A Mathematical Model for Determination of Electric Energy Performance of Small Solar Chimney System in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand

A solar chimney power plant is a simple solar thermal power plant that is capable of converting solar energy to thermal energy in the solar collectors. Then, the generated thermal energy is converted to kinetic energy in the chimney and ultimately to electric energy via a wind turbine and a generator. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the solar chimney power plant in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand in terms of estimateion for the electric energy output. A mathematical model based on the energy balance was developed to estimate the power output of solar chimneys as well as to examine the effect of various ambient conditions and structural dimensions on the power generation. It was found that, the wind speed inside chimney reaches more than 2 times of the value of free wind speed outside the chimney. The solar chimney power plant with 10 m chimney height and 4 m chimney diameter is capable of yearly producing between 1,779-3,647 W and the performance of solar chimney in the range of 9-18% respectively. The highest performance of solar chimney (18%) was appeared in April. It can save the use of conventional sources of energy like oil and natural gas.