Numerical Analysis of Building Cooling Using New Passive Downdraught Evaporative Tower Configuration in an Arid Climate

Abstract

Building energy consumption in hot arid climates is dominated by air conditioning use. Therefore, using passive cooling methods could reduce this demand, improve resource efficiency, and decrease carbon emissions. In this study, an innovative configuration of a passive downdraught evaporative cooling (PDEC) tower is investigated numerically. The governing equations are solved using the finite element method (FEM), and the effects of inlet velocity (0.5 m·s−1 ≤ uin ≤ 3 m·s−1) and temperature (35 °C ≤ Tin ≤ 45 °C) on the fluid structure, temperature field, and relative humidity are studied for three cases related to the position of the air outlet. The flow is considered as turbulent, and the building walls and the tower are assumed to be thermally well insulated. The PDEC tower is equipped with two vertical isotropic saturated porous layers. The results revealed that the inlet velocity and temperature play an essential role in the quality of the indoor temperature. In fact, the temperature can be reduced by about 7 degrees, and the relative humidity can be enhanced by 9% for lower inlet velocities.