A Numerical Study On Induced Flowrate And Thermal Efficiency Of A Solar Chimney With Horizontal Absorber Surface For Ventilation Of Buildings

Solar chimneys absorb solar radiation heat to create stack effect which induces airflow for natural ventilation of buildings. Solar chimneys have been studied mainly in two forms: vertical air channel and inclined one. In this paper, a solar chimney with a horizontal absorber surface was proposed. Its performance in term of the induced air flowrate through the channel and the thermal efficiency was predicted by a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) model. Examined factors included the heat flux and major dimensions of the chimney: length of the absorber surface, gap of the air channel, and height and width of the inlet and outlet sections. The results show that increasing of all examined factors enhances the flowrate but has minor effect on the thermal efficiency. However, excessive large outlet width results in reduction of the flowrate and thermal efficiency due to appearance of reverse flow at the outlet.