New passive thermal comfort system using three renewable energies: Wind catcher, solar chimney and earth to air heat exchanger integrated to real‐scale test room in arid region (Experimental study)

Abstract

Summary Thermal comfort is one of the ancient‐new challenges of the arid region population and responsible for more than 40% of energy end‐use. Renewable energy can be a solution to this problem. In the present paper, the potential of renewable energies to ameliorate thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption in building sectors is experimentally investigated. Three renewable‐based applications are used: wind‐catcher (WC), solar chimney (SC), and earth to air heat exchanger (EAHE). The three techniques are connected to a real‐scale test room and investigated using in‐situ measurement. The contribution of each technique is discussed separately. Temperature, humidity sensors, and anemometer are used to study parameters affecting thermal comfort. Obtained results show that the use of wind‐catcher could provide in the presence of wind an internal airflow of 3.8 m.s−1 which reduces inside room temperature by 6°C. A solar chimney creates a difference between its inlet and outlet air temperature by 5.9°C and increases the kinetic energy of hot air leaving the solar chimney which is replaced by cool air from outside and other devices outlet (EAHE and WC) and increases internal airflow even with the absence of winds. The earth to air heat exchanger increases the outlet air temperature in winter by 8°C and reduces it by 12°C in summer. Inside test room hygrometry is also ameliorated by the use of EAHE. Analyzing the new system (test room + WC + SC + EAHE) shows an important amelioration of inside thermal comfort. A difference between inside and outside test room temperature is found: reduction of 13°C in summer, and a gain of 10°C in winter. The new system leads to better inside test room thermal comfort conditions and to reduce energy consumption by almost 50%. The present study presents the first experimental investigation of using three renewable energies in the same building to improve thermal comfort. Using real scale room and in‐situ measurement gives a realistic idea and results show that green energy could improve the thermal situation and energy saving. This is an original work to motivate building designers, especially in the arid region to use more than one renewable energy to ameliorate thermal comfort in both summer and winter seasons.

Solar Chimney Applications in Buildings

“…It can also be seen from Table 1 that the combined system significantly improves temperature regulation and ventilation rate. 50% with a windcatcher and EAHE [64]; 75-90% with windcatcher [84] Increases 17% with Trombe wall and water spraying system [85]; increases 28-45% [77] An increasing number of studies tend to combine multiple energy-saving systems with SCs with vertical or inclined thermosiphon air channels as an effective passive ventilation enhancement strategy. The strengths of solar chimneys come from providing the desired airflow rate economically, with a simple structure, less space requirement, and ease of integration into existing building facades.…”

“…With the increasing demand for energy-saving, the combination of different ventilation systems is not only limited to double combinations, or triple combinations will get more attempts. Sakhri et al [64] integrated a windcatcher, solar chimney, and earth-to-air heat exchanger into a test room and conducted a full-scale experiment. Ahmed et al [13] suggested that a potential solution to combat the heatwaves in warm climates is a combination of a solar chimney, a windcatcher, and evaporative cooling.…”

Numerical Study of a Basin Type Solar Still with a Double Glass Cover Under Winter Conditions

“…Others models, such as Tiwari et al, [18], Yousef and Hassan [19], Shukla and Modi [20], and Dwivedi and Tiwari [21] have lately been used in the presence of different experimental circumstances. Moreover, there are several studies that considered the heat transfer, solar energy, energy storage, etc, in channels and enclosures, and the following are just a few examples; Hassan et al, [22], Johnson et al, [23], Alawi and Kamar [24], Abdullah et al, [25], Lubis [26], Ghalambaz et al, [27,28], Hajjar et al, [29], Menni et al, [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]40], Menni and Azzi [39], Sakhri et al, [41,42], Bendjamaa et al, [43], Boursas et al, [44], etc.…”

Numerical Investigation of Thermal-Flow Characteristics in Heat Exchanger with Various Tube Shapes

“…They reported that the optimized oval-tube outperforms the conventional circular-tube shape by approximately 13% and 15% in heat transfer rates, 9% and 13.5% in coefficients of performance (COP), and 13% and 16.6% in heat transfer coefficients for Re = 1030 and 2060, respectively. Moreover, other investigations by numerical and experimental treatments have been carried out by Sakhri et al [42][43][44], Chamkha et al [45], Boursas et al [46], Chekchek et al [47], Hadidi et al [48], Menni et al [49][50][51][52], Ahmad et al [53], Salmi et al [54], Ameur et al [55], Mahammedi et al [56], Maouedj et al [57], etc. Their studies suggested different models of heat exchangers in order to improve the performance under various limit conditions.…”