CFD analysis for solar chimney power plants

Summary

Using a commercial solver alongside a custom-built code, the authors check whether analytical scaling relations hold for solar chimney plants ranging from 1 m laboratory towers to 1000 m designs. Time-resolved simulations of a 6 m prototype show crosswise and streamwise rolls in the collector, pointing to a Rayleigh–Bénard–Poiseuille instability, plus local separation where air enters the tower and turbulent chimney flow.

Description written by Solar Tower. The original abstract is available from the publisher via the link below.