Study of a Double-Layer Trombe Wall Assisted by a Temperature-Controlled DC Fan for Heating Seasons

Qingsong Ma, Hiroatsu Fukuda, Takumi Kobatake and Myonghyang Lee
Additional contact information
Qingsong Ma: Department of Architecture, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Hiroatsu Fukuda: Department of Architecture, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Takumi Kobatake: Tohata Architects & Engineers, Osaka 541-0043, Japan
Myonghyang Lee: Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto 603-8577, Japan

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: This paper presents a double-layer Trombe wall assisted by a temperature-controlled direct current (DC) fan. THERB for HAM, a dynamic thermal load calculation software, was used to estimate the heating ability of a double-layer Trombe wall for an office building. We designed a new double-layer Trombe wall that has two ventilated air cavities installed on the south facade of the office building, and a pipe with a temperature-controlled DC fan used to control thermo-circulation. The office building was located in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. The temperature of the ventilated air cavity of the double-layer Trombe wall and the indoor temperature were simulated. It was more efficient for the DC fan to start when the ventilated air cavity temperature was 19 °C and the operative temperature of indoor was maintained at 20 °C. The results showed that the double-layer Trombe wall with a temperature-controlled DC fan can reduce yearly heating needs by nearly 0.6 kWh/m 3 and improve the performance of a double-layer Trombe wall up to 5.6% (22.7% in November, 8.56% in December, 1.04% in January, 3.77% in February, and 3.89% in March), compared to the double-layer Trombe wall without an air supply. The ventilated (all day) double-layer Trombe wall performed better than the unventilated double-layer Trombe wall in November, December, February, and March. Thus, the potential of a double-layer Trombe wall can be improved with the assistance of a temperature-controlled DC fan.

Keywords: temperature-controlled DC fan; performance; double-layer Trombe wall; THERB for HAM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2179/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2179/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2179-:d:120413

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().