Loading...

Modeling and Optimal Design of a Solar Chimney Power Plant

Gharagozlou, Ali | 2019

760 Viewed
  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 52231 (46)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Energy Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Boroushaki, Mehrdad
  7. Abstract:
  8. The power generation system of this type of power plants operates on the air flowing through the power plant’s chimney and colliding with the turbine blades within the chimney. When the solar collector warms the nearby air and thus expands the air by absorbing the sunlight, a difference is created in the density. Then, this difference in the density creates the phenomenon of buoyancy, making the air pass to the top of the chimney through the collector.This study simulated and optimized a solar chimney power plant. The simulation and optimization were performed based on the information of Manzanares Solar Chimney Power Plant in Spain (located in 150 km from the south of Madrid). It was attempted to provide a real model of the system such that even the shadow of the chimney on the collector was included by simulating the sunlight in the geographical location of the power plant. A real fluid model was employed to model the airflow through the solar chimney power plant. The effect of using several innovated designs to increase power generation was investigated.Moreover, two parameters, including collector slope and chimney slope, were used as decision variables in the optimized power plant design to reach the maximum power generation. Optimization was performed in the system by the genetic algorithm. The optimization results demonstrated that there were no direct relationships between the decision variables and power generation. The power generation increased by 28% in the optimized power plant design compared to the base mode. By combining the innovated idea of adding a lid on the chimney of the solar chimney power plant and using the optimized power plant design obtained from the genetic algorithm, power generation can be raised by more than 32%
  9. Keywords:
  10. Solar Chimney ; Optimization ; Genetic Algorithm ; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) ; Optimal Design ; Solar Power Plant

 Digital Object List

 Bookmark

No TOC