Design of a Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling Windcatcher (PDEC-WC) System for Greenhouses in Hot Climates

Marouen Ghoulem, Khaled El Moueddeb, Ezzedine Nehdi, Fangliang Zhong and John Calautit
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Marouen Ghoulem: Unité de Recherche Energétique et Environnement, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
Khaled El Moueddeb: Unité de Recherche Energétique et Environnement, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
Ezzedine Nehdi: Unité de Recherche Energétique et Environnement, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
Fangliang Zhong: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
John Calautit: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: A windcatcher is a wind-driven natural ventilation system that catches the prevailing wind to bring fresh airflow into the building and remove existing stale air. This technology recently regained attention and is increasingly being employed in buildings for passive ventilation and cooling. The combination of windcatchers and evaporative cooling has the potential to reduce the amount of energy required to ventilate and cool a greenhouse in warm and hot climates. This study examined a greenhouse incorporated with a passive downdraught evaporative cooling windcatcher (PDEC-WC) system using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), validated with experimental data. Different hot ambient conditions of temperature (30–45 °C) and relative humidity (15–45%) were considered. The study explored the influence of different spray heights, layouts, cone angles and mass flow rates on indoor temperature and humidity. The average error between measurements and simulated results was 5.4% for the greenhouse model and 4.6% for the evaporative spray model. Based on the results and set conditions, the system was able to reduce the air temperature by up to 13.3 °C and to increase relative humidity by 54%. The study also assessed the influence of neighbouring structures or other greenhouses that influence the flow distribution at the ventilation openings. The study showed that the windcatcher ventilation system provided higher airflow rates as compared to cross-flow ventilation when other structures surrounded the greenhouse.

Keywords: CFD; natural ventilation; evaporative cooling; water spray (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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