Performance of a bridge deck as solar collector in a thermal energy storage system

Abstract

Solar energy can be stored in subsurface and extracted to melt snow and deice in winter. In summer, the bridge deck heat element in a bridge deicing system could serve as a solar energy collector without additional cost. Numerical models were developed in this study to investigate the performance of a bridge deck solar collector. The effects of radiation intensity and wind speed on the solar energy collection efficiency of a bridge deck solar energy collector were discussed and analyzed. The results show that the temperature of the slab was decreased during the solar collection process, and the solar energy collection efficiency of the bridge deck solar collector was about 26~47%. The collection efficiency of solar energy at a given wind speed was increased with the decreasing of the radiation energy, and this effect was more pronounced when the wind speed was higher. The solar energy collection was beneficial to the durability of the top asphalt layer as well as the structural response of the bridge because the magnitude and gradient of the slab temperature were much lower when the bridge deck served as a solar energy collector.