Numerical investigation of solar chimney power plants performance for Saudi Arabia weather conditions

Abstract

The solar chimney power plant is one form of renewable energy technology uses the benefit of high intensive solar radiation locations. The system consists of three main parts (collector, turbine, and chimney) where it can convert electric energy through three traditional mechanisms. In this study, the performance of the solar chimney power plant in six different locations in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is investigated all over the year. A numerical model has been validated against published experimental data and carried out to investigate the performance. RNG K-∈ model is used to solve the momentum equation through the system. The discrete ordinate (DO) radiation model was adopted to solve the radiative transfer equation. The results show that a solar chimney power plant with 194 m chimney height and 244 m collector diameter is capable of producing monthly average 56 kW electric power over a year in Riyadh city. Bisha region of Saudi has found to be the best place to build a solar chimney power plant where the yearly average produced power is around 63 kW. The efficiency of the solar chimney power plant is affected by the value of both solar radiation and atmospheric temperature where the collector efficiency ranges between 10–29% around the year. The results indicated that the solar chimney power plant could be an important supplement for energy in Saudi Arabia.