Structural and Thermal Analysis of Asphalt Solar Collector Using Finite Element Method

The collection of solar energy using asphalt pavements has got a wide importance in the present energy scenario. Asphalt pavements subjected to solar radiation can reach temperature up to 70°C because of their excellent heat absorbing property. Many working parameters, such as pipe diameter, pipe spacing, pipe depth, pipe arrangement, and flow rate, influence the performance of asphalt solar collector. Existing literature on thermal energy extraction from asphalt pavements is based on the small scale laboratory samples and numerical simulations. In order to design an efficient asphalt solar collector there should be a payoff between the thermal and structural stability of the pavement, so that maximum heat can be absorbed without structural damage due to external load condition. This paper presents a combined thermal and structural analysis of asphalt solar collector using finite element method. Analysis is carried out in different models so as to obtain optimum pipe spacing, pipe diameter, depth, and pipe arrangement under the specified condition. 1. Introduction Sustainable supply of energy is the key factor that determines the development of an economy. The current growth rate of energy consumption will lead to complete scarcity of the major energy resource, fossil fuels, in the near future. The situation is most worrying because of the effect of major pollutants like CO2 on the earth atmosphere. This situation forced the researchers to think of green technologies by which the global energy production can be increased. This points to the importance of distributed power generation. Distributed small scale production can increase the global energy production and at the same time it has an advantage of low transmission cost. Asphalt solar collector is not a new technology. This system is employed in many countries for the purpose of heating and cooling of road pavements in winter and summer, respectively. By proper design the technology can be utilised to power some of the applications at the site where it is utilized (distributed power generation). Solar energy is the primary energy source for all other forms of energy which is green thermal source distributed around the globe. Road pavements can be considered as the largest solar thermal collector cum storage system on land. It receives solar radiation all the day and stores some of the energy from it. This energy is completely or partially dissipated to atmosphere by night time. Studies show that on an average summer day the temperature of an asphalt pavement can reach up to 60–70° because of its