Advances in Solar Chimney Turbine Modelling

Abstract

Solar chimneys are one of the cleanest forms of power generation that are technologically feasible today. Many studies have been published since the operation of the prototype of Manzanares in the 1980s showing that the major geometric system parts contributes differently for obtaining the maximum overall efficiency in terms of power generation. It can be seen that the higher the tower or chimney and also the solar collector area the greater the amount of energy to be generated. It is also known that any solar chimney to be built should have a turbine coupled, however the performance of such turbines has not been throughly studied. Geometric details and constructive parameters of the turbines are essential for the greatest possible conversion of turbulent kinetic energy from the heated air into potential energy. This work evaluates different arrangements of turbines considering both their positioning and their geometric details through computational fluid dynamics and concludes that it is possible to offer the energy market an arrangement that is innovative and efficient.