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Development of a natural ventilation windcatcher with passive heat recovery wheel for mild-cold climates: CFD and experimental analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Calautit, John Kaiser
  • O’Connor, Dominic
  • Tien, Paige Wenbin
  • Wei, Shuangyu
  • Pantua, Conrad Allan Jay
  • Hughes, Ben

Abstract

User demand for increased internal thermal comfort conditions have resulted in rising energy costs for space-heating consumption. The present study aims to recover the thermal energy in ventilation exhaust air and transfer the energy to the incoming air, to be redistributed using natural ventilation windcatcher. A comprehensive review was carried out to explore heat recovery systems that can potentially be incorporated with natural ventilation wind catchers. A rotary heat recovery device suitable to be incorporated with a roof mounted multi directional windcatcher system was developed. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling and laboratory experimental tests were conducted to investigate the proposed system. In the first phase, a full-scale prototype of the passive rotary thermal wheel device was developed and tested in a crossflow channel to initially assess the concept and performance of the design. Two configurations of the passive heat recovery wheel were tested: 20 and 32 radial blades. The second phase focused on investigating the integration of heat recovery wheel into a windcatcher system. CFD modelling and scaled wind tunnel testing were conducted to assess the airflow and temperature distribution around the multi-directional windcatcher with a passive rotary wheel. The results showed that the addition of the heat recovery wheel rotating at 15 rpm reduced the indoor airflow speed between 14 and 30%, depending on the outdoor wind conditions. The system was able to provide the recommended fresh air rates when the outdoor wind speed was 1.5 m/s and higher. In addition to sufficient ventilation, the heat recovery system had a positive impact on the indoor air temperature, raising the temperature up to 3.7 °C depending on the indoor/outdoor conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Calautit, John Kaiser & O’Connor, Dominic & Tien, Paige Wenbin & Wei, Shuangyu & Pantua, Conrad Allan Jay & Hughes, Ben, 2020. "Development of a natural ventilation windcatcher with passive heat recovery wheel for mild-cold climates: CFD and experimental analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 465-482.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:160:y:2020:i:c:p:465-482
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.05.177
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Alsailani, M. & Montazeri, H. & Rezaeiha, A., 2021. "Towards optimal aerodynamic design of wind catchers: Impact of geometrical characteristics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 1344-1363.
    3. Liu, Miaomiao & Nejat, Payam & Cao, Pinlu & Jimenez-Bescos, Carlos & Calautit, John Kaiser, 2024. "A critical review of windcatcher ventilation: Micro-environment, techno-economics, and commercialisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    4. Ardalan Aflaki & Masoud Esfandiari & Saleh Mohammadi, 2021. "A Review of Numerical Simulation as a Precedence Method for Prediction and Evaluation of Building Ventilation Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Tien, Paige Wenbin & Wei, Shuangyu & Liu, Tianshu & Calautit, John & Darkwa, Jo & Wood, Christopher, 2021. "A deep learning approach towards the detection and recognition of opening of windows for effective management of building ventilation heat losses and reducing space heating demand," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 603-625.
    6. Ashraf Balabel & Mamdooh Alwetaishi & Wageeh A. El-Askary & Hamza Fawzy, 2021. "Numerical Study on Natural Ventilation Characteristics of a Partial-Cylinder Opening for One-Sided-Windcatcher of Variable Air-Feeding Orientations in Taif, Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Bai, H.Y. & Liu, P. & Justo Alonso, M. & Mathisen, H.M., 2022. "A review of heat recovery technologies and their frost control for residential building ventilation in cold climate regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Chi, Fang'ai & Pan, Jiajie & Liu, Yang & Guo, Yuang, 2021. "Improvement of thermal comfort by hydraulic-driven ventilation device and space partition arrangement towards building energy saving," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).

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