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Solar energy is one of the most common and eco-friendly non-conventional types of energy source which is having various applications like purification of saline water. The experimental study of the present research work has been performed at the M.A.N.I.T, Bhopal M.P, India (latitude: 23°12' 51" N, longitude: 77° 25' 0" E) in the month of January 2018. The investigation has been performed on single slope solar still coupled with a flat plate solar collector to examine the thermal behaviour of the solar system and results have been presented in natural and forced convection mode. The overall efficiency reached up to 9.86% in natural mode where as 16.70% in forced mode. Therefore, forced mode solar still option is better and preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500 MWe sodium cooled pool type fast reactor being constructed at Kalpakkam, India. PFBR has all the reactor components immersed in the pool of sodium and the fission heat generated in the core, is removed by the sodium circulating in the pool. During normal operation this fission heat is transferred by primary sodium to secondary sodium, which in turn transfers the heat to water in the steam generator for producing steam. The removal of the decay heat generated in the reactor core after the reactor shutdown is also very important to maintain the structural integrity of reactor core components. PFBR employs two independent systems namely, Operational Grade Decay Heat Removal system (OGDHRS) and Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal System (SGDHRS) for decay heat removal. SGDHR system is a passive system working on natural convection to ensure the core coolability even under station blackout condition. It is very important to study the thermal hydraulic behavior of Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal system of PFBR to ensure its reliable operation. A scaled down model of the circuit, named SADHANA has been modeled, designed, constructed and commissioned for demonstration and evaluation of these systems. The facility has completed around 2000 h of high temperature operation. The performance of the experimental system is satisfactory and it meets all the design requirements. At 550 °C sodium pool temperature in test vessel the secondary sodium loop generated a sodium flow of 6.7 m3/h. These experiments have revealed the adequacy and capability of SGDHR system to remove the decay heat from the fast breeder reactor core after its shutdown. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports the design and development of an indirect, natural convection batch-type solar dryer fitted with North–South reflectors. With the help of the reflectors the collector efficiency without load was enhanced from 40.0% to 58.5% under peak solar irradiation conditions during a typical day in January in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. The corresponding computed values based on heat transfer equations were 36.5% and 50.3%. The desired extent of drying (ca. 12%, wet basis) of ‘papad’ – a popular Indian wafer – could be achieved within 5h in this static dryer having 1.8m2 area of the collector and computed loading capacity of 3.46kg. The initial and average values of the drying efficiency were 16.3% and 4.1%, respectively. The drying performance data could be fitted to the diffusivity equation with effective diffusivity value of 3.9×10−9 m2 s−1. Despite the high collector efficiency achieved, the average drying efficiency was low on account of under-loading of the dryer, as evident from the increase in drying efficiency to 13% in a smaller dryer loaded with the same amount of wet papad. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A conventional greenhouse solar dryer of 6m2 ×4m2 floor area (east–west orientation) was improved for faster drying using inclined north wall reflection (INWR) under natural as well as forced convection mode. To increase the solar radiation availability onto the product (to be dried) during extreme summer months, a temporary inclined wall covered with aluminized reflector sheet (of 50μm thickness and reflectance 0.93) was raised inside the greenhouse just in front of the vertical transparent north wall. By doing so, product fully received the reflected beam radiation (which otherwise leaves through the north wall) in addition to the direct total solar radiation available on the horizontal surface during different hours of drying. The increment in total solar radiation input enhanced the drying rate of the product by increasing the inside air and crop temperature of the dryer. Inclination angle of the reflective north wall with vertical (β) was optimized for various selective widths of the tray W (1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3m) and for different realistic heights of existing vertical north wall (h) at 25°N, 30°N and 35°N latitudes (hot climatic zones). Experimental performance of the improved dryer was tested during the month of May 2008 at Ludhiana (30.56°N) climatic conditions, India by drying bitter gourd (Momordica charantia Linn) slices. Results showed that by using INWR under natural convection mode of drying, greenhouse air and crop temperature increased by 1–6.7°C and 1–4°C, respectively, during different drying hours as compared to, when INWR was not used and saved 13.13% of the total drying time. By using INWR under forced convection mode of drying, greenhouse air and crop temperature increased by 1–4.5°C and 1–3°C, respectively, during different drying hours as compared to, when INWR was not used and saved 16.67% of the total drying time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]