화학공학소재연구정보센터
Solar Energy, Vol.78, No.6, 799-808, 2005
Assessment of an "Energy Tower" potential in Australia using a mathematical model and GIS
"Energy Tower" is a technology for producing renewable and clean electricity by means of cooling hot and dry air, which is continuously supplied to and lands. We assess the potential of an Energy Tower by incorporating topographic and meteorological parameters into a computational model, providing evaluations for the net power production and the electricity production cost. We formulate a highly simplified model for the Energy Tower's flow, setup and process a spatial dataset of topographic and Meteorological upper air parameters. The model was applied to the Australian continent. A model simulation of one annual cycle enabled the ranking and selection of promising sites. The highest potential for energy towers is in the Port Hedland region, where favorable meteorological and topographic conditions would result in high average net power (approximate to 370 +/- 160 MW), potentially providing the electricity needs of similar to 0.5 million people, for an economically competitive costs (3.5ckWh). (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.