¡


¡


 ¡

 
¡

 

¡

 ¡
 ‘


‘
‘

 ¡


 ¡

 
C. SYED AALAM, lecturer in mechanical engineering.
¡

 ¡
Annamalai university. India


 ¡


 ¡

 
¡

 
¡

 ¡


 ¡


¡

 
¡

 

 ¡


¡

 
¡

 ¡


 ¡

c
Page
    

  
 
cc
   

 
Energy is the capacity to do work. A plenty of energy is needed to sustain
industrial growth and agricultural production.

    

It is broadly classified into

1.‘ c  is in practice for long duration of time and well
established technology is available to tap and use them. e.g. Coal, oil, natural gas,
hydro power, nuclear power etc.

2.‘  !c  source can be used with advantage for power
generation as well as other applications in a large number of locations and
situations. These energy sources cannot be easily stored and used conveniently.
e.g. Solar, wind, tidal and geothermal etc.

Based upon nature, energy sources are classified as

1.‘ "#  sources are inexhaustible and are renewed by nature itself.
Solar, wind, tidal, hydro and biomass are few examples.

2.‘  "#  sources are exhaustible within a definite period of time
depending upon its usage. Fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and nuclear fuels are few
examples.

   
The surface of the earth receives about 1014 kW from sun in the form of solar
energy which is approximately five orders of magnitude greater than that currently being
consumed from all resources. It is evident that sun will last for 1011 years.
There are two obvious obstacles to harnessing solar energy. Firstly it is not
constantly available on earth. Thus some form of storage is needed to sustain solar energy
through the night and during rainy season. Secondly the solar energy is diffused.
Although the total amount of energy is enormous, the collection and conservation of solar
energy into useful forms must be carried out over a large area which entails large capital
investments.

P a g e | cc
  $ 

By using solar radiation, water or any fluid can be heated by using a solar
collector. Such systems can provide hot water for different applications in industries
directly or as boiler feed and also in hostels, hotels and canteens.
There are two types of solar collectors in use:
1.‘ Flat plate collector
2.‘ parabolic or concentrating collector

 % !!

The absorber plate is metallic. It is usually coated black to absorb more heat
energy. Tubes, passages or channels integral with the collector carry water or other
working fluid. Insulation should be provided at the back and at the sides to minimize the
heat losses. Usually glass wool is used as insulation material. A transparent cover (glass)
will be provided at the top to permit the radiation from the sun to the metal plate.

P a g e | ccc
#c!  !!c !!

Highly polished metallic surfaces are used as the reflector. The reflector will have
a parabolic shape so that the sun rays striking the profile will be reflected on its focal
point. If a tube carrying a fluid is kept along the focal line, the fluid will be heated to a
very high temperature.

  
 & 

1.‘ Low temperature system

2.‘ High temperature system

" '%( ))'

This system uses a flat plate collector, which can heat water up to about 800C
only. Water is circulated through the flat plate collector. Heat exchanger is used to
vaporize a low boiling fluid (butane) and the butane vapor will run the turbine, butane
vapor is condensed and reused.

P a g e | c
c* '%( ))'
Solar power tower is employed for high temperature system. A receiver is
mounted on the tower which is 100 to 500m high and designed to withstand the weight of
the receiver. Here reflecting mirrors are known as heliostat. The heliostats are arranged in
such a way that they direct the solar energy on the receiver throughout the day. This is
achieved by a microprocessor based tracking system, which turns the heliostats
depending on the position of sun. The receiver is designed and positioned in such a way
to intercept, absorb and transfer maximum heat to working fluid. The temperature
achieved is 1500ÏC to 1700ÏC. Steam generated in the receiver runs the turbine,
condensed to water and recycled.

Page |
&

1.‘ Éenewable source of energy

2.‘ Pollution free
3.‘ After the capital cost, the cost of power generation is quite low
4.‘ Wide range of applications, powering street lights to satellites

&

1.‘ Capital cost is very high

2.‘ Large area of land is required
3.‘ Large number of solar panels are required
4.‘ Affected by seasons.

$  

The electrical energy can be generated by wind energy by utilizing the kinetic
energy of wind. The wind energy which is an indirect source of energy can be used to
run a wind mill which in turn drives a generator to produce electricity.

$
 

Wind mills are classified into two types

1.‘ Horizontal axis wind turbine
2.‘ Vertical axis wind turbine

P a g e | c
 + , $  -

Horizontal axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft running horizontally.

Fig shows a schematic arrangement of a horizontal axis machine. This system

consists of a tower mounted two bladed or multi bladed rotor facing the wind, rotating
around a horizontal axis and turning an electrical generator.

The Blades are generally made of composite material, usually fibre reinforced
plastic (FÉP) because of its high strength and light weight. Wind mills are manufactured
with a capacity from a few kilowatts to several megawatts in Europe, the USA, and other
parts of the world including India.

&  , $  -

Vertical axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft running vertically. The
tower construction is simple here because the generator and gear box can be placed at the
bottom, near the ground.

Vertical axis wind turbine can be classified into two types

1.‘ Darrieus type
2.‘ Savonius type

Darrieus type rotor

This wind mill needs much less surface area. It is shaped like an egg beater and
has two or three blades shaped like aero foils.

Savonius type rotor

P a g e | cc
 Savonius turbine is S-shaped if viewed from top. This turbine turns relatively
slow, but yields high torque. It is used for grinding grains and for pumping water.

&

1.‘ Wind is Éenewable and free of cost

2.‘ Pollution free
3.‘ Can be installed in remote villages, thus reducing costly transmission lines

&

1.‘ Capital cost is very high

2.‘ Large area of land is required
3.‘ Maintenance cost is very high

  

The periodic rise and fall of water level of sea which are carried by the action of
the sun and moon on water of the earth is called ³tide´. The large scale up and down
movement of sea water represents an unlimited source of energy.

The main feature of the tidal cycle is the difference in water surface elevations at
the high tide and at the low tide. If the differential head could be utilized in operating a
hydraulic turbine, the tidal energy could be converted into electrical energy by means of
an attached generator.

P a g e | ccc
 $  

A Tidal power plant mainly consists of the following:

1. A barrage with gates and sluices
2. One or more basins
3. A power house

A barrage is a barrier constructed across the sea to create a basin for storing water.
The barrage has to withstand the pressure exerted by the water head and also should resist
the shock of the waves.

A basin is the area where water is retained by the barrage. Low head reversible
water turbine are installed in the barrage separating the sea from the basin.-

P a g e | c.
During high tide, water will flow from sea to tidal basin through turbine, thus producing
electricity. During low tide, water will flow from tidal basin to sea through turbine
producing electricity.

&

1.‘ It is inexhaustible source of energy

2.‘ No problem of pollution
3.‘ The cost of power generation is quite low
4.‘ High output can be obtained compared to solar or wind energy

&

1.‘ Capital cost is very high

2.‘ As the head is not constant, variable output is obtained
3.‘ As the head is low, large amount of water is necessary for the turbine
4.‘ It will not operate when the available head is less than 0.5m


  

Geothermal power plants derive energy from the heat of the earth¶s interior. The
average increase in temperature with depth of the earth is 10C for every 30-40m. At a
depth of 10-15km, the earth¶s interior is as hot as 1000-12000C. In certain areas of our
planet, the underground heat has raised the temperature of water to over 2000C which
bursts out as hot steam through the cracks in the earth¶s crust. These are called thermal
springs. This steam can be utilized for power production.


  

The following five general categories of geothermal sources have been identified:
1. Hydrothermal convective systems
(i) Vapor dominated or dry steam fields
(ii) Liquid dominated or wet steam fields
(iii) Hot water fields
2. Geo-pressure resources
3. Petrothermal or hot dry rocks
4. Magma resources
5. Volcanoes
The hydro thermal convective systems are best resources for geothermal energy
exploitation at present. Hot dry rock is also being considered.

Page |.
 
 $  

Geothermal wells are drilled at suitable locations. Water vaporized into steam
comes out of the earth¶s surface in a dry condition at around 200ÏC and 8 bar. The
moisture is removed by a centrifugal separator and this steam will run the turbine
coupled with a generator. Steam is condensed in a condenser and re injected back into
the ground by a rejection well.

&

1.‘ Geothermal energy is cheaper

2.‘ Used as space heating for buildings
3.‘ Used as industrial process heat
4.‘ Geothermal energy is inexhaustible

P a g e | .c
&

1.‘ Low overall power production efficiency (about 15%)

2.‘ Large areas are needed foe exploitation of geothermal energy

 
   & 

OTEC uses the temperature difference of the sea water at different depths to
generate electricity

OTEC utilizes the temperature difference that exists between the surface waters
heated by the sun and the colder deep (up to 1000m) waters to run a heat engine. This
source and sink provides a temperature difference of 20ÏC in ocean areas within 20 of the
equator. These conditions exist in tropical coastal areas, roughly between the tropic of
Capricorn and the tropic of cancer. Such a small temperature difference makes energy
extraction difficult and expensive. Hence, typically OTEC systems have an overall
efficiency of only 1 to 3%. The OTEC is shown in fig.

P a g e | .cc
P a g e | .ccc