Numerical evaluation of louver configuration and ventilation strategies for the windcatcher system

The windcatcher system is a green architectural feature that uses natural ventilation to induce external airflow into residential buildings. This paper presents different configuration and ventilation strategies for the windcatcher to evaluate the performance of the system in relation to ventilation and indoor particle dispersion. A commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code is used to evaluate the windcatcher’s performance using different numbers of louvers and louver lengths. The effects of buoyancy and window positions on the system’s performance are considered. The flow rate of air induced into the windcatcher is found to increase with the number of louver layers and the highest ventilation rate is reached when the louver length equates with the reference length. With respect to the buoyancy effect, the results show that the system performs well in stimulating airflow and removing contaminants when a window is positioned on the leeward side. A uniform and low particle concentration is created when a window is positioned on the leeward side. However, due to the high air velocity below the windcatcher, the general airflow distribution of the system is not uniform. A damper or egg crated grill should be installed at the terminal of the system, especially when the external wind is strong.     

Modelling of cowl performance in building simulation tools using experimental data and computational fluid dynamics

Exhaust cowls are used in conjunction with hybrid ventilation systems to efficiently convert wind energy into negative pressure and thus minimize the electrical energy required by the extract fan. Yet the fact that cowl performance is largely dictated by operating conditions imposes particularly stringent demands on modelling. This paper demonstrates, by way of a concrete example, the need for and potential benefits of a new methodological approach to the modelling of cowls. The study focuses on a specific modelling strategy, applied within a building simulation program, for a cowl used in a hybrid ventilation system. The method is progressively simplified to produce four variants, which chiefly vary according to their level of detail and, hence, the associated modelling effort. Wind pressure coefficients at facade, above roof and in the cowl are needed for all model variants. Some of the investigated variants rely on CFD computations of airflow around the building to determine these values. This study uses the example of a single-family house (SFH) to identify those criteria requiring particular attention in the performance of CFD numerical flow analyses. All four variants are examined on the basis of this example to determine which simplifications to the model are appropriate and permissible without unduly compromising the accuracy of the results.     

Numerical simulation of rooftop ventilator flow

Rotating rooftop turbine ventilators are cost effective environmental friendly natural ventilation devices, which are used to extract airflow from a building to improve air quality and comfort. A CFD study using the standard k-? turbulence model with multiple reference frame (MRF) meshing technique was employed to explore the suitability of numerical approach in modelling various features of a ventilator flow. The initial CFD results were validated against wind tunnel data obtained for a commercial ventilator on a simulated inclined rooftop configuration conducted at the aerodynamic laboratory of University of New South Wales. The numerical studies were then extended to examine both the internal and the external flows associated with the ventilator at different wind speeds and to quantify the performance of a rotating ventilator in terms of air extraction rate. The trend observed appeared to be in good agreement with published data suggesting that application of numerical simulation is feasible as a cost effective tool in the future design, development and performance analysis of rotating wind driven ventilation device.     

The assessment of the performance of a windcatcher system using computational fluid dynamics

Natural ventilation is increasingly being used in modern residential buildings to minimize the consumption of non-renewable energy and the reliance on active means for environmental control. Innovative green features such as the windcatcher has made use of natural ventilation in residential buildings for increasing ventilation rate. This paper presents a numerical study of assessment of the performance of windcatcher using computational fluid dynamics. A 500 mm square windcatcher system connected to the room has been modeled for different wind speeds in the range of 0.5–6 m/s and four different wind directions. The numerical results generally agree with the published experimental results of a wind tunnel experiment. The numerical results demonstrate that the windcatcher performance is greatly influenced by the external wind speed and direction with respect to the windcatcher quadrants. In all cases studied, the maximum velocity of air entering the room is close to the external wind speed and the windcatcher system is found to be an efficient way to channel fresh air into the room. The study also shows that the airflow rate of the air entering the room increases with the wind speed and slightly decreases with the wind incidence angle when the wind speed is lower than 3 m/s. In addition, the results show that the uniformity of air inlet decreases with increasing the wind speed and the incidence angle.     

A venturi-shaped roof for wind-induced natural ventilation of buildings: Wind tunnel and CFD evaluation of different design configurations

Wind tunnel experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are used to analyse the flow conditions in a venturi-shaped roof, with focus on the underpressure in the narrowest roof section (contraction). This underpressure can be used to partly or completely drive the natural ventilation of the building zones. The wind tunnel experiments are performed in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel at scale 1:100. The 3D CFD simulations are performed with steady RANS and the RNG k-? model. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to evaluate the accuracy of steady RANS and the RNG k-? model for this application and (2) to assess the magnitude of the underpressures generated with different design configurations of the venturi-shaped roof. The CFD simulations of mean wind speed and surface pressures inside the roof are generally in good agreement (10–20%) with the wind tunnel measurements. The study shows that for the configuration without guiding vanes, large negative pressure coefficients are obtained, down to −1.35, with reference to the free-stream wind speed at roof height. The comparison of design configurations with and without guiding vanes shows an – at least at first sight – counter-intuitive result: adding guiding vanes strongly decreases the absolute value of the underpressure. The reason is that the presence of the guiding vanes increases the flow resistance inside the roof and causes more wind to flow over and around the roof, and less wind through it (wind-blocking). As a result, the optimum configuration is the one without guiding vanes.     

Numerical model and validation experiments of atrium enclosure fire in a new fire test facility

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a tool for buildings, warehouses or factories design requirements fulfilling about fire safety is becoming more common and reliable. Performance-based fire safety assurance procedures make use of the CFD fire modelling to anticipate the evolution of fire, but they need always to be validated. This is especially difficult for big structures, with great clear volumes, where effects of natural and forced ventilation can be very scale dependent. A good opportunity to check the prediction capability of CFD codes to establish temperatures and velocities fields is the new full-scale fire test facility of the Technological Metal Centre in Murcia, Spain. It is an aluminium prismatic squared base building of 19.5 m×19.5 m×20 m, with several vents arranged in its walls and four exhaust fans at the roof. Series of experimental tests have been carried out using several heptane normalized pool-fires placed at the centre of the atrium. The data obtained from these experiments have been later used in a validation study of two CFD simulations implemented for temperature wall, ambient temperature prediction and exhaust fan assessment. The results show good agreement between experimental and numerical predictions and allow concluding that for a fire test of 1.6 MW of average heat release power, the exhaust and ventilation system is not enough to extract the hot combustion products. There is an excessive and dangerous accumulation of hot gases at the upper part of the atrium and the exhaust capacity of the roof fans must be increased. The CFD models can give the answer to that question.     

The effect of ceiling configurations on indoor air motion and ventilation flow rates

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of a building parameter, namely ceiling configuration, on indoor natural ventilation. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Phoenics was used with the RNG k–? turbulence model to study wind motion and ventilation flow rates inside the building. All the CFD boundary conditions were described. The simulation results were first validated by wind tunnel experiment results in detail, and then used to compare rooms with various ceiling configurations in different cases. The simulation results generated matched the experimental results confirming the accuracy of the RNG k–? turbulence model to successfully predict indoor wind motion for this study. Our main results reveal that ceiling configurations have certain effects on indoor airflow and ventilation flow rates although these effects are fairly minor.     

CFD modelling of air flow and thermal performance of an atrium integrated with photovoltaics

The thermal performance of an atrium integrated with photovoltaic (PV) modules has been evaluated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was applied to the prediction of air flow and temperature distribution in the atrium. CFD was then used to investigate the effect of ventilation strategies on the performance of PV arrays. CFD modelling indicated that for effective cooling of roof PV arrays, cool outdoor air should be introduced through an opening positioned close to the roof or an air channel underneath the roof.     

CFD simulations of natural ventilation behaviour in high-rise buildings in regular and staggered arrangements at various spacings

Natural ventilation, which is in line with the concepts of sustainability and green energy, is widely acknowledged nowadays. Prevailing winds in urban areas are unavoidably modified by the increasing number of closely placed high-rise buildings that significantly modify the natural ventilation behaviour. This paper explores the effects of building interference on natural ventilation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. The cross-ventilation rate (temporal-average volumetric airflow rate) of hypothetical apartments in a building cluster under isothermal conditions was examined using the standard two-equation k − ? turbulence model. The sensitivity of ventilation rate to wind direction, building separation and building disposition (building shift) was studied. Placing buildings farther away from one another substantially promoted the ventilation rate, cancelling the unfavourable interference eventually when the building separation was about five times the building width (the optimum separation). The characteristic flow pattern leading to this behaviour was revealed. With the adoption of building disposition, the optimum separation could be reduced to three times the building width. In addition, the airflow rates could be doubled with suitable shifts. Building disposition is therefore one of the feasible solutions to improve the natural ventilation performance in our crowded environment.     

Quantifying the performance of a top–down natural ventilation Windcatcher™

Estimating the performance of a natural ventilation system is very important if one is to correctly size the system for a particular application. Estimating the performance of a Windcatcher™ is complicated by the complex flow patterns that occur during the top–down ventilation process. Methods for predicting Windcatcher™ performance can currently be separated into simplistic analytic methods such as the envelope flow model and the use of complex and time consuming numerical methods such as CFD. This article presents an alternative semi-empirical approach in which a detailed analytic model makes use of experimental data published in the literature for 500 mm square Windcatchers™, in order to provide a fast but accurate estimate of Windcatcher™ performance. Included in the model are buoyancy effects, the effect of changes in wind speed and direction, as well as the treatment of sealed and unsealed rooms. The semi-empirical predictions obtained are shown to compare well with measured data and CFD predictions, and air buoyancy is shown only to be significant at relatively low flow velocities. In addition, a very simple algorithm is proposed for quantifying the air flow rates from a room induced by a Windcatcher™ in the absence of buoyancy effects.     

Enhancement of stack ventilation in hot and humid climate using a combination of roof solar collector and vertical stack

In the hot and humid climate, stack ventilation is inefficient due to small temperature difference between the inside and outside of naturally ventilated buildings. Hence, solar induced ventilation is a feasible alternative in enhancing the stack ventilation. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of a proposed solar induced ventilation strategy, which combines a roof solar collector and a vertical stack, in enhancing the stack ventilation performance in the hot and humid climate. The methodology selected for the investigation is physical experimental modelling which was carried out in the actual environment. The results are presented and discussed in terms of two performance variables: air temperature and air velocity. The findings indicate that the proposed strategy is able to enhance the stack ventilation, both in semi-clear sky and overcast sky conditions. The highest air temperature difference between the air inside the stack and the ambient air (T_i−T_o) is achieved in the semi-clear sky condition, which is about 9.9 °C (45.8 °C–35.9 °C). Meanwhile, in the overcast sky condition, the highest air temperature difference (T_i−T_o) is 6.2 °C (39.3 °C–33.1 °C). The experimental results also indicate good agreement with the theoretical results for the glass temperature, the air temperature in the roof solar collector’s channel and the absorber temperature. The findings also show that wind has significant effect to the induced air velocity by the proposed strategy.     

Computational analysis of wind driven natural ventilation in buildings

The design of natural ventilation in buildings is often performed by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, whose application is gaining popularity. In the present study, Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equation (RANS) approach is applied to wind driven natural ventilation in a cubic building. Two different models are considered, namely the two-equation k–ɛ model and the Renormalization Group (RNG) theory. The velocity and pressure distribution inside and around the building are determined, as well as the ventilation rate, for three different configurations: cross ventilation, single-sided ventilation with an opening on the windward wall and single-sided ventilation with an opening on the leeward wall. The numerical results are compared with experimental data, showing a good agreement, particularly when using RNG. The discrepancy in the determination of the ventilation rate is reasonable and the flow distribution inside the building is properly described when RNG model is used. However, the k–ɛ model fails to determine the correct velocity components near the horizontal surfaces. According to these results, the RNG model can be considered a useful tool for the study of wind driven natural ventilation, especially for the assessment of the ventilation rate and of the air distribution inside a room.     

Effect of damper and heat source on wind catcher natural ventilation performance

Experimental wind tunnel and smoke visualisation testing and CFD modelling were conducted to investigate the effect of air flow control mechanism and heat source inside rooms on wind catchers/towers performance. For this purpose, a full-scale wind catcher was connected to a test room and positioned centrally in an open boundary wind tunnel. Pressure coefficients (C_p's) around the wind catcher and air flow into the test room were established. The performance of the wind catcher depends greatly on the wind speed and direction. The incorporation of dampers and egg crate grille at ceiling level reduces and regulates the air flow rate with an average pressure loss coefficient of 0.01. The operation of the wind catcher in the presence of heat sources will potentially lower the internal temperatures in line with the external temperatures.     

Numerical simulation of the wind field around different building arrangements

A numerical model with the RNG κ−ε turbulence closure model and a pressure correction algorithm of SIMPLEC is used to examine three different building configuration effects on wind flow. Comparisons of computational results with experimental data have been carried out for the vertical velocity profiles at some measurement points. For the experimental study, the building arrangements were presented by 1:150 scale models and tested in a low-speed wind tunnel. It was found that the wind environment for two improved arrangements with lower interval-to-height ratio is better than that for the reference layout with higher aspect ratio in terms of the natural ventilation. The interference effect is more obvious for two improved arrangements than the reference one. The numerical results also show that changing wind direction from perpendicular to the building facades to a 45°-incidence angle has significant effect on the flow field for different configurations.     

Passive cooling in hot,arid regions in developing countries by employing domed roofs and reducing the temperature of internal surfaces

Natural ventilation due to wind effects through buildings employing domed roofs was estimated by a flow network analysis. The dome was assumed to have an opening at its crown. When compared with flat roofs, the domed roofs always increase the air flow rate through the building. The increase in natural ventilation becomes significant in buildings with doors and windows all in one wall, or whenever the wind effects on the building envelope do not produce large pressure differences at the openings.The large air flow rate in the buildings with domed roofs may be utilized to store night air coolness in the structure more effectively and keep the mean radiant temperature of the interior surfaces low for thermal comfort in summer. The lowest internal surface temperatures can be obtained when the surfaces are kept moist and evaporatively cooled.Through a one-dimensional energy analysis the inside surface temperature of a horizontal slab was estimated for various slab materials and thicknesses and external and internal conditions. The inside surface temperature was compared with the case of employing a roof pond. It was found that lower temperatures can be obtained by evaporatively-cooled moist internal surfaces than that which can be obtained by unshaded roof ponds: For a building whose internal surfaces (walls and ceiling) are kept moist a large ventilation rate is needed to prevent water vapor build-up in the space. A domed roof with a hole in its crown can produce the necessary ventilation for such a building.     

屋面积雪分布的最不利影响模拟分析

应用计算流体动力学软件平台FLUENT,采用气固两相流理论,对自定义屋面在不同风向、风速作用下,模拟其对屋面在持续性降雪过程中积雪的不均匀分布情况的影响,通过对积雪分布情况的分析,找出风致积雪过程中风向、风速对其的最不利影响,为结构静力设计和雪荷载规范的完善提供理论依据。     

体育场罩棚倾角及连接开缝对风荷载的影响

为了满足造型和功能需要,体育场的罩棚倾角常常根据具体条件而变化,罩棚上扬、下俯均有所应用.通常罩棚与看台顶部留有环通的空隙,有利于场内通风,但也有一些场馆未留空隙.特殊的体型将对罩棚的风荷载产生影响,本文针对罩棚倾角变化和连接开缝情况两种因素对罩棚表面风压分布的影响进行了CFD数值模拟,给出了风压系数的变化规律,并与风洞试验结果进行了比较.     

Development of ventilation design strategy for effective removal of pollutant in the isolation room of a hospital

This paper investigates the airflow and pollutant distribution patterns in a “negative pressure” isolation room by means of objective measurement and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling based on three ventilation strategies. An effective ventilation system is crucial to protect doctors, nurses and other health-care workers from patients with infectious disease. In the preliminary study with Strategy 1, the isolation room has two air supply diffusers and two extract grilles mounted on the ceiling. Strategy 2 retains the air supply diffusers in Strategy 1 but relocates the two extract grilles to the wall behind the bed at 0.3 m above the floor level. Strategy 3 has the same layout as Strategy 2 except the ceiling diffusers are replaced by supply grilles and relocated closer to the wall behind the bed.     

An experimental and computational study of the aerodynamic and passive ventilation characteristics of small livestock trailers

This paper presents a combined experimental and computational study of the aerodynamics and passive ventilation characteristics of small livestock trailers within which the majority of animals in the United Kingdom are transported to market. Data obtained from a series of wind tunnel experiments using a 1/7th scale model of a simplified towing vehicle and trailer are compared with complementary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses, based on steady-state RANS turbulence modelling, of the coupled external/internal flow field. Good agreement between the two is obtained everywhere except at the rear of the trailer. Since the internal flow field and overall ventilation rates contribute to animal welfare, CFD is used to generate detailed internal flow fields and air residence times for use within an overall welfare assessment. The results demonstrate that the flow fields in the upper and lower decks differ significantly and that ventilation rates are much larger and air residence times much smaller on the upper deck.     

Wind and Fire Coupled Modelling—Part II: Good Practice Guidelines

The requirement to model wind is inherently connected with the modelling of many fire-related phenomena. With its defining influence on fire behaviour, spread and smoke transport, the solution of a problem with and without wind exposure will lead to substantially different results. As wind and fire are phenomena that often require different scales of analysis and approaches to modelling, their coupling is not a trivial task. This paper is the second part of a two-paper review of the coupling between fire safety engineering and computational wind engineering (CWE). Part I contained a review of historical interactions between these disciplines, sorted into six distinct areas: flames, indoor flows, natural ventilators, tunnels, wildfires and urban smoke dispersion. This part of the review contains practical information related to wind modelling in fire analysis, based on various available CWE best practice guidelines. As the authors conclude, the most relevant of these are guidelines related to urban physics and natural ventilation; however, many more are discussed and presented, together with the results of other essential wind engineering experiments and computations. Introduction of wind as a boundary condition is explained in details, both based on wind statistics, or meso/micro scale coupled modelling. The guidelines for wind/fire coupled analyses are subdivided into recommendations for: building the digital domain, spatial and temporal discretisation, the consequences of the choice of a turbulent flow model, and the procedure for optimising CFD analysis of both wind and fire phenomena.