Study on the design and influence on performance of solar energy heat collection and snow melting device

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 162; p. 114246
• Main Authors: Peng, Jingtang, Chen, Zhili, Zheng, Taojie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 05.11.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Concentrating heat collecting; Heat conductivity; Heat exchangers; Heat transfer; Heat transmission; Mass transfer; Mathematical models; Melting; Outflow; Replenishment; Snow melting; Snow melting efficiency; Solar energy; Water consumption; Water purification; Concentrating heat collecting; Snow melting; Solar energy; Snow melting efficiency
• ISSN: 1359-4311; 1873-5606
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114246

A new solar heat collecting and snow melting device for purified water utilization was originally designed and developed. The heat and mass transfer model was established and verified by experiments. Results show that the snow melting efficiency of the cases at 100% and 80% of the system volume is higher than other amount cases. The heat conducting working medium filling level has relatively large influence on the snow melting efficiency of the device, and the optimal working medium filling level is above 3/4 of total volume of the circulating system. In actual use, replenishment of working medium in the system shall be conducted in time before the working medium level decreases to 1/2. The water outflow and snow feeding mode has evident influence on the snow melting efficiency. When the 2-h water outflow mode is used, the snow melting efficiency is the highest, reaching 39.2%. The heat and mass transfer model of the device performs better in simulation calculation and is useful for estimation of snow melting efficiency.