Natural Ventilation Improvement of Building using Solar Chimney Made of Honey Comb Structure: A CFD Based Study

Abstract

Aim of this study is to improve the thermal comfort of residential buildings located in rural area of Rajasthan by using solar chimney technique. Investigations were focused on development of new kind of improved solar chimney. Three designs of absorber plates used for natural ventilation improvement are following: simple plate, vertical plate combinations and honeycomb structure. Year round results were gained by using CFD commercial software ANSYS FLUENT 14.5. Experimental validation is also carried out by using prototype modeling technique for proposed designs. Comparison of solar chimney with honeycomb and without honeycomb is also studied in present study to find relation with thermal performance of chimney. The performance of the system is highly influenced by solar intensity. Improvement of room temperature in the building for May month is also studied using solar chimney. With the change of chimney design (honeycomb and without honeycomb), the change in velocity distribution and the air flow inside the chimney was observed.