Space and Energy: Proceedings of the XXVIth International Astronautical Congress, Lisbon, 21–27 September 1975

reader.

Part I

THEME SESSION: SPACE AND ENERGY

Outline

Chapter 2: THE ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM FOR SPACELAB

Chapter 3: LASERS FROM FISSION (GASEOUS CORE REACTORS AND NUCLEAR PUMPED LASERS FOR SPACE POWER GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION)

Chapter 4: SATELLITE SOLAR POWER STATION CONSTRUCTION IN SPACE

EARTH, AN OPEN SYSTEM*

The Use of Solar Energy

André L. Jaumotte,     President of the University of Brussels

Publisher Summary

There has been too much of a tendency to view the earth as a closed system living in a state of autarky on its nonrenewable resources, whereas it is an open system nurtured by the enormous amount of energy that is sent out to it from the sun. Man in particular and living beings in general are self-programmed, self-manufactured, self-maintaining, and self-decaying chemical machines, running either directly or indirectly with the help of solar energy. This chapter highlights the various applications of solar energy, including low-temperature thermal energy, photosynthesis, optical concentration, and solar power stations in space. The use of solar energy has been arousing interest since the beginning of the industrial era. The current energy crisis has re-focused global attention on the possibilities of this source of clean energy. Some future uses could be for domestic water heating, the heating and air-conditioning of buildings, the improvement of photosynthesis, and the use of rejected matter (manure gas). Solar power stations, whether on earth or in space, could be combined with other sources of energy—the breeder reactor, geothermal energy, and nuclear fission.

1 INTRODUCTION

I would like to start this paper by making two observations :

a) since the reports of the Club of Rome on growth [1, 2] and the letter from M. Mansholt to President Malfatti, there has been too much of a tendency to view the earth as a closed system living in a state of autarcy on its non-renewable resources, whereas it is an open system nurtured by the enormous amount of energy which is sent out to it from the sun;

b) my second remark refers to man in particular and living beings in general. They are – and the definition comes from Christian de Duve, the Nobel Prizewinner in Medicine – self-programmed, self-manufactured, self-maintaining and self-decaying chemical machines, running either directly or indirectly with the help of solar energy.

These two observations on the earth and on living beings characterise the essential part played by this energy, solar energy, which comes to us from space.

Edmond Rostand says in Chantecler, 0 Sun, without which things would be but what they are. In fact, it is much more a case of, 0 Sun, thanks to which things are what they are.

2 THE EARTH’S THERMAL BALANCE-SHEET [3, 4, 5, 6]

The solar constant or the flow of solar radiation received per unit of air at the surface of a sphere concentric with the sun and having a radius equal to the distance separating the earth and the sun is 1.395 kW m−2.

The energy intercepted by the globe is enormous : 1.8 10¹¹ MW (180 milliard MW), whilst the total thermal energy consumed on earth in 1970 was 8 × 10⁶ MW (calculated on the basis of 2 thermal kW per inhabitant, and 4 × 10⁹ inhabitants). Thus, the energy received from the sun is 22,500 times as much as all the forms of energy consumed by man every where on earth. If we confine ourselves to the European Economic Community, solar energy received represents about 150 times the total consumption of primary energy.

It is interesting to note that the product of 1 p.c. of the photosynthesis (forests, agriculture) of about one tenth of the land surface of the globe corresponds to an energy value of some millions of MW, that is, of the same magnitude as the present world consumption of energy.

Assuming that it is uniformly spread over the whole earth, the sun’s energy contribution is 0.348 kW/m−2.

How can the earth’s thermal balance-sheet be drawn up?

35 p.c. of the energy is reflected outwards by the fact of selective and diffused reflection from the atmosphere and the surface of the earth. The other 65 p.c. is absorbed by the earch-atmosphere system. What becomes of this energy?

The answer is that it is redistributed as a result of multiple transformations which take place in the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere. These transformations produce the evaporation of water, the winds, vegetation and all forms of animal life.

Fig. 1 schematises the annual average radiative balance for the whole earth.

Fig_1 Composantes moyennes annuelles du bilanénergétique pour le systeme Terre – Atmosphère

(Watts par m²)

Does the activity of man provoke any significant change in the thermal balance sheet of the earth?

Taking 1970 as a year of reference, heat losses corresponding to the production and consumption of energy in the world amounted to:

- 0.015 W m−2 over the whole of the earth’s surface (510 × 10⁶ km²);

- 0.054 W m−2 over the continents only (143 × 10⁶ km²).

This last figure should be compared with the average value of the flow of geothermal heat at the surface of the earth: 0.063 W m−2.

The movement of heat-loss connected with human activity is towards the atmosphere, in the form of perceptible and latent heat. The loss should be compared with the 95 W m−2 of the net energy which is transferred from the earth to the atmosphere and which conditions the world’s weather. It only represents 0.017 p.c. of this. Its influence is therefore negligible.

The situation is different at local level, where repercussions of human activity are observable in the microclimate. Let us take two figures, both relative to the Federal Republic of Germany. For the whole of the Federal Republic the global consumption of energy is 1 W m−2, and for the Ruhr, 17 W m−2. For the USA, the figure is 0.235 W m−2.

In the temperate zone the study of the climates of built-up areas with population figures in excess of a million has revealed an increase in temperature of about 0.7 – 2°C (the annual average). In conjunction with atmospheric pollution, this phenomenon may bring about localized microclimatic changes (convective phenomena, frequency of fogs which develop into low strati, etc). On the other hand, there is no proof that the thermal structure of air-masses is significantly disturbed by the fact of their passing over urban and industrialised areas despite the increase in localized harmful effects.

The increasing concentration in the atmosphere of CO2 and aerosols is much more significant. These are the left-overs from combustion, from the fact that human activity has taken place.

The effects of the two types of action are incompatible, but the balance tends towards a cooling-down which will become more marked unless nuclear energy more or less takes over from fossil fuels.

A more sophisticated analysis of the meteorological effects of localized releases of large quantities of heat should be the subject of an integrated programme of temperature-monitoring. Temporal follow-up should be provides by a specially designed satellite equipped, according to the suggestion of Penner and Wolfhard [6] with special detectors [7].

3 HOW CAN SOLAR ENERGY BE PUT TO USE? Application of Low-Temperature Thermal Energy [8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

The sun radiates very much like a black body with a temperature of 5.800°K. As far as the short waveband is concerned, this radiation is precisely limited to 0.2 μ, reaches its maximum at 0.5 μ and becomes insignificant over 5 μ.

Where loss through conduction or convection does not occur, a blackened disc exposed under normal circumstances to solar radiation in an environment of 300°K will, in theory, assume a temperature of just over 100°C. Natural convection reduces this temperature to about 60°C.

It should be noted that, when incident radiation is directed, the radiation reflected from the heated disc emanates in all directions. If the back of the disc is polished in order to limit its radiation, the temperature of the disc in a vacuum will reach 150°C instead of 100°C.

If a sheet of glass is placed in front of the disc at a certain distance from its incident side, the radiation will be trapped (the greenhouse effect). When atmospheric absorption is taken into account, incident radiation at ground level lies between 0.3 and 2.5 μ. Glass does not absorb this range. On the other hand, it is practically impenetrable to infra-red radiation reflected from afar (between 4 and 30 μ). A black disc which reaches 100°C in a vacuum will have its temperature increased to 150°C behind a single sheet of glass, to 185°C behind a double sheet and to 210°C behind a triple sheet. With 0.86 as the factor of transmission of a sheet of glass, the temperature is brought down to 190°C. It should be added that these glass covers placed close to the receiving surface form an efficient anticonvective device. Fig. 2 schematises the positioning of flat-plate collectors based on the greenhouse effect.

Fig_2 Divers types de capteurs plans: A) corps noir C.N.) derrière vitrage – B.) CN a aileties pour augmenter les surfaces d’échange – C) empilage de glaces multipliant I’effet solaire – D). chauffage de l’eau circulant dans un serpentin soudé au C.N – E). schéma d’un chauffe-eau solaire simplifié – F). moteur solaire utilisé pour l’exhaure de l’eau (Dakar).

Le faibleécart de températures (58°/39°) donne un rendement de carnot faible (0.06)

A propos, the use of greenhouse in agriculture is a development of this Kind of collector.

Another stratagem – that of the non-radiating structure – is possible. The amount of radiation reflected back towards its source is reduced by adding a cellular element to the heat-collector. Let us imagine that a honeycomb structure is placed above the surface of the heat-collector (the black body). This honeycomb structure is made up of, let us say, hexagonal aluminium tubes, the height of which is about ten times their width. The rays reflected by the black body which forms the base of the structure are not parallel to the axes of the tubes. They reflect off their inside faces and emerge at a narrow solid angle. Loss by radiation is thus limited. (Fig. 3.).

Fig_3 Rayonnement du corps noir (C.N), nu, et avec une structure cellulaire.

All non-concentrating flat-plate collectors use one or the other of these principles.

We will take two examples – the solar dwelling and the solar irrigation pump.

3.1 Dwellings [13]

One straightforward use of a heat-collector based on the greenhouse effect is to heat water for domestic purposes. This use is widespread in regions with a high rate of sunshine. The daily heat supply is stored in a tank containing hot water, the temperature of which can be as high as 95°C. Circulation is effected by means of a thermal syphon. By way of an example, in a hot climate (as in Israel), a collecting surface of 2 m² is sufficient to bring the water in a 200 litre tank up to 65°C. This type of water-heater can also be used in a temperate climate provided that a reserve supply of heat is available. Solar water-heaters are in commercial production in Israel, Japan, the USSR an the USA. (Fig. 4).

Fig_4 Chauffe – eau solaire

The distillation of sea-water and brakish water is also worthy of mention. Numerous attempts have been made in different countries to heat houses by means of solar energy.

Prototypes exist in the USA (California and Florida), in France [Chauvency-le Château (Meuse) and Font-Romeu-Odeillo (Pyrénées Orientales), and in Germany (Aachen)].

Two systems are possible, one using hot water and the other hot air. Both are backed up by a reserve supply of energy.

The system using hot water is a development of the water-heater. The heat-collector of the hot-air system may either be mounted on the roof or fixed along a vertical wall. In our hemisphere it should face south.

Because it is lighter than the air inside the dwelling, the hot air contained in the glass suntrap of a roof-mounted unit will have to be transferred by mechanical means to the rooms to be heated.

Where the glass suntraps are mounted on vertical outside walls, it becomes possible to effect the processes of collection, storage and the circulation of air by natural means (thermal circulation). The sun’s rays pass through the glass panels (1) and are absorbed by the collecting surface (2) which consists of concrete slabs or a quantity of water. Natural processes set up a permanent thermal current which moves in a clockwise direction. A system of this type functions without mechanical assistance and will continue to work after sunset thanks to the partial storage of heat received (for this purpose a 35 cm thick wall which stores about half the heat received is necessary). (Fig. 5).

Fig_5 Chauffage solaire par serre sur facade verticale

The heat from the suntrap can be used both to ventilate and to heat rooms. Fig. 6 and 7 illustrate a recent patent CNRS – ANVAR (TROMBE and MICHEL). As J. MICHEL [13] explains, Fig. 6 and 6b represent the heating circuit. Hot air, circulating as in Fig. 5, enables the rooms to the rear of the wall to be heated (see the legend to Fig. 6a and 6b). In the models given in Fig. 7a and 7b (see legend), the outside wall acts as a suction device and air is expelled at the top of the suntrap. Pressure decreases inside the dwelling and cold air is able to enter from a north-facing outside wall or an air-conditioning unit. With the abovementioned improvement, solar suntraps have a much wider range of application than when they are only used for heating purposes.

Fig_6a_et_6b Dispositif du chauffage evec cheminées latéroles d’appel d’air (1) mur accumulateur; (2) vitrages; (3) surface réceptrice du rayonnement; (4) circulation de l’air; (5) ouverture inférieure; (6) passage de l’air aspiré; (7) partieéclairante; (8) passage de ventilation fermé; (9) entrée de l’air chaud dans la pièce; (10) pièce a chauffer; (11) circulation de l’air; (12)étage intérieur garage; (13) cloison; (14) passage de l’air de climatisation fermé; (15) climatisateur.

Fig_7a_et_7b (8) Sortie de l’air chaud vers l’extérieur; (6) aspiration d’air de la pièce; (14) entrée de l’air climatisé.

It will be noticed in Fig. 6a and 6b, and in Fig. 7a and 7b, that the receiving surface of the suntrap is surmounted by laterally fixed pipes which frame its illuminant sections. These pipes increase natural circulation in the same way as the chimney over a traditional fireplace.

In the majority of cases solar heating has to be backed up by a secondary, i. e. electric, source of heating.

In the basic solar house at Chauvency-le-Château (Meuse), solar energy provides 75 p.c. of the heat necessary to maintain a temperature of 20°C. The house (106 m²) has been occupied since 1972.

Some solar houses are under construction at Odeillo-Font-Romeu (Pyrénées Orientales). The secondary supply heat input is electric. Another example is the Thomason house, several examples of which have been built near Washington.

Heating can be combined with air-conditioning by using an absorption refrigerator which requires a heat source of about 90°C. Happy coincidence – the need for cooling coincides with periods of intense sunshine. Fig. 8 outlines a dual-purpose heating and air-conditioning unit.

Fig_8

The only problems which remain to be solved are those of reducing the price by 50 p.c. through mass-production, and of persuading builders to employ this type of heating. The building industry is traditionally slow to adopt new technologies.

3.2 Irrigation [14, 15]

Cyclic needs are best satisfied by solar energy which itself is cyclic. This is the case with water-pumping for irrigation and stock-watering in arid regions with a high sunshine level (e.g. the Sahara, the Middle East and the High Plateaux of Brazil).

A financially interesting method has been developed by using flat-plane heat-collectors and a low-temperature thermal cycle operating between a temperature of 60 – 70°C obtained at the exit of the collectors, and the temperature of the water being pumped. This acts as the cold-water source. A diagram will be found in Fig. 2. Developments are based on research carried out over 10 years or so at the Institut de Physique Météorologique in Dakar (Professor Masson).

The heat-collector consists of a cover made of self-supporting sheets of asbestos 5.50 m long (Fig. 9). The bottom of each unit includes a thin, blackened metal sheet, three water circulation pipes and a sheet of glass. The water is heated to 60 – 70°C. Circulation between the hot and cold water sources is effected by means of a thermal syphon. The motor (pistons or turbine) uses butane, propane or freon between 60 – 70°C and 35 – 40°C as fluid. The pressure level depends on the nature of the fluid.

Fig_9 Eléments de toiture CANALETAS

The water from the pump is stored in fibreglass tanks. The following table lists developments of the Société Française d’Etudes Thermiques et d’Energie Solaire (SOFRETES), both in service and under construction. (see page 11).

Figure 10 illustrates one of these developments.

Fig. 10

Units equipped with an alternator and producing electricity are obviously possible.

A 25 kW unit is under construction for Mexico (San Luis de la Paz).

The development of this kind of unit is related to its economic viability. Its competitor is the diesel motor which requires fuel-oil, maintenance and trained personnel.

Figure 11 gives a comparison in terms of the rate of interest on the sum invested for a 50 kW motor that runs 6 hours a day for 350 days a year i.e. 2.100 hours [15].

Fig_11

It has been established that the solar motor is heavily penalised by current high interest rates. Its price should be brought down to half its present level by mass-production. This can be done.

Figure 12 gives a comparison with the energy output of an oil-fired urban thermal power-station with a medium-voltage power-transmission line.

Fig_12

Solar installations will be profitable from now on if they are located more than 60 km from an urban power-station.

It seems that this type of unit has an immediate future where the provision of water for village, stock-watering and agricultural purposes is concerned.

IN SERVICE

4 APPLICATIONS INVOLVING PHOTOSYNTHESIS [16]

It was Robert Mayer who, after discovering the principle of the conservation of energy, discovered photosynthesis. He wrote, "Plants take one form of energy – light, and convert it into another – chemical energy (1845).

Photosynthesis is a fixation of the carbon present in the atmosphere in the form of carbone dioxide. The reaction is the reduction by water of this carbon dioxide to form a glucide. The reaction is made possible by the energy contribution of the light absorbed by chlorophyllian pigments. The general formula is:

There is a store of energy in the molecule of glucide formed.

The energy generated by the combustion of an atom of carbon in the form of a glucide is equal to about half of what can be obtained by the combustion of a monocarbonated fraction of methane.

If the product of photosynthesis is defined by the ratio

its average value will be found to be of the order of 2 p.c. for forests, 1 p. c. for most of the flora in the temperate zone from Nay to June, 0,6 p.c. for the annual average and some thousandths where vegetation is sparse.

The average photosynthetic capacity of the foliage of a given area in our climate varies from 150 Kg of carbon per hectare per day in June to 27 in December. Under average conditions these values should be reduced by 20 – 25 p.c.

Day and night metabolism re-processes some of the primary products of photosynthesis to form various substances: protides and lipids, and secondary substances such as polyphenols, alkaloids etc. This reprocessing is characterrised by a loss of energy.

Thus, the energy yield corresponding to plant growth is from 10 to 20 p.c. lower than the original photosunthetic product.

The systematic study of possible improvements is one of the essential aims of modern agricultural science. The technology brought into existence by the green revolution has not exhausted the possibilities of the vegetable kingdom.

When everything has been taken into account, non-marine plants and the vegetable plankton of the oceans fix about 40 milliard metric tons of carbon between them, i.e. 15 – 20 times more than the carbon in the coal and oil consumed during the same period. Nor must it be forgotten that coal and oil are only the fossils of past photosynthetic processes.

An interesting use of waste vegetable matter is the production of fuel gases-so-called manure gases – by controlled anaerobic fermentation [17].

Manure-gas is made up of methane (55 – 60 p.c.) and carbonic gas. Its upper calorific limit is in the region of 5.500 kcal/m³. If the CO2 is washed out with water, almost pure methane is obtained.

The technology is closely related to that used in decomposition by mud. Under economically viable conditions a metric ton of straw can yield 200 – 250 m³ of gas. The production of gas. The production of straw may be as high as 6 metric per hectare.

The gas can be stored in gasometers or under pressure in bottles.

Various developments exist, particularly at the Institut Agricole d’Algérie at Maison-Carrée (Algiers).

5 APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY INVOLVING OPTICAL CONCENTRATION [8, 9, 10, 11]

5.1 Concentration

Everybody has ignited a piece of paper place at the focal point of a magnifying glass. In the case of large surfaces, mirrors must be used.

The ideal is a one-piece parabolic mirror made of metal or glass. After the war, searchlight mirrors provided the wherewithall for numerous small solar ovens.

A reflector in the shape of a truncated cone can be used for small cookers. The Francia boiler (Fig. 13), which has a non-radiating cellular structure, uses this principle. These conical reflectors have one strange property; because the angle of incidence of the rays increases as they reflect back and forth, they are likely to retrogress before reaching their target. The field of optimization is narrow and must be carefully calculated. The size of one-piece parabolic mirrors cannot exceed a few metres.

Fig_13

Where large sizes are involved, it is necessary to make use of a mosaic of mirrors which are positioned according to the shape of the parabolic frame which holds them. If it is small enough, each element can be flat. The compromise solution of bending each elemental mirror is preferred. Mechanical shaping is effected by means of push-and pull-rods.

In the case of the large 1.000 kW solar oven at Odeillo (Pyrénées Orientales), constructed by Professor Trombe for the French CNRS (Fig. 14), the pull-rode are arranged on the back and act on pierced mirrors. Their individual parabolic form is approximate. The object of the exercise is to use a rule-of-thumb approach to try and obtain the smallest possible focal area of each mirror.

Fig. 14 With the authorization of the Laboratoire de l’energie Solaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique a Odeillo-Font-Romeu, France.

The Odeillo parabolic mirror consists of 9.000 silvered mirrors occupying a surface area of 2.500 m². With a focal length of 18 m, the gaussian image point should have a diameter of 17 cm. In fact, its energy is distributed in a gaussian curve. The maximum temperature at the centre of the focal area goes up to 3.800°C. The nominal energy of 1.000° kW is obtained in a zone 50 cm in diameter where the average temperature is 2.500°C. The levels of useful energy are 750 kW at 3.000°C and 300 kW at 3.500°C.

Such high temperatures are of no practical interest except in certain areas of high-temperature chemistry; the study of hyper-refractories and thermal shocks etc.

The aim of the process of concentration is not to obtain an ideal focal point. The battery of mirrors, curved or flat, which is placed on a hillside forms an optimized focal area projecting into a collector (the MARTIN & MARRIET project 4). Collectors have undergone considerable improvement with the development of space propulsion systemps using solar energy to heat a liquid propellant.

5.2 Adjusting and Tracking

Concentrating mirrors must obviously be turned towards the sun. The use of equatorial mounts of the type employed in astronomy is only possible in conjunction with mirrors of comparatively small size. Large mirrors are fixed and an intermediate collector is introduced which acts as a heliostat.

63 orientator mirrors measuring 45 m² each are arranged in tiers and reflect on to different areas of the Odeillo parabolic mirror. Fig. 15 shows the cell-equipped automatic tracking device which carries out azimuthal and zenithal adjustments by means of a hydraulic lever.

Fig. 15 With the authorization of the Laboratoire de l’energie Solaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique a Odeillo-Font-Romeu, France.

In Tashkent (Armenia), the Russians use mirrors mounted on trolleys which move around a circular track in accordance with the movement of the sun.

It is possible to dispense with the need for continual adjustment by using multi-directional collectors; these are East-West orientated cylindro-parabolic reflectors with a focal line in place of a precise focal point. This system lends itself to heating a fluid circulating in a channel placed on the focal line.

Finally, the concentration of solar energy raises few problems in the field of basic physics. The questions to be solved are of a technical, technological and financial nature.

5.3 Plans for Solar Power-stations [10, 19, 20]

Two solutions are possible depending on the degree of perfection of the concentrator.

Where cylindro-parabolic concentrating mirrors are used, the heat-carrying liquid can be raised to an average temperature. Fig. 16 outlines a double-storage unit where an exchanger produces the steam to drive the turbine.

Fig_16

Storage may either be passive (large insulated tanks), or effected by a change of state (eutectics). As part of an international programme organised by Honeywell, more than 300 binary, ternary or quaternary mixtures were studied as means of storage in the 260 – 320°C range, and near to 600 in the 450 – 550°C range. The cheapest mixtures are:

These are suitable for effecting storage at 300°C. A process which produces higher temperatures uses a device similar to that of the Odeillo oven, but simplified (Fig. 17). The heliostat is made of flat-plate mirrors, and the concentrator is a cylindro-parabolic mirror. Heat is concentrated on a tube placed along the focal line of the concentrator. It is drawn off by a heat-carrying liquid and stored in the form of perceptible or latent heat. It is obvious that such equipment is only viable in regions with a high sunshine rate (at least 2.100 hours per annum). In MEINEL and MEINEL’s project at the University of Arizona, the storage problem is avoided by linking the solar power-station to a hydro-electric unit. The economic viability of solar power-stations rests entirely on the hypotheses made on the investment in heliostat and collector equipment, and on the price of maintaining the installation. Given a quantity of development aid and a need for a sufficiently large number of units, solar power-stations could be competitive about 1985 and make a significant contribution to the production of energy about 2000