Numerical analysis of flow parameters on solar updraft tower (SUT) with and without thermal energy storage (TES) system

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2019-04, Vol.136 (1), p.331-343
• Main Authors: Yaswanthkumar, A., Chandramohan, V. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerodynamics; Algorithms; Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Energy storage; Inorganic Chemistry; Mathematical models; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Numerical analysis; Parameter estimation; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Thermal energy; Three dimensional models; Velocity coupling
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-018-7756-z

Effect of thermal energy storage (TES) system of solar updraft tower (SUT) is studied in this work. A 3D numerical model was developed to analyze the same and estimate the performance parameters. Two models were developed: case-I and case-II. Case-I is without TES system and the case-II with TES system. The collector diameter 3.5 m, chimney height 6 m, chimney diameter 0.6 m, inlet gap 0.15 m, slope of the collector 30° were the dimensions considered for the model of case-I. Case-II consisted of same dimensions of case-I with additional storage material of thickness 0.15 m and diameter of 3.5 m. Steady-state pressure-based solver with realizable k – ɛ turbulent model and solar ray-tracing algorithm were employed. SIMPLE scheme was used for pressure–velocity coupling and in spatial discretization; first order upwind for momentum and second-order upwind for energy were used. Flow parameters such as velocity, pressure, density, and temperature were estimated for both the cases. Results from the numerical simulations showed that adding TES to the SUT plant decreases the pressure, velocity, and temperature of air because certain amount of heat energy was stored in case-II setup.