Editing Solar updraft tower (section)

== Related ideas and adaptations ==

===Updraft===
* The [[Vortex engine|atmospheric vortex]] proposal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vortexengine.ca/index.shtml |title=Atmospheric Vortex Engine |publisher=Vortexengine.ca |access-date=2011-09-11}}</ref> replaces the physical chimney by a controlled or 'anchored' cyclonic updraft vortex. Depending on the column gradient of temperature and pressure, or buoyancy, and stability of the vortex, very high-altitude updraft may be achievable. As an alternative to a solar collector, industrial and urban waste-heat could be used to initiate and sustain the updraft in the vortex.
* Telescopic or retractable design may lower a very high chimney for maintenance, or to prevent storm damage.  Hot-air balloon chimney suspension has also been proposed.
* A form of [[solar boiler]] technology placed directly above the turbine at the base of the tower might increase the up-draught.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}
* Moreno (2006) proposed that a chimney can be economically placed on a hill or mountain slope.<ref name="moreno7026723" />  Klinkman (2014) elaborated on constructing diagonal chimneys.<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=8823197|pubdate=2014-09-02|title=Diagonal solar chimney|inventor1-last=Klinkman|inventor1-first=Paul}}</ref> A structure as simply built as a high hoop tunnel, but much longer in length and on a slope, can permanently generate an airflow for producing electricity. Changing the chimney's height differential from 200&nbsp;m (the Manzanares experiment) to 2000&nbsp;m (Charleston Peak in Nevada has a rise of over 2500&nbsp;m, for example) will transfer a factor of ten more of captured solar heat into electric power. Increasing the temperature differential between chimney air and outside air by a factor of ten increases the same chimney's power by one further factor of ten, assuming that the chimney's walls are engineered to take the extra heat. Concentrating solar heat is often done with reflection.
* An inflatable solar chimney power plant has been evaluated analytically and simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. This idea has been registered as a patent, including the optimal shape of the collector and the analytical profile for the self standing inflatable tower.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.solener.2013.07.010 |title=Inflatable free-standing flexible solar towers |journal=Solar Energy |volume=98 |pages=85–98 |year=2013 |last1=Putkaradze |first1=Vakhtang |last2=Vorobieff |first2=Peter |last3=Mammoli |first3=Andrea |last4=Fathi |first4=Nima |bibcode=2013SoEn...98...85P }}</ref> The CFD simulation has been evaluated by verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) of computer simulations by American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2009 standards.<ref>Fathi, Nima, Peter Vorobief, and Seyed Sobhan Aleyasin. "V&V exercise for a solar tower power plant." In ''ASME Verification and Validation Symposium''. 2014.</ref><ref>Vorobieff, Peter V., et al. "Inflatable, free-standing solar updraft tower with optimal geometry and active control." U.S. Patent No. 10,006,443. 26 Jun. 2018.</ref>
* Airtower is a proposal by architect [[Julian Breinersdorfer]] to better exploit the high initial capital outlay of building a very high structure by incorporating it into a high rise building core. The proximity of producer and consumer can also reduce transmission losses.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/natur/generationenvertrag-vorwaerts-zur-natur-1626516.html |title=Vorwärts zur Natur |newspaper=faz.net |access-date=2011-05-03|last1=Schellnhuber |first1=Hans Joachim }}</ref>

===Collector===
* A saltwater thermal sink in the collector could 'flatten' the diurnal variation in energy output, while airflow humidification in the collector and condensation in the updraft could increase the energy flux of the system.<ref name="Solar pond tower for 5 €ct/kWh"/><ref name="Schlaich"/>
* As with other solar technologies, some mechanism is required to mix its varying power output with other power sources. Heat can be stored in heat-absorbing material or saltwater ponds. Electricity can be cached in batteries or other technologies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Integration of Wind Energy into the Grid |publisher=European Wind Energy Association — EWEA |date=2005–2007 |url=http://www.ewea.org/index.php?id=196 |access-date=29 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625173146/http://www.ewea.org/index.php?id=196 |archive-date=June 25, 2007 }}</ref>
* A recent innovation has been the use of transpired collectors in place of the traditional glazing covers.<ref>[http://solarwall.com/en/home.php] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504161209/http://solarwall.com/en/home.php|date=2017-05-04}}{{full citation needed|date=June 2017}}</ref> Transpired collectors have efficiencies in the 60% to 80% range or three times the 25% efficiency measured with the greenhouse collectors.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.enconman.2017.03.052 |title=Thermal performance of a transpired solar collector updraft tower |journal=Energy Conversion and Management |volume=142 |pages=286–95 |year=2017 |last1=Eryener |first1=Dogan |last2=Hollick |first2=John |last3=Kuscu |first3=Hilmi |bibcode=2017ECM...142..286E }}</ref> The large solar collector field can now be reduced to half or less making solar updraft towers much more cost effective. A patent has been granted on a solar tower system using transpired collectors.<ref>{{Cite patent|country=US|number=9097241|pubdate=2015-08-04|title=Transpired solar collector chimney tower|assign1=Hollick SOlar Systems Ltd.|inventor1-last=Hollick|inventor1-first=John C.|inventor2-last=Eryener|inventor2-first=Dogan}}</ref>

===The Generator===
* If the chimney updraft is an ionized vortex, then the electro-magnetic field could be tapped for electricity, using the airflow and chimney as a generator.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}

===Applications===
* Release of humid ground-level air from an atmospheric vortex or solar chimney at altitude could form clouds or precipitation, potentially altering local hydrology.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.05.003 |title=Numerical investigation of a plume from a power generating solar chimney in an atmospheric cross flow |journal=Atmospheric Research |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=26–35 |year=2009 |last1=Zhou |first1=Xinping |last2=Yang |first2=Jiakuan |last3=Ochieng |first3=Reccab M. |last4=Li |first4=Xiangmei |last5=Xiao |first5=Bo |bibcode=2009AtmRe..91...26Z }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1115/1.3028041 |title=Cloud Formation in the Plumes of Solar Chimney Power Generation Facilities: A Modeling Study |journal=Journal of Solar Energy Engineering |volume=131 |page=011009 |year=2009 |last1=Vanreken |first1=Timothy M. |last2=Nenes |first2=Athanasios |citeseerx=10.1.1.172.2449 }}</ref> Some of these ideas originated in work by Niewiadomski and [[Krzysztof Edward Haman|Haman]] who studied cooling tower dynamics.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0004-6981(84)90019-2 |title=The rainfall enhancement by washout of cooling tower plumes: A numerical experiment |journal=Atmospheric Environment |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=2483–9 |year=1984 |last1=Niewiadomski |first1=Michal |last2=Haman |first2=Krzysztof E. |bibcode=1984AtmEn..18.2483N }}</ref> Local de-desertification, or afforestation could be achieved if a regional [[water cycle]] were established and sustained in an otherwise arid area.
* The [[solar cyclone]] distiller<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kashiwa |first1=B.A. |last2=Kashiwa |first2=Corey B. |title=The solar cyclone: A solar chimney for harvesting atmospheric water |journal=Energy |date=February 2008 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=331–339 |doi=10.1016/j.energy.2007.06.003 |bibcode=2008Ene....33..331K }}</ref> could extract atmospheric water by condensation in the updraft of the chimney. This [[solar cyclone|solar cyclonic]] water distiller in the updraft above a [[solar pond|solar collector pond]] could adapt the solar collector-chimney system for large-scale desalination of collected brine, brackish- or waste-water pooled in the collector base.<ref name=Zhou10>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.desal.2009.03.007 |title=Comparison of classical solar chimney power system and combined solar chimney system for power generation and seawater desalination |journal=Desalination |volume=250 |pages=249–56 |year=2010 |last1=Zhou |first1=Xinping |last2=Xiao |first2=Bo |last3=Liu |first3=Wanchao |last4=Guo |first4=Xianjun |last5=Yang |first5=Jiakuan |last6=Fan |first6=Jian |issue=1 |bibcode=2010Desal.250..249Z }}</ref>
* Fitted with a vortex chimney scrubber, the updraft could be cleaned of particulate air pollution. An experimental demonstration tower is cleaning the air in a Chinese city with little external energy input.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chen|first1=Stephen|title=China builds 'world's biggest air purifier' (and it seems to be working)|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2128355/china-builds-worlds-biggest-air-purifier-and-it-seems-be-working|access-date=22 January 2018|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|date=16 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/china-tests-giant-chimney-to-combat-air-pollution/article/516647 | title=China tests giant chimney to combat air pollution| newspaper=Digital Journal| date=2018-03-07}}</ref><ref name="nature.com"/> 
* Alternately to scrubbing, particulate air pollution caught in the updraft and released could serve as a nucleation stimulus for precipitation<ref>[[Cloud condensation nuclei]]</ref> either in the chimney, or at release altitude as [[cloud seeds]].
* Removal of urban air pollution raised and dispersed at altitude could reflect insolation, reducing ground-level solar warming.<ref>[[Smog tower]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=April 2023}}
* Energy production, water desalination<ref name=Zhou10/> or simple atmospheric water [[solar cyclone|extraction]] could be used to support carbon-fixing or food-producing local agriculture,<ref>{{cite web|author=Tom Bosschaert |url=http://www.except.nl/consult/SolarUpdraftTower/solar_updraft_research.html |title=Solar Updraft Tower Research: Except Consulting |publisher=Except.nl |date=2008-09-26 |access-date=2011-09-11}}</ref> and for intensive [[algaculture|aquaculture]] and [[horticulture]] under the solar collector as a greenhouse.
*  A balloon-suspended lightweight extensible chimney anchored from an urban tether, rising from low level warm air to high altitude could remove low lying air pollution without the need for a broad collector at the base, given adequate height of release. This might improve air quality in highly polluted megacities without the burden and cost of major fixed construction.