Numerical Simulation of Temperature Distribution in Conductive Asphalt Solar Collector due to Pavement Material Parameters

Abstract

Asphalt pavement serving as solar collector has been developed for the heating and cooling of adjacent buildings as well as to keep the pavement ice-free directly. Material parameters such as thermal conductivity and heat capacity are some of the critical parameters related to the efficiency of the asphalt collector. Graphite powders were utilized as thermal conductive fillers to make asphalt collector conductive so as to improve the efficiency of the asphalt collector. The material parameters change with the addition of graphite consequently. In order to access the solar energy absorbability of conductive asphalt collector, it is necessary to predict the temperature distribution within the asphalt layers. A transient, two-dimensional finite element model is developed to predict temperature distributions in conductive asphalt solar collector due to material parameters. The ability of accurately predict asphalt pavement temperature at different depths will greatly help pavement engineers in determining the solar energy potential of conductive asphalt collector. The results from the prediction model show that the surface temperature of pavement decreases slightly with addition of graphite. The differential maximum asphalt temperature variation at a depth of 10cm is significantly more than that at the surface. Higher temperature and lower temperature gradient can also be observed at the depth of 10cm because the heat conduction is accelerated by the addition of graphite.