Computational analysis of the inflow air slot size influence on solar vortex generator peformance

Abstract

Nowadays, attention is directed towards the possibilities of harnessing the potential of tornado by creating an artificial convective vortices for green electricity generation. In view of this research trending, a novel new solar vortex power generator, designed, fabricated and experimented at University Technology PETRONAS, Malaysia. In this paper, ANSYS - FLUENT 15 software was used to simulate the influence of inflow slot size on the vortex updraft velocity. Two cases hav been investigated. Case 1 with new dimension of 0.1 m width and guide vane height of 0.6 m. Whereas, case 2 with slot dimension of 0.3 m height and 0.15 m width. From the attained results, it could be deduced that the slot size is an important parameter which impacts on the vortex strength. The vortex exit velocity increased by 50% a nd by 2.6% for the case 1 and case 2, respectively. This indicates that the slot height is highly influencing the vortex strength. Thus far, the indexes from the numerical simulation can be used in re-designing of the inflow slot size for optimal performance.