Experimental and numerical study on ground material absorptivity for solar chimney power applications

Abstract

A solar chimney power plant utilizes the ground as its energy conversion medium from solar radiation to kinetic energy in the adjacent air stream. In this work, the conversion capability of six different ground materials, that are potentially available in Malaysia, were studied experimentally and numerically. An experimental setup was constructed to acquire measured data. A numerical model was constructed in the FLUENT software environment to model and simulate the energy conversion process. The selected materials were ceramic, black stone, sawdust, dark green painted wood (DGPW), sand and pebble. The simulation results showed good consistency with the experimental results in terms of the air stream velocity and the energy conversion efficiency. The ceramic and black stone have shown better performance upon the other materials. In particular, the ceramic medium has shown another advantage to its solar radiation absorptivity -its heat storage capability. However, due to its availability, black stone is recommended for use as the absorbing material in the solar chimney in Malaysia and regional countries.

Heat Absorption Properties of Ground Material for Solar Chimney Power Plants

“…The absorptivity of the collector absorber is of high importance in the performance of the SCPP collector, and thus selecting a suitable type of ground material from the ones that are potentially available is vital in gaining the maximum available energy in the collector. In the present work, which experimentally and numerically extend the work presented by Al-Azawie et al [22]. The absorptivity of different types of ground materials was studied.…”

“…The simulated model showed good performance enhancement and contributed to the reduction of waste heat exhausted to the atmosphere. Al-Azawie et al [22] considered different types of ground materials and presented the preliminary results of an experimental and numerical study on enhancing SCPP collector performance. They discussed and compared the results of the ground materials and concluded that the ceramic and the stone performed better than the other types of materials.…”

CFD Analysis of Hybrid Solar Chimney Power Plant

“…The main input parameter in simulation was the solar irradiation, I which is assumed (100-1000 W/m 2 ) in steps 100 and the ambient temperature (30-34 o C). In the numerical model, the ground material was assumed painted black pebble with thickness of 0.1 m to increase the heat storage as recommended by [16] and underneath the pebble, the soil was considered 0.3 m thickness. As incompressible with constant viscosity, body force is acting in y-direction only.…”

Experimental Study on the Performance of Small Solar Updraft Tower in the Climate Region

“…In Malaysia, Al-Azawie et al [21] studied different materials as absorber under the collector by numerically and validated them with experiments. These materials were used to convert solar radiation to kinetic energy, which consisted of sawdust, blackstone, ceramic, pebble, sand, and dark green painted wood.…”