Performance analysis of a solar chimney power plant in the southwestern region of Algeria Salah Larbi a, *, Amor Bouhdjar b , Toufik Chergui c a Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering and Development, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic National School of Algiers, 10, Avenue Hassen Badi, El-Harrach, Algeria b Development Center of Renewable Energies, Bouzeriah, Algiers, Algeria c Applied Research Center in Renewable Energies, Adrar, Algeria Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 000 2. Mathematical model and boundary conditions ......................................................................... 000 2.1. Physical model ............................................................................................. 000 2.2. Energy balance in the collector ................................................................................ 000 2.3. Momentum balance in the chimney ............................................................................ 000 3. Results and discussion ............................................................................................. 000 3.1. Performances analysis example of the chimney power plant ......................................................... 000 3.2. Application to Adrar site—Algerian southwestern region ............................................................ 000 3.3. Evaluation of the power generated by a solar chimney power plant during the months of maximum loading in Adrar site ...... 000 4. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 000 References ...................................................................................................... 000 1. Introduction Increasing of energy demand and large use of fossil fuels have generated great environmental concerns. Solar chimney power plant offers interesting opportunities to use pollution free resources of energy. It is a natural power generator that uses solar radiation to increase the internal energy of flowing air. The air mechanical energy can be transformed into electric power through suitable wind turbine. Solar chimney power plant concept was first investigated and published in the La energia electrica magazine, in 1903 by Isidoro Cabanyes [1]. In 1931, a description of a solar chimney power plant was presented by Gu ¨ nther [2]. Since then, many investigators applied for patents which were granted in Australia, Canada, Israel and USA [3]. The basic study on the solar chimney concept was performed by Schlaich’s in the seventies of the twentieth century and in 1981, he began the construction of a pilot solar chimney power plant in Mansanares, Spain [3,4]. The chimney had a height of 195 m and a diameter of 10 m. The collection area (greenhouse) was 46,000 m 2 . The maximum power output was up to 50 kW. Different materials such as single or double glazing or plastic were tested. Materials were chosen basically on the cost which Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews xxx (2009) xxx–xxx ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 16 June 2009 Received in revised form 24 June 2009 Accepted 9 July 2009 Available online xxx Keywords: Solar chimney power plant Performance analysis Heat transfer modeling South of Algeria ABSTRACT In this paper, we present the performance analysis of a solar chimney power plant expected to provide the remote villages located in Algerian southwestern region with electric power. Solar energy and the psychometric state of the air in the south of Algeria are important to encourage the full development of solar chimney power plant for the thermal and electrical production of energy for various uses. We are interested in Adrar where solar radiation is better than other areas of Algeria. The obtained results show that the solar chimney power plant can produce from 140 to 200 kW of electricity on a site like Adrar during the year, according to an estimate made on the monthly average of sunning. This production is sufficient for the needs of the isolated areas. ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +213 21 52 29 73. E-mail address: larbisalah@yahoo.fr (S. Larbi). G Model RSER-748; No of Pages 8 Please cite this article in press as: Larbi S, et al. Performance analysis of a solar chimney power plant in the southwestern region of Algeria. Renew Sustain Energy Rev (2009), doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.07.031 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser 1364-0321/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.07.031