Numerical Simulation and Experimental Test on the Solar-energy-collecting Shed in a New Whirlwind Energy System

Dust devils in nature usually contain abundant wind energy, a new dust-devil-like whirlwind energy system has been proposed which could generate stable swirling wind. A circular solar-energy-collecting shed with pre-rotation vanes has been devised to generate the whirlwind flow by heating the air inflow into the shed. The effects of geometrical parameters(shed radius and air inflow incident angle) and temperature differences on the whirlwind characteristic velocities were evaluated by numerical simulation and experimental test. With the distribution and trend we could obtain the optimal incident angle. By simulating the cases with this incident angle, together with the similarity analysis, we could summarize the confines of the solar-energy-collecting shed size under different heating temperature differences, which could help to choose the optimal structural and operating parameters for the system. In addition, the confines obtained from the initial conditions on Mars also draw a future application prospect of the system working in space.