Solar desalination tower, novel design, for power generation and water distillation using steam only as working fluid

Abstract

The use of sustainable energy resources is indispensable nowadays. This paper studies a new solar chimney plant for electrical power generation and water distillation. The operating mechanism of the power plant is based on evaporating seawater using concentrated solar power techniques. The novelty of the proposed system is using steam only as working fluid; also, the collector area is separated away from the solar chimney. The solar field absorbs and transfers solar energy into the steam generator. As steam passes through the chimney, the vapor exchanges the heat with the outside environment resulting in water condensation at the inner surface of the chimney. A set of equations have been developed, and a hybrid integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) is constructed for comparison purposes. In general, the results show that the proposed system can improve the efficiency of the solar utilization of the new solar chimney with 78% more than the conventional ISCC system. The geometrical dimensions of the solar field and chimney of the new system are smaller than the traditional one; therefore, the estimated capital cost ($/m2) will be relatively less.