Investigation of the performance parameters of a sloped collector solar chimney model – An adaptation for the North of Iraq

This work examines the geometrical parameters of the solar chimney power plant using three dimensional CFD simulation. The collector design considers the ground slope, the cover tilt angle, and the inlet opening height. The performance indicators are the temperature, pressure, and velocity with emphasis on the chimney inlet temperature and the incident solar intensity for the estimation of monthly plant performance. The considered collector slopes reflect the alpine nature of the ground for the research area in the suburbia of the city of Erbil on 36th parallel, to the North of Iraq. With a fixed plant height, the actual chimney length is reduced with the increase in the ground slope as the collector inclination increases from the periphery to the center of the collector. At 35° optimum ground slope, there is 18% reduction in horizontal span and 36% in chimney height for the same system volume on flat ground. For this ground slope, a collector cover tilt of zero (parallel to the ground) has shown better results. The inlet height yields little change in temperature and velocity. The pressure profile is unfamiliar and pushes the turbine location into the chimney. Sloped collector solar chimney can play a role in alpine regions with electricity shortages. The simulation results for output power peaked in July with 47.7 kW.