Salt gradient solar ponds for the tropics: technical and economic appraisal for Nigeria
- 1 January 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Ambient Energy
- Vol. 14 (1) , 41-52
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.1993.9675591
Abstract
Agricultural, industrial, commercial and residential applications of solar ponds in the tropics have been studied and it was found that about 100W/m2 power flux would need to be withdrawn from the pond to prevent boiling and that maximum temperatures close to 200°C could, in theory, be attained with heat loads of 40W/m2 in a pond of 1-m insulating layer. Furthermore, the optimum collection temperature in the steady state solar pond in average Nigerian conditions is about 86°C. While small solar ponds for agricultural and industrial applications (area 2) were found to be economic when compared with electricity rates in Nigeria, the opposite was found in the case of large scale solar pond power stations (SPPS) of megawatt sizes. In both small and large scales, the solar pond was highly unattractive economically when compared with low natural gas and oil prices in Nigeria.Keywords
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