Experimental Investigation on Solar - Flue Gas Chimney

Flue gases exhausted from thermal power plants contain more than 50% of the fuel thermal energy. In the present work, experimental investigation was carried out to study the utilization of thermal energy in flue gases to enhance the performance of modified solar chimney consisting of Savonius wind rotor. A modified solar chimney model was designed and fabricated to carry out experimental measurement. The model consists of thermal energy conversion unit; Savonius wind rotor and a chimney. The thermal energy in the flue gas transfers to the air particles in the air channel across the absorber plate and results in upward air stream due to the buoyancy effect. With an absorber area of 2.36 m² and flue gas mass flow rate of 0.18 kg/s, air velocity of 4.1 m/s was achieved at the top of the thermal unit. Increasing the mass flow rate of the flue gas to 0.24 kg/s enhances the air velocity to be 4.6 m/s. The results have demonstrated the possibility of utilizing the thermal energy in the waste flue gas to enhance the performance of a solar chimney and facilitate the continuous operation during the absence of the sun.
Keywords: Energy recovery, Thermal solar systems, Solar chimney, Flue gas.