CFD Simulations for Performance Enhancement of a Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) and Techno-Economic Feasibility for a 5 MW SCPP in an Indian Context (original) (raw)

A CFD study of a solar chimney power plant operation

Solar chimney power plant is a relatively new electricity generation concept, based on renewable energy, combining the greenhouse effect with the chimney suction. The present study involves mathematical modelling of the system, based on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The technical features of solar chimney power plant are analysed by use of CFD technique, as a way for effective optimisation of the object’s geometry and thermo-fluid aspects. The created numerical domain represents the complete volume of the object under consideration, with total height of 100 m, chimney’s base radius of 6.25 m, chimney’s top radius of 10.5 m and roof radius of 100 m. The numerical grid consists of 276000 volume cells, 729242 faces and 190156 nodes. The governing equations for mass, momentum and energy are solved using a commercial CFD code. The computation is performed using the assumption of steady 3-D flow and the turbulence is taken into consideration with the k- realizable mode...

CFD analysis of solar chimney power plant: Effect of chimney height, shape and collector size

2019

This paper presents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the solar chimney power plant to analyze to analyze buoyancy-nature of heated air by har- nessing solar energy. ANSYS Fluent a fi nite volume code has been used for axisym- metric model of the solar chimney power plant (SCPP) prototype in Manzanares, Spain considering updraft tower. A standard k- turbulence model and Boussinesq approximation for buoyancy driven flow is considered. Small pressure difference because of natural draft inside the chimney during day time has been observed due to solar radiation. The numerical results obtained for average velocity and temper- ature at chimney inlet are validated with the experimental results of the prototype. It has been observed that both the velocity and temperature of air inside the SCPP increases signifi cantly with the increment in solar radiation. Increase in the chimney height and collector radius also increases the power output of the plant. The effect of chimney...

Design and performance analysis of solar chimney power plant (SCPP): A review

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 2021

Solar chimney power plant (SCPP) uses solar energy to hit the ambient air which when allowed to pass through a chimney runs a wind turbine that in turn runs a generator to produce electricity. The SCPPs are very huge structures with the ability to generate a significant amount of electricity to serve global power demand without any adverse effect on the environment. Interest in SCPP has become a popular and promising option to utilize solar energy due to pollution and climate change as well as the demand for electrical power globally. Dimensions of plant sub-components like collector area, chimney height, and its radius are the main parameters that needs be well synchronized to attain the best performance. In addition to the dimensional parameters, the design of the wind turbine is another important criterion to achieve the best performance. This is judged in terms of output power and the overall efficiency of the unit. Using detailed mathematical modeling, the plant power output and efficiency are projected for an extensive range of design and functioning parameters concerning the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. Different relative values between collectors and chimney with the best dimensions are mentioned to obtain cost-effective SCPP. Although remarkable advancement is noticed for designing and understanding SCPP, commercial SCPP has not yet been developed yet so far. This comprehensive review may help the researchers for a deep understanding of flow physics and to identify the key parameters and their value for the best designing of SCPP. Many hybrid models with further modification that merit commercial production of large-size SCPPs is also included in this study.

Numerical Investigation of Solar Chimney Power Plant in UAE

Springer Proceedings in Energy, 2014

The paper presents a numerical results for a steady airflow inside a solar chimney power plant. The standard k-epsilon turbulence model is used to model a prototype solar chimney in AlAin in UAE. A 8.25 m high chimney with 24 cm diameter is used to draw air from a 100 m 2 solar collector. The CFD analysis is used to determine the location of the turbine using available power quantity. The CFD data shows that collector height and chimney size is highly affect each other since for current design a stagnant zone exist inside the collector which reduce air flow rate inside the chimney. Also the CFD results show that nozzle design is needed at the entrance of the chimney to reduce pressure loss.

Numerical-Analytical Assessment on Solar Chimney Power Plant

This study considers an appropriate expression to estimate the output power of solar chimney power plant systems (SCPPS). Recently several mathematical models of a solar chimney power plant were derived, studied for a variety of boundary conditions, and compared against CFD calculations. An important concern for modeling SCPPS is about the accuracy of the derived pressure drop and output power equation. To elucidate the matter, axisymmetric CFD analysis was performed to model the solar chimney power plant and calculate the output power for different available solar irradiation. Both analytical and numerical results were compared against the available experimental data from the Manzanares power plant. We also evaluated the fidelity of the assumptions underlying the derivation and present reasons to believe that some of the derived equations, specifically the power equation in this model, may require a correction to be applicable in more realistic conditions. This paper provides an approach to estimate the output power with respect to radiation available to the collector.