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Solar chimney turbine performance

Thesis (PhD (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gannon, Anthony John
Other Authors: Von Backstrom, T. W.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch 2008
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access_status_str Open Access
author Gannon, Anthony John
author2 Von Backstrom, T. W.
author_browse Gannon, Anthony John
Von Backstrom, T. W.
author_facet Von Backstrom, T. W.
Gannon, Anthony John
author_sort Gannon, Anthony John
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv University of Stellenbosch
description Thesis (PhD (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1402
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:44:39.798Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
publisherStr Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1402 Solar chimney turbine performance Gannon, Anthony John Von Backstrom, T. W. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering. Solar power plants Solar collectors Dissertations -- Mechanical engineering Theses -- Mechanical engineering Thesis (PhD (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. This project investigates the performance of solar chimney power plant turbines. A solar chimney power plant consists of a tall chimney surrounded by a transparent deck or solar collector. The sun heats the air in the collector through the greenhouse effect. A turbine extracts energy from the hot air rising up the chimney. An investigation of the requirements and operation of such turbines is needed. Correct matching of the turbine to the plant requires the determination of the turbine operational range and other requirements. An air-standard cycle analysis is extended to include component and system losses. Simple steady-state and transient collector models are added to take into account the coupling effect of the collector air temperature rise and mass flow rate on the turbine operation. The predicted turbine operational range for a representative day shows that the expected pressure drop in a full-scale solar chimney turbine is significantly higher than has previously been predicted. A turbine design method is developed and used to design a turbine for the representative day. The methods can easily be extended to include more operating points for a full year of operation. A turbine layout is suggested that uses the chimney support pillars as inlet guide vanes (IGVs). These introduce pre-whirl to the turbine and reduce the amount of exit whirl thus decreasing the kinetic energy at the turbine exit. Non-radial inlet guide vanes add to the torsional stiffness of the chimney base. A matrix throughflow method is used to design the radial to axial duct between the IGVs and rotor. The turbine blade profiles are simulated using a surface-vortex method. This is coupled to an optimisation scheme that minimises both the chord length and maximum flow velocity of the profile to reduce blade drag. An experimental program investigates the performance of the turbine. Volume flow, pressure drop, torque and speed are measured on a scale model turbine to map the turbine performance over a wide range. The velocity and pressure profiles are measured at two design points to investigate the flow through the turbine in more detail. These are compared to the design predictions and used to improve the design method. The experiments show that the design of a solar chimney turbine with a total-to-total efficiency of 85 % - 90 % and total-to-static efficiency of 75 % - 80 % is possible. Analysis of the experimental results shows that the turbine efficiency can be improved. Doctoral 2008-10-14T12:10:42Z 2010-06-01T08:20:47Z 2008-10-14T12:10:42Z 2010-06-01T08:20:47Z 2002-03 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1402 en University of Stellenbosch application/pdf Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
spellingShingle Solar power plants
Solar collectors
Dissertations -- Mechanical engineering
Theses -- Mechanical engineering
Gannon, Anthony John
Solar chimney turbine performance
title Solar chimney turbine performance
title_full Solar chimney turbine performance
title_fullStr Solar chimney turbine performance
title_full_unstemmed Solar chimney turbine performance
title_short Solar chimney turbine performance
title_sort solar chimney turbine performance
topic Solar power plants
Solar collectors
Dissertations -- Mechanical engineering
Theses -- Mechanical engineering
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1402
work_keys_str_mv AT gannonanthonyjohn solarchimneyturbineperformance