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Numerical analysis on flow and performance characteristics of a small-scale solar updraft tower (SUT) with horizontal absorber plate and collector glass

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Abstract

A numerical analysis has been performed to examine and assess the flow and performance characteristics of the solar updraft tower (SUT) power plant. A realistic domain (geometry and mesh) of the flow model was generated and simulations were run with the help of ANSYS FLUENT 16.0 CFD package. A turbulent, realizable (k–ε) and discrete ordinates radiation techniques were taken into consideration to solve the governing equation. The maximum air velocity of 3.27 m s−1 was noticed at 200 mm above the chimney base (CB). The mean velocity at CB was 1.8 m s−1. The highest air temperature of the absorber plate was 323 K, and it was at the centre of the absorber plate. The average air temperature inside the setup was 306.7 K. The power generated from the plant, chimney efficiency and overall efficiency of the SUT setup were evaluated to be 0.38 W, 0.018% and 0.005%, respectively. 24% velocity increase and 70% power output increase were noticed when solar flux increased from 650 to 1150 W m−2. Exergy analysis was performed. The results were compared with existing studies and were found to be in good agreement.

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Abbreviations

a :

Absorption (m−1)

A :

Cross-sectional area (m2)

C :

Coefficient

C1, C2, C3 :

Constant for k–ε model

C P :

Specific heat of air (J kg−1 K−1)

CB:

Chimney base

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

D :

Diameter

DO:

Discrete ordinates

FVM:

Finite volume method

g :

Acceleration due to gravity (m s−2)

H :

Height (or) collector inlet gap (m)

I :

Solar intensity (W m−2)

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−2)

P :

Power output (W)

Q :

Volumetric flow rate of air (m3 s−1)

\(\vec{r}\) :

Position vector

r :

Radial coordinate

Ra:

Rayleigh number

RTE:

Radiative transfer equation

\(\vec{s}\) :

Direction vector

SUT:

Solar updraft tower

T :

Temperature (K)

u, v, w :

Velocity components (m s−1)

z :

Axial coordinate

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1)

β :

Coefficient of thermal expansion (K−1)

ε :

Rate of dissipation of turbulent energy (m2 s−3)

μ t :

Turbulent viscosity (m2 s−1)

ΔT :

Temperature difference (K)

Δp :

Relative total pressure (Pa)

υ :

Kinematic viscosity (m2 s−1)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

ϕ :

Phase function (sr−1)

dΩ′:

Solid angle (sr)

λ :

Wave length (m)

η :

Efficiency (%)

σ s :

Scattering coefficient

σ :

Stephen Boltzmann constant

δ k :

Turbulent Prandtl number for ‘k’

δ ε :

Turbulent Prandtl number for ‘ε’

a :

Absorption

b :

Black body

c :

Collector

ch:

Chimney

h :

Hot air

t :

Turbulent

0:

Reference

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by (1) Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi—110 070, India, Grant No. File No. EEQ/2016/000111 and (2) Centre of Excellence (CoE) under TEQIP—II, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, India, Ref. No: TEQIP-II/NITW/CoE/2016. The authors also acknowledge the support received by way of proof reading from Dr. M.R. Vishwanathan, Assistant Professor and Head, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, NIT Warangal, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, Telangana State, 506 004, India

    Ramakrishna Balijepalli, V. P. Chandramohan & K. Kirankumar

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, 620 015, India

    S. Suresh

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  1. Ramakrishna Balijepalli
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Correspondence to V. P. Chandramohan.

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Balijepalli, R., Chandramohan, V.P., Kirankumar, K. et al. Numerical analysis on flow and performance characteristics of a small-scale solar updraft tower (SUT) with horizontal absorber plate and collector glass. J Therm Anal Calorim 141, 2463–2474 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10057-7

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