Numerical Investigation of a Compressible Flow Through a Solar Chimney

作者：Zhou Xinping^*; Yang Jiakuan; Xiao Bo; Hou Guoxiang; Wu Yingying

来源：Heat Transfer Engineering, 2009, 30(8): 670-676.

DOI：10.1080/01457630802659961

An accurate numerical model including three-dimensional (3D) steady Navier-Stokes equations in Cartesian coordinate system is developed to evaluate the performance of a compressible flow through a solar chimney. This model is validated by comparison with the previous numerical simulated results for one-dimensional compressible flow in a proposed 1500-m-high solar chimney with an inner diameter of 160 m. Results for this 3D numerical model of a compressible flow through a solar chimney are more accurate compared to those from the Boussinesq model and full-buoyancy model. Normally, an incompressible flow is considered in the Boussinesq model, and enthalpy loss is not included in the energy equation in both the Boussinesq model and full-buoyancy model. Moreover, buoyancy reference density is kept as constant in the energy equation in the full-buoyancy model. The results show that the use of the Boussinesq model and full-buoyancy model with some commercial numerical computational fluid dynamics programs usually results in large errors, and the developed model in this article could give more accurate results than the previous commercial Boussinesq model and full-buoyancy model.

• 出版日期2009
• 单位华中科技大学