Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE), Kapurthala (Punjab) is an autonomous Institution of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE),
Kapurthala (Punjab) is an autonomous Institution of the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, Government of India. The objective of the Institute is to
carry out and facilitate research, design, development, testing, standardization
and technology demonstration eventually leading to commercialization of R&D
output.
SSS-NIRE has three R&D Laboratories. Ecosense established Solar Thermal Lab
at SSS-NIRE’s R&D Lab-III.
Under Solar Thermal
Lab, Ecosense installed the following equipments:
1. Solar Thermal
Training System
2. Thermal Energy
Storage System
Solar Thermal
Training System allow them to learn about Solar
Thermal technology by using a real time miniaturized thermal plant inside the
laboratory. As Solar Thermal systems highly dependent on environmental
conditions for its operation because it uses Sun’s Irradiation as heating source,
Ecosense’s Solar Thermal Training system uses artificial source of irradiation
instead of actual sunlight for the operation of equipment which allows user to
experiment and conduct research on Solar Thermal technology at any time of the
day.
Using this system users can learn
about two modes of water heating using Flat Plate Collector 1) natural mode of
water heating i.e., Thermosyphonic mode and 2) Forced mode of water heating. In
Thermosyphonic mode water rises in the riser tubes of Flat plate collectors
naturally but it takes much time to heat a very less amount of water whereas in
forced mode of heating water is regulated to the riser tubes using a motor,
which heats up the larger amount of water present in the overhead tank but
heating temperature will be less than that in Thermosyphonic mode.
·
Artificial
source of irradiation
·
Control of
irradiation level as per requirement
·
Artificial
source of wind speed
·
Inbuilt
facility analogous to rooftop and hot water tank compatible to perform
experiments both indoor and outdoor.
·
2 auxiliary
tanks for non-stop experimentation
·
Provision to
change incident angle of irradiation
Apart from the standard learning outcomes, a user can also explore the following research options with the system·
· Experimental study
of a latent heat thermal energy storage system with different types of
insulation (PUF, Rockwool and Glass-wool) having Paraffin wax and Organic
mixtures in series combination (cascading)
· Experimental study
of latent heat thermal energy storage system with multiple PCMs in series
combination
· Performance analysis
of a Fatty acid based thermal energy storage system with different insulating
materials: an experimental study
· Performance behavior
of fatty acid based thermal energy storage system with and without aluminum
additive: An experimental study
· Experimental
analysis of a multiple PCM based LHTES system with three different types of
heat exchangers and solar parabolic trough collector as a source of heat
· Experimental study of a small scale solar parabolic trough collector and latent heat thermal energy storage combine system with multiple PCMs in a storing unit
After successful installation of systems, 2-day master’s training program is conducted. This master’s training was focused on how to efficiently utilize the system in core-curriculum development and practical experimentations.
