Optimization of characteristic parameters of rectangular solar chimney adapted to agricultural greenhouses

Abstract

In order to build a composite application scenario for the synergistic development of clean energy generation and agricultural production, this research designs a solar chimney equipped with a rectangular collection system according to the structural characteristics of agricultural greenhouses. With collector efficiency as the primary objective and theoretical power as the secondary objective, the infusion angle is designed for the connecting section between the collection system and the chimney from the perspective of reducing the local resistance loss, and the transition factor ζ is introduced to define it accurately. Response surface methodology was then used to analyze the effect of the level of key system characteristics on collector efficiency and static pressure, and a regression model was developed to determine the best combination within the target optimization range. Results show that the infusion angle prevents too much solar energy from being lost in the vortex by reducing the local resistance loss, which increases the collector efficiency of the system. And when the transition factor is 0, the divergence angle is 2.86°, and the inlet height is 0.05 m, the collector efficiency and static pressure reach 48.75 % and −6.1 pa, respectively, which are 213 % and 563 % higher than the original model.

Keywords

• Solar chimney
• Numerical simulation
• Steady-state calculation
• Collector efficiency
• Agricultural greenhouse
• Transition factor