Mathematical evaluation of solar chimney power plant collector, integrated with external heat source for non-interrupted power generation

One of the largest challenges in the use of solar energy for power generation is the interruption at night and during cloudy weather. This study proposed a new technique of integrating the solar chimney power plant with an external heat source. The integration can be achieved by installing “Thermal Enhancing Channels” inside the collector region between the canopy and the ground to enhance the kinetic energy of the air inside the collector, eventually allowing the plant to operate at night. The thermo-fluid dynamics of the proposed hybrid system were modeled mathematically to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. The analysis gave a good propaedeutic overview of solar chimney power plant integrated with an external heat source. The results showed that the temperature of the air inside the collector could be increased by the addition of thermal enhancing channels within the collector of the solar chimney. The increasing percentage of the temperature for the air inside the collector reached to 5.88% and for power generation 23.1% when the wall temperature of thermal enhancing channels is100°C and solar intensity 1000 W/m2.