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Experimental assessment of energy tower’s performance: evaluation of the impacts of solar radiation, humidity, and chimney’s height on the overall efficiency

  • Applied Solar Energy
  • Published:
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Abstract

Solar energy is one of the most feasible options to produce energy in countries where unexploited desert areas or solar radiation are abundant. An energy tower is an effective system for electrical power generation that can perform more efficiently along with solar radiation. As the primary aim of the present study, effects of different environmental parameters on total efficacy of energy tower were investigated. In this study, the efficiency of the energy tower system is investigated experimentally by an indoor fully adjustable apparatus. In this regard, a comprehensive set of influencing parameters like air velocity, humidity, and temperature and the effects of tower height on the performance of the energy tower are individually assessed. It is demonstrated that there is a direct relationship between an increase in humidity percentage of the surrounding and performance of energy tower, meaning that a 274% increase in humidification rate led to 43% elevation in airflow velocity. The kinetic energy increases in the direction of airflow from top to bottom, and as the height of the tower lengthens, the kinetic energy enhances and subsequently increases the overall efficiency of the tower. An elevation about 2.7% in airflow velocity was seen due to an increase from 180 to 250 cm in chimney height. Although the energy tower performs efficiently in the nighttime, airflow velocity increases averagely about 8% during the daytime and at the peak of the solar radiation, the airflow velocity enhances by 58% compared to nighttime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tafresh University, Tafresh, 39518-79611, Iran

    Ramin Mehdipour, Mojtaba Habibi, Mohammad Eydiyan, Ehsan Mohammadi & Zahra Baniamerian

Authors
  1. Ramin Mehdipour
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  2. Mojtaba Habibi
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  3. Mohammad Eydiyan
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  4. Ehsan Mohammadi
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  5. Zahra Baniamerian
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Ramin Mehdipour, Zahra Baniamerian; methodology: Ramin Mehdipour; formal analysis: Ramin Mehdipour, Mojtaba Habibi, Mohammad Eydiyan, and Ehsan Mohammadi; writing — original draft preparation: Ramin Mehdipour and Ehsan Mohammadi; writing — review and editing: Ramin Mehdipour, Ehsan Mohammadi, and Zahra Baniamerian; funding acquisition: Ramin Mehdipour; resources: Ramin Mehdipour; supervision: Ramin Mehdipour.

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Correspondence to Ramin Mehdipour.

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Mehdipour, R., Habibi, M., Eydiyan, M. et al. Experimental assessment of energy tower’s performance: evaluation of the impacts of solar radiation, humidity, and chimney’s height on the overall efficiency. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 18200–18208 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26401-x

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