[Greenbuilding] Deep mesh air heater and store

nick pine nick at early.com
Thu Mar 1 06:31:35 CST 2012


20 S=1.714E-09'Stefan-Boltzmann constant
30 DIM E(5,5)'combined emittance matrix
40 DATA 0,0,70,70,0,1,70,70,0,1,70,70
50 DATA 0.5,0.5,70,70,0.5,0.5,70,70
60 DATA 1,1,70,70
70 'above: solar absorption, IR absorption, 
80 '       screen temp, air temp south of screen
90 TAUCUM=1'initialize cumulative layer transmission fraction
100 FOR I=0 TO 5'find each layer's solar absorption fraction
110 READ ASUN(I),AIR(I),TS(I),TE(I)
120 TAUCUML=TAUCUM
130 TAUCUM=TAUCUM*(1-ASUN(I))'cumulative layer transmission
140 ASUN(I)=ASUN(I)*TAUCUML'absorption fraction for layer I
150 NEXT I
160 FOR I=1 TO 4'find IR emittance fraction
170 FOR K=I+1 TO 5'for each pair of layers
180 E=AIR(I)
190 FOR J=I+1 TO K-1
200 E=E*(1-AIR(J))
210 NEXT J
220 E(I,K)=E*AIR(K)
230 E(K,I)=E(I,K)
240 NEXT K
250 NEXT I
260 TA=34'ambient temp (F)
270 SUN=.91^2*1000/6'sun through glazing (Btu/ft^2-h)
280 TR=70'air heater inlet temp (F)
290 CFM=1.2'airflow/ft^2
300 C=10'relaxation damping cap
310 FOR I=1 TO 499'relaxation iterations
320 FOR L=1 TO 5'mesh layer
330 GA=(TE(L-1)-TS(L))/(2/3+1/CFM)'layer air gain
340 GR=0'initialize rad gain
350 FOR K=1 TO 5
360 GR=GR+E(K,L)*S*((TS(K)+460)^4-(TS(L)+460)^4)
370 NEXT K
380 IF L=1 THEN GFLOW=(TA-TS(1))/1 ELSE GFLOW = 0
390 GFLOW=GFLOW+ASUN(L)*SUN+GA+GR'heatflow into layer
400 TS(L)=TS(L)+GFLOW/C'new layer temp
410 TE(L)=TE(L-1)-GA/CFM'air temp leaving layer
420 NEXT L
430 NEXT I
440 PRINT"998'";
450 FOR L=1 TO 4
460 PRINT INT(TS(L)+.5);INT(TE(L)+.5);
470 NEXT L
480 PRINT INT(TS(5)+.5);INT(TE(5)+.5)
490 EFF=100*6*(TE(5)-TR)*CFM*60/55/1000'solar collection efficiency (%)
500 LEFF=100*(1000-6*(TS(1)-TA))/1000'glazing loss-based efficiency
510 PRINT "999'";EFF;LEFF

T1  air T2   air Ts1  air  Ts2  air  Tb   air

73  72  109  93  154  127  156  143  160  152

64.62651  76.43108

This looks good to me now, with 2 layers of IR greenhouse film and
2 layers of 50% black greenhouse shadecloth. A single layer of R1 film
with 70 F air indoors and 34 F air outdoors and no radiation loss would
have a collector efficiency of 100(1000-6h(70-34))/1000 = 78.4%.

I suspect the 2 efficiencies above don't match because I approximated
the heat capacity of a C cfm airstream as C Btu/h-F when it's really
closer to 1.08C, but I'm inclined to believe the 2nd efficiency,
which is nicely close to an ideal 78.4% with no radiation loss.

Here's the solar yard heat store I'm planning now:

         12'  
...................           partial parts list
. . . . . . . . . .  
. .             . .           15 plastic 55 gallon drums
. .             . .           2 10'x16' pieces of EPDM
. .             . .           6 tons of 2" clean stone
. .             . .           16 3'x4"-D PVC pipes 
. .  plan view  . . 22.9'     2x12'x14' ft^2 wood pallets
. .             . .           3x12'x14' ft^2 wire mesh
. .             . .           2x12'x16' IR plastic film
. .             . .           1x12'x16' 50% greenhouse shadecloth
. .             . .           1x12'x16' weed barrier
. . . . . . . . . .           480 ft^2 R30 insulation
...................           Grainger 10" fan

        12'  
...................                       .
.                 .                 /  .   .
.                 .              16'.  east .  <-- 2 12'x16' layers
.                 .            / . elevation .  of IR greenhouse film
.      south      .           . .             .  
.    elevation    . 13.9'  ......collar beam.... \
. . . . . . . . . .        .    . . . . . . . . . 16'   
.                 .      8'.    .             .  . \
.                 .        .  6'.  heat store .   .      
.                 .        .    .             .  60.
.......................................................
                           |4.3'|     14'     | 4.6'|
   
... 70 F air would inflate the space between the 2 layers of IR
greenhouse film and flow through 1/2" holes on a 14” grid in 
the inner film into 3 N-S rows of 5 plastic 55 gallon drums in 
a 12'x14'x6'H box which support 2 3'Wx4'Hx10'L water troughs 
surrounded by 6 tons of rocks with about 500 ft^3 (4000 gallons)
of water, like this:

       south          south
         ^              ^  
         |      12'     |
.................................      
  i         insulation        i
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  
  n                           n
.   .   D   D   D   D   D   .   .  
  s       p   p   p   p       s
.   .       4'x10'x3'H      .   .  plan view 
  u                           u 
.   .       EPDM tank       .   . 
  l       p   p   p   p       l    
.   .   D   D   D   D   D   .   .                  14'
  a       p   p   p   p       a
.   .       4'x10'x3'H      .   .  east -->
  t                           t
.   .       EPDM tank       .   .  
  i       p   p   p   p       i    p are 3'x4" pipes to
.   .   D   D   D   D   D   .   .  connect the airspaces
  o                           o    above and below the drums.
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  
  n         insulation        n
.................................   

            south        south
              ^            ^  
              |      6'    |
.........................................      
  i             insulation                 8"
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . --> down 
  n w | 4"  w |             4"  w | w f
.   .           D  R  U  M          .   .  24"
  s i a o   i p             o   i p i o
.   .           4'x10'x3'H          .   .  
  u r i f   r a             f   r a r a    48"
.   .           EPDM tank           .   . 
  l e r s   e l             s   e l e m
.   .           D  R  U  M          .   .  24"      14'
  a m g t   m l             t   m l m b
.   .           4'x10'x3'H          .   . 
  t e a o   e e             o   e e e o    48"
.   .           EPDM tank           .   . 
  i s p n   s t             n   s t s r
.   .           D  R  U  M          .   .  24"   
  o h | e   h |             e   h | h d
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . --> down
  n             insulation                 8"
.........................................   
  8"  4"  4"  5"    36"     4"    5"  2"

This would have about C = 3'x12'x14'x62.33 = 31.4K Btu/F of thermal
capacitance. Cooling it from 140 to 70 F would release (140-70)C
= 2.2 million Btu, equivalent to 2.2M/130K = 17 gallons of oil.

http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/1961-1990/bluebook/data/13739.SBF
says 620 Btu/ft^2 of sun falls on the ground and 1000 falls on south
walls on an average 30.4 F January day with a 37.9 high and a 30.4
average daytime temp near Philadelphia. On a clear day, 890 falls
on the ground and 1880 falls on south walls.

On an average day, a south wall with a 60 degree slope would receive
620cos60+1000sin60 = 1176 Btu/ft^2 of sun. This store could collect
0.8x1176x12'x16' = 180.6K Btu/day and lose 6h(70-34)12'x16'/R1 = 
41.5K from the glazing, for a net gain of 139.1K Btu.

Storing 139K Btu over a 6 hour January solar collection day at a rate
of 139.1K/6h = 23.2K Btu/h with air cooling from 140 to 70 F requires
about 23.2K/(140-70) = 331 cfm of airflow, which could come from 
a 26 watt Grainger 10" fan. If the entire stone bed warms from 70 to
140 F, it needs a 139.1K/(140-70) = 1987 Btu/F heat capacitance, eg 
1987/0.16 = 12.4K lb of stone, ie 12.4K/3500 = 3.5 yd^3 or 100 ft^3
in 2 12x100ft^3/(12'x14')/2 = 4" layers above and below the drums. 

A 12'x14'x6' tall 140 F box with 648 ft^2 of R30 surface and a 648/30
= 22 Btu/h-F thermal conductance would lose 24h(140-30)22 = 57K Btu
on an average 30 F January day near Phila, for a net gain of about
139.1K-57K = 82.1K, which should be plenty for hot water for showers
and trickle charging for cloudy days, since 5 cloudy days in a row
only happen 3% of the time, if cloudy days are like coin flips.
A yard furnace that heats a house on average days needs more glazing. 

Dunkle and Ellul say dP = LG^2/Rhoair(21+1750Mu/(GD)) Pascals, where
L = 0.2032m (8/12') is the length of the bed in the flow direction.
If Rhoair = 1.059 kg/m^3 and V = 331cfm/12'/14' = 2 fpm (0.01 m/s)
and G = 1.059V = 0.011 kg/m^2-s and Mu = 1.99E-5 Pa-s at 60 C (140 F) 
with equivalent pebble diameter D = 23.5 mm (0.92"), then dP = 
0.2032G^2/(1.059x0.0235)(21+1750x1.99E-5/(0.0235G)) = 0.16 Pascals,
ie 0.000063 "H20 :-)

SETP equation 3.16.16 says the volumetric heat transfer coefficient
Hv = 650(G/D)^0.7 = 357 W/m^3K, ie 357x8/12x12x14x0.3048^3 = 1134 W/K
for the whole bed, ie 2148 Btu/h-F, like 2.1 car radiators. The air-
stone temp diff would be 15K/2148 = 6 F. The bottom layer could use
more stone.

A $70 Lasko 2155A 3-speed reversible 16" window fan can move up to
2470 cfm with 90 watts. On a cloudy day, it could push lots of house
air into the bottom. At 0.1" H20, 25 Pa = 0.2032G^2/(1.059x0.0235)
(21+1750x1.99E-5/(0.0235G)) makes G = 0.35 = 1.059V, ie V = 0.33 m/s,
ie 65 fpm, ie 65x12'x14' = 10.8K cfm. At 2000 cfm, 2000/12'/14' = 12
fpm, ie V = 0.06 m/s, so G = 0.064 and Hv = 1311 W/K, ie 4159 W/K
for the whole bed, ie 7.9K Btu/h-F, like 8 car radiators.

Nick
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