Investigations on a micro-scale solar chimney

Aravind James, A.P. Sam, R. M. Skaria, K.J. Sreekanth

Solar chimney, solar updraft tower, solar air heater, solar thermal energy.

Solar chimney is a promising technology to convert solar thermal energy to electricity. This system is a combination of solar air heater and a central updraft tube to generate a solar energy induced convective flow of air to drive a turbine. A micro-scale model of such a system was installed for studying its feasibility in Kerala conditions. As the mean temperature differential obtained was only about 3.3oC and the chimney height was only 3m, a low air velocity value of 1.9 m/s was observed. Even though the possibility of power production with solar chimney could be established in the study, the economic and technical feasibility of the technology was not appreciable due to the climatic and geographic conditions prevailing in Kerala.

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