Effect of windcatcher's inlet shape on ventilation flow through a two dimensional room

Publication Type:
Conference Proceeding
Citation:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fluids Engineering Division (Publication) FEDSM, 2018, 2
Issue Date:
2018-01-01
Full metadata record
Copyright © 2018 ASME Natural ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor space by natural means. Windcatcher has been used over centuries for providing natural ventilation using wind power, it is an effective passive method to provide healthy and comfortable indoor environment by decreasing moisture content in the air and reducing pollutants concentration. The windcatcher's function is based on the wind and on the stack effect resulting from temperature differences. Generally, it is difficult for wind to change its direction, and enter a room through usual openings, the windcatcher is designed to overcome such problems since they have vertical columns aimed at helping wind to channel down to the inside of a building. The efficiency of a windcatcher is maximized by applying special forms of opening and exit. The openings depend on the windcatcher's location and on its cross sectional area and shape such as square, rectangular, hexagonal or circular. In this study the effect of the inlet design is investigated to achieve better air flow and increase the efficiency of windcatchers. To achieve this, CFD (computational fluid dynamics) tool is used to simulate the air flow in a two dimensional room fitted with a windcatcher based on different inlet designs such as a uniform inlet, a divergent inlet and a bulging-convergent inlet.
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