AN INNOVATIVE

SOLAR-BIOMASS HYBRID AIR HEATING

SYSTEM WITH THERMAL STORAGE
FOR GREENHOUSE APPLICATIONS
By
Mathias A. Leon, D.Eng
Industrial Research Fellow

School of Engineering
University of Guelph
1

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

Depleting fossil fuel resources and Global Warming

Renewable energy, sustainable fuels (> Solar, Biomass)
Issues > Weather-dependant (solar) and hence unreliable.

Difficult to control the temp. and flow rate of heated air.

High cost if back-up heater is incorporated.
Reqrmnts for GH industry > Mitigating effects of fossil fuel price fluctuations.

Bridging technologies to build a sustainable business in the longer term.

A reliable and fuel-versatile renewable energy system of size that suits
their operation.

Solar-Biomass Hybrid Air Heating System

2

ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION

While groundbreaking new technologies certainly help in our
efforts to bring RE sources as mainstream fuels, we can make
significant progress by applying/integrating technologies
already available.
A renewable energy-based air heating system
> that does not require a conventional auxiliary heater
> that can still supply hot air at a steady temp. and flow rate
continuously for 24 hrs a day
> that can meet a daily load fraction exceeding 90%, and
> that can be a reliable, practical and cost-effective alternative
to similar systems with electrical or fossil fuel backup
appears to be possible with existing technologies.
With that in mind, a solar-biomass hybrid air heating system
was designed, developed and investigated.

PROPOSED AIR HEATING SYSTEM

Usual practice > store excess energy from solar collector in a thermal
storage for night-time use. collector should be large to meet the
load & to charge the storage simultaneously.
In cloudy/rainy season, solar collectors are not effective to meet the
load without excessive use of aux. heater.
Most systems employ elec. heaters simple to control. But electricity
is very inefficient for heat generation, expensive, and may not
always be available.
A RE-based aux. heater would therefore be preferred to elec. heater.
Biomass energy, stored in the rock bed, appears to be an attractive
option in Canada large quantities of surplus biomass available.
This can also mitigate the effects of daytime fluctuations in solar radn.
Accordingly, the proposed air heating system was designed.

SCOPE OF STUDY
Biomass (agriresidues): Wood
waste, pellets,
briquettes

Solar
energy
Unglazed transpired
solar collector (UTC):
Modelling/EES,
design & performance

Control
system/
PLC

Biomass gasifier with

heat exchanger:
Design & performance

Thermal storage:
TRNSYS simulation, design & performance
System characterization: Integration, performance analysis; identify
optimum operating range, conditions (del. air temp. range, flow rate,
charging, extraction strategy) for12 load/weather combinations
Test system performance for a typical application (drying)
5

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Biomass gasifier:
Improves the reliability
of solar heater; utilizes
waste biomass, a
sustainable energy
source

Solar
collector/UTC:
Collects free solar
energy
Functions and
benefits

PLC: Controls system

parameters and
optimizes system
operation; enables long
unattended operation

Thermal storage
(rockbed): Minimises
the effects of weather
fluctuations in daytime
and charging air temp.
fluctuation at night when biomass stove is
used.

UNGLAZED TRANSPIRED SOLAR COLLECTOR/UTC

Used since early nineties for ventilation air heating

Major advantages: cost, efficiency
Effy up to 75%; temp. rise of 16-40 deg C
Typically produces 500 - 700 kWh/m2
Pays back in 1-6 yrs.

UNGLAZED TRANSPIRED SOLAR COLLECTOR/UTC

Simulation studies in EES
Input parameters:
Porosity (involving perforation diameter and pitch)
Airflow rate
Solar radiation
Output parameters:
Collector efficiency
Air temperature rise
Heat exchange effectiveness Useful heat delivered
Parameter range selected for analysis:
To maintain the required min. Vapp (to reduce convection losses), and to
obtain reasonable Texit., vapp of 0.02-0.03 m/s (72-108 m3/h-m2) chosen.
Absorber pr. drop: 25-80 Pa (min. 25 Pa required to ensure uniform flow
distribution).
Pitch: 12-24 mm; Dia.: 0.80-1.55 mm; solar radiation: 400-900 W/m2

MODELING AND EXP. INVESTIGATION OF UTC

Simulation studies in EES
70

Solar absorptivity,
collector pitch, and
approach velocity (or
airflow rate) have the
strongest effect on
collector HEE as well
as effy. The
effects of thermal
emissivity and porosity
on HEE
are not
significant.

q=67.5 m3/h-m2

65

q=90.0 m3/h-m2

Exit air temperature (deg C)

Model results are

compiled for five
different airflows &
plotted in a single
graph (P=20 mm;
D=1.25 mm)

q=45.0 m3/h-m2

q=112.5 m3/h-m2

60

q=135.0 m3/h-m2

55
50
45
40
35
30
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Solar radiation IT (W/m2)

Study reveals promising thermal

performance in 45-50C range
an attractive alternate to
glazed
solar collectors.

900

1000

ROCK BED for THERMAL STORAGE

Weather dependency: major issue for solar systems thermal storage

is required (despite extra cost, addnl complexity).
For low-temp. sensible heat storage, solid media (rock, brick, concrete)
preferred to liquids (water) no leakage/freezing, HX can be avoided.
When there is no airflow, heat loss is very low in rb rocks have only
small surface contact with surrounding rocks; stagnant air in the voids
is a poor conductor of heat. less insulation required.
Stratification is maintained over reasonably long time intervals.
In rock bed, energy recovery effy higher than 80% can be achieved.
Performance is influenced by its design & operational parameters (rock
size, size of bed, airflow rate, void fraction, thermal & physical
properties of rock, and air inlet temp.)

BIOMASS GASIFIER STOVE

Large quantities of surplus biomass (forestry & agri residues )

available in Canada.
Due to certain difficulties in using them in traditional combustion
devices and non-availability of suitable cost-effective technologies,
they are grossly under-utilized as a potential energy source.
Gasification of biomass is an attractive option to tap this energy source
by converting it into a combustible gas.
Main advantages in comparison with the combustion process (in the
pilot-scale study): higher effy, less emission, easier to operate and
control.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

System Layout

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Solar Collector
The EES model developed was used to design the UTC for the air
heating system.
For the proposed air heating system, hot air requirement from the
collector was to be 70-100 m3/h, at 55C.
Considering that the absorber material (or conductivity) does not
have a significant effect on UTC performance, MS was chosen
>> cost advantage; flat black paint as absorber coating.
P & D chosen using the simulation model, to achieve high collector
efficiency and HEE.
Due to limitations in fabricating very small perforations, a dia. of 1.6
mm was selected, with a pitch of 25 mm.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Rockbed
A rectangular rockbed heat storage
(60 x 60 x 192 cm size, with a
packed bed of 1 pebbles) to store
heat sufficient
(i)

to meet the load during

off-sunshine hrs, and

(ii) to meet the supplement heat

required during solar radiation
fluctuations in the daytime,
was designed and fabricated.
The bed was designed to supply hot
air at 55C at 100 kg/h for 16 hrs
continuously (5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.)
.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Rock Bed
Assuming that rockbed will
be charged to 90% of its
capacity during one charging
session, through simulation &
exper. studies, relationship
between
(i) Bed temp. and charging time
(ii) Bed temp. and hot air supply
duration
were established
Rock bed temp. profile during
extraction at 32.3 kg/h, from rock bed
at 108C (Simulation result)

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Biomass Gasifier
A natural draft cross-flow type gasifier of 3.6 kW size was developed
for the proposed study, considering the avg heating requirement of
3.01 kW to charge the rockbed. It was coupled to a gas burner.
Lid
Water seal

Fuel chamber
Gas burner
Secondary air holes

Reaction chamber
Producer gas outlet
Grate

Ash pit door

Primary air inlet

Primary air enters the

hot fuel bed on one
side, and gas leaves
from the opposite side.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Biomass Gasifier

(i) Briquettes
(ii) Wood chips
(iii) Coconut shells

Tests were conducted to measure the effy

and capacity of gasifier.
Woodchips was chosen as the fuel for the
experimental studies.
Average fuel consumption rate: 2.5 kg/h (wood chips)
Average air heating capacity (with HX): 3.27 kW
Average effy of gasifier-HX unit: 28%.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

Heat Exchanger
Air-to-air cross-flow fin and tube HX transfers heat from the flue gases
to the charging air entering the rock bed.
Designed using LMTD method, for airflow rate of 120 m3/h (134 kg/hr).

Hot air
out

Ambient
air in

Flue gas
out

Flue gas
in

hot flue gases flow

inside the GI pipes;
cold air flows over
the pipes and fins.
Average overall
heat transfer coefft:
9.98 W/m2-K.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION OF THE A-H SYSTEM

PLC/Controllers

Automatic damper at
heat exchanger inlet

Programmable Controller (PLC)

NAIS-FP0-C14RS

Damper actuator

Thermostatic Valve (TV2)

SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Integrated
Air Heating
System

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

DAYTIME OPERATION
Charging, partial extraction
Hot air delivery from UTC
Rockbed charging from
gasifier
Supplement heat from
rockbed
Constant airflow rate
through UTC.
Two centrifugal blowers one for solar collector,
other for charging &
extraction of rockbed.

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

Max. charging air flow rate of 125 m3/h maintained to get the bed
fully charged in 7-8 hrs.
The flow rate was controlled within 0-125 m3/h by the automatic
damper, by sensing the outlet air temp. from the heat exchanger.
The damper received its signals from a PLC.
For this flow rate, during normal operation, an average charging air
temp. of 110C was obtained.

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

NIGHT-TIME
OPERATION
Extraction from
pebble bed
Hot air mixed
with ambient
air to obtain
required temp.
and flow rate
Manual control
of mixing ratio

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

Six load conditions and two weather conditions analyzed

Del. air temp. and flow rate:
(i) 55 C; 80 m3/h
(ii) 55C; 90

m3/h

(iii) 55C; 100

m3/h

(iv) 60C; 70 m3/h

(v) 60C; 80 m3/h
(vi) 60C; 90 m3/h

Case I:
Normal sunny/partially cloudy day

solar radiation 10MJ/m2-day

solar collector operated.
Case II:
Fully overcast day
solar radiation <10 MJ/m2-day
solar collector not operated.

Analysis indicates that load condition L55/80 offers the max. LF (92%).

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

LOAD L55/80
60

1000

120

Ambient temp.
Solar radiation

56

Tto p

T3

T4

T6

T7

Tbo tt

T5

100
52

800

48

80
44

600

40

60

36

400

40

32
28
09:00

200
10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

Time (hrs)

20
09:00

Weather condition
(Incident solar energy on
collector surface: 31.2 MJ)

11:00

13:00

15:00

17:00

19:00

21:00

23:00

01:00

03:00

05:00

07:00

Time

Bed temperature profile after charging

At the end of charging, average bed temp.: 84.7C

Average charging air temp.: 97.1C; flow rate: 102.8 m3/h
Average collector outlet air temp.: 50C during 10:15-16:30 hrs.

09:00

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

LOAD L55/80
1000
Charging air temp
100

800

Delivery air temp

Temp (deg C)

UTC o utlet air temp

So lar radiatio n (W/m2)

80

600

60

400

40

200
Charging

Extractio n

20
09:00

Solar radiation (W/m2)

120

0
11:00

13:00

15:00

17:00

19:00

21:00

23:00

01:00

03:00

05:00

07:00

09:00

Time

Tdc at 45-50C most of the time, with temp. fluctuating closely with radiation.
With overcast sky after 13:45 hrs, Tdc dropped significantly.
With supplement heat from rb, Tds is steady at 553C most of the daytime.
Charging air temp. was at 100C (avg) from 09:30-14:30 hrs; dropped to
<80C during 15:00-16:10 - fuel blockage.

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

LOAD L55/80
Significant shortfall in energy
delivered at the beginning of the
day due to an empty rockbed and
the lead time for starting the stove.
The heat delivery reasonably
matches with requirement
thereafter, until storage is depleted.
Fluctuations in solar radn have
contributed to corresponding
fluctuations in suppl. heat from
rockbed during the daytime.

300
Ed.s

Ex.s

Ex.pb

Ed.pb

240

180

120

60

0
09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

Time (hrs)

Energy expected from the system

vs. energy delivered (daytime)

The bed supplied 7.3MJ over 7 hrs towards supplementing the

shortfall arising out of low radiation

17:00

EXPERIMENTATION ON THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM

LOAD L55/80
LF is a measure of how much of the energy demand is met.
LF>100% when energy delivered exceeds the energy required.
System delivered 52.2 MJ during the 24-hr period against 53.6MJ
needed to fully satisfy the requirement (Tds of 55C at 80 m3/h).
System could cover 92.3% of daytime
LF with suppl. Heat from rockbed;
coverage was only 66.8% otherwise.

100

80

60

40

20

Without supplement heat from rockbed

With supplement heat from rock bed
0
09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

Time (hrs)

Load fraction

15:00

16:00

Although actual energy supplied was

97.5% of total demand, a LF of only
92.3% obtained as excess energy
was supplied when not required, &
requirement not met when there was
shortfall (gasifier start-up in the
morning, rockbed depletion the next
day morning).

EVALUATION OF THE A-H SYSTEM FOR DRYING APPLICATION

Solar collector supplied required hot air
System was operated to
directly for drying during daytime;
supply 80 m3/h of hot air
supplement heat from rockbed mitigated
at 60C to the drying
solar fluctuations.
chamber.
Could supply the required
del. air temp. (of 603C)
for ~20 hrs out of the total
drying time of 32 hrs.

22 kg of red chilli

For more than 95% of the

duration, del. air temp.
was
maintained above
50C, irrespective of
fluctuations
in sol.
radiation (especially in day
2 when fluctuations were
significant), and its
unavailability at night.

EVALUATION OF THE A-H SYSTEM FOR DRYING APPLICATION

Day1 & Day2
Performance analyzed in two parts: the first 24hr period (9:00 a.m. day1
until 9:00 a.m. day2) when the AH system was operated as in Case I, and
the next 8.5hr period (9:00 a.m., day2 until 5:30 p.m., day2) when only the
solar collector was operated.
100

1000

80

Td.s

Td.c1

Tamb

I(15)

800

60

600

40

400

20

200

0
09:00

0
11:00

13:00

15:00

17:00

19:00

21:00

23:00

01:00

03:00 05:00 07:00

Time

09:00

11:00

13:00

15:00

17:00

CONCLUSIONS
The solar-biomass hybrid AH system designed and developed,
combines a UTC, rockbed, and a biomass gasifier with HX.
Can supply hot air at 55C & 80 m3/h continuously during day & night, at
both sunny/partially cloudy and fully overcast/rainy weather conditions
when the solar collector will not be operated at all.
Daily Load Fraction of upto 92% could be achieved by the system.
Using only renewable solar & biomass energy for its operation
(negligible elec. consumption for blowers & control system), the AH
system appears to present itself as a reliable & economical alternative
to fossil fuel-fired air heaters generally used in GH heating.
Apart from helping to free the GH industry from unsustainable fossil
fuels, also provides crucial energy security needed in the longer-term.
Could also contribute to meeting the emission reduction obligations.

Questions?
mleon@uoguelph.ca
519-824-4120 exn 53874

Thank you.