Unsteady numerical simulation of solar chimney power plant system with energy storage layer

摘要

Numerical simulations were carried out to analyse the performance of the solar chimney power plant systems with energy storage layer in this paper. Mathematical models were developed to describe the flow and heat transfer mechanisms of the collector, chimney and the energy storage layer, and the responses of different energy storage materials to the solar radiation, and the effects of these materials on the power output with different solar radiations were analysed. Numerical simulation results show the following: first, soil and gravel both have suitable values of the property of thermal inertia, and they could be used as energy storage material for the solar chimney system; second, energy storage layer with comparatively higher heat capacity can store more energy on sunny days and can thus effectively decrease the variations of the chimney outlet parameters caused by the fluctuations in solar radiation related to the day-night cycle; third, the higher the temperature of the energy storage layer surface, the larger the energy and the exergy loss from the solar chimney systems will be.