Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95

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Solar Energy
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An overview of the use of solar chimneys for desalination T

a,⁎ a a a,b
Cristiana B. Maia , Felipe V.M. Silva , Vinícius L.C. Oliveira , Lawrence L. Kazmerski
a
Pontificia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
b
RASEI, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO USA

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The increased world-demand for water and energy and rapidly growing investments in clean-energy sources
Solar chimney have led to serious consideration for the use of renewable sources of energy to desalinate seawater or brackish
Solar desalination water. There are several technologies used currently, and solar energy has been shown to be a viable source for
Power generation these important applications. But among the various solar energy approaches (photovoltaics, solar thermal),
innovation is still required to improve performance and achieve economic viability. Solar chimneys are devices
that use solar energy to generate a hot airflow that can drive wind turbines and produce electric power. One of
the main disadvantages of solar chimneys is their very low efficiency. The overall performance can be improved
significantly by combining water desalination and power generation in one system. There are still only a few
studies reporting the use of solar chimneys for desalination, but these results are promising. Most of the studies
available in the literature focus on numerical simulations, evaluating several possibilities to increase the overall
performance and the utilization efficiency of solar energy. No single hybrid chimney-desalination configuration
has yet shown itself to be the obvious choice, and further studies are required. This paper discusses and reviews
the main technologies used for solar desalination and evaluates the most relevant approaches for the use of solar
chimneys for such water treatment.

1. Introduction usually categorized as thermal or membrane-based processes. Thermal

The expanding world population together with increasing standards
of living have escalated the world demands for potable water and clean
energy. Freshwater represents only a small portion of the total world’s
water capacity, and most of this amount is not accessible to humanity.
The permissible limit of salinity in water by WHO (World Health
Organization) is 500 ppm, and seawater normally has saline levels be-
tween 35,000 and 45000 ppm in the form of total-dissolved salts
(Eltawil et al., 2009). Desalination of seawater (having high salt con-
centrations) or brackish ground water (lower salt content) is among the
most hopeful solutions to this problem (Alkaisi et al., 2017). In some
regions, desalination has become the most important source of water
for drinking and agriculture (Isaka, 2012). In 2018, according to the
International Water Summit, there were around 18,500 desalination
plants in operation, with about 90 million cubic meters of water per day
(International Water Summit, 2018).
Nevertheless, the desalination process is highly energy intensive due
to the high salinity of the source (Li et al., 2013). Moreover, the de-
salination industry has reported increased threats of CO2 emissions and
severe environmental impacts (Sharon and Reddy, 2015) because of the
use of fossil-fuel electricity generation. Desalination technologies are
desalination involves distillation processes in which saline water is
heated and vaporized, separating the fresh water from a highly saline
solution (brine). Membrane desalination uses special thin-material films
to separate fresh water from saline feed-water (Isaka, 2012). Desali-
nation costs are still high, but over the last years systematic R&D has
reduced the costs by lowering the energy consumption and enhancing
the design (Eltawil et al., 2009). According to the International Water
Association (IWA) (“Desalination – Past, Present and Future -
International Water Association,” n.d.), the desalination costs for
medium and large size projects will decline over the next 20 years. The
costs of water are projected to decrease from 0.8 to 1.2 (US$/m3) –
2016 levels to 0.3–0.5 (US$/m3) over the next two decades, and the
construction costs, from 1.2 − 2.2 (US$/million-liters/day-MLD) to
0.5–0.9 (US$/MLD) in this same timeframe. Researchers are con-
tinuously exploring new technologies as an attempt to ensure sustain-
able and improved water production. A promising technology is the use
of advance materials in desalination, such as nanomaterials.
The purpose of this paper is to overview the common current ap-
proaches to renewable energy-based desalination. Building on this
background and the status of the solar chimney technology, the concept
of the hybrid solar chimney-desalination system is reviewed, with a

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cristiana@pucminas.br (C.B. Maia).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.03.007
Received 19 December 2018; Received in revised form 5 February 2019; Accepted 4 March 2019
0038-092X/ © 2019 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C.B. Maia, et al.
focus on the most relevant research reported to date. The viability of
this approach is evaluated based upon the growing water and energy
needs and the strengths and improvements of these technologies. Solar
chimneys are devices commonly used to generate power. Since the ef-
ficiency is very low, research is being developed to increase the utili-
zation of solar energy, using solar chimneys to drive both power gen-
eration and water desalination. Only a few papers were found in the
literature regarding this new concept of solar chimneys, most of them
are based on mathematical models. This paper intends to make a
summary of these papers, comparing the proposed adaptations and
obtained results.
2. Renewable energy sources for desalination
Renewable energy desalination systems are not fossil-fuel depen-
dent, thus capable of reducing the carbon footprint. These clean-energy
technologies are considered as the most sustainable and near-term al-
ternatives for the water and energy. Because of the enormity of the
water issue, hybrid renewable energy/desalination would be an im-
portant contributor to a potential 100%-renewable energy future
(Hohmeyer and Bohm, 2015; Jacobson et al., 2017, 2015; Renné,
2018). Renewable energy technologies have low operating and main-
tenance costs, and coincidently, major areas of fresh water shortages
have high levels of incident solar radiation (Eltawil et al., 2009). Also,
the costs of renewable desalination are decreasing, while the costs of
fossil fuels are both growing and these sources are being depleted
(Shatat et al., 2013). Renewable-energy powered desalination may be
the best solution for these important water problems. The trends in the
energy produced through these technologies have increased more than
5 times during the last ten years, supporting their viability for these
production approaches (Ali et al., 2018). Despite the advantages of
their use, currently around only 1% of the total desalinated water
comes from the use of renewable sources (Ghaffour and Mujtaba, 2018;
Shahzad et al., 2017).
Al-Karaghouli and Kazmerski (2013) carried out an economic ana-
lysis of the main desalination processes, focusing on the renewable-
energy coupled processes, evaluating the environmental impacts of
water desalination. According to the authors, all desalination processes
have a negative impact on the environment and are energy intensive,
but the use of renewable energy outweigh these drawbacks.
The main sources of renewable energy are solar thermal, solar
photovoltaics, geothermal, wind, and marine (tidal/wave/ocean cur-
rent). Renewable energies for use in desalination fall into two cate-
gories: (1) distillation processes driven by heat, and (2) distillation
processes driven by electricity or mechanical energy (Eltawil et al.,
2009). Alkaisi et al. (2017) reviewed desalination systems and their
potential to be integrated with renewable-energy resources Their major
conclusion was that solar energy is the most applicable source, because
it can produce the heat and electricity required by all desalination
processes. The same conclusion was reached by (Li et al., 2013). Solar
energy is by far the most abundant renewable energy source and the
source that showed the most growth among the renewable energy
technologies in the last decade (Ali et al., 2018). Li et al. (2013) ob-
served correctly that many developing countries, which normally could
not afford to use desalinated water, have high-solar radiation levels
appropriate for economic water production. The distribution of re-
newable-powered desalination plants is approximately: 43% are pow-
ered by solar PV, 27% by solar thermal, 20% by wind, and 10% by
hybrid processes (Shahzad et al., 2017).
The selection of a desalination process requires several criteria, such
as water salinity, operation and maintenance costs, environmental
conditions like solar radiation level, solar spectrum, local climate
conditions, and others. Several papers discuss and compare the solar
desalination methods (El-Bialy et al., 2016; Li et al., 2013; M.C and
Yadav, 2017; Pouyfaucon and García-Rodríguez, 2018; Pugsley et al.,
2016; Sharon and Reddy, 2015; Shatat et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2018).
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Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
Direct Solar Still
Solar desalination
Humidification-
dehumidification (HDH)
Multi-effect desalination
(MED)
Multi-stage flash
desalination (MSF)
Indirect
Membrane distillation
(MD)
Electro dialysis (ED)
Reverse osmosis (RO)
Fig. 1. Classification of solar desalination systems into their direct or indirect
functioning.
3. Solar desalination
Shalaby (2017) provided a useful classification of desalination
plants based on how solar energy is managed. In direct systems, solar
absorption and desalination take place in the same device. In indirect
systems, the desalination plant is divided into two subsystems: the solar
collector and the desalination system. The details of these approaches
(see Fig. 1) are now summarized and compared to provide the back-
ground for the incorporation of the solar chimney into the desalination
scheme.
3.1. Direct solar approach
The solar still is the most simple and common direct solar desalination
technology (El-Bialy et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2018). The working
principle of the solar still is the same as that of precipitation (rain)
(Nayi and Modi, 2018). The solar radiation crosses the cover and is
absorbed by a black surface. The heat is transferred to the saline water,
and the water starts to be evaporated. The ascended vapor gets con-
densed and it is collected. The remaining salts are removed in a drai-
nage port (Edalatpour et al., 2016; Nayi and Modi, 2018). The still has
several advantages including simplicity, low cost, ease of maintenance,
and low environmental impact; however, its performance is very low
(Dsilva Winfred Rufuss et al., 2016). This is the main reason why solar
still has not been more widely applied (Xiao et al., 2013). Much re-
search has been invested to increase the productivity of this technology.
Selvaraj and Natarajan (2017) reviewed key factors and parameters
that influence the performance and productivity of solar stills. Abujazar
et al. (2016) investigated environmental, design and operational para-
meters that affect solar still for seawater desalination. Edalatpour et al.
(2016) evaluated various numerical simulations developed to increase
the performance of several types of solar stills. From this literature, it is
concluded that this technology is more suitable to remote areas with a
small water demand (Eltawil et al., 2009), due to the low amount of
water produced (3–7 l/m2-day). Shalaby et al. (2017) proposed that
further studies are required for more widespread use, especially related
with the coupling of solar stills with heat storage and various waste
heat sources (Xiao et al., 2013). The solar still is not suitable for high
capacity production because of the large area demands compared with
other solar desalination technologies (Shalaby, 2017). However, recent
C.B. Maia, et al.
research in advanced materials has been proved as a way to enhance
the performance of direct solar desalination systems. Nanofluids are
regarded as a promising technology that can lead to significantly im-
prove direct solar desalination performance (Bait and Si-Ameur, 2018).
The authors state that a variety of nanomaterials, such as alumina,
carbon, copper, cooper oxide, cuprous oxide, graphite, iron oxide,
graphene oxide, graphene nanoplatelets, tin oxide, silicon dioxide, ti-
tanium dioxide, zinc oxide and carbon nanotubes were used in solar
stills. Ahmed et al. (2019) present a review of the most recent devel-
opments of new materials in direct solar desalination, specially novel
photothermal materials, graphene-based and metal/ceramic nanos-
tructures.
3.2. Indirect solar approaches
For indirect solar desalination, Zhang et al. (2018) described the
technologies of humidification-dehumidification (HDH), multi-effect
desalination (MED), multi-stage flash desalination (MSF), membrane
distillation (MD), electro dialysis (ED) and reverse osmosis (RO), as
shown in Fig. 1.
Another possible classification for the solar desalination methods is
contrasting membrane technologies (RO and ED) and thermal technologies
(MSF, MED, thermal vapor compression – TVC and HDH) (Srithar and
Rajaseenivasan, 2018). In membrane process, fresh water is produced
from saline water by allowing the passage of water molecules or ions
through thin membranes by applying high pressure or electrical po-
tential (Sharon and Reddy, 2015).
Ali et al. (2018) have reported desalination using thermal energy,
but document that recently membrane techniques replacing thermal
desalination in many parts of the world. Thermal desalination is still a
main process for a large-capacity desalination since it is operated with a
conventional power plant and, in such case, the available heating
source can be supplied easily and sufficiently from the normal power
plant processes (Hanshik et al., 2016). Hybridization of thermal and
membrane techniques have evolved. Sadri et al. (2017) developed a
mathematical model of a new hybrid MED-RO system, with a multi-
objective optimization, based on an irreversibility analysis, evaluating
both the exergy destruction and the exergetic efficiency of the system.
The authors concluded that the use of the hybrid system significantly
reduces the energy losses and increases the permeate flowrate.
The drawbacks associated with solar stills are mitigated in the hu-
midification-dehumidification solar water desalination (classifying it as
an indirect technique). This approach is considered to be favorable for
small-scale desalination plants, due to its capability to operate at low
temperatures and its greater gained-output ratio (Shalaby et al., 2017;
Zubair et al., 2017). This technology mainly consists of a humidifier and
a dehumidifier, and the solar collectors are used for hot water and the
air supply (Srithar and Rajaseenivasan, 2018). The saline water is he-
ated by the solar collectors and enters the humidifier in contact with the
air stream. The saturated moisture air with high amount of vapor enters
the dehumidifier in which the vapor condensation takes place (Shalaby
et al., 2017).
Multi-effect distillation (MED) consists of vessels maintained at low
pressure where saline water is sprayed. Solar energy provides the
thermal energy required for the evaporation. Heat from the condensa-
tion surface from the previous still is transferred to preheat water in the
next still. The latent heat of evaporation in the vapor is given up to the
next stage (Chandrashekara and Yadav, 2017; Sharon and Reddy,
2015).
Multi-stage flash desalination (MSF) is an evaporating and con-
densing process—usually in vacuum in which the vacuum changes from
one stage to next and the evaporation temperature decreases from the
first to the last stage. The vacuum stage is maintained if the top brine
temperature is above 100 °C. The brine is sequentially evaporated
through the multi-stages and the generated vapor condensates
(Alsadaie and Mujtaba, 2016; Choi, 2016). Comparing MED and MSF,
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Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
Choi (2016) concludes that MED provides higher thermal efficiency,
but MSF is more suitable for a large capacity.
Membrane distillation (MD) is a temperature-driven separation
process that uses low-grade thermal energy (such as solar, geothermal
or waste energy) to drive desalination. The volatile components of a
feed solution evaporate and cross a hydrophobic membrane, then
condensing in the other side of the membrane (González et al., 2017).
This process usually has higher energy consumption than other se-
paration techniques. Nevertheless, since it operates with low-grade
temperature sources rather than electricity, it is highly advantageous
(Deshmukh and Elimelech, 2017). According to Ali et al. (2018), MD is
one of the most suitable candidates to exploit solar energy for desali-
nation applications, being of particular interest for the regions with
abundant resources of solar energy but less availability of fresh water.
Thomas et al. (2017) presented a review of 1970 to 2016 publications
on MD, focusing on the key aspects of trends, applications, research
topics and the studied membrane materials and configurations. Ahmed
et al. (2019) discuss the coupling of solar energy and MD, focusing on
new membrane materials.
An electrodialysis (ED) unit consists of a large number of com-
partments filled with saline water and separated by cation and anion
exchange membranes. When direct-current polarity is applied, the an-
ions and cations move toward opposite sides while an electric potential
difference is applied across the cathode and anode (Zhang et al., 2018).
These ions accumulate in a particular compartment and they are dis-
charged out as brine (Sharon and Reddy, 2015).
Reverse osmosis (RO) is based upon the permeation of water mo-
lecules across a semipermeable membrane under an applied hydrostatic
pressure (Ali et al., 2018). If the applied pressure is higher than the
osmotic pressure, fresh water permeates across the membrane (Sharon
and Reddy, 2015). The hydrophilic membrane passes water in pre-
ference to the solute. Due to the selective nature of the RO membrane,
ions and other solute particles are rejected (Wenten and Khoiruddin,
2016). RO is the most applied process of water desalination around the
world, particularly for those applications that use solar PV for power
(Shalaby, 2017). Ahmed et al. (2019) review recent advances in the
industrial and research status of solar powered RO.
According to Pugsley et al. (2016), pressure-driven membrane
processes such as RO are primarily operated by mechanical energy,
usually in the form of electrically powered pumps. Electric charge-
driven processes such as ED are operated directly by electricity. RO and
ED are commonly directly powered by PV systems or concentrating
solar power (CSP) plants—though any source including electricity from
wind turbines. Also, mechanical energy to drive the high-pressure
pump in RO can be indirectly derived from solar thermal collectors
through the solar organic Rankine cycle. For large-scale, energy-in-
tensive applications, CSP has been particularly effective for RO and ED
(Zhang et al., 2018), though the recent significant reductions in PV
prices may make this technology competitive.
Teow and Mohammad (2017) reviewed the state-of-the-art of new
generation nanomaterials in desalination. The work was mainly based
on carbon nanotubes, graphene, zeolites and aquaporin and their major
applications in desalination. The authors concluded that use of these
materials is mostly used in membranes for RO, MD, forward osmosis,
pervaporation and ED.
4. Solar chimneys
4.1. The solar chimney
Schlaich first introduced the concept of solar-chimney power plant
in 1978 (Schlaich, 2002). The solar chimney, or solar updraft tower, is a
device that uses the incident solar radiation to generate a hot airflow. It
is usually composed of a tower fixed to a translucent cover or collector,
opened at the edges (Ferreira et al., 2008). The operation principle is
relatively simple (Fig. 2). The incident solar radiation heats the ground
C.B. Maia, et al.
Fig. 2. Principle of solar chimney.
under a collector, which, in turn, heats the air inside the solar chimney.
The hot air accelerates towards the center of the device to run wind
turbines, generating electrical power (Fasel et al., 2013).
The building materials used in the solar chimney are simple and
accessible in less technologically developed countries (Ironically, these
countries usually have the highest solar resources, but limited financial
resources). Little maintenance is required, and there are no require-
ments for fuels or cooling water. Because chimneys do not use re-
flectors, lenses, mirrors, or exposed surfaces, they are less prone to
environmental issues such as dust or abrasion. One of the major dis-
advantages of solar chimneys is that they can convert only a small
proportion of the solar heat collected into electricity, (i.e., low-con-
version efficiency) (Schlaich, 2002). Nevertheless, the efficiency does
increase with the tower height (Sangi, 2012; Zhou et al., 2017, 2007) -
though this approach to performance improvement might impose some
other practical issues relating to wind loads, structure engineering, and
cost. The Manzanares, Spain, Test Solar Chimney is shown in Fig. 3, as an
example of the concept. This historic experimental structure was built
in 1981–82 and functioned well. But the facility was designed to be
temporary, and it was decommissioned in 1989. Fashioned after the
Schlaich concept, the chimney had a height of 194.6 m and a diameter
Fig. 3. Manzanares Solar Chimney Test Facility, established in 1982–83 in Spain.
86
Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
of 10 m, with a 50-kW turbine. The area of the 2 m high collector at the
bottom was 45,000 m2 (Lorenzo, 2002; Mills, 2004). The photo was
included to provide the basis for the system design, its dimensions, and
the geographical area required.
The solar chimney is able to operate in the absence of solar radiation
(e.g., nighttime), since the ground underneath the collector works as a
natural heat storage system. This advantage makes the device an at-
tractive option (Gholamalizadeh and Kim, 2014) through extending its
diurnal operational time. This integral storage provides some advantage
over wind and solar PV by extending the electricity delivery. Ad-
ditionally, the solar chimney does not require water during power
generation, has a relatively small CO2-footprint, require less land, and
has expected life-duration extending > 100 years.
The hot airflow generated in solar chimneys is mainly used to power
wind turbines (Fathi et al., 2016; Kasaeian et al., 2017; Schlaich, 2002),
but large areas are required to generate power at competitive prices
(Maia et al., 2009). Other applications using smaller devices, such as
food drying (Ferreira et al., 2008; Maia et al., 2017, 2013) and natural
ventilation (Cheng et al., 2018; Dhrubo et al., 2017; Khanal and Lei,
2011) have been reported and evaluated. But in all cases, the solar
energy conversion efficiency of solar chimneys is very low (ranging
from 0.5% to 10% of the solar energy input, according to (Fathi et al.,
2018). Haaf et al. (1983) established a linear relation between the
system efficiency and the tower height. Some work has been reported
on new designs to improve their solar energy conversion efficiency, but
there has not been a “breakthrough-level” demonstration (Ming et al.,
2017a). However, relatively few studies coupling the use of solar
chimneys with desalination are available in the literature — the ap-
proach to improving the output of desalination systems that is proposed
in this paper.
4.2. The chimney power plant: Status and development needs
There have been few larger scale-demonstrations and performance
improvements of solar chimney power plants, and these have occurred
intermittently over the past 4 decades None of these have reached full
scale—but rather on more-limited demonstration levels. The interest
that led to the Manzanares test (Fig. 3) was spurred by the general focus
C.B. Maia, et al.
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of the integrated system from Zuo et al. (2011).
on solar energy with the energy crisis of the 1970s. But the competing
solar technologies all received more interest and funding due to larger
research communities involved with their R&D, the existence of com-
plementary markets (e.g., space for terrestrial PV), the high-tech basis
for PV, CSP, and wind compared to “chimneys”, and the initial singular
motivation for electrical power production in the developed world. This
left the solar chimney at a lower-level priority for solving the world’s
energy problem. However, there are some points-of-promise for the
technology future direction.
In 2010, a moderate-level power plant (200 kW) was put into op-
eration in China (Inner Mongolia) (Al-Kayiem and Aja, 2016;
English.news.cn, 2018). It was designed to be expanded to 27.5 MW
over the next 4 years. But, the plant suffered from inadequate design
(e.g., a 50 m tower that was not sufficient to meet the energy delivery)
and poor choice of materials for the collector. It also had a high capital
cost (project to about $7.5/W had it reached the 27.5 MW level), but
comparable to wind costs, for example, at that time. Interesting is that
this system was designed with a dual-use in mind—in order to mitigate
dust from the loose sand (now covered by a 680-acre collector) that
affected climate and the intensity of dust storms.
Several solar chimney proposals have been released this centur-
y—and their massive scales have certainly attracted technologists,
press, and the general public. These include the 750-m Ciudad Real
Torre Solar system in Spain (Skyscraperpage.com, 2010), the Hyperion
Energy 1-km in Western Australia (Halper, 2012), the 280-m “Green-
tower” in Namibia (Cloete, 2008). Other proposals are described in the
literature, such as a 1500 m high chimney SCPP planned for South
Africa, a 200 MW project in Sri Lanka, three 200 MW projects in the
USA, a 200 MW plant in Rajasthan, India and a 200 MW plant in China
((Al-Kayiem and Aja, 2016; Boretti and Al-Zubaidy, 2018). These (and
several others) have not yet been realized, but all do promise to provide
the needed demonstrations of scale and improved performance. And for
all non-conventional technologies, competition requires cost con-
siderations. For competitiveness with other now well-established solar
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Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
systems for power alone, the solar chimney would have to have sub-
stantially lower capital investment and energy delivery prices. None of
these proposed projects are yet implemented. The issue is bank-
ability—investing in a power plant that still promises to deliver energy
at about twice the capital cost of a competing PV or wind plant. It can
be also attributed to difficulty and possible dangers of constructing tall
buildings (Guo et al., 2019)
The performance improvements must accompany the scaling. The
research and technology community working these improvements is
less populated and less coordinated that those in PV, wind, or CSP.
However, several innovations are being investigated or implemented,
including: (1) the use of hybrid-dry cooling towers with the chimney
(Zandian and Ashjaee, 2013) to dramatically increase the output power;
(2) reducing the effects of atmospheric winds (El-Haroun, 2002; Ma and
Serag-Eldin, 2004), and (3) increasing the up-draught, including con-
cepts to integrate with other effective technologies such as waste-to-
heat. Lowering the capital costs has led to concepts of “inflatable”
chimneys, incorporating the chimney in a useful architectural structure,
or in simple site selection, such as a cliff or mountain slope. Finally, the
new proposals for solar chimneys over the last 2-decades all included
some dual use (e.g., soil/dust mitigation or retention, agricultural cul-
tivation/greenhouse) in addition to the electric power gen-
eration—supporting the concept that such hybrid functionality of a
solar chimney can lead to performance and economic viability.
5. Solar chimney research for desalination
There is a relatively large literature base for renewable energy de-
salination, including details on the operation and reliability of several
solar and wind powered operations. However, the consideration of solar
chimneys for desalination is still in its infancy. But there are some in-
itial promising reports and technology projections. No single hybrid
chimney-desalination configuration has yet shown itself to be the evi-
dent choice, and further studies are required. This paper discusses and
C.B. Maia, et al.
Fig. 5. Schematics of the integrated system from Zuo et al. (2012).
reviews the main technologies used for solar desalination and evaluates
the most relevant approaches for the use of solar chimneys for such
water treatment.
5.1. Major research reports
Zuo et al. (2011) demonstrate that solar chimneys can be in-
corporated into sea-water desalination systems, primarily attempting to
increase the low productivity of solar stills. The authors proposed an
integrated system, composed primarily of a chimney, a collector, a
turbine, an energy storage layer, and a basin solar still. The structure of
the chimney, collector, and turbine is not much different from that of a
solar chimney power plant (see Fig. 4). The energy storage layer and the
basin solar still are located below the energy collector. A rock energy
layer works as an absorber bed. The incident solar radiation is trans-
mitted to the still, and the major part of this energy is absorbed by the
seawater surface. The seawater is therefore heated and evaporates, and
it is later condensed on the inner surface of the glass cover. After that, it
is collected as freshwater. Two mathematical models were developed,
one for the solar chimney and one for the integrated system, con-
sidering prescribed conditions of solar radiation and ambient tem-
perature. The system has a chimney of 200 m height and 10-m dia-
meter, a collector of 250-m diameter and 2-m height, and a storage
layer of 40-m diameter. For 6 h of running time, it was estimated an
annual power output of 2.83x105 kWh, an annual fresh water pro-
ductivity of approximately 69,500 ton, with a price of fresh water of
2.65 euros/m3. For 7 h and 8 h running times, the power output and the
fresh water productivity increase and the fresh water price decreases.
The prices were competitive with conventional and wind energy and
are lower than photovoltaics and solar thermal (concentrating solar
power) collectors. It is important to notice that the airflow temperatures
and power output of the integrated system are less than that of the
classical system, since in the integrated system, part of the energy
formerly transmitted to the airflow is transferred to the desalination
system. Nevertheless, it is important to notice that the classification of
desalination costs must not be done based only on technology, energy
source and plant size (Papapetrou et al., 2017). Critical factors, such as
year of construction, geographical locations, and assumptions/meth-
odologies used to derive the costs should be considered in the costing.
Zhou et al. (2010) developed a mathematical model based on an
energy balance to assess the performance of a combined solar chimney
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Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
for power generation and seawater desalination for regions adjacent to
the sea. The proposed solar chimney consists of a solar collector, a
tower, turbine generators, and a high-efficiency condenser installed at
the chimney top. Under the solar collector, the seawater is open to
operating air. The operating air is heated by the solar radiation and
flows towards the chimney. The warm air is saturated when in contact
with the layer of seawater. Fresh water condenses and falls from a high
height in the chimney, and it is continuously drawn out. The one-di-
mensional mathematical model estimated the velocity of the compres-
sible airflow, the obtained temperatures, the amount of water con-
densed, the power output and the total energy conversion efficiency of
the solar chimney system, assuming that the plant runs 24 h every day,
365 days a year–with an annual global solar radiation of 1800 kWh/m2.
The results were compared for the combined solar chimney system for
power generation and seawater desalination and classical solar
chimney power system for a solar radiation of 1000 W/m2. The col-
lector radius varied from 2000 m to 4000 m and the chimney height
varied from 300 m to 1000 m. As expected, the temperature and velo-
city of the airflow and the power output of the combined system were
lower than those of the classic solar chimney system with the same
dimensions. In addition, a revenue analysis showed that there is a cri-
tical chimney height that makes one system more economical than
other, and this critical height depends on the price of fresh water and
electricity.
Later, Zuo et al. (2012) studied a small experimental prototype of a
solar chimney integrated with seawater desalination to evaluate the
performance of the device under practical weather conditions. The
schematic representation of the system is shown in Fig. 4, and a sche-
matic diagram, with the prototype dimensions, is shown in Fig. 5. The
functioning of the system is similar to the one described in Zuo et al.
(2011). The system consists of a chimney, a collector, a turbine, an
energy storage layer and a basin solar still. Also, a layer of insulation
was positioned below the bottom and walls of the basin still. Under this
insulation layer, a seawater entrance main, a salt-water drainage main
and a fresh water colleting main are laid. Part of the incident solar
radiation on the system is absorbed by the seawater surface, increasing
the difference of seawater and glass cover temperatures (placed on the
basin still). The evaporated water condensates on the inner surface of
the glass cover, and the fresh water is collected. The energy storage
layer is laid under the bottom plate of the black absorber. Part of the
energy is stored to maintain the device running when there is no
C.B. Maia, et al.
Fig. 6. Schematics of the system proposed by Ming et al. (2017b, 2016).
Fig. 7. Schematics of the system proposed by Ming et al. (2017a).
incidence of solar energy, allowing the system to operate even at night.
The total height of the built system was 3.25 m, and it operated con-
tinuously for 48 h in 2008. Compared to a common solar still, the
performance of the integrated system is lower; nevertheless, it is able to
produce both electric power and fresh water. Compared to a classical
solar chimney power plant, the integrated system improves the effi-
ciency of use of solar energy. It was observed that the main period of
the distilled water output was during the absence of solar irradiance.
Due to limitations of the experimental device, caused by its small di-
mensions, the heat losses were significant. The authors concluded that
the larger the scale of the integrated system, the larger the heat storage
capacity; and the smaller the heat losses, the stronger the ability to
maintain the system operating continuously for 24 h.
Ming et al. (2016) proposed a modified solar chimney power plant,
replacing the greenhouse canopy by black tubes filled (see Fig. 6) with
89
Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
Fig. 8. Schematics of the system proposed by Asayesh et al. (2017).
hot water to warm the inlet air and to keep the relative humidity
identical to ambient. The device uses the same principle of the forma-
tion of clouds. Buoyance forces induce a hot airflow. As the air rises, the
temperature decreases, and the relative humidity decreases. As the
chimney is high enough, the air reaches the dew point and the water
vapor condenses onto a solid surface and is collected as potable water.
A wind turbine is installed at the top opening of the whole and extracts
work from the ascending airflow. The black tubes used instead of a
collector act as a solar collector and store thermal energy. A mathe-
matical model was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the
structure in comparison to natural precipitation at nine cities in China.
It was modelled a hypothetic solar chimney with a chimney radius of
50 m and a height of 3000 m. It was assumed a 24 h of running time,
with a water collecting mechanism 100% efficient. The authors con-
cluded that the efficiency of the modified solar chimney is inversely
proportional to the natural rainfall. Under favorable conditions, the
amount of potable water produced is remarkable and might be able to
C.B. Maia, et al. Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95

Fig. 9. Schematics of the system proposed by Zuo et al. (2018b).

Fig. 10. Three-dimensional models of the guide cone and guide vane (Zuo et al., 2018a).

benefit several millions of people. The performance of the device was
not completely understood.
Later, Ming et al. (2017b) modified the previous prototype. Two
kinds of turbines were installed in the system: wind turbines to generate
power, and hydraulic turbines to capture energy from the downward
freshwater. The authors developed a one-dimensional compressible
flow and heat transfer mathematical model to predict the inlet air ve-
locity, amount of water condensed, output power and efficiency, for
different values of the wind turbine pressure drop factor and the inlet
air temperature. It was found that the air velocity and the wind turbine
output power increase with the inlet air temperature. The influence of
the chimney height was also evaluated. The mass flow rate of con-
densed water and the hydraulic turbine output decrease when the
chimney height increases, therefore it is necessary to develop a com-
prehensive consideration between water production and power
generation.
The heating of the thermal airflow through the collector increases
the air temperature but decreases the relative humidity. Therefore, the
airflow needs more time to reach the dew point and precipitate the
condensed water, which means that the chimney needs to be very high.
Hence, Ming et al. (2017a) proposed the use of both seawater and
brackish water as an attempt to solve these problems. The heated air-
flow under the solar collector was sprayed and wetted at the chimney
entrance (see Fig. 7), trying to partially replicate a natural warm wet air
convection process. It can significantly reduce the chimney height,
since the air is moved closer to the saturated state. The proposed nu-
merical model was solved using CFD techniques to assess the desali-
nation performance under different amounts of spray droplets. The
authors concluded that the output water increased with the number of
spray droplets.

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C.B. Maia, et al. Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95

Fig. 11. Schematics of the system proposed by Zuo et al. (2019).

Fig. 12. Schematics of the system proposed by Rahbar and Riasi (2019).

Asayesh et al. (2017) demonstrate that it is unnecessary to com-
pletely cover the area under to the collector by the desalination pond,
as schematically shown in Fig. 8. The authors developed a one-di-
mensional mathematical model to predict the performance of the
system and implemented an optimization algorithm to determine the
required area and its location under the collector area. A simple solar
chimney and a combined system were simulated and evaluated. Results
showed that, for a collector diameter of 250-m and tower height of 200-
m, a solar pond located between radii 85-m and-125 m gives the most
efficient economic output of the combined system. It was estimated
that, for the studied dimensions, the electricity production and the fresh
water production of a simple solar chimney would be 22 kW and 0 kg/s,
for a whole occupation of the area under the collector, 11 kW and
10.4 kg/s, and, for the optimum system, 18.5 kW and 6.5 kg/s.
Zuo et al. (2018b) proposed the integration of a supercharged wind
pressure ventilator at the outlet of the chimney, combined with sea-
water desalination (see Fig. 9). The authors performed a numerical
analysis of the wind pressure ventilator and the solar chimney power

91
 Table 1
Summary of published reports and proposals for solar chimney-desalination systems, indicating the study type and the key findings.
Source Location/Dimensions Study type Considerations/Contributions Key findings
C.B. Maia, et al.

Zuo et al. (2011) Ht = 20 m, 1D mathematical model Integrated system consisting of: chimney, collector, turbine, energy storage For 7 h of running time, the power output of 330,000 kWh/a,
Dt = 10 m, layer and basin solar still; freshwater productivity of 81,039 ton/a and freshwater price
Hc = 2 m, Two mathematical models: one for the solar chimney and one for the of 2.09 €/m3.
Dc = 250 m. integrated system;
Storage layer of 40 m Solar irradiance of 800 W/m2.
China
Zhou et al. (2010) Dc from 4000 to Mathematical model Combined system consisting of solar collector, solar chimney, turbine Compared to the classical solar chimney, the combined plant
8000 m generators and a high-efficiency condenser; has lower airflow velocity and lower power output,
Ht from 300 to Running time of 24 h/day, 365 days/year. The critical chimney height necessary for the system to be
1000 m economical depends on the price of freshwater and electricity.
China
Zuo et al. (2012) Ht = 3.25 m Experimental analysis, August 2008 System consisting of solar chimney, collector, wind turbine, heat storage layer Compared to the classical solar chimney, the integrated system
Hohay University, and still. improved the utilization of solar energy;
China Maximum freshwater production of about 180 g/h, with the
peak occurring during the absence of solar irradiation
Ming et al. (2016) 9 cities in China 1D compressible mathematical model The greenhouse canopy was replaced by a collector made of black tubes filled There is a positive correlation between natural precipitation
with hot water; and water production;
Wind turbine installed at the top opening of the system. In Guangzhou, the water produced was 37.9 × 106 tons/year.
In Chengdu, 29.7 × 106 tons/year;
The device is more efficient in arid regions.
Ming et al. (2017b) Ht from 1000 to 1D compressible mathematical model The greenhouse canopy was replaced by a collector made of black tubes filled An increase on the chimney inlet temperature results in an
3000 m with hot water; increase of the chimney inlet air velocity and the wind turbine
Dt = 100 m Modification related to Ming et al. (2016) refers to the use of 2 kinds of output power;
turbines: wind turbines to generate power and hydraulic turbines to capture Operating conditions, such as air temperature and air relative
energy from the downward freshwater. humidity, have a significant influence on the condensation

92
level;
For water generation, the chimney height is the most
important factor.
Ming et al. (2017a) Ht = 200 m, 3D numerical analysis with ANSYS Fluent Instead of installing a turbine, water droplets were sprayed for evaporation at The chimney height and system costs can be reduced by
Dt = 10 m, the bottom of the chimney. spraying water at the bottom of the chimney;
Hc = 2 m, Freshwater output increases with the amount of water sprayed;
Dc = 240 m. When water is sprayed, the driving force for the airflow is
weakened and the performance of the system is decreased.
Asayesh et al. (2017) Ht = 200 m 1D simulation code with optimization The desalination system can be installed only in some regions of the collector Dimensions of the desalination system depend on the local cost
Dc = 250 m procedure instead of completely covering the collector ground; of building the system and price of electricity and freshwater
An optimization procedure is performed, with the objective function: produced;
(collector cost + tower cost + desalination cost) / (electricity For the configuration proposed, a solar pond located between
price + freshwater price) radii 85 and 125 m of the collector is the optimum condition.
Zuo et al. (2018b) Ht = 194.6 m, 3D unsteady state numerical analysis for the Integration system consisting of a supercharged wind pressure ventilator and The wind pressure ventilator increased the power generation
Dt = 10.16 m, ventilator and steady state on the solar a solar chimney power plant; and the freshwater produced;
Hc = 1.85 m, chimney Solar radiation prescribed of 800 W/m2; The increase on the power output was 14.7 kW and the
Dc = 244 m. External crosswind velocity at the top of the chimney prescribed of 15 m/s. increase in the hourly freshwater produced was 30 g/h.

Zuo et al. (2018a) Ht = 194.6 m, 3D unsteady state numerical analysi Same system described in Zuo et al. (2018b); The condenser made full use of the condensation latent heat
Dt = 10.16 m, Evaluation of a condenser positioned below the wind turbine and a released by water vapor;
Hc = 1.85 m, supercharged wind pressure ventilator; The wind pressure ventilator significantly increased the
Dc = 244 m. Solar radiation prescribed of 800 W/m2. electricity production.

Zuo et al. (2019) Ht = 194.6 m, 3D unsteady state numerical analysi Same system described in Zuo et al. (2018b); An increase in the blade number increases the maximum
Dt = 10.16 m, Evaluation of the influence of structural parameters of the turbine and temperature difference and decreases the mass flow rate and
Hc = 1.85 m, ventilator on the system performance; freshwater productivity;
Dc = 244 m. Evaluation of the shape of the turbine guide; Guide vane increases mass flow rate and freshwater
Solar radiation prescribed of 800 W/m2. productivity;
(continued on next page)
Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95
C.B. Maia, et al. Solar Energy 183 (2019) 83–95

generation system, in order to study the flow field characteristics and

The higher collector and plant efficiencies were found for the

The increase on the PVSCP turbine power output was 17.9%

The chimney efficiency was the same for all configurations.
performance parameters of the system. The dimensions used in the
Guide cone slightly reduces mass flow rate and freshwater
study were based on the Manzanares prototype. The results of max-

compared to CSCP and 31.3% compared to PVDSCP.

imum temperature difference, chimney outlet velocity, mass flow rate,
turbine pressure drop, shaft power, turbine efficiency and overall per-
formance of the system were compared to a solar chimney power plant,
a solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desalination and
PVDSCP, followed by PVSCP and CSCP.

to the proposed system. The main conclusion is that the utilization rate
of solar energy is effectively improved by the ventilator, with an in-
crease of the output power of the system and the freshwater production.
Later, Zuo et al. (2018a) developed a 3D numerical analysis of the
airflow inside a wind supercharged solar chimney power plant com-
bined with seawater desalination to evaluate the influence of structural
parameters on the system performance. The evaluated parameters were
productivity.
Key findings

turbine structure parameters, shape of the turbine guide (guide cone or

guide vane – see Fig. 10) and wind pressure ventilator parameters. The
authors concluded that an increase in the turbine blade number in-
creased the maximum temperature difference and decrease the mass
flow rate and the freshwater productivity. According to the authors, it is
reasonable to choose four or five-blade turbine based on system output
photovoltaic based solar chimney plant (PVSCP) and photovoltaic and

and the cost of blades. The guide vane can significantly reduce the
Comparison among classical solar chimney power plant (CSCP), a

rotation effect of the airflow after the turbine, increasing the freshwater
productivity and the shaft power of the system. The guide cone in-
creases the turbine efficiency and slightly decrease the mass flow rate
and freshwater productivity.
desalination based solar chimney plant (PVDSCP),

Zuo et al. (2019) improved the original design to include indirect

condensation freshwater production. A condenser positioned below the
wind turbine (see Fig. 11) preheats the seawater, which absorbs the
Solar still concept is used for saline water

condensation latent heat of vapor in the hot airflow, improving the

system performance. A numerical simulation of a solar chimney power
plant, a solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desalina-
Solar irradiance of 1017 W/m2.
Considerations/Contributions

tion by indirect condensation freshwater production and a wind su-

percharged solar chimney power plant combined with seawater desa-
lination by indirect condensation freshwater production was
performed, and the results of these systems were compared for the flow
field characteristics. The main conclusions were that the condenser
desalination.

made full use of the condensation latent heat released by water vapor
and the wind pressure ventilator significantly increased the electricity
production.
Two novel configurations of solar chimneys were proposed by
Rahbar and Riasi (2019), in an attempt to improve utilization of solar
energy and land resource. In the first configuration, called Photovoltaic
1D simulation code with optimization

based Solar Chimney Power Plant (PVSCP), the authors proposed the
use of a transparent photovoltaic layer instead of the classical trans-
parent cover, increasing the total power output of the system and still
heating the airflow under the collector. In the second configuration,
called Photovoltaic and Desalination based Solar Chimney Power Plant
(PVDSCP), a solar still is used for saline water desalination. Part of the
incident solar radiation is absorbed by the saline water inside the basin
Study type

procedure

layer, which is vaporized. Formerly, the condensate is collected al lower

edge of the system (see Fig. 12). Mathematical 1-D models of Classical
Solar Chimney Power Plant (CSCP), PVSCP and PVDSCP were devel-
oped and solved in EES platform. Experimental results from Manza-
Location/Dimensions

nares plant were used to validate the CSCP model. A parametric ana-
lysis was performed to investigate the effect of key input variables on
Ht = 194.6 m,
Dt = 10.16 m,
Hc = 1.85 m,

efficiency and power output. For the same SCPP geometry, PVDSCP
Dc = 244 m.

exhibited the highest collector and plant efficiencies compared to CSCP

and PVSCP, but the lowest turbine power output, higher for PVSCP
configuration. Furthermore, an optimization analysis was developed
using DIRECT algorithm to maximize the plant efficiency, for the con-
Table 1 (continued)

figurations proposed. It was found that the optimized PVDSCP config-

(Rahbar and Riasi,

uration has a plant efficiency of 1.01%, 37.15% and 36.1% higher than
optimized CSCP and PVSCP, respectively.
2019)
Source

93
C.B. Maia, et al.
5.2. Summary, progress, and needs
These solar chimney-desalination reports are summarized in
Table 1, providing the source authors, the publication year, a summary
of the major considerations and contributions and the key findings. Ht
stands for tower height, Dt for tower diameter, Hc for collector height
and Dc for collector diameter. None of the approaches appears to pre-
sent a clear winning approach. All are simulations, except the work by
Zuo et al. in 2012, which does report a credible-level at 180 g/hr. The
numerical concepts reported by Ming, Ayesh, and Zuo over the period
2016 show considerations of system evolutions and modifications, in-
corporating higher technology options into the advanced systems.
However, there have not been comprehensive efforts to experimentally
demonstrate the reality of these simulated proposed technical advanced
systems on a needed scale. However, all do point to the potential for the
integrated solar chimney-desalination approach as a viable commercial
technology.
One approach for the hybrid integrated chimney-desalination ap-
proach is to have the collector at the bottom cover a simple “desali-
nation pond” or the system schematic of Fig. 4. The tower required
would be 4 to 5 times the Manzanares tower height and a collector area
∼40% larger for a large, practical system (Asayesh et al., 2017). These
systems might be scalable, with “mini” hybrids for potential remote
village applications. Other approaches could simply use the power
generated smart-coupled to an efficient desalination system (Section 2).
6. Summary
Solar desalination remains a potentially sustainable alternative to
solve world’s energy and water issues. However, compared to conven-
tional fossil-fuel based desalination plants, the production costs from
solar-based desalination processes are still relatively large (Zhang et al.,
2018). Solar chimneys are reliable devices with long expected opera-
tional lifetimes. They have a simple and robust structure, ensuring low-
maintenance costs. They are clean, consuming no combustible or fossil
fuels. The use of solar chimneys for desalination installations allows to
improve the efficiency of the use of solar energy, but yet has to de-
monstrate any penetration into the desalination markets. There are only
a few studies available in the literature, primarily focused on mathe-
matical simulations and modeling. Due to the potential use of solar
chimneys to simultaneously generate power and produce freshwater,
more combined modeling and experimental studies are necessary to
define the optimal configuration(s) and to maximize the performance.
The hybrid solar chimney-desalination system has high potential but
remains a research phase.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge CNPq, FAPEMIG and PUC
Minas for support of this work.
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