Ambient Crosswind Research Articles

Numerical analysis on an industrial-scaled solar updraft power plant system with ambient crosswind

Existing research indicated that the ambient crosswind (ACW) has very complex influences on the SUPPS both through the chimney outlet and collector inlet as demonstrated by numerical analysis from the Spanish prototype. But what influence exert ACW through chimney outlet and collector inlet independently on the overall performance of SUPPS is still unclear. In this research, two geometrical models are constructed for numerical simulation on industrial-scale SUPPS in the vicinity of 10 MW. In model 1, ACW acts on both chimney outlet and collector inlet; in model 2, ACW acts only on the chimney outlet. Fluid flow, heat transfer and power output performances of SUPPS are investigated and discussed. It is found that, the negative effect of ACW only occurs at the collector inlet, with cold ambient air into the collector resulting in changing of fluid distribution and deterioration of buoyant driving force, whereas the positive effect occurs at the chimney outlet, with strong ACW passing by the chimney outlet causing entrainment of buoyant airflow within the chimney outlet. To avoid deterioration and to improve the overall performance of SUPPS, effective measures can be taken to prevent ACW from entering the collector inlet and also to induce beneficial effects of high altitude strong ACW blowing across the chimney outlet.

Numerical analysis on the solar updraft power plant system with a blockage

Ambient crosswind has complicated influence on the performance of the solar updraft power plant system (SUPPS) both via the collector inlet and via the chimney outlet. To overcome the negative impact of strong ambient crosswind on the performance of a 50kW SUPPS model with the same dimensions as the prototype in Manzanares, Spain through the collector inlet, a 2m high blockage was circularly set a few meters away from the collector inlet. A geometrical model including the SUPPS and its outside ambience was built, and the mathematical models to describe the fluid flow, heat transfer and output power of the whole system were further developed. The pressure, temperature and velocity distribution of the air in the ambience and SUPPS together with the output power of the SUPPS were analyzed. The numerical simulation results revealed that after being set a blockage in front of the collector inlet, the negative influence of ambient crosswind on the performance of the SUPPS has been overcome to a great extent.

Photocatalytic conversion of methane

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.