The realisation of the solar chimney inlet guide vanes

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Up to this point in time research on the South African solar chimney, proposed for a site inthe Northern Cape, comprised of determining the structural integrity of the chimneystructure, as well as airflow calculation, finding the optimal shape for the airflow channels.Not much work had been done on the realisation of the foundation of the global structure,i.e. how the cardinal parts are optimized in an integrated system.The inlet guide vanes (IGV's) should be central in such research efforts, being the mainsupport of gravitational and lateral wind load on the chimney structure, as well as itsimportant role in channelling air and creating pre-swirl of the airflow onto the turbineblades. However, little detailed research - research to actually determine and fix the manyvariables of the IGV's and integration with surrounding parts - had been performed!In this thesis as many of these variables as possible are investigated - ranging fromstructural integrity with regard to compressive and shear strength through optimizingstructure eigenfrequency to economic feasibility. The outcome of this study is conceptualsolutions regarding the geometry of the IGV structures in order for it to support thechimney while minimizing material volume.Finite element methods are used to create insight into the behaviour of the IGV's and forcetransferring structures, incorporating external factors such as lateral wind and gravitationalloadsto determine the optimal shape of these structures.This study is valuable for researchers on the solar chimney, serving as a reference fromwhere to design and secure the variables of the global structure, and eventually building thesolar chimney.Keywords: Solar chimney, inlet guide vanes, solar power, massive concrete structures, structuralrealisation, finite element application, structure optimisation.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University