured by a calibrated mercury-in-glass thermometer. Calibrated vane type digital anemometer was used to measure the wind speed. The ow rate was measured using calibrated rotameter. The various measuring sensors/ instruments accuracy and errors are shown (Srithar, 2003) in the Table 2, along with the parameters range, that is, measured. The errors in the measured parameters are evaluated (Srithar, 2003) by error analysis. 5. Mathematical model 5.1. Open FRP at plate collector Writing energy balance to FRP at plate collector absorber plate, the following governing equation for the solution and absorber is obtained (Kakabaev and Khandurdyev, 1969; Collier, 1979; Srithar and Mani, 2003; Kakabaev and Golaev, 1971): Energy absorbed by the plate is equal to the summation of energy lost by conduction, convection and radiation, energy utilized for desorption and energy gained by solution. i.e., I b aAdt Ek Ec Ed Er Es : 1

The eective sky temperature, Te, is calculated (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) as Ta 6. The energy lost by convection from solution to ambient is obtained (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) from Ec hsa AT s T a dt: 5

The heat transfer coecient between the solution and air, hsa is calculated using the expression given (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003), which includes the buoyancy eects also, from hsa 0:2176 KRe0:33 Pr0:43 Gr0:1 =L: 6

All the properties are evaluated at Tf = (Ts + Ta)/2 and the characteristic length L, is taken as the ow length of the collector. The heat conducted through the base (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) is calculated by Ek f KAT s T a dt=Dx: 7

The factor f*, which includes the eect of side losses. The mass of water evaporated from the euent is computed (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) from, Ed bm Aps;ave pA hfg dt: 8

Ib, the intensity of total radiation on an inclined surface is obtained (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a; Srithar and Mani, 2001) from I b I g I d cos hi = cos hh I d 1 cos b=2; 2

According to Dropkins measurements, the psychrometric ratio is given (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) by, hsa =bK 950 J kg1 K1 ; 9

where hi, hh are the incidence angle on an inclined and on a horizontal surface, respectively, and are given (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a; Srithar and Mani, 2001, 2004) by, hi cos cos/ b cos d cos x sin/ b sin d; and 3a hh cos1 cos / cos d cos x sin / sin d: 3b
1

and the relationship between bm and bK is taken (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) from, bm 0:622bK =P : 10

The average vapour pressure of water in the euent, ps,ave is taken (Mani and Srinivasamurthy, 1994; Srithar and Mani, 2003, 2004; Srithar, 2003) from, ps;ave pw 1 0:000537S: 11

The absorptivity of the collector, a is taken as 0.9 (Gandhidasan, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003). The energy lost by radiation is evaluated by (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003) Er res AT 4 T 4 dt: s e 4

The energy gained by the solution is calculated (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003, 2004) from, Es Go C ps DT s : 12

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

1497

The specic heat of the euent, Cs is evaluated (Mani and Srinivasamurthy, 1994; Srithar and Mani, 2003; Srithar, 2003) from, C ps a1 a2 T s a3 T 2 a4 T 3 : s s 13

Then, the mass of water evaporated during this time interval is evaluated by Eq. (15), and for the next time step, the parameters are redened from Eqs. (16a) and (16b). This procedure is repeated till the closure time of the experimentation. 6. Results and discussion The operational parameters like mass ow rate and meteorological parameters like wind speed, relative humidity and solar insolation, at which experiments were conducted, are shown in the respective graphs. The meteorological parameters shown in the graphs are the average values of the day. The spray system alone was experimented by using 1.0 mm diameter, 1.5 mm diameter and 2.0 mm diameter nozzles. The total number of nozzles used is 90. It was experienced that, for the ow rate of 6000 l/h the nozzles were inadequate, requiring a considerable volume of liquor to bypass the spray system while using 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm diameters nozzles. Also, frequent blocking of nozzles and the height of the jet reaching 3 m or more, often carried away by the wind outside the plant. It was found that, 2.0 mm diameter nozzles with less than 2.0 m height, avoids the above said problems. Hence, it was decided to operate the system with 2.0 mm diameter nozzles with the height of the jet generally maintained between 1.5 m and 2.0 m for this experimental study. (i) Eect of mass ow rate Fig. 3 shows the eect of mass ow rate on evaporation. Increase in mass ow rate over open FPC increases the thickness of the lm owing, which reduces the temperature gain of the uid. Consequently, the partial pressure dierence between the liquor interface and air decreases. So the rate of evaporation decreases. The deviation in evaporation rate due to increase in mass ow rate is 31.1%. The maximum deviation between theoretical and experimental is 8%.
1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6
R.H.
R.H.

The constants a1, a2, a3 and a4 are computed from (Mani and Srinivasamurthy, 1994; Srithar and Mani, 2003, 2004; Srithar, 2003)
a1 4206:8 6:6197S 1:2288 102 S 2 ; a2 1:1262 5:4178 102 S 2:2719 104 S 2 ; a3 1:2026 10
2

14a 14b 14c 14d

6 2

5:5366 10 S 1:8906 10 S ;

a4 6:8774 107 1:517 106 S 4:4268 109 S 2 :

In Eq. (1) and Eqs. (4)(8), the area is taken as the exposure area of the open FRP bre at plate collector. The computation is carried out by assigning an initial value to solution temperature, which is equal to ambient temperature and the time interval, dt, is assumed as 5 s. Using Eq. (1), the increase in solution temperature during this time interval is computed. For evaluating DTs in the simulation, the experimentally measured values of solar insolation, ambient temperature, wind speed and relative humidity of the corresponding day and hour were used. Then, the mass of water evaporated during this time interval is evaluated (Collier, 1979; Gandhidasan, 1983a, 1978; Srithar and Mani, 2003, 2004) by, dm bm Aps;ave pA dt: 15

For the next time step, the parameters are redened as T s T s DT s ; m m dm: 16a 16b

This procedure is repeated till the closure time of the experimentation. 5.2. Sprinkler network system Now energy balance is applied to sprinkler network systems. The sum of energy absorbed by the basin FRP plate and energy gained by the solution as it ows through FRP at plate collector is equal to the sum of energy lost by conduction, convection and radiation, energy utilized for desorption. i.e., I g aAdt Es Ek Ec Er Ed : 17

m= 5500 l h-1 Date: 27.01.1999 m= 3500 l h-1 Date: 04.02.1999

______ Experimental ____ Theoretical

Eqs. (4)(14) were used to nd out the various parameters and the solution temperature at every instant is taken as the exit temperature of the solution coming from the FRP at plate collector. The exposure area A is taken as the sum of area of the FRP plate in the sprinkler network system and circumference area of the pipes in the case energy absorbed by the plate and it is taken as the exposure area of the number of spray jets in the case of energy lost by conduction, convection and radiation, energy utilized for desorption and energy gained by solution.

Ig

0.4 0.2 0.0 8

Ta

10

11

12

13 14 Time, h

15

16

1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 Ig 700 600 75 70 65 R.H. 60 55 50 45 40 W 35 Ta 30 17 18

Evaporation rate, l h-1m-2 & W,m s-1

Fig. 3. Eect of mass ow rate on evaporation rate for pilot plant with open FPC.

Ta , C & R.H., %

Ig , W m-2

1498

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 8

W W R.H.

2.0 1.8

m = 5500 l h-1 Date: 25.04.1999 m = 3500 l h-1 Date: 28.04.1999

______ Experimental _ _ _ _ Theoretical

Ig, W m-2

1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Time, h 15 16
W R.H. W

Ig Ig

Evaporation rate, l h-1m-2 & W,m s-1

R.H.

Ta

Ta

1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 54 52 50 48 46 44 42 40 38 36 34 32 30 18

Ta

Ta

10

11

12

Evaporation rate, l h-1m-2 & W,m s-1

13 14 Time, h

15

16

17

18

Fig. 6. Eect of solar insolation on evaporation rate for pilot plant with open FPC and spray system.

3.0

Ta , oC & R.H., %

2.5

Date: 30.06.1999 Date: 01.07.1999 m = 4500 l h -1

Ig

1500
______ Experimental ____ Theoretical

1200 900
Ig, W m-2

2.0
Ig

600 300 54 52 50 48 46 R.H. 44 42 40 W 38 36 R.H. 34 32 Ta 30 17 18

17

1.5
R.H.

Fig. 4. Eect of mass ow rate on evaporation rate for pilot plant with spray system.

1.0

R.H.

3.0

Evaporation rate, l h-1m-2 & W,m s-1

1000
Ig
R.H.

Ig , W m-2

2.5

Date: 19.01.1999 Date: 23.01.1999 m = 4500 l h -1

______ Experimental ____ Theoretical

1200 1100

0.0 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Time, h 15 16

2.0

Ig

900 800 700 55

Fig. 7. Eect of relative humidity on evaporation rate for pilot plant with open FPC and spray system.

1.5
R.H.

Ta , C & R.H., %

50 45

1.0
W W

Table 3 Ranges of the operational and meteorological parameters Sl. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parameter, Unit Insolation, W/m Wind speed, m/s Ambient temperature, C Relative humidity, % Solution concentration, % Mass ow rate, l/h
2

40
W W Ta

0.5

Range 2001200 0.21.7 2536 2560 520 200500

Error % 2.5 5 4 4 0.4 0.27

35 30 18

Ta

0.0 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Time, h 15 16 17

Fig. 5. Eect of wind speed on evaporation rate for pilot plant with open FPC and spray system.

0.5

W R.H. Ta

R.H.

Ta , C & R.H., %

Ta , C & R.H., %

For the given nozzle diameter and number of nozzles, as the mass ow rate increases, the jet height increases and in turn increases the area of contact between liquid and air. Leading to increase in evaporation rate. These results can be seen in Fig. 4. The maximum increase in evaporation rate is 43.3% due to 36.4% increase in mass ow rate of the soak liquor in the spray system. The theoretical results also agree with experimental data at an average deviation of 7.2%. (ii) Eect of wind speed As the wind speed increases, for the given time interval, the quantity of air comes and contact the euent increases. Resulting to increase in mass transfer from the liquid interface to air, which further increases the evaporation rate. Fig. 5 shows the eect of wind speed on the rate of evaporation, when both open FPC and spray systems were operated. The maximum increase in evaporation rate due to increase in wind speed is 27.4%. It follows the same trend for the open FPC and spray systems while using independently. Theoretical results are also validated with experimental results with an average increase of 6.3% than the experimental results.

(iii) Eect of solar insolation Increase in insolation increases the gain in euent temperature, which increases the evaporation rate due to increase in partial pressure dierence between the euent interface and the air. This eect can be seen in Fig. 6. The increase in evaporation rate due to increase in insolation is in the range of 8.531.1%. Similar trend is seen, while using open FPC and spray systems independently. Theoretical results deviated from experimental results at a maximum of 8.1%. (iv) Eect of relative humidity Lower the relative humidity, higher the partial pressure dierence between euent and air, which
2.4
Date: 29.06.1999 Date: 28.06.1999 m = 5500 l h -1
______ Experimental ____ Theoretical

2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2

Ig

Ig Ig R.H.

Ig

1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25

Evaporation rate, l h-1m-2 & W,m s-1

Ig , W m-2

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500

1499

increase the mass transfer. Resulting to increase in the rate of evaporation as shown in Fig. 7. The maximum increase in evaporation rate due to decrease in relative humidity is 30%. Similar trend is realized during the experimentation on open FPC and spray sys1.6

1.4

Actual evaporation rate, I h-1 m-2

1.2

1.0

0.8

+1
0.6

e 0p

rce

nt e 0p rce nt

tems independently. Experimental results are deviated at a rate of maximum 9% less than the theoretical equations. (v) General equations for evaporation rate in open FRP at plate collector and spray evaporation system Data obtained during the experimentation on both the open FRP at plate collector as well as spray evaporation system are used for multi-non-linear regression analysis (Srithar, 2003) in the ranges specied in Table 3. Based on this analysis an empirical equation for evaporation rate is obtained as given in Eqs. (18) and (19) as a function of the operational and meteorological parameters. dm 0:006870T a 0:017833W 0:00067I g 0:003867RH 0:000284m 0:003582C 0:130946 0:001674RH 0:000075m 0:00099C 0:204967 18

-1

0.4

0.2

dm 0:004504T a 0:071713W 0:000903I g

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6

0.0

19

Predicted evaporation rate, I h-1 m-2

Fig. 8. Variation of actual evaporation rate with predicted values of open FRP solar at plate collector.
1.8 1.6 1.4

Actual evaporation rate, I h-1 m-2

1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6

+1

e 0p

rce

nt

Fig. 8 shows the variation of the actual evaporation rate with predicted evaporation rate for open FRP at plate collector. From this gure, it can be observed that the results agree well within 10% limits. Hence, the empirical correlation obtained in Eq. (18) can be used as a design equation for establishing this kind of system. Same trend is observed in Fig. 9, shows the variation in actual evaporation rate with predicted evaporation rate for spray network system and Eq. (19) can be used for design of such kind of spray network system. 7. Conclusions The FRPFPC is used successfully for evaporating tannery euent withstanding corrosion problem. Spray evaporation system is also used to augment the evaporation of the tannery euent. Theoretical performances are evaluated by energy balance analysis. It is found that agreement is good. For the FPC system, the evaporation rate of water in the euent, increases with increase in insolation, wind speed and decreases with increase in relative humidity, mass ow

-1
0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0

e 0p

rce

nt

0.2

0.4

0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 Predicted evaporation rate, I h-1 m-2

1.6

1.8

Fig. 9. Variation of actual evaporation rate with predicted values of spray network system.

Table 4 Economic analysis Particulars Open FPC system (cumulative solar savings [CSS] for 15 years) Rs. 2446628.00 Furnace oil equivalent 2889723.00 Wood equivalent 692767.00 14 740867.00 9 1443679.00 11.3 3.4 2937823.00 2.3 5837606.00 2.8 Pay back period (in year) Spray system (CSS for 15 years) Rs. Pay back period (in year) Combined open FPC system and spray system (CSS for 15 years) Rs. Pay back period (in year)

Coal equivalent 4.0 2494728.00 2.7 4951410.00 3.3

1500

K. Srithar, A. Mani / Solar Energy 81 (2007) 14921500 Gandhidasan, P., 1983b. Theoretical study of tilted solar still as a regeneration for liquid desiccants. Energy Conversion and Management 23 (2), 97101. Gandhidasan, P., Sriramulu, V., Gupta, M.C., 1978. Analysis of a solar regenerator. In: Proceedings of International Solar Energy Congress1977, New Delhi, India. Johannsen, Grossman, G., 1983. Performance simulation of regenerating type solar collectors. Solar Energy 30 (2), 8792. Kakabaev, A., Golaev, M., 1971. Glazed at surface as a solution regeneration for using an absorption solar cooling system. Applied Solar Energy 7 (4), 4449. Kakabaev, A., Khandurdyev, A., 1969. Absorption solar refrigeration unit with open regeneration of solution. Applied Solar Energy 5 (4), 2832. Mani, A., Srinivasamurthy, S., 1994. Analysis of an open type at plate collector for tannery euent treatment. Energy Conversion Management 35, 10611071. Peng, Chungshiang Patrick, Howell, John R., 1982. Analysis of open inclined surface solar regenerators for absorption cooling applications comparison between numerical analytical models (technical note). Solar Energy 28 (3), 265268. Srithar, K., 2003. Studies on Solar Augmented Evaporation Systems for Tannery Euent (soak liquor). Ph.D Thesis, Indian Institute of TechnologyMadras, Chennai. Srithar, K., Mani, A., 2001. Experimental studies on an open at plate collector for treating tannery euent. In: Proceeding of ISES Solar world congress (2001), Adelaide, South Australia (in CD). Srithar, K., Mani, A., 2003. Comparison between simulated and experimental performance of an open solar at plate collector for treating tannery euent. International Communication in Heat and Mass Transfer 30 (4), 505514. Srithar, K., Mani, A., 2004. Analysis of a single cover FRP at plate collector for treating tannery euent. Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (56), 873883. Srithar, K., Manicka Deepan, S., Siva Sankar, A., 2003. Studies on spray evaporation system for tannery euent (soak liquor) evaporation. In: Proceedings of XIII National Conference of Indian Society of Mechanical Engineers, IIT-Roorkee, Paper No: TH-009 (in CD). Yang, Ru., Wang, Pai-Lu, 2001. A simulation study of performance evaluation of single glazed and double glazed collectors/regenerators for an open cycle absorption solar cooling system. Solar Energy 71 (4).

rate and euent concentration. For the spray system, the evaporation rate of water in the euent, increases due to increase in mass ow rate, wind speed and insolation and decreases due to increase in relative humidity and euent concentration. Based on the studies, empirical equations for the evaporation rate in open FRP at plate collector and sprinkler network system were obtained, as a function of the operational and meteorological parameters. These equations can be used for design purposes in the given range of operating conditions for these kinds of systems. It is estimated from the power consumption of the pilot plant experiment, that the operational cost of evaporating 1 m3 of water from saline euent is 1.07 US dollars. The improved system is more eective than a conventional solar evaporation shallow pond, which reduces about 40% area of solar natural evaporation pan. The salt recovered is also clean and t for re-use in the tannery during experimentation. Economic analyses were also performed (Srithar, 2003) and presented in Table 4. Acknowledgements The nancial assistance received from the United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO), Vienna is thankfully acknowledged. M/s Shafeeq Shameel and Co., Ambur, TamilNadu is thankfully acknowledged for establishing the plant at their premises and other helps. References
Collier, R.K., 1979. The analysis and simulation of an open cycle absorption refrigeration system. Solar Energy 23, 357366. Gandhidasan, P., 1978. Investigations of Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in a Solar Regenerator. Ph.D Thesis, Indian Institute of TechnologyMadras, Chennai. Gandhidasan, P., 1983a. A simple analysis of an open regeneration system (technical note). Solar Energy 31 (3), 343345.