Numerical analysis of heat transfer in solar chimney power plant

The research was conducted to investigate the influences of the radiation heat transfer, solar radiation and turbine pressure drop on the performance of a solar chimney power plant. The comprehensive 3D numerical simulations were carried out to examine the heat transfer process in a Spanish prototype. The heat losses in the system were considered in the numerical simulations incorporating the radiation model, solar load model and turbine model and the experimental data for the Spanish prototype were used to verify the simulations. The results show that the radiation heat transfer plays an important role in the heat transfer process inside the collector and the heat loss from the collector roof to the ambient is the major heat loss in the system. In addition, the collector efficiency decreases while the system efficiency gradually increases when the turbine pressure drop increases under the constant solar radiation condition.