Numerical investigation of the crosswind effects on the performance of a hybrid cooling-tower-solar-chimney system

The hybrid cooling tower solar chimney is a hybrid system capable of simultaneously dumping waste heat from a coupled thermal power plant and generating electricity from the self-induced updraft. To investigate the influences of crosswind and ambient pressure on the system's thermal performance, a three dimensional model that considered the ambiance was developed. Numerical analysis results indicated that the self-power-generation capacity of the HCTSC system decreased with the increasing crosswind velocity, reaching its minimum when the crosswind velocity reached 8 m/s. On the other hand, the turnabout for the heat dissipation capacity was 4 m/s, below which the heat dissipation rate decreased with the increasing crosswind speed and above which it did the reverse. A further comparative study showed that, unlike the case of a solar chimney power plant, a circular blockage a few meters in front of the solar collector entrance barely improved the heat dissipation performance of the hybrid system when exposed to a strong ambient crosswind, however, it slightly boosted its self-power-generation capacity. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.