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Experimental and numerical analysis of the collector roof height effect on the solar
chimney performance
PII: S0960-1481(17)30858-3
DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.08.099
Please cite this article as: Ahmed Ayadi, Abdallah Bouabidi, Zied Driss, Mohamed Salah Abid,
Experimental and numerical analysis of the collector roof height effect on the solar chimney
performance, Renewable Energy (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.08.099
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Highlights
The effect of the collector height on the solar chimney performance is reported
The thermal characteristics of the air within the solar chimney is presented
The generated power increases with the the decrease of the collector roof height
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9 Abstract
10 The aim of this work is to study and optimize the characteristics of a solar chimney power plant
11 (SCPP) using numerical and experimental way. The numerical simulation is performed using
12 the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code "Ansys Fluent 17.0". An
14 University of Sfax, Tunisia in the North Africa. The comparison between the numerical and the
15 experimental results have shown a good agreement. The effect of the collector roof height on
16 the solar chimney performance is performed. The local characteristics of the air flow inside the
17 SCPP system are presented and analyzed such as; the temperature, the velocity, the pressure
18 and the turbulence characteristics. Results confirm that the collector roof height is very
19 influential on the optimization of the SCPP. In fact, an increase in the generated power is
21
22 Keywords: Renewable energy, Solar chimney, SCPP, CFD, collector roof height
23
25 Email: Ahmed.ayadi.gem@gmail.com
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26 1. Introduction
27 Renewable energy sources are becoming the high demand since the increase of the pollution
28 and the continued decline of fossil fuel resources worldwide. Among the different types of
29 renewable energy sources, the Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) is an attractive renewable
30 technology for large-scale use of solar energy. The main components of the SCPP are the
31 collector, the chimney and the turbine. Under the collector roof, SCPP uses solar radiation to
32 heat the air. Then, the air is directed towards the inlet of the chimney where the turbine is
33 mounted. The performance of the SCPP system depends on many parameters such as the
34 geometrical parameters of the solar chimney, the prototype materials and the environmental
35 conditions. The optimization of these various parameters have been numerically and
36 experimentally studied in several researches [1-3]. For example, Ayadi et al. [4] studied the
37 effect of the collector roof inclination on the performance of a solar chimney power plant. As a
38 result, they have noted that the inclination of the collector roof affects the air characteristics
39 within the solar setup. The authors noted that a negative angle of the collector roof increases
40 the air velocity at the chimney entrance where the turbine is connected. Bernardes et al. [5]
41 examined the effect of environmental conditions and the geometrical characteristics of the solar
42 chimney outputs. Their study confirmed that the solar chimney performance depends on
43 different parameters such as the chimney’s height, the factor of the pressure drop across the
44 turbine, the collector diameter and the optical properties of the collector. In fact, the production
45 increases with the increase of the chimney height and the collector diameter. Zhou et al. [6]
46 studied the SCPP for different values of the chimney height in order to determine the optimal
47 chimney height which corresponds to the maximum power output. Ghalamchi et al. [7]
48 conducted experimental study to investigate the thermal performance of the solar chimney with
49 different parameters. The geometrical parameters and the absorber material were analyzed.
50 They noted that the best material which can be used for the absorber is the aluminum. The
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51 efficiency of the material is explained by the ability to transfer the heat more than the iron plate
52 due to the high thermal conductivity. Hamdan [8] showed that the chimney height, the collector
53 radius, the head of the turbine and the solar irradiance are essential parameters for the design
54 of a solar chimney power plant in order to obtain an efficient SCPP system for the production
55 of electricity. Gholamalizadeh and Kim [9] analyzed the buoyancy-driven flow field and the
56 heat transfer inside the SCPP with simulating the greenhouse effect. Li et al. [10] studied the
57 SCPP system with taking account of the effects of heat and flow losses and the temperature
58 lapse rate inside and outside of the chimney. They have demonstrated that the foundation of the
59 turbine in the SCPP system reduces the power output. Koonsrisuk et al. [11] evaluated the ratio
60 height/radius for a maximum mass flow rate of the SCPP. Their work proved that the maximum
61 output power corresponds to a given SCPP at a determined solar radiation. Fasel et al. [12]
62 studied the SCPP system for a rang of the chimney height from 1 m to 1000 m. They confirmed
63 that the chimney height affects significantly the SCPP system. Amirkhani et al. [13] identified
64 and modeled SCPP using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy
65 Inference System (ANFIS). After having compared the two models, it was found that the
66 ANFIS model has better performance than the ANN. In their work, a CFD simulation of the
67 process of the solar chimney is conducted to determine the velocity and the temperature
68 distribution which has been compared with the ANFIS results. Guo et al. [14] presented a 3D
69 CFD method including radiation and turbine models. As a result, they proved that the heat
70 transfer by the radiation is an important factor in the heat transfer process and must be
71 considered in the advanced simulation. The variation of the ambient temperature has irrelevant
72 impact on the temperature rise air, but obviously affects on the velocity of the air. Cao et al.
73 [15] proposed a solar setup named solar double chimney power plant (SDCPP). The authors
74 reported that the generated power of a SDCPP is 1.59 times larger than the generated power of
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75 a conventional solar chimney power plant and 2.77 times larger than the generated power of a
77 Focusing on the literature, it has been noted that the performance of the solar chimney power
78 plant is affected by its geometrical parameters such as the chimney height, the chimney
79 diameter, the collector diameter, the collector roof height and the collector roof inclination.
80 Although much work have done until today, it has been noted that the most published works
81 reported a large scale of a solar chimney power plant which is the Manzanares prototype.
82 However, it has not found mathematical similitude to relate a small, a medium and a large scale
83 of a solar chimney power plant. In this paper, we are interested on the study of the turbulent
84 flow characteristics for a small solar chimney prototype developed in Tunisia. Particularly, the
85 collector roof height effect is studied. In fact, the effect of the collector roof height on the local
86 characteristics such as the temperature, the velocity, the pressure and the turbulence
87 characteristics is analyzed and discussed with validation with our experimental results under
89
90 2. Experimental setup
92 Figure 1 presents the experimental setup of the solar chimney power plant. The prototype is
93 situated in the city of Sfax which is located in the South East of Tunisia, North Africa. It was
94 built in the National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax (US). This
95 geographic location signifies that it is in a position to play an important strategic role in the
96 implementation of the solar energy technology in the North of Africa [16]. The setup is
97 characterized by the latitude equal to 34.726˚N and the longitude equal to 10.717˚ E. The
98 geometrical characteristics of the solar chimney are given in Table 1. The chimney is a
99 polyvinyl chloride pipe with thickness equal to ech=4 mm. The chimney is characterized by a
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100 diameter equal to d=160 mm and a height equal to H=3000 mm. Although, the collector is
101 characterized by a diameter equal to D=2750 mm and a roof height equal to h=50 mm. The
102 collector is composed by a plastic material with 3 mm thickness. This coating has excellent
103 thermal characteristics and lets solar radiation to reach the ground. In this way, the ground under
104 the plastic roof heats up and the temperature inside the SCPP increases. The absorber is a
105 combination of chipboard wood with 20 mm of thickness and steel with 2 mm of thickness.
106
108 The experimental data is based on the measurement of the air temperature and the velocity
109 inside the SCPP system. The temperature and velocity measurement are assured symmetrically
110 along the collector diameter as shown in figure 2. The values of the air temperature are recorded
111 by thermocouples type K. In addition, an acquisition card is used to predict the temperature
112 evolution over the time in the different points. However, the air velocities inside the collector
113 are assured using a wire anemometer. This device can measure low air velocity which is
114 adaptable for our experimental measurement. The error uncertainty of measurements is about
115 1 %.
116
119 The CFD code "Ansys Fluent 17.0" is used to simulate the turbulent flow inside the SCPP
120 system. The present application is governed by the continuity, the momentum and the energy
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∂ 1∂ ∂ dp 1 ∂
∂t
(u) + (ruu) + (uw) =‒ +
r ∂r ∂z
∂
(
µr (u) +
dr r ∂r ∂r
∂ ∂
) (
u
µ (u) ‒ 2µ 2
∂z ∂z r
) (2)
∂ 1∂ ∂ dp 1 ∂
∂t
(w) + (ruw) + (Vw) =‒ +
r ∂r ∂z
∂
µr (w) +
dz r ∂r ∂r (
∂ ∂
∂z ∂z ) (
µ (w) ‒ (0 ‒ )g ) (3)
1∂ ∂
∂
∂t
1∂
r ∂r
∂
(T) + (ruT) + (VT) =
∂z
r (
r ∂r Cp∂r
(T) +
∂ ∂
∂y Cp∂z) (
(T) ) (4)
126 The used turbulence model is the standard k-ε. The equations of the turbulent kinetic energy k
127 and the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy ε are written as follows:
∂ 1∂ ∂
(ρk) + (rku) + (ρkw) =
∂t r ∂r ∂z
(5)
1∂
r ∂r( ( ) ) (( ) )
r µ+
µt ∂
σk ∂r
(k) +
∂
∂z
µ+
µt ∂
σk ∂z
(k) + Gk + βg
µt ∂
Prkt∂z
(T) ‒ ρε
∂ 1∂ ∂
(ρ) + (ru) + (ρw) =
∂t r ∂r ∂z
(6)
1∂
( ( ) ) (( ) )
r ∂r
r µ
µt ∂
σ ∂r
( )
+
∂
∂z
µ+
µt ∂
σ ∂z
( )
+ GkC1ε
ε
k ()
‒ C2ερ
ε2
k
128 The k- ε turbulence model constants are defined by C1ε=1.44, C2ε=1.92, ε=1.3, k=1.
129
131 The present study considers the performance of our SCPP at the 23th of May, 2016 at 02:00
132 p.m. The ambient air temperature has been measured using our experimental device which is
133 equal to T0=308 K. Indeed, constant temperature is applied for walls and the chimney wall is
135 axisymmetric model was assumed for all simulations. The symmetry axis is taken the chimney
136 centerline. Table 2 shows the boundary conditions that have been used.
137
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139 Mesh size affects the CFD results due to the difference in the number of elements and nodes
140 from one configuration to another. The number of nodes and elements must be enough to solve
141 the geometry, but should not be too important to not get too large mesh and CFD calculations
142 which would be much too long. Yet, there is still no method referenced in the literature that
143 provide the overall validity or ensure technical quality of the mesh. Otherwise, we are interested
144 on the study of the meshing effect. A grid independence test was done to evaluate the optimum
145 node size and elements. Four different grid sizes are considered. The first mesh consists of
146 3,000 nodes and mesh size of 0.01x0.01 m. The second mesh consists of 13,000 nodes and
147 mesh size of 0.005x0.005 m. The third mesh consists of 30,000 nodes and mesh size of
148 0.0033x0.0033 m. The fourth mesh consists of 50,000 nodes and mesh size of 0.0025x0.0025
149 m. For each mesh, we are monitoring the characteristics of the air flow until there is no change
150 in the solution. The temperature evolution along the collector radius for the different considered
151 meshing and the experimental data are shown in figure 3. According to these results, it is clear
152 that the temperature value along the collector varies from mesh to another. Comparing with the
153 experimental data, the third and the fourth mesh present a temperature profile very close to the
154 experimental profile. However, the first mesh is characterized by the maximum error comparing
155 with experimental temperature values. In other hand, table 3 shows the resolution time for the
156 different meshes considered in this study. These results show that the resolution time depends
157 on the mesh characteristics. It increases with the increase of the nodes number. In fact, the
158 longest time has been observed for the fourth mesh and the shortest time has been observed for
159 the first mesh. In these conditions, we choose the third mesh for all simulations since this mesh
160 give a good agreement compared with experimental data and characterized by a simulation time
162
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164 In this section, the local flow characteristics inside the SCPP system are presented and
165 discussed. Particularly, we are interested on the effect of the collector roof height. Four collector
166 heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200 mm are considered in order to
167 investigate the effect of the collector inlet on the SCPP performance.
168
170 Figure 4 shows the distribution of the velocity fields in the whole volume of the SCPP system
171 for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm
172 and h=200 mm. According to these results, it has been noted that the velocity vectors are similar
173 for the different considered configurations. In fact, the heated air in the collector is conveyed
174 into the chimney. This fact is explained by the buoyancy effect. However, a difference on the
175 maximum value of the velocity has been observed from one case to another. The comparison
176 between these results confirms that the collector inlet have a direct effect on the velocity fields
178
180 Figure 5 shows the distribution of the magnitude velocity in the whole volume of the SCPP
181 system for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150
182 mm and h=200 mm. The profiles of the magnitude velocity along the collector and the chimney
183 are depicted in figures 6 and 7. From these results, it has been noted that the location of the
184 maximum and the minimum values of the magnitude velocity are the same for the different
185 considered cases. Along the chimney axis, the magnitude velocity is recorded important
186 particularly at the chimney inlet close to the axis, where its maximum achieves the junction.
187 This fact is caused by the difference of pressure which is maximum in this zone. Along the
188 collector radius, the values of the magnitude velocity decrease and reach the weakest values at
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189 the collector inlet. However, it has been noted a difference on the maximum value from one
190 case to another. For h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200 mm collector roof height, the
191 maximum velocity values inside the chimney are respectively equal to V=2.56 m.s-1, V=2.21
192 m.s-1, V=2.12 m.s-1 and V=2.07 m.s-1. The comparison between these results confirms that the
193 collector roof height has a direct effect on the magnitude velocity inside the SCPP. The air
194 velocity value increases by decreasing the collector roof height. In fact, the velocity magnitude
196
198 The distribution of the temperature in the whole volume of the SCPP system is depicted in
199 figure 8 for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150
200 mm and h=200 mm. Figure 9 shows the profiles of the temperature along the collector. From
201 these results, it has been noted that the distribution of the temperature is similar for the different
202 considered configurations. Indeed, the maximum value location is the same for the different
203 cases. It is located close to the absorber and the chimney axis. However, the minimum value is
204 located at the zone surrounding the inlet of the collector. Distant from the chimney axis, the
205 temperature values decrease until reaching the ambient temperature at the beginning of the
206 collector. However, it has been observed a difference in the air temperature values from one
207 case to another. For the collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and
208 h=200 mm, the maximum temperatures inside the SCPP are respectively equal to T= 329 K,
209 T=328 K, T=326 K and T=325 K. The comparison between these results confirms that the
210 collector roof height have a direct effect on the temperature inside the SCPP. In fact, the
211 temperature values increase with the decrease of the collector roof height. This fact is caused
212 by the heat transfer exchange between the absorber and the airflow inside the collector.
213
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215 The distribution of the total pressure in the whole volume of the SCPP system is depicted in
216 figure 10 for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm,
217 h=150 mm and h=200 mm. According to these results, it has been noted that the total pressure
218 distribution is similar for the different considered cases. The total pressure distributions are
219 globally uniform under the roof throughout the collector before falling gradually in the tower
220 inlet. Indeed, a compression and a depression zones appear in the SCPP system. The depression
221 zone is located at the base of the tower near to the wall. For the collector roof height equal to
222 h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200 mm, the minimum value of the total pressure are
223 respectively equal to pt=101319.97 Pa, pt = 101320.82 Pa, pt= 101321.35 Pa and pt= 101321.51
224 Pa. In another hand, the compression zone is located at the tower output. For the collector roof
225 height equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200 mm, the maximum values are
226 respectively equal to pt=101326.93 Pa, pt=101329.06 Pa, pt=101327.01 Pa and pt=101326.95
227 Pa. The comparison between these results confirms that the collector roof height has a direct
229
231 Figure 11 shows the distribution of the dynamic pressure in the whole volume of the SCPP
232 system for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150
233 mm and h=200 mm. According to these results, it has been noted that the dynamic pressure
234 distribution is similar for the different considered collector roof heights. The dynamic pressure
235 is globally uniform in the collector and it reaches very weak values in the collector for all
236 considered cases. The compression zone is recorded at the tower bottom surrounding the axis.
237 This fact is explained by the air velocity which is maximum in this area. Thereafter, the dynamic
238 pressure increases to drive air through the chimney. However, a difference in the dynamic
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239 pressure values has been observed from a case to another. For the collector roof height equal to
240 h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200 mm, the maximum value of the dynamic pressure
241 are respectively equal to pd=3.67 Pa, pd=2.73 Pa, pd=2.51 Pa and pd= 2.39 Pa. The comparison
242 between these results confirms that the collector roof height has a direct effect on the dynamic
243 pressure inside the SCPP. In fact, the dynamic pressure values decrease with the increase of the
245
247 Figure 12 shows the distribution of the turbulent kinetic energy in the whole volume of the
248 SCPP system for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm,
249 h=150 mm and h=200 mm. From these results, it appears that the turbulent kinetic energy
250 distribution is similar for the different considered cases. However, it has been noted a difference
251 in the maximum value of the turbulent kinetic energy from one case to another. For the first
252 case, the second case, the third case and the fourth case, the turbulent kinetic energy are
253 respectively equal to k=0.391 m2.s-2, k=0.388 m2.s-2, k=0.328 m2.s-2 and k=0.320 m2.s-2. The
254 comparison between these results confirms that the collector roof height has a direct effect on
255 the turbulent kinetic energy in the SCPP. In fact, the maximum value of the turbulent kinetic
256 energy recorded in the whole volume of the SCPP varies from one configuration to another.
257
259 Figure 13 shows the distribution of the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy for the
260 different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm, h=150 mm and h=200
261 mm. According to these results, it has been noted that the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic
262 energy distribution is similar for the different considered cases. The location of the maximum
263 value of the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy is the same for the different cases
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264 and it appears in the chimney inlet close the wall. However, the minimum values are located in
265 the whole volume of the collector and the chimney close to the axis. Indeed, it has been observed
266 that the maximum value of the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy varies from one
267 case to another. The comparison between these results confirms that the collector roof height
268 has a direct effect on the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy distribution inside the
269 SCPP. In fact, the minimum and the maximum values of the dissipation rate of the turbulent
270 kinetic energy recorded in the whole volume of the SCPP vary from one configuration to
271 another.
272
274 The distribution of the turbulent viscosity in the whole volume of the SCPP system is depicted
275 in figure 14 for the different considered collector roof heights equal to h=50 mm, h=100 mm,
276 h=150 mm and h=200 mm. According to these results, it has been noted that the distribution of
277 the turbulent viscosity varies from one case to another. In fact, the maximum values of the
278 turbulent viscosity are recorded at the chimney inlet for the second case, the third case and the
279 fourth case. However, it has been noted that the zone surrounding the maximum values extends
280 to the chimney pipe for the first case. This fact can be explained by the collision between the
281 particles constituting the volume of air within the solar setup. The comparison between these
282 results confirms that the collector roof height has a direct effect on the turbulent viscosity
283 distribution inside the SCPP. In fact, the zone surrounding the maximum values extends with
285
287 Figure 15 depicts the evolution of the generated energy produced by using different collector
288 roof heights. From these findings, it has been noted that the generated power increases with the
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289 decrease of the collector roof height. This fact is explained by the increase of the air velocity at
290 the entrance of the chimney and the difference in temperature which are related to the power
291 output.
292
294 The considered prototype is characterized by the collector diameter equal to D=2750 mm, the
295 collector height equal to h=50 mm, the chimney diameter equal to d=160 mm and the chimney
296 height equal to H=3000 m. The experimental data for the numerical model validation is
297 considered for the day of May 23th, 2016. Figure 16 and 17 present respectively comparisons
298 between experimental and numerical profiles of the air temperature and the air velocity for
299 different considered hours equal to t1=08:00 a.m., t2=11:00 a.m., t3=02:00 p.m. and t4=05:00
300 p.m. Comparing with our experimental results, the good agreement has been observed. Hence,
301 the numerical model is able to predict the characteristics of the air flow within the solar chimney
303
304 6. Conclusion
305 In this paper, numerical investigations were carried out to study the influence of the collector
306 roof height on the performance of a solar chimney power plant. Numerical simulations were
307 simulated using the commercial CFD code Ansys Fluent. The computational results have shown
308 a good agreement with our experimental measurements for different instances of the day.
309 Findings shows that the collector inlet sizing is very influential on the optimization of the SCPP.
310 In fact, the power output increases with the decrease of the collector roof height. Since the
311 optimization of the chimney device is characterized by its high costs, this paper could be a
312 solution to enhance the generated power of an existing solar chimney power plant.
313
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314 Nomenclature
e Thickness (mm)
p Pressure (Pa)
pd Dynamic pressure
Pr Prandtl number
T Temperature (K)
z Axial coordinate
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ρ0 Reference density
315
316 References
317 [1] R.S. Vieira, A.P. Petry, L.A.O. Rocha, L.A. Isoldi, E.D. dos Santos, Numerical evaluation
318 of a solar chimney geometry for different ground temperatures by means of constructal design,
320 [2] A. Ayadi, Z. Driss, A. Bouabidi, M.S. Abid, A computational and an experimental study on
321 the effect of the chimney height on the thermal characteristics of a solar chimney power plant,
322 Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - Part E: Journal of Process Mechanical
324 [3] C.O. Okoye, O. Taylan, Performance analysis of a solar chimney power plant for rural areas
326 [4] A. Ayadi, Z. Driss, A. Bouabidi, M.S. Abid, Experimental and numerical study of the impact
327 of the collector roof inclination on the performance of a solar chimney power plant, Energy and
329 [5] M.A. Bernardes, S. dos, A. Voss, G. Weinrebe, Thermal and technical analyzes of solar
331 [6] X. Zhou, J. Yang, B. Xiao, G. Hou, F. Xing, Analysis of chimney height for solar chimney
334 on the thermal performance of a solar chimney with different dimensional parameters,
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336 [8] M.O. Hamdan, Analysis of solar chimney power plant utilizing chimney discrete model,
338 [9] E. Gholamalizadeh, M. Kim, Three-dimensional CFD analysis for simulating the
339 greenhouse effect in solar chimney power plants using a two-band radiation model, Renewable
341 [10] J. Li, P. Guo, Y. Wang, Effects of collector radius and chimney height on power output of
342 a solar chimney power plant with turbines, Renewable Energy 47 (2012) 21-28.
343 [11] A. Koonsrisuk, S. Lorente, A. Bejan, Constructal solar chimney configuration, Int J Heat
345 [12] H.F. Fasel, F. Meng, E. Shams, A. Gross, CFD analysis for solar chimney power plants,
347 [13] S. Amirkhani, Sh. Nasirivatan, A.B. Kasaeian, A. Hajinezhad, ANN and ANFIS models
348 to predict the performance of solar chimney power plants, Renewable Energy 83 (2015) 597-
349 607.
350 [14] P.H. Guo, J.Y. Li, Y. Wang, Numerical simulations of solar chimney power plant with
352 [15] F. Cao, T. Yang, Q. Liu, T. Zhu, H. Li, L. Zhao, Design and simulation of a solar double-
354 [16] A. Ayadi, Z. Driss, Estimation of Solar Radiation on Horizontal Surfaces in Gabès located
355 in the South east of Tunisia, International Journal of Mechanics and Energy 4 (2016) 24-29.
357 [18] Z. Driss, O. Mlayeh, S. Driss, D. Driss, M. Maaloul, M. S. Abid, Study of the bucket design
358 effect on the turbulent flow around unconventional Savonius wind rotors, Energy 89 (2015)
359 708-729.
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360 [19] A. Ayadi, A. Bouabidi, Z. Driss, M.S. Abid, Study of the meshing effect on the flow
361 characteristics inside a SCPP, Handbook on Navier-Stokes Equations: Theory and Applied
363
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317
Temperature (K)
315
313
311
309
307
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Collector radius (m)
1
Velocity (m.s -1)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Collector radius (m)
2.5
2.4
Velocity (m.s -1)
2.3
2.2
2.1
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.5
0.1 0.7 1.3 1.9 2.5 3
319
Temperature (K)
317
315
313
311
309
Collector radius (m)
307
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Figure 12. Distribution of the turbulent kinetic energy inside the SCPP
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Figure 13. Distribution of the dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy inside the SCPP
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0.7
0.5
0.4
0.3
50 100 150 200
Collector roof height (mm)
309 326
324
T (K)
T (K)
306
322
303 320
318
300
316
297
314
294 312
0.1 0.3Collector
0.5 radius
0.7 0.9
(m) 1.1 1.3 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3
Collector radius (m)
322 310
319 308
T (K)
T (K)
316 306
313 304
310 302
307 300
0.1 0.3Collector
0.5 radius
0.7 0.9 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3
(m) 1.1 1.3
Collector radius (m)
1
1.4
Velocity ('m.s-1)
Velocity ('m.s-1)
0.8 1.2
1
0.6
0.8
0.4 0.6
0.4
0.2
0.2
0
0
0.1 0.3Collector
0.5 0.7
radius 0.9
(m) 1.1 1.3
0.1 0.3 Collector
0.5 radius
0.7 (m)
0.9 1.1 1.3
1
1.2
Velocity ('m.s-1)
Velocity ('m.s-1)
1 0.8
0.8 0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
0 0
0.1 0.3 Collector
0.5 radius
0.7 (m)
0.9 1.1 1.3 0.1 0.3 Collector
0.5 0.7
radius 0.9
(m) 1.1 1.3
Figure 17. Comparison between experimental and numerical profiles of the air
velocity
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Resolution time
Case study Cells number
(h:min:s)
1 3 000 00:07:23
2 13 000 00:12:20
3 30 000 00:35:11
4 50 000 01:24:50