Magnus-Effect Rotors for Solar Chimney Power Plants

Summary

Proposes swapping the axial turbines of a solar chimney power plant for a ring of cylinders that spin on their own axes while travelling around the chimney, so that Magnus lift drives them along their circular track. CFD simulations of the flow and of performance across geometries and operating conditions suggest the concept is promising, but output depends strongly on picking the right operating parameters.

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