Comprehensive study of wind supercharged solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desalination

In this study, a model of wind supercharged solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desalination (WSSCPPCSD) was proposed. The integrated system was divided into wind pressure ventilator and solar chimney power generation system for numerical simulation. Three-dimensional unsteady state numerical investigation on wind pressure ventilator was carried out as well as steady state numerical study on the solar chimney power generation system. The flow field characteristics and performance parameters of the two subsystems were analyzed. Subsequently, the comparison between solar chimney power plant (SCPP), solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desalination (SCPPCSD) and WSSCPPCSD was conducted. The results show that, although SCPPCSD can greatly improve the solar energy comprehensive utilization, the power generation is reduced. The wind pressure ventilator proposed in this paper could not only significantly increase the power generation but also increase the freshwater production by providing a negative pressure of 64.5 Pa at the chimney outlet. It was found that at 800 W/m2, an increase in power output of about 14.7 kW and increase in hourly freshwater production of 30 g/h were obtained.