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Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838

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Modeling and numerical simulation of solar chimney power plants

Roozbeh Sangi ⇑, Majid Amidpour, Behzad Hosseinizadeh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU), Tehran, Iran

Received 20 March 2010; received in revised form 1 January 2011; accepted 26 January 2011
Available online 24 February 2011

Communicated by: Associate Editor S.A. Sherif

Abstract

The solar chimney power plant is a simple solar thermal power plant that is capable of converting solar energy into thermal energy in
the solar collector. In the second stage, the generated thermal energy is converted into kinetic energy in the chimney and ultimately into
electric energy using a combination of a wind turbine and a generator. The purpose of this study is to conduct a more detailed numerical
analysis of a solar chimney power plant. A mathematical model based on the Navier–Stokes, continuity and energy equations was devel-
oped to describe the solar chimney power plant mechanism in detail. Two different numerical simulations were performed for the geom-
etry of the prototype in Manzanares, Spain. First, the governing equations were solved numerically using an iterative technique. Then,
the numerical simulation was performed using the CFD software FLUENT that can simulate a two-dimensional axisymmetric model of
a solar chimney power plant with the standard k-epsilon turbulence model. Both the predictions were compared with the available exper-
imental data to assess the validity of the model. The temperature, velocity and pressure distributions in the solar collector are illustrated
for three different solar radiations. Reasonably good quantitative agreement was obtained between the experimental data of the Man-
zanares prototype and both the numerical results.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Solar chimney power plant; Collector; Chimney; Mathematical modeling; Numerical simulation

1. Introduction 4 years after he presented his ideas at a conference, con-

The scarcity of available energy resources has been fur-
ther aggravated by the ever-increasing of the world energy
demand. In addition, current energy production from coal
and oil is damaging to the environment and nonrenewable.
Therefore, it is urgent to develop the technologies utilizing
renewable and clean energy sources to solve these prob-
lems. A solar chimney power plant offers interesting oppor-
tunities to use pollution free resources of energy. Solar
chimney power technology, designed to produce electric
power on a large-scale, utilizes solar energy to produce ven-
tilation that drives wind turbines to produce electric power.
The solar chimney concept was originally proposed by
Professor Schlaich of Stuttgart in the late 1970s. Less than
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: roozehsangi@gmail.com (R. Sangi).
struction on a pilot plant began in Manzanares, Spain, as
a result of a joint venture between the German government
and a Spanish utility. A 36-kW pilot plant was built, which
produced electricity for 7 years, thus proving the efficiency
and reliability of this novel technology. The chimney tower
was 194.6 m high, and the collector had a radius of 122 m.
Fundamental investigations for the Spanish system were
reported by Haaf et al. (1983) in which a brief discussion
of the energy balance, design criteria, and cost analysis
was presented. Krisst (1983) demonstrated a ‘back yard
type’ device with a power output of 10 W in West Hart-
ford, Connecticut, USA. In a later study, Haaf (1984)
reported preliminary test results of the plant built in Spain.
Kulunk (1985) produced a micro scale electric power plant
of 0.14 W in Izmit, Turkey. Sampayo (1986) suggested the
use of a multi-cone diffuser on the top of the chimney to
allow the operation as a high-speed chimney and to act

0038-092X/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.solener.2011.01.011
830 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838
Nomenclature
A area (m2)
cF friction coefficient
cp specific heat capacity (J kg1 K1)
d diameter (m)
g gravitational acceleration (ms2)
H height (m)
h heat-transfer coefficient (W m2)
m_ mass flow rate (kg s1)
Nu Nusselt number
p pressure (Pa)
q solar radiation (W m2)
r radial coordinate (m)
T temperature (K)
u velocity in the radial direction (ms1)
v velocity in the axial direction ðm s1 Þ
x length (m)
z axial coordinate (m)
b volume coefficient of expansion (k1)
as a draft tube for any natural wind blowing. Mullet (1987)
presented an analysis to derive the overall efficiency of the
solar chimney. The governing differential equations were
developed by Padki and Sherif (1988) to describe the chim-
ney performance. In later studies, Padki and Sherif
(1989a,b) conducted an investigation of the viability of
solar chimneys for medium-to-large scale power produc-
tion and power generation in rural areas.
Schlaich et al. (1990) studied the transferability from the
experimental data of the prototype in Manzanares to large
power plants (5, 30 and 100 MW). Yan et al. (1991)
reported on a more comprehensive analytical model in
which practical correlations were used to derive equations
for the air flow rate, air velocity, power output and thermo-
fluid efficiency. Padki and Sherif (1992) briefly discussed
the effects of the geometrical and operating parameters
on the chimney performance. Kreetz (1997) presented a
numerical model for the use of water storage in the collec-
tor. His calculations showed the possibility of a continuous
day and night operation of the solar chimney. Pasumarthi
and Sherif (1998a,b) conducted experimental and theoreti-
cal analyses on a solar chimney model built on a university
campus. Padki and Sherif (1999) developed a simple model
to analyze the performance of the solar chimney. Bernardes
et al. (1999) presented a theoretical analysis of a solar
chimney operating on natural laminar convection in the
steady state. Lodhi (1999) presented a comprehensive anal-
ysis of the chimney effect, power production and efficiency
and estimated the cost of the solar chimney power plant set
up in developing nations. Gannon and Backstrom
(2000a,b) developed an analysis of the solar chimney
including chimney friction, exit kinetic losses and a simple
model of the solar collector. More thorough analyses of
k thermal conductivity (W m1 k1)
e emissivity
q density (kg m3)
r Stefan–Boltzmann constant (W m2 k4)
s transmissivity
Subscripts
a ambient
c collector
ch chimney
e earth
f fluid
F friction
i inner
o outer
T turbine
solar chimney power plant performance were conducted
by Kröger and Buys (2001) and Gannon and Von Backs-
tröm (2002), and Gannon and Von Backström (2003) stud-
ied the performance of turbines employed in solar chimney
power plants.
Bernardes et al. (2003) developed an analytical and
numerical model for a solar chimney power plant, compar-
ing simulation predictions to experimental results from the
prototype plant at Manzanares. Pastohr et al. (2004) con-
ducted a basic CFD analysis on the solar chimney power
plant and compared their results to another simple model.
A relatively detailed numerical model was developed by
Pretorius et al. (2004), simulating the performance of a
large-scale reference solar chimney power plant. Schlaich
et al. (2005) presented the theory, practical experience,
and economy of solar chimney power plants to give a guide
for the design of 200-MW commercial solar chimney power
plant systems. A mathematical model was developed by
Bilgen and Rheault (2005) for evaluating the performance
of solar chimney power plants at high latitudes. A refined
numerical model for simulating large solar chimney plants
was presented by Pretorius and Kröger (2006). Later, Ming
et al. (2006) developed a comprehensive model to evaluate
the performance of a solar chimney power plant system in
which the effects of various parameters on the relative static
pressure, driving force, power output and efficiency were
further investigated. Ming et al. (2008) presented a numer-
ical analysis of the flow and heat transfer characteristics in
a solar chimney power plant with an energy storage layer.
Zhou et al. (2007), Ketlogetswe et al. (2008) and Ferreira
et al. (2008) conducted experimental analyses on solar
chimney systems. Koonsrisuk and Chitsomboon (2007)
and later Zhou et al. (2009) performed numerical simula-
 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838
tions of solar chimneys using a commercial CFD software.
Bernardes et al., (2010) evaluated the operational control
strategies applicable to solar chimney power plants. Koo-
nsrisuk et al. (2010) described the constructal-theory search
for the geometry of a solar chimney.
Because the pressure equation is used to obtain the mass
flow rate of air and the mass flow rate is one the most
important factors that influences the power output consid-
erably, many attempts have been made to develop a correct
equation for the pressure. Nonetheless, the issue of pres-
sure distribution was a controversial one in analyzing solar
chimney power plant performance. Some researchers
ignored the role of the pressure difference on the perfor-
mance of solar chimney systems. Pastohr et al. (2004) per-
formed a basic comprehensive CFD analysis on the solar
chimney power plant. In contrast to the numerical results
shown by them in which the static pressure inside the col-
lector is positive and increases along the flow direction,
Ming et al. (2006) illustrated that the relative static pressure
is negative and decreases along the flow direction inside the
collector. To obtain the pressure difference, the Bernoulli
equation was applied, which is not suitable for a flow that
receives solar radiation. The correct pressure equation
should be derived from the Navier–Stokes equations.
Because the other solar chimney performance parameters
directly depend on the pressure equation, there is a need
to derive the right pressure equation to modify the other
main parameters, which were negatively affected. In this
investigation, the correct pressure equation is developed.
To obtain the accurate pressure drop, the friction is taken
into consideration. Furthermore, in this study, models for
the collector cover and the surface of earth are presented,
which increase the accuracy of the general model.
2. System description
A solar chimney is a combination of three established
technologies, namely, the greenhouse, the chimney, and
the wind turbine. The chimney, which is a long tubular
structure, is placed in the center of the circular greenhouse,
while the wind turbine is mounted inside the chimney. This
unique combination accomplishes the task of converting
solar energy into electrical energy. This solar-to-electric
conversion involves two intermediate stages. In the first
stage, conversion of solar energy into thermal energy is
accomplished in the greenhouse (also known as the collec-
tor) by means of the greenhouse effect. In the second stage,
the chimney converts the generated thermal energy into
kinetic energy and ultimately into electric energy by using
a combination of a wind turbine and a generator. Fig. 1
provides an overall view of a solar chimney power plant.
In its simplest form, the collector is a glass or plastic film
cover stretched horizontally and raised above the ground.
This covering serves as a trap for re-radiation from the
ground. It transmits the shorter wavelength solar radiation
but blocks the longer wavelength radiation emitted by the
ground. As a result, the ground under the cover heats up,
831
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of a solar chimney power plant.
which, in turn, heats the air flowing radially above it. A flat
collector of this kind can convert a significant amount of
the irradiated solar energy into heat. The soil surface under
the collector cover is a convenient energy storage medium.
During the day, a part of the incoming solar radiation is
absorbed by the ground and is later released during the
night. This mechanism is capable of providing a continu-
ous supply of power all year round.
The chimney itself is the actual thermal engine. It is sim-
ilar to a pressure tube with low frictional losses. The up
thrust of the air heated in the collector is proportional to
the increase in air temperature in the collector and the vol-
ume of the air flow. The latter depends on the height of the
chimney. Mechanical output in the form of rotational
energy can be extracted from the vertical air current flowing
in the chimney by using suitable turbine(s). The principle of
operation of these turbines is similar to the turbo-genera-
tors used in hydroelectric power stations, where the static
pressure is converted into mechanical work. The power out-
put achieved is proportional to the product of the volume
flow rate and the pressure drop across the turbine. The air
flow through the turbine can be regulated by varying the
turbine blades’ pitch angle. This mechanical energy can be
converted into electric energy by coupling the turbine(s)
to the generator(s). Solar chimneys do not necessarily need
direct sunlight. They can exploit a component of the dif-
fused radiation when the sky is cloudy. The lack of system
dependence on the natural occurrence of wind, which is
intermittent, makes it a very attractive development.
3. Modeling
3.1. Basic equations
The Navier–Stokes equations, the continuity equation,
the equation for the energy and ke equations describe
the movement of the flow generally.
832 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838

3.1.1. Navier–Stokes equations @T f

qa cp uf H c ¼ hc ðT f  T c Þ þ he ðT f  T e Þ ð9Þ
  @r
du @p @ @u
q ¼ þ 2l þ l0 r ~ v In this form of the energy equation, convective heat
dt @r @r @r
     transfer is considered for every contact surface. Surface
@ @u @v 2l @u v
þ l þ þ  ð1Þ temperatures are required for the integration of Eq. (9).
@z @z @r r @r r At first, initial values for surface temperatures and heat
    
dv @p @ @v @ @u @v transfer coefficients are assumed. Using this simplification,
q ¼  þ qgz þ 2l þ l0 r ~v þ lr þ considering the air density constant, substituting uf from
dt @z @z @z r@r @z @r
Eq. (8) into Eq. (9) and finally integrating equation (9), a
ð2Þ
simplified equation for temperature is obtained:
1 2ph ðr2 r2 Þ

3.1.2. Continuity equation T f ðrÞ ¼ T c þ T e þ ð2T a  T c  T e Þecp m_ o
ð10Þ
2
@p 1 @ @ The temperature profile of the fluid flowing through the
þ ðrquÞ þ ðqvÞ ¼ 0 ð3Þ
@t r @z @z collector at a given flow rate is shown in Fig. 2. To demon-
strate the effect of surface temperatures on the temperature
3.1.3. Energy equation profile of fluid more clearly, three different values were
  selected for the earth and roof temperatures. Assuming
@T 1 @ @ m = 1000 kg/s and h = 5 W/m2 K (Pastohr, 2004), Eq.
qcp þ ðrTuÞ þ ðTvÞ
qt r @r @z (10) is solved for constant surface temperatures.
    Fig. 2 illustrates the increase of the air temperature
1 @ @T @ @T @p 1 @
¼ rk þ k þ þ ðrpuÞ through the collector. The temperature difference between
r @r @r @z @z @t r @r
the collector inlet and outlet describes the performance of
@
þ ðpvÞ þ U ð4Þ the system generally. The results indicate that at the higher
@z the surface temperatures, the greater the temperature dif-
ference is.
3.1.4. k–e equations Unfortunately, the temperature distribution in the sur-
     faces is not known. The following investigations were con-
1 @ @ @ lt @k ducted on the heat balance in the glass roof and earth.
q ðrkuÞ þ ðkvÞ ¼ lþ
r @r @z @z rk @z Considering surface temperatures as functions of the col-
   
1 @ l @k l @T lector radius, the energy equation of the air in the collector
þ r lþ t þ Gk þ bgz t  qe ð5Þ can be extended as
r @r rk @r Prt @z
    
1 @ @ @ l @e @T f
q ðreuÞ þ ðevÞ ¼ lþ t qa cp H c uf ¼ hc ðT f  T c ðrÞÞ þ he ðT f  T e ðrÞÞ ð11Þ
r @r @z @z re @z @r
   
1 @ l @e e e2
þ r lþ t þ C 1e Gk  C 2eq ð6Þ
r @r re @r k k 3.2.1. Heat balance of the glass roof
The variable r, which stands for the radial coordinate, cor- For the glass roof, heat balance equation (12) is used.
responds to the radial direction in the collector, and the Heat conduction in the very thin cover is neglected com-
variable z, which represents the axial coordinate, corre- pared with heat convection. The term (1  s)q shows the
sponds to the chimney axial direction.

3.2. Mathematical model of the collector

By assuming one-dimensional and steady flow, the fol-

lowing equation for mass flow rate is obtained:
m_ ¼ qf Auf ð7Þ
Substituting the flow area into Eq. (7) results in the fol-
lowing expression for the velocity of the fluid:
m_
Uf ¼  ð8Þ
2prH c qf
The energy equation for the warm air in the collector
can be expressed as Fig. 2. Temperature profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
m = 1000 kg/s.
 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838 833

absorption of radiation, and s = 0.85 is assumed (Grigull derived by simplifying the Navier–Stokes equation. The
et al., 1991). The term ea rðT 4c  T 4a Þ considers the radiation density model can be expressed by Boussinesq approxima-
of the glass roof, and the term ec rT4c  ee rT4e shows a sim- tion (Jaluria, 1980):
plistic calculation of radiation in the collector. The heat 1
transfer equation of the glass roof is qf ¼ qa ð1  ba ðT f  T a ÞÞ; ba ¼ ð19Þ
Ta
ð1  sÞq ¼ hc ðT f  T c Þ  ha ðT a  T c Þ þ ec rT 4c The Navier–Stokes equation in the axial direction is
 ee rT 4e þ ea rðT 4f  T 4a Þ ð12Þ @pc
¼ qa ba gðT f  T a Þ ð20Þ
@z
3.2.2. Heat balance of the earth Integrating equation (20) and considering Pc(r = ro) = 0
The steady-state heat conduction equation is valid in the give
ground: pc ðrÞ ¼ H c qa ba gðT f ðr ¼ ri Þ  T a Þ ð21Þ
@2T e The Navier–Stokes equation in the radial direction is
¼0 ð13Þ
@z2 @uf @p
qa uf ¼ c ð22Þ
Two boundary conditions are required to solve equation @r @r
(13). The boundary condition on the earth’s surface z = 0 is Integrating equation (22) and substituting Eq. (8) into Eq.
@T e (22) yields
he ðT f  T e Þ þ sq þ ec rT 4c  ee rT 4e ¼ ke ð14Þ
@z m_ 2 qa ðr2
o r Þ
2
pc ðrÞ ¼ ð23Þ
Eq. (14) involves the terms for heat convection, absorp- 8H 2c p2 q2f
tion of solar energy, simplistic radiation and heat conduc-
Friction should also be considered in the collector to
tion. The boundary condition in the earth’s depth (z = ze)
obtain an accurate pressure drop. Thus, analogous to the
can be defined as
pipe flow, the frictional pressure drop in the collector is
Te ¼ Ta ð15Þ obtained (Jischa, 1982):
@pF @pF qf m2 4cF
 ¼ ð24Þ
3.2.3. Heat transfer coefficients @r @r þ 0  r 2 A2c q2f 2H c
It is necessary to adjust the model by taking into
account the temperature and velocity dependence of the
heat transfer coefficient at the ground and the glass roof. 3.3. Turbine model
The heat transfer coefficient between the glass roof and
atmosphere is With the Beetz power limit (Haaf et al., 1983), the pres-
sure jump at the turbine is given by
Nux k
ha ¼ ð16Þ 8qT u2T
x dpT ¼  ð25Þ
27
The heat transfer coefficient is not steady, and it is gen-
erally a function of the Reynolds number (compulsive con- The terms qT and uT , respectively, are the average air den-
vection) and the Grashof number (natural convection). sity and the average air velocity at the turbine section.
According to Kreetz (1997), the heat transfer coefficient
between the glass roof and the fluid flowing through the 3.4. Mathematical model in the chimney
collector is
Neglecting the temperature decrease in the chimney, the
 4  4 !14
kf kf energy equation simplifies to
hc ¼ Nuf þ Nuc ð17Þ
2H c Hc @T ch
qch cp uch ¼0 ð26Þ
@z
The heat transfer coefficient between the surface of the
The temperature in the chimney is assumed to be con-
earth and the fluid flowing through the collector is
stant. Thus, the integration yields
 4  4 !14
kf kf T ch ¼ T f ðr ¼ ri Þ ð27Þ
he ¼ Nuf þ Nue ð18Þ
2H c Hc
3.4.1. Pressure equation in the chimney
The general Navier–Stokes equation in the axial direc-
3.2.4. Pressure equation of the collector
tion is reduced to
The pressure equation of the system is used to find the
unknown mass flow rate, which is a key requirement to @pch
¼ qa ba gðT ch  T a Þ ð28Þ
solve the whole model. The pressure equation can be @z
834 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838

The integration of the pressure equation in the chimney

results in
pch ðzÞ ¼ pc ðr ¼ ri Þ  H ch qf ba gðT f ðr ¼ ri Þ  T 0 Þ ð29Þ
For the friction model of the chimney, the Colebrook
results of the developed pipe current are used (Jischa,
1982). Considering friction losses in the chimney yields
@pF dpF q m_ 2 4cF
 ¼  ch 2 2 ð30Þ
@z H ch 2 Ach qch d ch

3.5. Pressure equation of the whole model

Fig. 3. Temperature profile of the fluid flowing through the collector.
For the whole model, the single terms of the pressure
equation are added. To sum up, the following pressure
equation is achieved by superposition:
p ¼ H ch qa ba gðT f ðr
m_ 2 qa ðr2 2
o  ri Þ m_ 2 cF
¼ ri Þ  T 0 Þ þ 2 2 2
 2 ðro  ri Þ
8H c p qf Ac qch H ch
m_ 2 H ch cF 8 m_ 2
2  ð31Þ
A2ch qch d ch 27 A2T qch

Eq. (31) indicates that, with a given solar radiation, the

pressure equation is a function of the geometry, material
and mass flow rate. At the chimney exit, the static pressure
must be equal to the ambient atmospheric static pressure at
the same altitude:
Fig. 4. Velocity profile of the fluid flowing through the collector.
Dpout ¼ 0 ð32Þ
This equation is in agreement with Mahr (1991) and
Unger (1988). It is assumed that no fluid from the exterior
reaches the chimney.
The pressure equation (31) is a helpful equation indicat-
ing the mass flow rate. In the general case of the flow with
friction, the calculation of the mass flow rate from the pres-
sure equation can be conducted only iteratively.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Model results

The numerical solution of the model was obtained for

the geometry of the prototype in Manzanares, Spain
(Schlaich, 1995), which from now on is called the model
results. Because the whole model can be solved only itera-
tively, an algorithm based on iteration is proposed, and the
initial values were assumed for mass flow rate and heat
transfer coefficients. Figs. 3–5 illustrate the temperature,
velocity and pressure distributions in the solar collector
of the solar chimney power plant for three different solar
radiations. The flow direction is from right to left in all
the following figures.
Fig. 3 shows the influence of solar radiation and collec-
tor radius on the temperature profile of fluid flowing
through the collector. When the solar radiation is constant,
Fig. 5. Static pressure profile of the fluid flowing through the collector.
the temperature of fluid increases by decreasing the radius.
Fig. 3 implies that, when the solar radiation increases, the
air temperature increases for the same collector radius.
Fig. 4 shows the air velocity profile through the collec-
tor. The velocity increases through the collector by decreas-
ing the radius, but it increases more sharply by reaching the
chimney base. When the collector radius is constant, an
increase of solar radiation causes an increase of the air
velocity, but the effect is not very significant.
 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838 835

for a solar chimney power plant was built based on the geo-
metrical dimensions of the prototype Manzanares. The
basic equations including the models discussed up to now
were numerically solved with the help of the commercial
simulation program FLUENT (version 6.3). The basic
equations were simplified to axisymmetric and steady state.
Because a turbulence model is necessary for the description
of the turbulent flow conditions, the standard k–e model
and standard wall mode were selected to describe the fluid
flow inside the collector and the chimney (Fluent Inc.,
2005). The plant was divided into the areas of the collector,
collector inlet, chimney, turbine, earth, chimney outlet and
environment and the connecting point between the collec-
Fig. 6. Temperature profiles of the roof, earth and fluid through the tor and chimney. The main boundary conditions are illus-
collector. trated in Table 1.
The domain was discretized with 95,780 two-dimen-
Fig. 5 shows the static pressure profile, which decreases sional unstructured mesh elements, with cell sizes ranging
through the collector and drops dramatically near the between 0.1 m and 1.0 m and mesh growth rates of 5%.
chimney base. It also demonstrates that increasing solar Because large gradients appeared near the walls, the grid
radiation results in a decrease in the static pressure when was refined adaptively. The accuracy of all approximations
the collector radius is constant.
Fig. 6 illustrates the roof, earth and fluid temperature pro-
files through the collector. As shown in Fig. 6, by decreasing Table 1
the collector radius, all the temperatures increase, but the air The main boundary conditions.
temperature increases more steeply. As expected, the earth Place Type Description
temperature is much higher than the others.
Glass roof Wall T = g(r) K
Ground surface Wall T = f(r) K
4.2. FLUENT results Chimney wall Wall q = 0 W m2
Chimney axis Axis Symmetry
In this part of the study, the numerical simulation of the Collector inlet Pressure_inlet Dp = 0 Pa, T0 = 293 K
Chimney outlet Pressure_outlet Dp = 0 Pa
solar chimney power plant is presented. A physical model

Fig. 7. Temperature, velocity and pressure distributions of the solar chimney power plant for q = 600 W m2.
836 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838

was second order. All numerical calculations had to be per-

formed with the solver with double precision. The iteration
error was at least 106 for all calculations, and was at least
109 for the energy equation. Under these conditions, the
solution converged in less than 3000 iterations.
Fig. 7 shows the temperature, pressure and velocity dis-
tributions in the collector for a given solar radiation.
Fig. 7a shows the temperature distribution of the solar
chimney power plant. This figure shows that the tempera-
ture of fluid inside the chimney reaches about 314.5 K.
Fig. 7b shows the velocity distribution of the power
plant. From the figure, it is evident that the air velocity
increases through the collector and the maximum velocity
is at the chimney base. When the solar radiation is Fig. 8. Temperature profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
600 W m2, the maximum velocity inside the power plant q = 600 W m2.
is about 11.8 ms1.
The static pressure distribution of the solar chimney
power plant has shown in Fig. 7c. The static pressure
decreases through the collector up to 123.8 Pa and starts
increasing through the chimney up to zero. It is obvious
that the minimum value of static pressure lies at the bottom
of the chimney.

4.3. Validation of the numerical results with the experimental

data

To validate the numerical results, the temperature

increase in the collector and the upwind velocity at the
chimney base are compared with the experimental data of
the Spanish prototype (Haaf et al., 1983).
The experimental results indicate that, when the solar Fig. 9. Velocity profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
radiation is 1000 W m2, the upwind velocity at the chim- q = 600 W m2.
ney base is 15 ms1, and the temperature increase through
the collector with no-load condition reaches 20 K. As is
shown in Table 2, good quantitative agreement was
obtained between the experimental data of the Manzanares
prototype and both of the numerical results.

4.4. Comparison between the model and FLUENT results

After validating the numerical results, the main param-

eters, such as temperature, pressure and velocity distribu-
tion were compared between the calculations of the
model and the FLUENT results.
The temperature, pressure and velocity profiles in the
collector for both numerical results are shown in Figs. 8–
10 for a given solar radiation (q = 600 W m2). As Fig. 8
shows, the temperature of fluid increases by decreasing Fig. 10. Pressure profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
the radius. By comparing the profiles in Fig. 8, a good cor- q = 600 W m2.
respondence is proven, except for the entrance area.

Table 2 Fig. 9 shows the air velocity profile through the collector
Comparison between the numerical results and the experimental data. for both the model and FLUENT results. The velocity
Results Temperature increase Upwind velocity increases through the collector by decreasing the radius
Experimental data DT = 20 K V = 15 ms1 and reaching the chimney base, where it increases more
Model DT = 20.25 K V = 15.05 ms1 sharply. Fig. 9 also shows good agreement between model
FLUENT DT = 20.96 K V = 14.81 ms1 and FLUENT results.
 R. Sangi et al. / Solar Energy 85 (2011) 829–838
Fig. 10 shows the pressure profile, which decreases
through the collector, and, when it approaches the chimney
base, it drops dramatically. By comparing the profiles in
Fig. 10, a complete correspondence is proven, except for
the middle area.
4.5. Comparison of the model and the results of Pastohr et al.
Figs. 11–13 display a comparison between this model
and Pastohr et al.‘s results. The temperature, pressure
Fig. 11. Temperature profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
q = 500 W m2.
Fig. 12. Velocity profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
q = 500 W m2.
Fig. 13. Pressure profile of the fluid flowing through the collector for
q = 500 W m2.
837
and velocity distributions for a given solar radiation
(q = 500 W m2) are compared.
In contrast to the numerical results shown by Pastohr
et al. in which the static pressure inside the collector is posi-
tive and increases along the flow direction, Fig. 13 illus-
trates that the relative static pressure is negative, and it
decreases along the flow direction inside the collector.
5. Conclusions
A more in-depth numerical analysis of solar chimney
power plants was presented in this paper. A mathematical
model was developed to accurately describe the solar
chimney power plant mechanism. Two different numerical
simulations were performed to analyze the characteristics
of the flow for the geometry of the prototype in Manzan-
ares, Spain, and both results are consistent with the exper-
imental data of the Manzanares prototype. Numerical
profiles for the temperature, velocity and pressure in the
collector of the solar chimney power plant were shown
for three different solar radiations. The results demon-
strate the reliability and accuracy of the mathematical
model and also suggest that the simple two-dimensional
axisymmetric simulation can be used for engineering
calculations.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their acknowledgments to the
reviewers for their valuable suggestions. We also extend
our gratitude to Professor Mehrzad Shams for the helpful
comments and discussions.
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