dc.description.abstract | The design and application of solar chimney and solar pressure-staged
wind
tunnel electric power generating plants involve the understanding
of parameters which
affect their operations and utilization. The size and dimensions of the systems are crucial
factors for their power outputs in addition to environmental factors such as terrestrial
radiation, wind speed and weather conditions.
It is important to know how these factors
are likely to affect the operation
of full-scale
systems under normal operational
conditions prior to the actual design.
The design and modelling offer a possibility to
forecast how the system would operate before implementation.
These processes give rise
to systematic
analysis
and allow for material
and parameter
selections
for the
development of the perceived designs.
This thesis documents
a study of three experimental
designs for Renewable
Energy Technology (RET). The first two experiments comprise a study of the design and
simulation of a solar chimney and a solar pressure-staged
wind tunnel electric power
.
generating plant both of which can be useful for rural areas of developing countries.
A
study of the parameters that affect the operation of a model solar chimney and a solar
pressure-staged
wind tunnel electric power plant under various conditions was also
carried out. The dimensions and conditions under which full-scale designs would operate
were investigated for power output optimization purposes.
Although solar chimney electric power plants have been investigated theoretically
and experimentally by a number of researchers working in the area of renewable energy,
literature on models for use in rural areas of developing countries is rather scanty. To the
best of our knowledge, no literature exists for models of solar pressure-staged
wind
tunnel power generating plants apart from one which gives a brief theory of the system in | en_US |