Abstract
The purpose of this study is to improve the efficiency of the power generation system of a solar tower using fluid dynamics. The power generation system of a solar tower can be designed and constructed at relatively low cost. However, the energy output tends to be low for its physical size compared with other renewable energy production systems. The technical and scientific improvement of these types of generation systems has lost its momentum since the shutdown of the wellknown Spanish pilot plant “Manzanares Solar Chimney” in 1989, although it still has the potential to play a role in renewable energy in the future. We have focused on the tower component of the system to seek possible enhancements of the power output of the internal turbine. As a result of our fluid dynamic shape optimization, a diffuser-shaped tower was employed to increase the internal flow speed of a scaled model. The results show a remarkable improvement in the power output of the internal wind turbine.
Highlights
A solar tower [1] that can generate electricity in a simple structure, and enables easy and less costly maintenance, has considerable advantages
The purpose of this research is to focus on the shape of the solar tower, and increase the power output by changing the structure from the conventional cylindrical tower to a diffuser type tower, increasing the power output
As a result of previous preliminary experiments conducted by Okada, the mini-model of a diffuser type tower achieved greater wind velocity than a cylindrical tower
Summary
A solar tower [1] that can generate electricity in a simple structure, and enables easy and less costly maintenance, has considerable advantages. A tower of the thermal updraft wind type has significant potential as a. (2014) Improving the Power Generation Performance of a Solar Tower Using Thermal Updraft Wind. One of the few problems for this type is the low power electric generation capacity per unit area. The solar tower needs to be enlarged to achieve an adequate performance. If we can improve its performance in power generation by some method, the solar tower may become competitive when compared with other renewable energy systems. We show an example of optimizing the tower shape in terms of its fluid dynamic characteristics to raise its efficiency in generating power
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