Performance analysis of solar chimney power plant with waste heat integration on the ground

Abstract

Although the solar chimney power plant is a solar energy system, it can produce electricity 24 hours a day and the performance of the system can be increased with additional energy sources in cases where solar radiation is low. By integrating waste heat into the system, energy can be provided to the system during hours when there is no sun and the temperature of the air in the system can be increased. Thus, the continuous vacuum effect of the chimney can be used for electricity generation. At a solar radiation of 400 W/m2 and an ambient temperature of 294 K, the waste heat of the gas power plant at a temperature of 816.9 K is analysed with a 3D CFD model under continuous conditions. In the study based on the Manzanares pilot plant geometry, it is seen that the power output of the system, which gave a power output of 20.68 kW in the reference case, increased by 63.47% to 33.807 kW with the waste heat supplement. It is seen that the system gives a power output of 14.016 kW for the same climatic conditions during the hours when there is no sun.