Applying response surface method to optimize the performance of a divergent-chimney solar power plant

Abstract

One of the effective tools to generate electricity from solar energy is Divergent-chimney solar power plant (DSPP). Divergent and cylindrical chimneys of solar power plants have different performances considering turbine pressure drop ratio (ft). For the first time, the divergent angle (DA) and solar radiation (SR) interaction effects on ftopt are discussed through applying the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Response Surface Method (RSM). FLUENT software is employed to perform 2D axisymmetric numerical stimulation for the Manzanares prototype. The DA, SR, and ft with ranges of 0°–3°, 200–800 W/m2, and 0.2–0.9 are considered, respectively, in the RSM optimization. The outcomes denote that the amount of ftoptvaries from 0.71 to 0.89 continuously, and it is related inversely to the DA and directly to the SR. The maximum efficiency (ηmax) is obtained at ftopt, for different SRs and DAs. It is concluded that the ηmax is enhanced from 0.42% to 0.50%, achieved by increasing the DA and SR values. Furthermore, the quadratic correlation of the ftopt and ηmax in terms of DA and SR parameters are provided. Therefore, the consequences of this research would be a suitable resource for designing optimum turbines for the DSPPs.