Numerical investigation on the performance of a small scale solar chimney power plant for different geometrical parameters

Abstract

In recent decades, demand for energy has been significantly increased, and considering environmental impacts and the degrading nature of fossil fuels, clean and emission-free renewable energy production has attracted a great deal of attention. One of the most promising renewable energy sources is solar energy due to low cost and low harmful emissions, and from the 1980s, one of the most beneficial applications of solar energy is the utilization of solar chimney power plants (SCPP). A SCPP is a simple and reliable system that consists of three main components; a solar collector, a chimney (tower) and a turbine to utilize electrical energy. Recently, by the advancement in computer technology, the use of CFD methodology for studying SCPP has become an extensive, robust and powerful technique. In light of the above, in this study, numerical simulations of a SCPP through three-dimensional axisymmetric modeling is performed. A numerical model is created using CFD software, and the results are verified with an experimental study from the literature. After ensuring good agreement with the experiments, chimney’s and collector’s geometric parameters effects and different configurations effects on SCPP performance, simultaneously and additively is investigated. The study introduces an insight to the performance enhancement methods and finding the best configuration of a SCPP model, which will be the basis of a detailed prototyping process. Based on the numerical results, the best configuration of the SCPP has been found as the diverging chimney which enhances the generated power. The results of the study showed that the chimney height and collector radius increase has a positive effect on the power output and efficiency of the system, but when construction and material costs are also considered, each has an optimal value. The maximum impact on the performance is found to be by the chimney tower radius and the collector height and inclination are found to have optimum values considering performance. According to the obtained results, the best performance for the SCPP was obtained with 3.5 m chimney height, 30 cm tower diameter, 400 cm of collector diameter with 6 cm height and zero inclination angle. By the correct selection of the dominant performance parameter which can be done by correctly interpreting the results of this study, “the best” design of a SCPP real scale prototype considering maximum power requirement can be done.