Numerical-Analytical Assessment on Solar Chimney Power Plant

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.