Chimneys as tall as 1500 m may be important components of proposed solar chimney power plants. The exit air density will then be appreciably lower than the inlet density. The paper presents a one-dimensional compressible flow approach for the calculation of all the thermodynamic variables as dependent on chimney height, wall friction, additional losses, internal drag and area change. The method gives reasonable answers even over a single 1500 m step length used for illustration, but better accuracy is possible with multiple steps. It is also applicable to the rest of the plant where heat transfer and shaft work may be present. It turns out that the pressure drop associated with the vertical acceleration of the air is about three times the pressure drop associated with wall friction. But flaring the chimney by 14 percent to keep the through-flow Mach number constant virtually eliminates the vertical acceleration pressure drop. [S0199-6231(00)03003-3]
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August 2000
Technical Papers
Compressible Flow Through Solar Power Plant Chimneys
Theodor W. von Backstro¨m,
e-mail: twvb@ing.sun.ac.za
Theodor W. von Backstro¨m
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
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Anthony J. Gannon
Anthony J. Gannon
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Search for other works by this author on:
Theodor W. von Backstro¨m
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
e-mail: twvb@ing.sun.ac.za
Anthony J. Gannon
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS for publication in the ASME JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received by the ASME Solar Energy Division, Dec. 1999; final revision Jul. 2000. Associate Technical Editor: T. R. Mancini.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Aug 2000, 122(3): 138-145 (8 pages)
Published Online: July 1, 2000
Article history
Received:
December 1, 1999
Revised:
July 1, 2000
Citation
von Backstro¨m, T. W., and Gannon, A. J. (July 1, 2000). "Compressible Flow Through Solar Power Plant Chimneys ." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. August 2000; 122(3): 138–145. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1313528
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