Numerical analysis of solar chimney power plant integrated with CH4 photocatalytic reactors for fighting global warming under ambient crosswind

Abstract

Methane's global warming potential (GWP) is much larger than carbon dioxide and contributes significantly to global warming. Solar chimney power plant (SCPP) integrated with photocatalytic reactors can capture and remove atmospheric methane, and generate electrical power without fossil energy consumption simultaneously. In this paper, the performance of the flow characteristics, the CH4 removal, the CO2 emission reduction, and the power generation were analyzed for the SCPP integrated with different types of photocatalytic reactors under ambient crosswind (ACW). The results revealed that the SCPP integrated with a honeycomb reactor was more stable for the degradation of CH4 than that with a plate reactor. With an increase in ACW, the removal rate of atmospheric CH4 was reduced to a constant value of 0.41 g/s for the honeycomb reactor and 0.11 g/s for the plate reactor. The SCPP integrated with a honeycomb reactor achieved a maximum power generation of 88.31 kW, which was 1.63 times than that of the conventional SCPP when G = 857 W/m2 and ACW = 0 m/s. In addition, the improved SCPP could reduce CO2 emissions by 85.04 kg/h when G = 857 W/m2, ACW = 0 m/s, and △P = 320 Pa.