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Solar energy is a key source for the future, not only in India, but also for the whole world. Therefore, the development and usage of solar energy systems are becoming increasingly vital for sustainable economic development of the various systems available for harnessing solar energy, solar ponds are one of the most simple and economic systems for storage and reuse of solar energy storage. A solar pond collects solar radiation and stores it as thermal energy for more than a normal period of time. In solar pond, saline water is stored in three layers increasing in density. The surface layer, UCZ is homogenous and convective, where the density of saline is close to fresh water. In the middle layer, NCZ saline density increases with depth, thereby natural convection is suppressed, and thermal energy is transported only by molecular diffusion that is very slow process. The lowest layer, LCZ is dense and convective, and has a relatively uniform density close to saline saturation. The thermal energy collected in the LCZ can be utilized for various applications.
About the author
Dr. Nirupam Rohatgi is working as Associate Professor in the Department of MechanicalEngineering at Malaviya National Institute Technology, Jaipur. He has done his Ph.D. (Mech.Engg.), M.Tech. (Energy), and B.Tech. (Mech. Engg.) from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.His research interests include CFD and thermal energy systems.
