Simulation of natural ventilation of different configurations of a room equipped with a solar chimney under the city of Ouarzazate (Morocco) climatic conditions

Abstract

Natural ventilation is considered as an effective way to improve ventilation and thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption in residential buildings. In this sense, natural ventilation is done by a solar chimney. It is used to increase the air flow through the room by converting thermal energy into kinetic energy. In this work, we intend to present the results of a three dimensional numerical simulation by ANSYS software of natural ventilation through a room equipped with a solar chimney in semiarid climatic conditions of Ouarzazate (Morocco). The chimney is modelled by a rectangular channel with two South-East oriented glass faces. The main objective is to investigate effects of room dimensions for a solar chimney with of fixed dimensions. We also investigate effects of air velocity, turbulence of kinetic energy and air-flow rate in each area of room and solar chimney and determine optimal dimensions of solar chimney for each room size.