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Effect of the chimney design on the thermal characteristics in solar chimney power plant

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Abstract

Solar chimney power plant (SCPP) is an interesting project to produce clean and sustainable energy. An efficient SCPP system requires a very high chimney, and thus the optimization of the chimney shape presents an important way to enhance the SCPP performance. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of the divergent chimney shape on the airflow behavior inside SCPP. A comparison between four chimney shapes is carried out using CFD method: two cylindrical chimneys with different diameters and two divergent chimneys with different shapes. Indeed, both parameters were studied: the ratio of the inlet and outlet diameter of the chimney and the shape of the chimney which both hyperboloid and conical. The SCPP prototype was tested numerically and experimentally to validate the present computational outcomes. The obtained results confirm that the divergence shape affects directly the efficiency of the SCPP system. Moreover, the hyperboloid chimney presents the efficient solution which produces an important power output with keeping the chimney height constant.

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Abbreviations

A c :

Collector area (m2)

A i :

Area of the chimney entrance section

A o :

Area of the chimney exit section (m2)

c p :

Specific heat capacity of the air (J kg−1)

D 1 :

Inlet chimney diameter (m)

D 2 :

Outlet chimney diameter (m)

h :

Convection heat transfer (W m−2 K−1)

H ch :

Chimney height (m)

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−2)

\(\dot{m}\) :

Masse flow rate (kg s−1)

p :

Static pressure (Pa)

P po :

Potential power output (W)

Pr:

Prandtl number

r :

Radial coordinate (m)

T :

Temperature (K)

T 0 :

Ambient temperature (K)

T s :

Sky temperature (K)

u :

Radial velocity (m s−1)

V :

Air velocity (m s−1)

v ch :

Air velocity at the chimney entrance (m s−1)

v out :

Air velocity at the chimney exit (m s−1)

w :

Axial velocity (m s−1)

z :

Axial coordinate (m)

β :

Thermal expansion coefficient (K−1)

ΔT :

Temperature rise in the collector (K)

Δp :

Pressure drop in the chimney (Pa)

ε :

Dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−3)

λ :

Thermal conductivity of the air (W m−1 K−1)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s−1)

μ t :

Turbulent viscosity (Pa s−1)

ρ :

Density of the air (kg m−3)

ρ 0 :

Reference density (kg m−3)

ρ ch :

Density at the chimney entrance (kg m−3)

η c :

Collector efficiency

η ch :

Chimney efficiency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Electro-Mechanic Systems (LASEM), National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), B.P. 1173, km 3.5 Soukra, 3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Haythem Nasraoui, Zied Driss & Hedi Kchaou

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  1. Haythem Nasraoui
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  2. Zied Driss
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  3. Hedi Kchaou
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Correspondence to Haythem Nasraoui.

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Nasraoui, H., Driss, Z. & Kchaou, H. Effect of the chimney design on the thermal characteristics in solar chimney power plant. J Therm Anal Calorim 140, 2721–2732 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-09037-3

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