Performance evaluation of solar nozzle plant useful for electricity generation A numerical analysis

Abstract

Keywords: Electricity Generation; Natural Convection; Solar Nozzle Plant; Updraft Tower

Introduction

A solar tower power generating plant primarily uses solar energy for its operations. It is considered as a ‘passive sustainable energy plant’ that generates electricity. Passive solar technologies are those that do not use fans or pumps in the collection and usage of solar heat, instead, these technologies use the natural modes of heat transfer to distribute the thermal energy of solar gains among different spaces [1]. A passive, non-mechanical technique of producing energy is a solar chimney principle, often referred to as a thermal chimney [2]. Among the various forms of energy, solar energy is one that one receives from the Sun and is the prime energy source for solar updraft towers (SUT). This SUT uses natural convection heat transfer mechanisms. In this, any fluid motion is developed by the buoyant effect, which suggests the rise of warmer fluid and the fall of the cooler fluid (especially due to density differences) [3].Solar chimney power plants are privileged systems that can provide power output even in cloudy weather and during hours when there is no sun [4]. It can be further divided into two sub-categories i.e. internal or external flow depending upon the type of fluid flow. Use of clean energies such as solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, etc. for the generation of electrical power is helpful to reduce air pollution. Thus, it will surely save the environment on our planet earth. Wherever needed, the electricity can be produced by applying cleaner technologies to the power generation units. There is another method namely ‘sustainable energy power generation techniques’ which insists on the use of solar chimneys as shown in figure 1. It is use of the green energy options for generating electricity. This electricity will be helpful to both urban

and rural developments. Figure 1 shows that the solar collector comprises a translucent cover to admit shorter wavelength solar radiation and retain long wavelength radiation that is emitted by the heated ground. Buoyancy-driven flow that is generated in the chimney is used to drive pressure-staged turbines installed at the chimney base for electric power generation [5]. In solar chimney sustainable power generation units, the solar radiations are fallen upon a large greenhouse-like structure available at the bottom. The collected solar radiations at the base region heat the surrounding air nearby collector portion, and thus creating an updraft within a tall chimney. The solar chimney is considered to be the plant’s actual thermal engine [6]. During the morning time, sun radiations start falling on the absorber section and it slowly heats the absorber base. This will heat the air present within SCPP, thus creating an upward lift. If turbines are positioned in between the airflow; this lift will be beneficial to produce mechanical energy and then electricity by the help of generators. This upward lift drives turbine blades which are fixed nearer to the base of the solar chimney, thus generating electricity. The energy sources can be divided into two main categories i.e. Primary and secondary energy sources. The main energy consumption sources are fossils like coal, natural gases, etc., nuclear, and renewable options such as hydro-power, geothermal, solar, wind, etc. It is better to say electricity as secondary energy consumption source. The enhanced accumulation of CO2 emission in developing countries poses a significant threat to the environment [7]. The SCPP uses solar energy which

Figure 2. The Open ended conical shaped solar nozzle design. [From Williams [33], with permission from Global Warming Solutions.

is green energy option and has several advantages over conventional energy sources. • It is available in abundant quantities free of cost in nature, completely pollution-free and thus an environmental friendly source of energy. • It is known as one of the main renewable energy sources. It uses a clean and simple technology. • It has a lower operational and maintenance cost, despite having higher construction costs. Fuel is not required in such a design. Here, no need to use fuels like coal, natural oil, etc., thus it’s less polluting.

Literature Survey

Al-Abadi et al. [8] have numerically investigated the combined solar-waste heat sources tower to increase power production. Here, a simulating software tool ANSYS FLUENT has been used. The main aim was to know the effects of waste energy of flue gases on the performance of solar towers. Hence, seven different models have been numerically tested having various chimney heights and diameters. Amongst these seven models, a circular shaped model with a two-ring burner was found to be the best option and thus recommended to use. The optimum of nearly 121.1 kW of power is produced. It delivered the highest thermal efficiency among other available choices. Cuce et al. [9] have conducted numerical analysis to know the appropriate values of the chimney as well as collector inclination angles for the pilot plant. The convergent and divergent chimneys have angles of -0.25° and + 0.25° respectively and it is found that the system notably performs if it has a slope for the chimney of nearly 0.6 ° and a diverging angle of about 1.5°. Marzouk [10] has used Aladdin artificial intelligence enhanced modeling tool to optimize Manzanares pilot plant design. By analyzing

numerical results conducted for nine different locations in the world, results suggest that due to advancements in PV technology in recent years, the commercially built SUTPP that only generates electricity seems to have less chance of being established in the market. Tesfaye et al. [11] have done experimental and numerical analysis to increase the performance of the SCPP plant considering an optimum power output of around 30 kW. It is found that as one increase chimney height, it enhances power output up to a certain optimum height value, beyond which the effect is negligible. The pressure drop will result in significant energy losses along the chimney. It will start to overcome the energy rise because of the stack effect. The maximum chimney height is 45 m for a 0.2 m diameter, after that enhancing height results in negative of total pressure. Mirzamohammad et al. [12] have numerically modeled two different designs i.e. with and without using buried pipes. The impact of solar radiations and pressure variation in the turbine section by changing temperature in the computational domain is determined for both above cases. Due to the creation of obstacles in the airflow path after the rising pressure drop in the turbine, the air velocity in the chimney decreases subsequently. Singh et al. [13] have numerically investigated a high-capacity sustainable power unit that provides a cleaner and economically preferable option to conventional design. It is concluded that the geometrical features have a great impact on the performances of the SUTPP. The amount of solar radiations available and geometrical constraints mainly affect the efficiency and power output of the plant. Cuce et al. [14] have experimentally and numerically investigated the various effects of using solar absorbing materials like gravel or sand in a solar chimney power plant. It is found that using soil material as ‘Sand’, we can achieve a temperature rise of 67.3 K at a surrounding temperature of 290 K. Considering ambient temperature of

300 K, we can get a temperature rise of 64.8 K. Jiren et. al. [15] have performed a numerical study on an axisymmetric model of the prototype of solar chimney power generating plant using the different chimney heights and shapes which was built in Manzanares, Spain. By enhancing solar radiation intensity, the release velocity of air increases. It also enhances its temperature inside SCPP. By increasing the dimensions of the chimney and collector, one can raise the power output. Das et al. [16] have proposed a numerical investigation of SCPP. The aim was to evaluate the performance of SCPP using different collector roof designs. It is found that overall chimney efficiency increases by raisingits height and it decreases by raising collector roof angles. The different effect of collector roof angles on performance is evaluated. Various angles are: 20°, 25°, 30°, 35° and respective collector efficiencies are 87.2 %, 73.1 %, 60.5 %, and 51.8 %. Hoseini et al. [17] numerically found that an effective method for enhancing power output of SCPP is providing collector angles vs. horizon. The use of divergent collectors is more advisable than horizontal convergent collectors, as it produces higher velocity as well as mass flow rates. Jammei et al. [18] have numerically studied the different effects of varying geometrical parameters of SCPP. Researchers studied different tower convergence or diversion angles, and concave or convex wall forms with respective to the variation of velocity in the chimney. The various forms of chimney walls are simulated and studied with the aid of ANSYS FLUENT software. In basic design, the average air release velocity was found to be nearly 15 m/s; while it rises up to 23 m/s for the last model showing an enhancement of 49 %. Aurybi et al. [19] performed a numerical analysis on solar power plant. It was found that a hybrid SCPP design increases air velocity by 24 % and temperature by 9 %. Comparing numerical results of the conventional model with proposed model; the later produced more output power. Mekhail [20] performed numerical as well as experimental studies. Researcher used a small-scale SCPP plant which is installed in Aswan city for analysis purpose. With an increment in chimney’s height by 14 m, there is an enhancement in the maximum theoretical power output of

3. W to 2 kW approximately. From the results obtained, it is

clear that the bigger scaled model can produce theoretically an output that is 600 times more than a smaller one. Ming et al. [21] have numerically investigated SCPP. In this research work, some equipment is used to spread seawater droplets equally in the form of the surface. This is done when air flow is passed through the base of the chimney inside SCPP. With addition and humidification processes of the warm airflow, resulted in reduced air temperatures. Ayadi et al. [22] performed numerical as well as experimental analysis to check the performances of solar chimneys. Tests have been conducted in warm and tropical situations particularly of Kota, India. The impact of collector roof inclination is studied. Results indicate that using a negative roof angle, the thermodynamic efficiency of solar plants is enhanced. The air release velocity measured inside the solar

chimney section is increased by 125 % by varying of angle by 2.5 °. Sundus et. al. [23] have performed experimental as well as numerical analysis. Results show that the selection of the correct ground material in the collector plays a prime role in increasing its performance. By raising the ground absorptivity, the ground temperature in the collector regions will be enhanced. The painted wooden material with a dark green color was the best choice among studied materials. Lal et al. [24] have performed experimental and numerical studies to find out the impact of various parameters like inlet temperature, chimney height, and solar radiation intensity on the system performance. Juo et al. [25] numerically studied the effects of turbine pressure drop, solar radiation, and ambient temperature on solar chimney system performance. Fasel et al. [26] have numerically demonstrated the impacts of using an unsteady RANS for SCPP. Pretorius [27] numerically evaluated the performances of larger-scaled SCPPs. Schlaich et al. [28] theoretically studied the SCPP plant. It was observed that constructing a solar tower of 1000 m height was difficult in previous times, but today, it could be constructed using recent advanced technologies. Caicedo et al. [29] studied radial turbine design for solar chimney power plants. Haaf et al. [30] experimentally (Part I) studied the solar chimney power generating plant installed at the Manzanares. The performances of solar collector and the converter were primarily influenced by local climatic conditions as well as site location. Soil characteristics like absorptive coefficient, coarseness etc. play a vital role in deciding how much amount of Sun’s radiation energy could be converted into thermal energy. It was also observed that the upwind air release velocity for this pilot plant was 15 m/s. Haaf [31] experimentally investigated (Part II) the Manzanares pilot plant with a power output ranging to 55 kW. The system includes cost saving collector design along with a properly constructed energy converter unit inside the chimney of SCPP. Polyester film panels along with some soiled PVC panels were used achieving a greater transparency level. Literature Gap and Motivation After studying the above literatures on SCPP, we found some gaps and motivations for performing the research work. The current study explores the use of solar nozzles to enhance air release velocity and overall system performance in SCPP designs. The earliest work was done by Haaf et al. [30, 31] to develop a prototype design of solar chimney at Manzanares, Spain. Afterward, many researchers studied solar chimney plants to enhance its performance, but very few studied solar nozzle plant. Mainly Padki [32] studied a simple analytical model of solar nozzle plant and found that using chimney of varying inlet and outlet cross sectional area (i.e. converging or nozzle shaped chimney), could increase the overall system performance. However, no experimental or numerical studies were conducted. Williams [33, 34, 35] theoretically determined the performances of solar nozzle plants (Figure 2) with varying

Table 1. Optimum air velocities for different SCPP designs Sr. No.

Haaf W, Experimental Study, Manzanares Spain, 1983-84, [30, 31]

dimensions and suggested researchers to further validate/ disprove the ideas. The objective of the current numerical study is to investigate various effects of using solar nozzle design compared to conventional SCPP design. Figure 2 shows the openended conical-shaped solar nozzle design with a solar absorber at its base. The smoke jack devised by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) has been quoted in many reviews as the earliest illustration of principles of the solar chimney and if we look carefully at the smoke jack the key reason why it works is that it includes a venturi or nozzle [6]. Hence, it is important to evaluate the performance of SCPP using solar nozzles. Based on the literature review; some of the important designs of SCPP and their optimum air velocities are tabulated in Table 1.

Methodology

The design of SCPP will be based on various laws and stated as below: a) Law of conservation of mass, b) Law of conservation of momentum, and c) Law of conservation of energy Now, to calculate dimensions and other different parameters for SCPP, the following equations are used: Maximum air velocity flowing in the tower (chimney) [28] is given by equation (1), (1) The power output of the solar tower is stated as shown by equation (2), (2) The tower (chimney) converts the heat flow produced by the collector into kinetic energy. The total pressure difference in N/m2 is represented in equation (3): (3) Considering static pressure difference equals zero, ∆PS = 0, then the total pressure difference will be as shown in equation (4):

(4) The total power output in watts is represented by equation (5), (5) (6) To calculate the air velocity at the entrance height of the chimney (bottom or inlet of chimney section) inside SCPP, the following equation is used: [32](7) Now, using the continuity equation, the air exit velocity (ve) is given by equation (8): (8) Ai: (Cross-sectional area at chimney entrance, m2) Ae:(Cross-sectional area at chimney exit, m2) At the chimney exit, the turbine is fixed and the air exit velocity can be represented as equation (9), (9) Solar insolation can be represented by following equation (10), (10) Based on the above equations, we are going to design various components of our hybrid SCPP. The radiation Discrete Ordinates model (DO) is used for numerical analysis. According to this model, when radiation passes from one medium to another, the following equation (11) is used: (11) The solar irradiance method and fair weather conditions are used during the ANSYS-FLUENT analysis (Figure 3). For the fair weather conditions method following equations are applied and taken from the ASHRAE handbook and represented in equation 12:

(12) The equation (13) for diffused solar irradiations on a vertical surface is stated below: (13) Here, ‘C’ is constant. The equation (14) for diffuse solar irradiation for surfaces other than vertical surfaces is: (14) There will be some ground reflected irradiations. Equation (15) represents such solar irradiations that fall on surface: (15) Assumptıons • The density variation of air-fluid is a function of temperature and follows Boussinesq approximations. • Fluid is ‘air’ and flow has a steady state. A turbulent model is used. The thermo-physical properties of air are assumed to be constant. • The solar heat flux incident and absorbed in the absorber region is constant throughout the day. The sky is assumed to be clear and not cloudy during solar load calculations.

Numerical Analysis

The solar chimney power generating plant and solar nozzle plant are designed with the use of ANSYS-ICEM software (Figures 4, 5, and 6). We have performed numerical analysis with the help of the latest available version of ANSYS software. The following dimensions are considered while designing: dimensions of base = 3 m length and 3 m width, base height (inlet height) = 0.1 m, overall height (h) of the plant is varying based on different models (i.e. from 1 m to 7 m), the material of chimney and nozzle is polycarbonate, top dimensions of the nozzle or chimney = 0.5 m × 0.5 m. The squared cross-section (for chimney and nozzle) is considered with advantages of ease of manufacturing, and handling as well and the availability of workshop facilities. The model is designed in ICEM-ANSYS software (2022-R1). The mesh is created in ICEM with body type hexagonal cells. The 3-dimensional RNG k-epsilon viscous turbulence model with steady-state conditions is considered for numerical analysis. The discrete ordinate radiation model is used for analysis purposes. The air density is defined by Boussinesq approximations and assumed to be 1.1455 Kg/m3. The limitation of the study is that a flow of ‘air’ i.e. the fluid flowing inside the solar chimney; assumed to be incompressible flow, but in real situations, air is a compressible fluid. The various thermo-physical properties of materials are shown in Table 2. Comparing the dimensions mentioned in Table 1; height of chimney varies from 1 m to 7 m, while the base area is 9 m2. Both SCPPs with and without nozzle designs are considered during numerical study.

Figure 3. Flowchart of numerical analysis of solar nozzle plant.

The boundary conditions considered during analysis were: inlet conditions: gauge total pressure (Pa) = 0 Pa, total temperature (T) = 308 K, outlet conditions: gauge pressure = 0 Pa, backflow total temperature = 308 K, backflow turbulent intensity = 5%., the static pressure = 0 Pa. The multiphase model kept OFF and the viscous k-epsilon (2 equations) standard model was used. The enhanced wall treatment with a full buoyancy effect was used. The radiation discrete ordinates (DO) model was used considering solar load using a solar ray tracing model with solar calculator load conditions. The Rajkot city (India) location was used for solar loading conditions i.e. longitude 70.9 ° and latitude 22.27° with any summer day conditions. Wall conditions were: base thickness = 0.03 m, material = gravel, thermal boundary type = mixed, wall motion = stationary wall with no-slip conditions, solar nozzle: material= polycarbonate, radiation boundary type= semi- transparent. The following solver setting is used: pressure velocity coupling = SIMPLEC type, discretization scheme = second order and upwind. The location considered is ‘Rajkot’ (Gujarat, India) with direct solar irradiance = 810 W/m2. The chimney material is ‘polycarbonate’. The radiation model is used with solar radiation ‘ON’ and the solar ray tracing model is applied for this location.

The complete analysis in ANSYS-FLUENT is done for the above conditions and grid independence test results are shown in Figure 4. The grid independence test is performed and the most suitable grid size is selected for performing numerical analysis. The fine mesh type II (Figure 4) with nodes sized 38800 is selected for analysis. Figure 5 shows a solar chimney plant designed in ICEM-ANSYS. It indicates a wire-frame view of SCPP, the designing of which is done using ANSYS software. On the other hand, Figure 6 represents the solar nozzle plant in its three-dimensional view.

Results And Discussion

Table 3 shows various models that are numerically analyzed to evaluate the performances of SCPP with and without a nozzle. There are a total of 8 models numerically studied. Out of these 8 models, 4 models are with solar chimney power generating plants (i.e. without nozzle) and the remaining 4 models are with solar nozzle power plants. All models were numerically studied with two different conditions i.e. fair weather as well as theoretically maximum solar irradiance conditions. Fair weather conditions have a sunshine factor of 0.9 while the theoretically

Table 2.Thermo-physical properties of materials [16] Thermo-physical properties ↓

maximum method has a sunshine factor of 1. Figures 7 (a) and (b) show velocity contours and pathlines contours for model 1 (SCPP model with chimney height of 7 m) using fair weather conditions while Figure 9 (a) and Figure 9 (b) represent the same contours but using the maximum theoretical method in solar loading model. The numerical findings of all the above SCPP models are compared to the experimental results of Manzanares pilot plant which was located in Spain and studied by Haaf et al. in the year 1983. Figure 7 (a) shows the velocity contours, highlighting the maximum air velocity region near the chimney inlet and is indicated by reddish spots in Figures 7(a) and (b). Figure 8 shows the velocity magnitude and position plots for various sections in SCPP. The solar radiation falls on the absorber regions and is responsible for the rise in air temperature in the vicinity of the absorber. The heat transfer takes place due to the natural convection method. The static pressure of air is taken as zero at both inlet and outlet. At the center of the chimney, we get maximum velocity it reduces as we

proceed towards the walls and is defined by the boundary layer theory. Figure 9 (a) shows the velocity contours for a solar chimney power generation plant with a chimney height of 7 m. The cross-sectional region of the chimney is squared with a dimension of 0.5 m× 0.5 m. The maximum air velocity inside the chimney is 1.5 m/s using fair weather conditions (FWC). The solar ray tracing model is used with a sunshine factor of 0.9. Figure 9 shows the velocity contours, highlighting the optimum air velocity region near the chimney inlet. It is indicated by the reddish color in the figure. The power is generated by fixing turbines in this region. This can be converted into electricity using an electrical generator. The pathlines contour for the maximum theoretical method is represented in Figure 9 (b). During the numerical study, the gravel is considered as an absorbing material and is useful for maintaining air temperatures all over periods in the day i.e. during night times when solar radiations are minimal; absorbing materials help to gain stored thermal energy and thus continuous power generation is possible with these SCPP units. Figure 10 (a) indicates the velocity contours, highlighting the maximum air release velocity at the nozzle outlet region and is denoted by reddish regions in Figure 10 (a) and Figure 10 (b). The numerical value for optimum velocity in the solar nozzle plant having a height of 7 m is nearly 1.75 m/s. The average total temperature at the nozzle outlet is 316.18 K. Figure 10 (b) shows pathlines for model 2. This is a design of a solar nozzle power generating plant

Table 3. Various models (model no.1 to 8) of SCPP and solar nozzle plant numerically designed using ANSYS and comparing with Manzanares pilot plant (model 9, Haaf et al. 1983) Model No.

Numerical results with Numerical results Fair Weather Conditions with Theoretical (FWC) Maximum Solar Irradiance Method (TM)

% Increase in air velocity (comparing SCPP with and without nozzle)

Chimney material: Polycarbonate Size: Nozzle height = 7 m Top = 0.5 m × 0.5 m

Maximum air velocity inside chimney = 1.50 m/s Average total temp. at chimney outlet = 317.96 K

Maximum air 0 velocity inside chimney = 1.77 m/s Average Total Temp. at Chimney Outlet = 321.54 K

Nozzle material: Polycarbonate Size: Nozzle height = 7 m Top = 0.5 m × 0.5 m

Maximum air velocity at nozzle outlet =1.75 m/s Average total temp. at outlet = 316.18 K

Maximum air velocity at nozzle outlet= 1.99 m/s Average total temp. at outlet = 318.44 K

Material: Gravel Size: 3 m × 3 m (SCPP model with no nozzle used)

Chimney material: Polycarbonate Size: Chimney height = 5m Squared cross section

Conclusion

Numerical analysis of all models show that as chimney height increases corresponding maximum air velocity also increases (Figures 22 and 23). Figure 23 shows that for all solar nozzle models, for both fair weather and theoretical maximum conditions the numerical results are nearer to each other. The base and inlet dimensions are kept constants for all numerical cases i.e. 3 × 3 m and inlet height =

Nomenclature

Height of nozzle i.e. distance from solar absorber to top of the nozzle (m) H Height of chimney (m) RColl Radius of collector RChim Radius of chimney Utower,max Maximum air velocity flowing in the tower (chimney) in m/s P Power output in Watts ∆Ptot Total pressure difference Ptot The total power output in watts V1 Inlet velocity of air flowing through nozzle (m/s) V2 Updarft air velocity through nozzle (m/s) T Ambient temperature (°C) g Acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2) I Solar insolation ρ Density of air Setrn The top of the atmosphere direct normal solar irradiance Sunprime The correction factor used to account for reduction in solar load through the atmosphere C Constant Y The ratio of sky diffuse radiation on a vertical surface to that on a horizontal surface Ed The direct irradiation at the earth’s surface Edn The direct normal irradiation at the earth’s surface on a clear day ϵ The tilt angle of the surface (in degrees) from the horizontal plane ρg The ground reflectivity vi Velocity of air at chimney entrance in m/s ΔTi Temperature difference at chimney entrance height g Acceleration due to gravity, 9.81 m/s2 Ta Ambient air temperature in K ho Height of chimney entrance above ground in m n1,2 Refractive indices λ1,2 Wavelengths of solar radiations

1. The results demonstrate that incorporating a solar

nozzle design significantly increases air release velocity compared to conventional SCPP designs, leading to a potential 16.99 (for FWC) and 12.42 (for TM conditions) % improvement in air release velocity for 7 meters overall heighted system. For 5, 3 and 1 meter heighted system design, the percentages increase in air exit velocity (comparing with and without nozzle designs for both conditions i.e. FWC and TM) changes to 8.33 (FWC), 5.92 (TM), 18.47 (FWC), 17.14 (TM),

3. From Table 2, it is quite clear that, for all considered

models, the maximum air release velocity is higher with the use of a solar nozzle than with no nozzle. Hence, it is found that the application of solar nozzles in SCPP design enhances air release velocity at nozzle outlet than a conventional design, thus improving power output. 4. The numerical results with theoretical maximum irradiance method show maximum air release velocity compared to fair weather conditions.

Future Scope

Already there is an abundant amount of research work done in the field of solar updraft tower power generation plant; still there is a scope available for extending research in this field. A lot of areas like the influence of geometrical constraints on chimney performance, collector dimensions etc., overall sizing of the plant, materials selections, availability of solar radiation intensities that are based on location selections etc. are needed to evaluate further to get

Acknowledgements

This research work is supported and funded by Dr. Alan Williams (Ammanford, UK) i.e. ‘Global Warming Solutions’ in the United Kingdom. Thankful to facilities provided by ‘Marwadi University Rajkot’ Gujarat, India to carry out research and development work in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Authorship Contributions

All authors contributed to this work. Anand Gondchawar: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Writing- Original draft, review and editing. Bhavesh Kanabar: Funding activities, and supervision. Ramesh Bhoraniya: Writing- review and editing, funding activities, and supervision.

Data Availability

The authors confirm that the data that supports the findings of this study are available within the article. Raw data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors, upon reasonable request.

Conflict Of Interest

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethical Approval

There are no ethical issues with the publication of this research article.

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