CASE STUDY of a SMALL-SCALE SOLAR CHIMNEY POWER PLANT in KERMAN, IRAN

In this study, the performance improvement of a small-scale prototype solar chimney power plant (SCPP) under specified meteorological conditions in Kerman, Iran is considered. This power plant has been built based on the initial evaluations due to the high solar irradiation in this area and also the simple technology of SCPP. This solar chimney has a height and diameter of 60m and 3m, respectively, and the radius of its solar collector cover is 20m, that is able to produce close to 400 Watts electric power in the maximum solar irradiation. This power plant is used to investigate the influence of effective parameters. To analyze the performance of SCPP, a comprehensive SCPP analysis including analytical and numerical models is developed. This mathematical model is validated by comparing with the practical power output of the plant at Manzanares. Also the mathematical model is verified with the practical power output of the SCPP at Kerman and is used to predict the performance and operating range of this plant. To improve the performance of the plant, the appropriate dimensions of SCPP are determined based on the present results. Furthermore, the influence of dimensional parameters on power output is investigated