An atmospheric gravitational vortex as a flow object: improvement of the three-layer model

Abstract

An improved physical and analytical three-layer model of gravitational vortex columns (GVCs) for solar chimney power plants is developed in this paper. In essence, this model represents a further improvement and upgrade of the three-layer model proposed in Ninić et al. (2009). The improvements of the three-layer model deal with internal friction, variable vertical velocity (by height) in the central GVC spiraling upward flow, and variable angular momentum of the downdraft shell. A numerical solution of the improved model is given as a characteristic case and is compared to the elementary GVC model. The results show that the introduced improvements are important parameters for further analysis of gravitational vortex columns.