Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Height Ratio, Collector Angle, and Obstacle Presence in a Solar Chimney with a Two-Level Inlet

Authors

1 Chabahar Maritime university, chabahar

2 Chabahar Maritime University

3 چابهار دانشگاه دریانوردی و علوم دریایی گروه مهندسی دریا

10.22044/jsfm.2025.15217.3908

Abstract

Among renewable energies, solar energy stands out as one of the best sources for human use due to its easy accessibility across the globe. This study focuses on the investigation of the shape and dimensions of solar chimney power plants, which are one of the methods for converting solar energy into electricity. Recently, the use of solar chimneys with a two-story collector has become a hot topic; thus, this optimization was performed on a solar chimney power plant with a two-story collector in two phases using numerical simulations in ANSYS Fluent. The optimization was conducted in such a way that in the first phase, the flow type in the two stories of the collector, which can be either co-flow or counter-flow, was optimized along with the height ratio of the two stories. In the second phase, the angle of the roof of the collector was optimized. The results indicate that when the flow in the two stories of the collector is co-flow, the power output of the plant is significantly higher. Additionally, in this case, when the height ratio of the first story to the total is set at 80%, the maximum efficiency and power output are achieved, measuring 1.22 and 39.5 kW, respectively. Analyzing the effect of the collector roof angles reveals that when the roof of the first story is horizontal and the roof of the second story has a one-degree angle, the power output and efficiency of the plant reach their optimal state.

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Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Solid and Fluid Mechanics
Volume 15, Issue 5
November and December 2025
Pages 457-474

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