CFD analysis of a heat transfer device integrated wind tower system for hot and dry climate

Increasing emphasis on reducing power consumption has raised public awareness of natural and renewable energy resources, particularly the integration of natural ventilation systems in buildings such as wind towers. The aim of this work is to incorporate heat transfer devices in a wind tower to meet the internal comfort criteria in extreme external conditions. Heat transfer devices were installed inside the passive terminal of the wind tower unit, highlighting the potential to achieve minimal restriction in the external air flow stream while ensuring maximum contact time, thus optimizing the cooling duty of the device. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to develop a numerical model of a new wind tower design and simulate the air flow pattern and pressure coefficients around and through the wind tower to a test room. Results have indicated that the average internal airflow rate was reduced following the integration of the vertical and horizontal heat transfer device configuration, reductions of 7% and 10% was obtained from the achieved numerical models. The work compared the effect of evaporative cooling and heat transfer devices on the thermal performance of the passive ventilation device. The proposed cooling system was capable of reducing the air temperatures up to 15K, depending on the configuration and operating conditions. Furthermore, the study also highlighted that the proposed system was able to provide the recommended rates of fresh supply even at relatively low external wind speeds. The technology presented here is subject to IP protection under the QNRF funding guidelines. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.