Thermal energy storage using Dead Sea brine

This experiment studies a salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP), in the form of a 2.55 m
³
tank located on the German Jordanian University’s (GJU) main campus in Amman, Jordan. In the lower convective zone (LCZ), Dead Sea brine was used that has a distinctive and complex chemical composition. The upper convective zone (UCZ) temperature dropped in the first 24 hours, losing its heat to its surroundings, while the LCZ began to trap heat obtained from solar radiation and reached a ΔT of 9.5 °C. Within 23 days, the LCZ reached a temperature of 53.9 °C while maintaining a gradient throughout the tank and a stability margin number averaging 18 throughout the gradient. The tank was built from steel sheets with 2 mm thickness and a total depth of 0.9 m. This work aims at studying the potential of utilizing Dead Sea water as the medium for SGSPs in Jordan as an alternative to conventional energy sources. The tank in this study showed a consistent increase in the temperature difference between the LCZ containing Dead Sea water and the UCZ containing fresh water.