CFD–DEM Simulation of Dust Deposition on Solar Panels for Desert Railways

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Editor,

I would like to thank you to give me the chance to revise this paper. The paper presents  the simulation of the dust deposition dynamic process on the solar panel based on CFD-DEM method. Besides,  the calculation of flow field around the solar panel and the movement of dust particles in wind is estimated in this article.

This paper is good written and structured, so I recommending it to be published in Applied Science Journal after major revision. I have some comments as follows.

1. Please, write the full expression of CFD- DEM?

2. In p.1 L. 25, '' our result '' please improve the expression?

3. The abstract needs more improvement to show the paper results and main contribution?

4. Summarize the paper contribution in points at the end of introduction section?

5. Figs 3 to 5 need more explaination?

6. I think, a new section about the solutions of dust on solar panels to increase the efficiency will be good for the paper?

7.  What about taking into account the variation of temperature in design?

8. Update the references to 2022?

9. Add list of nomenclature at the end of paper?

10. Show the used setting of CFD?

Author Response

Dear Editor and Reviewers:

Thanks for your letter and for the reviewers’ comments concerning our manuscript. Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in red in the paper. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to the reviewer’s comments are as flowing:

Responds to the reviewer’s comments

1. Please, write the full expression of CFD- DEM?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have revised it. The full expression of CFD- DEM is the Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method. Thanks.

2. In p.1 L. 25, '' our result '' please improve the expression?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have revised it in the manuscript. Thanks.

3. The abstract needs more improvement to show the paper results and main contribution?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have rewritten the abstract. Thanks

4. Summarize the paper contribution in points at the end of introduction section?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have added a summary of the paper contribution at the end of introduction section. Thanks

5. Figs 3 to 5 need more explanation?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have given more explanations of Fig 3-Fig 5 in the paper. Thanks

6. I think, a new section about the solutions of dust on solar panels to increase the efficiency will be good for the paper?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. Your suggestion is very good. There has been a lot of literatures on the dust removal method for PV panels, and we cannot present a new and better solution. Therefore, we only cited the relevant literatures in the revised manuscript, and added the guiding role of the results of our manuscript on dust removal in page 11.

7. What about taking into account the variation of temperature in design?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We think the effect of temperature on dust accumulation may be small. But the temperature affects the power generation of PV panels.

 

8. Update the references to 2022?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have added some articles in the references, i.e. [23]Dagher, M.M. and H.A. Kandil, Computational prediction of dust deposition on solar panels. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022.

[31] Salamah, T.; A. Ramahi; K. Alamara; A. Juaidi; R. Abdallah; M.A. Abdelkareem; E.C. Amer, and A.G. Olabi, Effect of dust and methods of cleaning on the performance of solar PV module for different climate regions: Comprehensive review. Sci Total Environ, 2022. 827: pp. 154050.

[32] Li, D.; M. King; M. Dooner; S. Guo, and J. Wang, Study on the cleaning and cooling of solar photovoltaic panels using compressed airflow. Solar Energy, 2021. 221: pp. 433-444.

9. Add list of nomenclature at the end of paper?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have defined the relevant parameters’ symbol in the text, and some parameters have also been listed in Table 1, we think it is unnecessary to add a term list. Thanks for your comments. Thanks.

10. Show the used setting of CFD?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. In lines from 120-122 and 172-179, we have given the used setting of CFD, i.e. the turbulent closure method is realizable  equation and boundary condition is non–equilibrium wall function, the inflow velocity is logarithmic velocity profile as shown in formula(10).

 

Dear editors and reviewers,

 We have done our best to improve the content of the manuscript and to respond to your comments. If there is anything improper, we sincerely hope that you will give me the opportunity of further improving the manuscript.

Thank you.

Xingcai Li

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Adding a description of the study site of desert railway.

Adding a description of solar panel installation solutions for desert railway and related issues.

Research results should be compared in the table with other simulation and experimental studies.

How is the dust effect on solar panel for desert railway compared to other areas where solar panels are installed?

English needs to be improved.

Author Response

Dear Editor and Reviewers:

Thanks for your letter and for the reviewers’ comments concerning our manuscript. Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in red in the paper. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to the reviewer’s comments are as flowing:

 

Responds to the reviewer’s comments

 

Adding a description of the study site of desert railway.

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have add some sentences in the introduction section to introduce it. Thanks.

Adding a description of solar panel installation solutions for desert railway and related issues.

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have added some sentences on the page 8. Thanks.

Research results should be compared in the table with other simulation and experimental studies.

Reply: Thanks for your comments. As the simulation parameters are different, we cannot give quantitative comparison. However, our conclusions on the sedimentation efficiency of different particle sizes are the same as those in the literature [1, 2]. These results indirectly prove the rationality of our simulation. Thanks for your comments again.

How is the dust effect on solar panel for desert railway compared to other areas where solar panels are installed?

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We think it is no difference in the effects of dust. However, the photovoltaic panels designed for railways power supply can be built even higher, reducing the amount of dust deposition by increasing the wind speed (the effect of boundary layer), thus making their impact relatively less severe. Thank you.

English needs to be improved.

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have corrected the English expression of the manuscript.

 

Dear editors and reviewers,

 We have done our best to improve the content of the manuscript and to respond to your comments. If there is anything improper, we sincerely hope that you will give me the opportunity of further improving the manuscript.

Thank you.

Xingcai Li

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Editor and Authors,

I would like to thank authors for covering most of my comments. However, two comment still not covered in last version. We try  to simplify the contents of the paper for readers. As a result, I have two comments as following.

1. Summarize the contribution of the paper in points at the end of the introduction section? 

The authors added a paragraph about the structure of the paper not follow the required in comment. 

2. Add a nomenclature list about sympols in paper?

The Authors replied that the symbols in paper context, but I know that. Nomenclature will guide the readers to know all symbols in paper. 

Thanks alot for authors for efforts.

 

 

Author Response

Dear Editor and Reviewers:

Thanks for your letter and for the reviewers’ comments concerning our manuscript. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval.

1. Summarize the contribution of the paper in points at the end of the introduction section? 

The authors added a paragraph about the structure of the paper not follow the required in comment. 

Reply: Thanks for your comments. We have added a detailed summary of the paper contribution at the end of the introduction section. Thanks.

2. Add a nomenclature list about sympols in paper?

The Authors replied that the symbols in paper context, but I know that. Nomenclature will guide the readers to know all symbols in paper. 

Reply: Thanks for your comments very much. Now we have added a completed nomenclature list about symbols in paper at the end of the paper.

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

I agree.

Author Response

Thank you for your comments on our manuscript. Thank you.