Numerical simulation of the airflow at the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant in a desert region

•Wind regimes of the largest central-tower CSP plant in the world were simulated.•Heliostats increase surface roughness and decrease the wind speed by 20%.•The wind and sand barriers reduced the wind speed within 100 m.•Suggestions were proposed for managing and designing CSP plants in desert regions. Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in desert regions disturb the wind regime and blowing sand, thus altering surface erosion and accumulation processes. We investigated wind regimes around the largest central-tower CSP plant in the world in Dubai in a desert environment using computational fluid dynamics to simulate the flows for the entire area, the wind and sand barriers, the central tower, and the heliostats. Over the entire area, increased surface roughness caused by the heliostats reduced wind speed by 20%, but the wind gradually returned to its original speed and direction after the return-flow region. Wind and sand barriers significantly reduced wind speed within 100 m and up to 200 m after the barrier. The area downwind of these barriers showed obvious airflow disruptions, with wind speeds decreasing by more than 50% at a distance of 100 m. The heliostat array reduced wind speed by about 20% locally, but had no effect on the overall wind field. Upwind and downwind of the central tower, the pressure and wind changed greatly, resulting in upwind erosion and downwind sand accumulation. We provide several recommendations regarding the management and design of CSP plants in desert regions.