Air flow patterns of roof solar chimney for cooled natural ventilation in low rise buildings in hot-arid climates

The purpose of this paper is to present airflow patterns and behavior in a roof solar chimney incorporated into a typical room with an inlet and outlet. Airflow patterns were only investigated in internal spaces, divided enclosures, wind towers, and at different window sizes. Numerical simulations using the Fluid Dynamics Package, FTDAP, is utilized to describe and analyze the airflow patterns in the cavity, the room and the roof solar chimneys. Simulation analysis of streamlines, velocity vectors, and temperature distributions in the cavity, room, and the chimney are presented. Maximum velocity vectors, temperatures and smooth streamlines were found to have better performances at separation of 0.25m. Published recent theoretical work with roof solar chimneys to promote nighttime natural ventilation has speculated a mass flow rate of 1.6 kg/s. It indicates good possibilities for developing a system to cool low-rise buildings in hot arid regions such as Al-Ain city, UAE, where energy consumption is enormous. Verified results have emphasized the exploitation of roof solar chimneys to promote nighttime natural ventilation and the cooling of buildings.