Solar Chimney Power Plant Generating Technology

Tingzhen Ming

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128053706
• eBook ISBN: 9780128092934
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Risorse energetiche

Solar Chimney Power Plant Generating Technology presents the latest advanced solar chimney power generating technologies to help engineers acquire a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental theories, technologies, and applications of solar chimney power generating systems. The book includes comprehensive theories, very detailed technologies, and many well-illustrated, basic configurations of different types of systems, enabling readers to understand the fundamental theory, the design methods of solar chimney systems, and the basic parameters of the construction and operation of these systems. - Includes comprehensive theories, very detailed technologies, and many basic configurations of different types of systems - Covers the basic mechanisms of fluid flow, heat transfer, power output, energy storage, and operational procedures of SCPPS (solar chimney power plant system) turbines - Focuses on thermodynamic theory, helio-aero-gravity effect, fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics, design for SC turbine, energy storage, and the effect of ambient crosswinds

Chapter 1

Introduction

Tingzhen Ming^1,2, Wei Liu², Yongjia Wu², Jinle Gui², Keyuan Peng² and Tao Pan², ¹School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, P.R. China, ²School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, P.R. China

Abstract

A brief introduction of the energy status quo is presented, followed by the existing solar thermal power plant technologies. The solar chimney power plant (SCPP) technology is presented. Later, a comprehensive introduction on the research and development of SCPP system is presented.

Keywords

Solar energy; solar chimney power plant system (SCPPS); chimney; turbine; collector; energy storage layer

Chapter Outline

1.1 Energy Background 1

1.1.1 The Energy Issue and the Status Quo 1

1.1.2 China’s Energy Policy and Prospect 4

1.1.3 Solar Power Generating Technologies and the Status Quo 5

1.2 Solar Chimney Power Plant System 11

1.2.1 The Appearance of a Solar Chimney Power Plant System 11

1.2.2 Advantages of SCPPS 13

1.2.3 Weaknesses of SCPPS 15

1.3 Research Progress 15

1.3.1 Experiments and Prototypes 15

1.3.2 Theory Research 25

1.3.3 Economic and Ecological Theory and Feasibility Studies 30

1.3.4 Potential Application of SCPPS 31

1.4 Research Contents of This Book 33

References 35

1.1 Energy Background

1.1.1 The Energy Issue and the Status Quo

Energy is the lifeblood of the national economy and closely related to the living environments of human beings. Since the global energy crisis occurred in the 1970s, the depletion of fossil energy resources has caused economic recession in many developed countries, which affects the sustainable development of the national economy and social stability directly. The main cause of the wars and terrorist threats all around the world in recent decades should be attributed to the exploitative ways the developed countries adopted in controlling fossil energy resources. There is no doubt that, the overexploitation of fossil fuels has caused worldwide environmental pollution, global warming, melting glaciers in the Arctic region, human diseases increasing, and deterioration in the ecological environment. While developed countries sustain a high standard of living quality and economic development rate by relying on an excessive use of fossil fuels, the developing countries with the vast majority of the population of the world still cannot afford the necessary cost of traditional energy resources. In addition, they are not able to compete with the developed countries in the fight for fossil energy resources. The people in these countries are still living in poverty, backwardness, and lacking electricity and clean water, which in turn leads to the population surge and aggravates poverty. The protection of the Earth’s ecological environment, the sustainable progress of civilization, and the stability of the international community mainly depend on government regulation and control around the world, the environment protection sense of the public, the saving and clean use of fossil energy resources, the generalization and application of renewable energy, the well-organized control on the population growth in developing countries, and so on.

Consumption and production for all fuels except nuclear power have increased remarkably during the recent decades. For each of the fossil fuels, global consumption rose more rapidly than production. Table 1.1 shows the oil production and consumptions of the top 10 world countries in 2013 [1]. It indicates that the United States and China utilize a very large percentage of the world’s oil consumption.

Table 1.1

Oil Production and Consumption in 2013 (Millions of Barrels Per Day) [1]

Rankings	Countries	Production	Countries	Consumption
1	United States	12.343	United States	18.961
2	Saudi Arabia	11.702	China	10.303
3	Russia	10.764	Japan	4.531
4	China	4.501	Russia	3.515
5	Canada	4.073	India	3.509
6	United Arab Emirates	3.441	Brazil	2.998
7	Iran	3.192	Saudi Arabia	2.968
8	Iraq	3.058	Canada	2.431
9	Kuwait	2.812	Germany	2.403
10	Brazil	2.694	South Korea	2.324

Due to the increased consumption of fossil energy, the global CO₂ emissions have grown significantly, with China and the United States ranking No. 1 and 2 since 2009 [2]. According to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecasts for emissions from energy use until 2030 (Fig. 1.1), this trend will last if we do not intervene.

Figure 1.1 Past and projected CO₂ emissions for countries, 1990–2030 [3].

China has become one of the largest countries in energy production and consumption. The huge total reserves but relatively low per capita possession, uneven distribution, and low utilization efficiency are four key features of energy production and consumption in China. The total energy production in China is only less than the United States and Russia, ranking No. 3 in the world. The necessary energy use accounts for 10% of the world, ranking only second to the United States. The annual average economic growth rate for China was 9.7% while the growth rate of energy consumption was only 4.6% in the past 20 years. Since 1980, the total energy consumption for China has grown about 5% per year, which is nearly three times the world’s average growth rate. As China’s demand for energy keeps increasing, there is an enormous gap between China’s energy reserves and future development needs. The total amount of the energy gap was over 100 million tons of standard coal in 2003. It is predicted that the total energy gap will be about 250 million tons of standard coal in 2030, and it will reach about 460 million tons of standard coal in 2050. With the enlargement of the energy gap year by year, China’s dependence on energy imports will expand gradually, which is the primary concern for our energy security in the future. In addition, since China’s main energy source is coal, the conflict between economic development and environment pollution should be much more severe. Coal combustion produces a lot of CO₂, SO₂, NO_x, and many other harmful gases, which are blamed for the greenhouse effect and acid rain. The emissions of trace elements and particulate matter in the coal combustion processes also threat human health.

The world’s energy reserve is not good news. Besides coal, oil, and natural gas reserves could be mined for less than 100 years. Despite the rapid development of nuclear power plant, uranium will be available for less than 100 years since the world’s uranium reserve is quite low. As for China, the recovery time will be only about 50 years. Furthermore, the general public have doubts on the nuclear fission technology and technology blockade. Some technical problems, such as protection from nuclear radiation, reactor control, and nuclear waste disposal [4–11], add to the uncertainty about the future of the technology. Thus, large-scale construction of nuclear power plants worldwide is not a permanent solution to the energy problem.

1.1.2 China’s Energy Policy and Prospect

In view of the energy, environmental, economic, and sustainable development problems, The Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China proposed energy construction policies of “implementing preferential taxation and investment, and mandatory market share policies to encourage the production and consumption of renewables and increase its proportion in primary energy consumption,” “Positively developing and utilizing solar, geothermal and ocean energy,” “Strengthening the exploitation and application of air water resources, solar, wind and other energies.” At the same time, the plan introduced the environmental protection policies of “the essential point of ecological protection transiting from post-treatment to protection in advance.” In addition, a hard target of a 4% energy saving during “Twelfth Five” is proposed. According to the development goals determined by The New and Renewable Energy Industry Development Plans and Key Points in 2000–2015, China’s new and renewable energy production would reach 43 million tons of standard coal by 2015, which is about 2% of the total energy consumption. China would cut more than 30 million tons of greenhouse gases emissions and more than 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide emissions. The visible effect would be indicated by a reduction in atmospheric pollution and an improvement of the atmospheric environment quality. Nearly 500 thousand jobs would be provided, and more than 5 million farmer families (more than 25 million people) living in remote areas would be alleviated from the lack of water and electric. So, exploitation and utilization of renewable energy is a strategic direction for China’s energy development. In recent years, the exploitation and use of new and renewable energies has developed rapidly throughout the world, with technologies being matured gradually, and economically viable products and equipment being put on the market quickly. It is expected that the development and utilization of the new and renewable technologies and market share of these technologies will breakthrough dramatically in the coming decades. The new and renewable technologies have broad prospects for development (Fig. 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Global change in power generation, 2010–2035 [12].

In the development of energy technologies in China, a challenging problem is how to develop and utilize solar energy on...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. Thermodynamic fundamentals
• Chapter 3. Helio-aero-gravity (HAG) effect of SUPPS
• Chapter 4. Fluid flow and heat transfer of solar chimney power plant
• Chapter 5. Design and simulation method for SUPPS turbines
• Chapter 6. Energy storage of solar chimney
• Chapter 7. The influence of ambient crosswind on the performance of solar updraft power plant system
• Chapter 8. Experimental investigation of a solar chimney prototype
• Chapter 9. Research prospects
• Index