Convective layers generated in solar ponds with fertilizer salts

This paper investigates the generation of convective layers on sidewalls of a solar pond with fertilizer salts. The fertilizer salts used in the pond are urea, potassium nitrate (KNO3), mono ammonium phosphate (MAP) and mono potassium phosphate (MKP). Furthermore, the paper reports the effects of th e surface roughness heights of the wall, on the growth of the generated con vective layers and the stability of the solar pond. It was found that urea and potassium nitrate tend to have the least active generated convective la yers in the 90 degrees and 30 degrees tanks when compared with the other sa lts investigated, while mono ammonium phosphate resulted in less activities for the layers generated in the vertical tank. The mono potassium phosphat e showed less activity for the convective layers in the 60 degrees tank. Th e addition of surface roughness to the inclined wall reduced the growth of the convective layers by as much as 55.6% as the height of the surface roug hness was increased. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved.