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Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings

Building ventilation is crucial for improving the indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Nowadays, mechanical ventilation systems such as air conditioning and fans are most commonly used in buildings. However, these devices consume a lot of electricity which is mainly generated from the combustion...

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Main Author: Charitar, Deepti
Other Authors: Madhlopa, Amos
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Energy Research Centre 2016
Subjects:
Sustainable Energy Engineering
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access_status_str Open Access
author Charitar, Deepti
author2 Madhlopa, Amos
author_browse Charitar, Deepti
Madhlopa, Amos
author_facet Madhlopa, Amos
Charitar, Deepti
author_sort Charitar, Deepti
collection Thesis
description Building ventilation is crucial for improving the indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Nowadays, mechanical ventilation systems such as air conditioning and fans are most commonly used in buildings. However, these devices consume a lot of electricity which is mainly generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, resulting in the release of greenhouse gases and thereby contributing to climate change. Consequently, it is essential to switch to natural ventilation systems which are environmentally friendly as they are based on renewable sources of energy. One such type of natural ventilation system is the solar chimney which can either be roof-mounted or wall-mounted in buildings. The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model for assessing the thermal performance of roof-mounted (inclined) and wall-mounted (vertical) solar chimneys. The model was validated using numerical simulations in MATLAB. Different configurations of solar chimneys were designed and modelled in MATLAB in order to compare their performances, in terms of the ventilation rate expressed as the number of air changes per hour, ACH. Raw climatic data, including the intensities of global and diffuse solar radiation on a horizontal plane, wind speed and ambient temperature were obtained for Stellenbosch, located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This was used for the MATLAB modelling of the solar chimneys. The effects of inclination angle, air gap, chimney height and view factor on the thermal performance of solar chimneys were explored in this study.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20100
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:35.974Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Energy Research Centre
publisherStr Energy Research Centre
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20100 Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings Charitar, Deepti Madhlopa, Amos Sustainable Energy Engineering Building ventilation is crucial for improving the indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Nowadays, mechanical ventilation systems such as air conditioning and fans are most commonly used in buildings. However, these devices consume a lot of electricity which is mainly generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, resulting in the release of greenhouse gases and thereby contributing to climate change. Consequently, it is essential to switch to natural ventilation systems which are environmentally friendly as they are based on renewable sources of energy. One such type of natural ventilation system is the solar chimney which can either be roof-mounted or wall-mounted in buildings. The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model for assessing the thermal performance of roof-mounted (inclined) and wall-mounted (vertical) solar chimneys. The model was validated using numerical simulations in MATLAB. Different configurations of solar chimneys were designed and modelled in MATLAB in order to compare their performances, in terms of the ventilation rate expressed as the number of air changes per hour, ACH. Raw climatic data, including the intensities of global and diffuse solar radiation on a horizontal plane, wind speed and ambient temperature were obtained for Stellenbosch, located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This was used for the MATLAB modelling of the solar chimneys. The effects of inclination angle, air gap, chimney height and view factor on the thermal performance of solar chimneys were explored in this study. 2016-06-23T14:49:36Z 2016-06-23T14:49:36Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MSc (Eng) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20100 eng application/pdf Energy Research Centre Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Sustainable Energy Engineering
Charitar, Deepti
Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
title_full Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
title_fullStr Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
title_full_unstemmed Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
title_short Numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
title_sort numerical study of the thermal performance of solar chimneys for ventilation in buildings
topic Sustainable Energy Engineering
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20100
work_keys_str_mv AT charitardeepti numericalstudyofthethermalperformanceofsolarchimneysforventilationinbuildings

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