Numerical analysis for optimizing solar updraft tower design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Abstract

This master project thesis presents the history and background of the solar updraft tower which explains the working principle of the system and also describes the major components of the solar updraft tower. The system utilizes solar thermal technology by heating up the air below the solar collector through solar radiation, convection and greenhouse effect. The heated up air tends to travel to the bottom of the tower and rise up the chimney due to differential temperature. The upward velocity is used to turn a turbine installed at the bottom end of the tower either vertical or horizontal to generate power. This thesis studies the parametric of the geometry of the solar updraft tower by inclining the solar collector, studying the effects of an inclined chimney and also the effects of different solar radiation for 400 W/m2, 600 W/m2, 800 W/m2 and 1000 W/m2. A validated model is compared with the experimental prototype constructed by the University of Zanjan, Iran. The study is to maximize the power generation of the existing utilized land for optimum power generation by sloping the collector and updraft tower angle to evaluate the performance in terms on updraft tower velocity and estimated power generation improvement. The result shows a remarkable improvement in the power generated by just sloping the collector and without inclining the updraft tower. The findings and results are discussed and suggested for future works.