Sensitivity Analysis of the Operating and Technical Specifications of a Solar Chimney Power Plant

Abstract

This paper conducts a sensitivity analysis on the influence of the quality, thickness, reflectance, emissivity, shape, and insulation of the collector roof glass, the cross section of the collector roof supports, various ground types, ground surface roughness, absorptivity and emissivity, turbine inlet and bracing wheel loss coefficients, and the ambient pressure and lapse rate on the performance of a large-scale (reference) solar chimney power plant. Computer simulation results indicate that collector roof insulation, emissivity and reflectance, the ambient lapse rate, and ground absorptivity and emissivity all have a major effect on the power production of such a plant.