PERGAMON Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

Application of helio-aero-gravity concept in producing

energy and suppressing pollution
M.A.K. Lodhi *
Department of Physics, Texas Technical University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Received 20 October 1997

Abstract

Fossil fuels account for about 80% of the world's annual energy demand. Renewables contribute 14%
and nuclear some 6%. These roles will change as population grows, energy demand rises, cheap oil and
gas are depleted, global warming e€ects continue rising and city pollution worsens the living conditions.
The development of new and renewable energy resources and devices will emerge more aggressively to
address the world energy and environment situation. The helio-aero-gravity power concept consists of
an air turbine-generator system in a chimney installed at the center of a carefully selected piece of land
where insolation is high. This land is covered by a transparent canopy with a small opening at the
periphery. As the sun heats the land under the canopy, it heats the air to raise and force it into the
chimney where it turns the rotor installed in the chimney, thus producing the electrical power with the
generator. Under reasonable conditions with an eciency of 5%, the power, thus calculated, would be
50 MW per square kilometer of land. An estimated cost of the energy delivered by a plant of 100 MW
would be less than 1%/kWh of electricity. Conversely, the air ¯ow can be forced downward by spraying
water at the top of the chimney in case suppression of pollution is desired in big cities. The cold air at
the top sinks with the pollutant continuously, thus turning the rotor installed at the bottom of the
chimney. The pros and cons of the concept will be discussed and details of the experimental plants and
results, thus obtained, will be presented. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Solar collector; Chimney; Eciency; Low cost; Wind turbine-generator; Pollution suppression

1. Introduction

A study of historical trends of energy consumption suggests that the population growth rate
may be viewed as depending, roughly, on a linear combination of two parameters relating to

* Address for correspondence: Texas Technical University, Department of Physics, Box 41051, Lubbock, TX
79409-1051, USA. Fax: +1-806-742-1182; E-mail: b5mak@ttacs.ttu.edu.

0196-8904/99/$ - see front matter # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 9 6 - 8 9 0 4 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 0 4 - 6
408 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

culture and standard of living [1, 2]. The standard of living appears to be the annual energy use
per capita [1]. How energy demands might evolve can be illustrated for the developing world
by a simple relationship which permits coupled annual values of population growth rate and
energy use per capita by [3]
Annual growth rate ˆ Ec ÿ Ea †= 160E0ÿ38
a †
where Ea is the annual energy use per capita, adjusted for eciency gains and Ec is the annual
e€ective energy use per capita at which the population growth is zero, typically 2 to 3 toe/cap.
today, viewed as the cultural factor. It is postulated that the roles of energy sources prevailing
at the turn of the second millennium will change as population grows, energy demand rises,
cheap oil and gas are depleted, global warming e€ects continue and the standard of living of
the developing world rises. As fossil fuels steadily deplete, the demand for new and renewable
sources of energy will increase and ultimately will dominate, for which the energy planners
should be concerned and prepared. In principle, we should not worry about an energy shortage
when the amount of solar energy shining on the earth in just one day is as much as all the
world's power plants would produce in more than 250 years. Solar energy sustains almost all
forms of life, through the photosynthesis of plants, and sustains the movements of water and
air on the planet. The challenge is to intervene in the multitude of energy systems blanketing
the earth to capture energy for the service of humankind.
Wind turbines spread across the hills of California are producing energy from wind, taking
advantage of local air circulation patterns driven by sunlight. Ocean thermal and ocean wave
power plants use the sun's energy, as do solar cells and solar thermal collectors.
Are there other ways we could capture the sun's radiant energy that ¯eetingly dwells on
earth? These often-discussed questions regarding renewable sources of energy have been of
great interest to energy researchers and planners for quite some time. The primary source of all
renewing sources of energy is the sun. There have been, however, two main problems not yet
fully resolved. One is a large-scale production of energy and the other is the cost factor. The
prolonged e€orts to reduce the predicted cost for mass production of energy have not yet
succeeded. The objective of this paper is to investigate the scienti®c merit and feasibility of the
concept of ``helio-aero-gravity'' power production on a large scale at low cost without
disturbing the environment.
Desert land, which is not otherwise being utilized, can be used. The device is almost
completely pollution free and would not disturb the environment much. The materials, both
raw and ®nished, needed to put this concept into practice are easily available, including the
low technology knowhow.
We describe the helio-aero-gravity device in an analogy of an upsidedown hydroelectric plant
with storage reservoir, penstock and turbine or an ``inverted solar collector''. A common solar
collector absorbs the solar radiation on the face of the collector exposed to the incoming
radiation and transmits the energy in the form of heat from the other face for utilization. In
the helio-aero-gravity system, the solar heat is collected on the exposed face of the collector
which establishes the convection current in the air between the heated face and the cover.
Consequently, the hot air rises and escapes through a connecting chimney as shown in Fig. 1,
containing air turbine(s) driven by the rising hot air in the chimney, thus producing electricity
(or does some useful work).
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 409

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of helio-aero-gravity electric power plant.

The idea of harnessing solar energy with the so-called ``chimney e€ect'' has evolved in the
recent past [4±11]. Out of other works [5±11], only Schlaich and collaborators [5] have made a
breakthrough by building a pilot project at Manzanares, Spain. Krisst [8] demonstrated in a
``backyard type'' device in West Hartford, Connecticut, USA, an output of 10 W with a 10 m
tall chimney on a patch of circular area of radius 3 m. Kulunk [10], on a microscale basis,
produced an electric power of 0.14 W with a 2 m tall chimney of 3.5 cm radius on a patch of
area of 9 m2 in Izmit, Turkey. He reported the rotor power as 0.45 W, the eciency of the
generator as 31%, the temperature and pressure di€erences of air at the two ends of the
chimney to be, respectively, 4 K and 200 Pa. Bendouma Ahmad recently formulated a
mathematical model of the solar chimney and solved it numerically [11]. His calculated
temperature agrees with measured results under the assumption made earlier [4].

2. Conceptual design

A barren or otherwise not utilized piece of land is basically needed. A patch of land selected
in a desert area, where the solar radiation is in abundance, can be covered with some
transparent material strong enough to withstand the severe weather conditions in the area. A
gap between the canopy and the ground should be maintained in a slightly slanting fashion
with the maximum height of the gap at the center, where a chimney is to be installed
containing an air turbine. At the periphery, a small gap between the ground and the canopy
should be allowed for letting the air at ambient temperature enter the system (see Fig. 1).
410 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

As the sun shines the covered patch is heated which, in turn, heats the air between the patch
and the canopy. The cold air moves into the system from the periphery, accelerates toward the
chimney and gets heated as it sweeps across the heated ground. The air rises, enters the
chimney and drives the turbine. In this way the system continues working during the sunshine
hours. Some of the heat is transmitted into the ground which starts moving back to the surface
at night, thus forcing the air to continue running the turbine in the chimney, of course with
reduced output. The output during the night time is about one-third to one-sixth of the output
during peak hours [5].

3. Heat transfer mechanism

In this system the primary mode of energy transfer is convection. The theories to calculate
convective heat transfer are quite complicated for predicting accurate results. However, we
made model calculations with some reasonable assumptions which are not far from reality.

3.1. Helio-aero e€ect

In our model calculations we assume that the air under the canopy is heated mainly by
convection, and that the air ¯ow and heat transfer take place between the ¯oor surface and the
canopy with a sink (chimney) placed at the center. In this con®guration the rate at which the
heat energy Q_ is transferred from the ¯oor to the air is given by
Q_ ˆ hA Ts ÿ T` † 1†
where Ts is the temperature of the black surface, T` is the local temperature of the air at any
position between the canopy and the ¯oor of the area A. The convective transfer coecient h
for a turbulent ¯ow over a square-shaped surface of side L is de®ned as [9]
k 1=3 0:8
h ˆ 0:036 Pr ReL 2†
L
where k is the thermal conductivity of the air, ReL and Pr are Reynolds number and Prandtl
number, respectively, de®ned by
uL
ReL ˆ 3†
n
and
mcp n
Pr ˆ ˆ : 4†
k a
The symbols used in Eqs. (3) and (4) have their usual meanings, viz. u is the initial speed with
which the air at the ambient temperature enters the system through the periphery; n(=m/r) is
the kinematic viscosity, m is the dynamic viscosity, r is the density, a(=k/rcp) is the thermal
di€usivity of the air and cp is the speci®c heat of the air at a constant pressure.
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 411

If the patch of land selected is of circular shape instead of the square shape, the symbol L
would be replaced by ZpR in Eqs. (2) and (3) where R is the radius of the circular patch of the
land used as a collector [8]. Eqs. (2) and (3) would then assume the form
k
h ˆ 0:036 p Pr1=3 Re0:8
R 5†
pR
p
u pR
ReR ˆ : 6†
n

In Eq. (5) the average convective heat transfer coecient is de®ned for turbulent ¯ow over
plane surfaces. In reality, however, a laminar boundary layer precedes the turbulent boundary
layer between the peripheral edge and some distance from the edge toward the center. Since
the local frictional drag of a laminar ¯ow boundary layer is less than the local frictional drag
of a turbulent boundary layer at the same Reynolds number, the average drag without
correcting for the laminar portion of the boundary layer would be somewhat too large.
However, the actual drag can be closely estimated by assuming that, behind the point of
transition, the turbulent boundary layer behaves as though it had started at the leading edge.
By including the laminar boundary from the leading edge to the region of transition from
laminar to turbulent ¯ow, Eq. (5) can be modi®ed to
k
h ˆ 0:036 p Pr1=3 Re0:8
R ÿ 23; 200†: 7†
pR

The speed increase depends on the size of the collector from the leading edge to the center,
where the chimney is installed. Accordingly, the rate of increase in the velocity turns the air
¯ow turbulent near the leading edge. However, in the ®rst approximation for a large size area,
as is assumed in this case, Eq. (5) is expected to be a good approximation and, thus, will be
used in further derivation.
The heat transfer rate from the hot ¯oor surface to the air under the canopy is assumed to
be equal to the increment in the heat energy of the air. The heat gain rate Q_ by the air in
raising its temperature from Ta to a temperature Tm is given by
Q_ ˆ mc
_ p Tm ÿ Ta †: 8†

The temperature Tm is the maximum temperature of the air near the chimney entrance and Ta
is the ambient temperature of the air entering the system at the periphery. The temperature Tm
depends on the ¯oor surface temperature Ts, the nature of the material of the surface and up
to the depth of 25 to 30 cm approximately and, of course, the insolation I at the site under
study. The symbol mÇ is the mass ¯ow rate of the air entering at the periphery, which continues
to travel through sub-regions until it reaches the chimney and ®nally exits from the top of the
chimney. The mass ¯ow rate is given by the continuity equation
m_ ˆ Ap Ura ˆ 2pRHp ura † ˆ Ac vrm ˆ pr2 vrm †: 9†
412 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

The symbols ra, R, Hp and u refer to the ambient density, the radius of the patch, the height of
the canopy at the periphery and the incoming velocity at the leading edge, respectively.
For a given insolation at a particular site, the temperature of the surface Ts would have a
limiting value which, in turn, limits the temperature Tm and, thus, the velocity of the air at the
chimney. While the temperature has its upper limit Tm in this system, the speed of the air is
further enhanced by the chimney e€ect.

3.2. Chimney e€ect

So far, we have taken only the helio-aero e€ect into consideration with the assumption that
there is a chimney in the center of the system. We consider the height e€ect of the chimney
now. For the height of the chimney Hc, let the temperature and density of the air at the top
and the bottom of the chimney be, respectively, Tt, Tb and rt, rb. The pressure di€erence Dp
between the pressure at the bottom and at the top can be written as
1
Dp ˆ rm v2 10†
2
s
2
vˆ Dp 11†
rm

where rm is used for rb, denoting the air density at the maximum temperature Tm = Tb. This
pressure di€erence Dp between the bottom and the top of the chimney is simply related to the
di€erence of the ambient density of the air rt at the top of the chimney and the density of the
air rm inside the chimney and is given by
Dp ˆ rt ÿ rm †gHc 12†
where g is the acceleration due to gravity as usual. From Eqs. (11) and (12) we readily obtain
   1=2
rt
vˆ 2 ÿ 1 gHc 13†
rm
but
rt Tt ˆ rm Tm 14†
7
   1=2
Tm
vˆ 2 ÿ 1 gHc : 15†
Tt
Considering the e€ect of the lapse rate, the temperature T(z) at an altitude z is given by
T z† ˆ Ta ÿ lz 16†
where the lapse rate l is given by
6:5  10ÿ3 kmÿ1 ElE9:8  10ÿ3 kmÿ1 : 17†
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 413

For small chimney height, say with Hc = 100 m, we have

T Hc † ˆ Tt ˆ Ta ÿ lHc

ˆ Ta ÿ 0:65ÿ0:98†K1Ta : 18†

With Eqs. (15) and (18), the velocity v can be written as

 1=2
Tm ÿ Ta ÿ lHc p
vˆ gHc 19†
Ta ÿ lHc
or
 1=2
Tm ÿ Ta
v> 2 gHc as lHc << Ta
0 Ta
and
1 v2
Tm ÿ Ta ˆ Ta ÿ lHc † ‡ lHc
2 gHc
or
1 Ta 2
Tm ÿ Ta < v: 20†
0 2 gHc
For a given height of the chimney, one can calculate the velocity of the air for the standard
atmospheric lapse rate l. This quantity varies from 6.5 K/km for an ordinary atmosphere to
9.8 K/km for a dry adiabatic atmosphere. Since the power produced is proportional to v 3 or
H 3/2
c , one has to take a very tall chimney for any substantial amount of power production.
However, we consider the air to be heated by traveling an optimum distance over a horizontal
patch heated by solar radiation. The heated air may rise into it and ®nally escape from the top
after transferring the power to the turbine placed in it. For a chimney of some ®nite height, the
temperature di€erence DT for a dry adiabatic atmosphere is a very small quantity (see Eq. (18))
compared to the temperature generated at the center of the patch due to the helio-aero e€ect.

4. Power production

For the purpose of calculating the power that the air turbine extracts from the rising air in
the chimney, we need an expression for the velocity of the air v striking the blades of the
turbine. Assuming the area swept by the rotor to be approximately Ac, the instantaneous rotor
power PR available is given by [13]

1
PR ˆ ZR rm v3 Ac ; Ac ˆ pr2 † 21†
2
414 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

where ZR (to be measured) is the power coecient. The author in [12] uses the value of ZR
to be 16/27 based on the Betz limit [14, 15], which was obtained for a single plane actuator in a
free stream situation. Here, we are solely concerned with the eciency of the system in which
mechanical energy can be extracted from the ¯ow by means of propellers in the duct enclosed
type of ¯ow. Our goal here is to maximize the power extraction from the system, not the ¯ow.
The objective is to load the ¯ow enough to extract maximum power, but not enough to choke
it o€. The optimization, in principle, will yield much higher eciency than the Betz limit for
the open stream situation. Recently, there have been attempts and claims [16] to have achieved
an eciency more than the Betz limit of 16/27.
We calculate the rotor power available from the helio-aero e€ect with and without the
chimney's height e€ect. For the latter, the expression for the velocity in Eq. (21) can be
obtained in terms of properties of the air, temperature at various points and the physical
dimensions of the system. In order to do that, use of the continuity equation given by Eq. (9)
is made by applying it to the periphery and the chimney entrance. Hence

Ap ura ˆ Ac vrm 22†

leads to

2pRHp ra u ˆ pr2 rm v 23†

or

ra RHr
vˆ2 u: 24†
rm r2

The initial velocity of the air u at the entrance of the periphery can be obtained by equating
the heat transfer rates given by Eqs. (1) and (8), so that

Q_ ˆ mc
_ p Tm ÿ Ta † ˆ hA Ts ÿ T` †: 25†

Using Eqs. (4)±(6), (9) and (25) for solving u with the helio e€ect and denoting it by UH (to
di€erentiate from u, which is without helio e€ect), we get
 5  5
0:036 1 k5 R4 Ts ÿ T`
uH ˆ p 5 5 5=3 7=3 5 : 26†
2 p ra cp a v Hp Tm ÿ Ta

Eqs. (24) and (26) give v due to the helio e€ect, which is denoted by vH and is given by
 5  5
2 0:036 k5 R5 Ts ÿ T`
vH ˆ p : 27†
p 2 rm r4a c5p a5=3 n7=3 H4p r2 Tm ÿ Ta

The rotor power PRH due to the helio-aero e€ect only can be written from Eqs. (21) and (27) as
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 415
 15
4 0:018†15 k15 R15 Ts ÿ T`
PRH ˆ p ZR 2 12 15 5 7 12 4
p r m r a c p a n Hp r Tm ÿ Ta
 15
ÿ27 k15 R15 Ts ÿ T`
ˆ 15  10 ZR 2 12 15 5 7 12 4 : 28†
rm ra cp a n Hp r Tm ÿ Ta

Next, we include the chimney height e€ect in calculating the rotor power. For that, an expression
for Tm ÿTa is substituted from Eq. (20) into Eq. (27), which is then solved for v yielding
  
2 5 k5 g5 R5 H5c Ts ÿ T` 5 1=11
v> 0:036† : 29†
0 p rm r4a c5p a5=3 n7=3 H4p r2 Ta

Finally, the rotor power available, including both the helio-aero and chimney height e€ects is
obtained from Eqs. (21) and (29) as
   
0:036†15 19=2 r8m k15 g15 r16 R15 Hc Ts ÿ T` 15 1=11
PR > ZR p
0 28 r12 c15
p a n
5 7 H12
p Ta
 8 15 15  15 16 15 15 1=11
r k g Ts ÿ T` r R Hc
ˆ 0:018ZR m12 15 5 : 30†
ra cp a Ta H12
p

The expression for the initial velocity of the air U entering the canopy when the e€ect due to the
height of the chimney is taken into consideration is obtained from Eqs. (20), (24) and (26) as
  
0:009†5 k5 r10 mg
5
H5c r10 Ts ÿ T` 5 2=7
Uˆ p : 31†
p r15a cp a
5 5=3 n7=3 H15 R6
p Ta

5. Results

Eq. (30) provides the rotor power in terms of three main factors. The ®rst one is a function
of the temperature dependent air properties, implying an implicit function of temperature. The
second factor is an explicit function of the temperature of the air and the land surface under
the canopy. The last factor consists of the physical dimensions of the system. For rotor power,
the key variables are the temperature values in Eq. (30). In order to compute the rotor power,
we borrow a set of values of the temperature measured at the Manzanares experimental
station [5] on a certain day during its operation. A set of those values is given as: Ts = 348 K,
Tm = 323 K, Tl = 313 K and Ta = 302 K. The rotor power, for the dimensions of that system
given in Table 1, is 67 kW. This is entry one in Table 1. The electrical power generated,
considering the friction loss factor (Zf = 0.9), eciencies of turbine, gearing and generator
(Zt = 0.83) and rotor power coecient (ZR = 0.67), is 33 kW. This is one of the typical output
powers measured during the operation of the experiment. For the same dimensions of the
system, but a slightly di€erent set of temperatures than the above, the rotor power is calculated
and presented as the second entry in Table 1. This set of temperatures is Ts = 353 K,
Tm = 323 K, Tl = 313 K and Ta = 303 K. The rotor power and generated power are,
416 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

Table 1. Rotor power production PR and peak eciency Z for a location where the insolation is 1 kW/m2. The
Carnot eciency Zc is 14.2% except for entry one for which it is 13.2%

No. r (m) R (m) Hc (m) Hp (m) PR (MW) Z (%)

1$ 5 122 195 0.25 0.067 0.14

2 5 122 195 0.25 0.082 0.18
3 10 565 390 0.25 4.6 0.46
4 10 565 500 0.30 5.4 0.54
5 25 700 800 0.30 51.7 3.4
6 25 800 800 0.30 62.0 3.1
7 25 800 1000 0.30 84.1 4.2
8 25 800 1000 0.50 48.2 2.4
9 50 800 1000 0.50 132.1 6.6

$ Dimensions except for Hp are taken from [2]

respectively, 8 kW and 41 kW. This is also measured at the Manzanares experiment [5] at an
irradiation level of 1040 W/m2. For this set of temperatures, and at the insolation level of 1
kW/m2, we calculate rotor powers and overall eciencies for various sets of physical
dimensions of the system and present them in Table 1.

6. Eciency

Assuming the insolation of 1 kW/m2 at the peak time, the mechanical eciency is calculated
by dividing the rotor power output by the total solar insolation and is given in the last column
of Table 1. The Carnot eciency Zc for the plant is evaluated to be 14.2%. From Table 1, it is
obvious that, as the area of the collector is increased, the eciency is reduced. When the
chimney height and/or its radius are increased, the eciency is increased. As the canopy gap at
the periphery is increased, the eciency is decreased. These facts should be taken into
consideration in designing the parameters of the plant. With increasing plant dimensions, the
speci®c cost would decrease because of the eciency increase. This is not due to a cost
reduction factor but because of the real physical eciency increaseÐof course, the physical
eciency cannot be increased inde®nitely.
The energy conversion eciency of insolation to warm the air may be de®ned by
_ p Tm ÿ Ta †
mc
ZI ˆ 32†
pR2 I
where I is solar insolation. About 70 to 80% of this primary solar radiation energy (pR 2I) is
converted into heat on the land surface. The remaining two-thirds is divided between heat
conducted into lower soil strata and losses by re¯ection, convection on the roof of the canopy
and long wave radiation. Nevertheless, the heat absorbed during the day by the soil is expected
to return throughout the night. During this period, the land surface gets cooler than the strata
of the soil beneath it, thus reversing the direction of the thermal ¯ow. This heat can be utilized
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 417

in heating the working air. Also, the momentary (at peak time) eciency is not much
meaningful because of its natural ground heat source e€ect. What is really important is the
average power production over a prolonged period of time and the cost of it.
Another process in the conversion of energy is the ratio of the wind power to the thermal
power given by
Ac vDp
Zw ˆ 33†
_ p Tm ÿ Ta †
mc

Dp
ˆ 34†
rm cp Tm ÿ Ta †
where mÇ = rmAcv.
A ®nal conversion factor is involved in the process of conversion of wind power into the
shaft (rotor) power of the wind turbine. This may vary from 40% to as high as 80%. We are
assuming a value for this work as 67%.

7. Cost estimates

To determine the economic potential of such a power plant, a thorough cost study would be
needed. In order to predict any realistic cost of a proposed plant and the energy cost, it would
be necessary to de®ne and discuss all parameters, such as insolation, wind, soil conditions, etc.
of the plant site, its construction cost, maintenance, durability, repair, amortization period,
in¯ation, etc. Such an analysis would be beyond the scope of this paper. Neither a particular
site was kept in mind nor a detailed investigation on costing was intended for the purpose of
this work. However, a rough cost estimate is desirable for a given design of a plant. Some
investigations for a small experimental plant give approximate costs of construction of the
chimney and canopy per square meter. The canopy can be built either of plastic ®lm or
®berglass. Their costs and amortization periods both di€er. We choose to estimate for a glass
canopy. The chimney cost estimate is the same regardless of the material for a certain
durability and amortization period. The cost of machinery, including labor, installation of
turbine blades, electronic control equipment and grid feed-in apparatus, is averaged on a per
Watt basis.
A cost estimate is given here for a plant of 100 MW of mean daily output averaged over 24
hours. The plant may consist of a 1 km-tall chimney with a canopy over an area of 2 km2 for
an amortization period of 20 years.
This is estimated at the rate of annual energy production of 876 million kWh for 20 years.
In this economic assessment, we have not added any land cost. This is justi®ed by selecting the
location for the plant where the land is not utilized for anything in the arid or semi-arid areas.
We have also disregarded the cost of the initial investment, interest, in¯ation, pro®t and real
factors which would a€ect the cost of production of energy. According to some guesstimates, it
may raise the delivered cost of energy per unit by an order of magnitude. In that case, the
delivered cost would cost from 7 to 9 cents per kWh. Notwithstanding, at this stage, we are
418 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

concerned only with the mathematical aspect of the theory. The cost-bene®t calculations would
be dicult in a realistic manner. We, therefore, contend here to have an idea of the costs of
the collector and the chimney. At present, it is too early to make a well-founded cost analysis
of the system.
It may be recalled that, with increasing plant dimensions, the speci®c cost of the plant
decreases. This is not only due to a cost reduction factor but more e€ectively of the real
physical eciency increase.

8. Reducing air pollution

So far, we have considered the use of the solar chimney exclusively for power production
and a remote area was selected for its location. A solar chimney can be used for reducing
considerably the air pollution in addition to the power production. In this case, the chimney is
skirted out at the bottom instead of having a collector around it. The air turbine generator
systems are placed at the bottom where the air exits instead of entering in the foregoing
concept. The air is forced down by spraying cool water at the top of the chimney [17]. In this
way, the energy environmental related problem will be addressing the pollution in big cities
with the use of the solar chimney.
In and around cities, one problem that must be solved is air pollution. Eliminating the
pollution sources seems almost impossible, since they are so diverseÐfor example, homes, cars,
airplanes, power plants, factories, wind and vegetation. Certainly, e€orts should be made to
decrease pollution at the source. Now, however, there is a strong possibility that solar
chimneys can remove much of the pollutant materials while continually producing usable
energy.
For example, the Los Angeles basin contains about 15,000 square kilometers of land.
However, most of the pollution is created in an area of only about 3,000 square kilometers. If
we could keep the air in this area clean, the pollution would not spread to the rest of the
basin. The pollution depth below the inversion layer, which traps polluted air near the surface,
is normally about 500 meters. Thus, about 1500 cubic kilometers of air need to be cleaned
every one or two days. This should be done, not by dilution, but by replacement. In other
words, the dirty air intake vent and the clean air discharge vent should be positioned such that
the cleaned air does not mix with dirty air.
To clean pollution from the air, we need a system that drives itself. On top of solar
chimneys, water is sprayed by water sorters distributed across the open top. When the sprayers
emit a ®ne mist of water in dry air, the evaporation of the water causes a rapid cooling of the
air. The cool air is denser than the air that surrounds the chimney, so it falls through the
chimney, drawing more air into the top.
As the air ¯ows out the skirt of the chimney, it passes through wind turbines attached to
electric generators. About a third of the electric power thus generated is used to overcome the
ineciencies and to pump water to the top of the tower. The rest is fed into the utility grid.
Furthermore, as the cleaned air leaves the bottom of the chimney, it is cool and dense and
¯ows long distances along the ground where people breathe. As it does so, it forces the
 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421 419

warmer, dirty air upward with very little mixing. This dirty air is then drawn into the top of
the chimney.
There is a second way in which a convection chimney reduces air pollution: the excess
electric power they produce and feed into the power grid supplements and reduces the need for
power generated by fossil fuel plants, thus reducing the power plant's emissions.
Everyone knows that a good rain cleans the air of particulate matter. However, raindrops
are not very ecient in scrubbing the air, since they are too large and most of the particles in
the air simply ¯ow around the drops as they fall. By spraying a ®ne mist of water in solar
chimneys, the e€ective surface area of a given mass of water is greatly increased, and the
collection eciency of the water is considerably enhanced. To make the system even more
e€ective in scavenging particulate matter, the water droplets can be given an electrical charge,
which can increase the collection eciency by a factor of a hundred.
Some droplets will rain out at the bottom of the tower, and since they are so ®ne, they
might be blown out into the surroundings. This would be unsatisfactory, particularly if
seawater were used. To prevent this, after the mist-laden air passes the turbines, a set of
secondary sprayers can spray larger droplets into the air stream. These collect the mist droplets
and carry them to collection troughs at the ¯oor of the skirt section of the chimney.
Alternatively, demisters (curved vanes in the air ¯ow) can be used to collect the mist droplets.
The water that is collected in the bottom is dumped into the gutter line.
Collection of gases in water droplets is more dicult than the collection of particulate
matter. Some gases, such as sulfur dioxide and ozone, can be collected, since they react
chemically within the drops to form other compounds, and the drops can continue to collect
more of these gases. Others, such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides, can be collected into
the droplets only if appropriate, environmentally friendly chemical additives are included in the
water spray.
From the above considerations, there appear to be a number of inconveniences associated
with constructing chimneys for reducing pollution. The major one is the large investment
required to make them economically attractive. The chimney's output does not scale linearly
with size. A 100-meter-tall chimney is not cost e€ective for producing power, although it could
be useful to reduce pollution, while a 10-meter-tall tower can demonstrate the principles, but
its eciency is actually negative, since it cannot produce enough power to pump the water to
the top and spray it.

9. Discussion

The power production maximizes at large values of Ts, for which a selective surface, with
properties such that its absorption coecient is larger than its emissivity, is needed. Although
some work has been done on these lines in reference to ¯at plate solar collectors [15], careful
and systematic research still needs to be done in an attempt to increase the temperature ratio
term in Eq. (30).
The velocity, temperature and the pressure of the air entering the chimney depend on the
physical dimensional parameters of the system. The radius of the patch, in fact, is very
important in determining the nature of the ¯ow of the air on the hot surface. For large values
420 M.A.K. Lodhi / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 407±421

of the radius of the patch, the air ¯ow becomes turbulent for most of the area. except near the
edge where it is laminar. In our calculations, we have used the turbulent pattern for the entire
region. Both experimental and theoretical studies are further warranted for any realistic system.
One basic approach to this device could be to calculate the heat losses exactly. From the
properties of the material of the soil, one could calculate the temperature ratio in Eq. (30).
However complicated it may be, we strongly feel that these calculations should be done as
realistically as possible, and attempts ought to be made to enhance this parameter. This
involves the gain and loss of energy to the system from solar radiation and to the
surroundings, respectively.
From the technical point of view, it is possible today to build chimneys of large size without
giving rise to any special problem. Wind turbines to be installed in the chimney would be no
technical problem. Accordingly, the helio-aero-gravity power plant would provide large-scale
electricity generation with simple technology, where unproductive and arid or desert land is
available almost free. It is for suppressing the pollution in big cities, where the land cost would
be high, as the plant has to be installed in the heart of the activities producing the pollution.
The helio-aero-gravity plant operates on the basis of the di€erence between the temperature
of the air at the bottom of the chimney and the ambient temperature. This di€erential
essentially creates a draft strong enough to turn the turbine installed inside the chimney. The
turbine may start with a wind speed as low as 3 m/s, which may be obtained at a temperature
di€erential of around 4 to 5 K. It is, however, desirable to operate the plant at a temperature
di€erential of 20 K.
The helio-aero-gravity plant has an added advantage of its thermal storage capacity at no
extra cost. It stores heat in the soil strata during the peak time and releases it at night time,
which can be used in warming the working air. This, in turn, can run the turbine generator
system at a reduced output capacity during the night.

10. Conclusion

Developing nations are projected to require enormous amounts of electric power in the next
few decades. Industry and government planners worldwide have more promising optionsÐand
options that are more environmentally friendly and economically attractive. The time is ripe to
introduce solar chimneys for clean, economical production of electric energy and keeping the
big cities pollution free.

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