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He 2021
He 2021
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: The potential of solar chimney in building ventilation has long been recognized. However, very few data have
Field measurement been reported on its ventilation performance in actual buildings. In this study, the field performance of a solar
Solar chimney chimney attached to a test house was studied under Hangzhou climate conditions. The ventilation rates were
Ventilation
determined by measuring the airflow rate in the chimney channel. The results show that the solar chimney
Validation
Plume model
provided relatively consistent air changing rates of about 2–5 h− 1 on average 24 h a day despite that it was
installed on the south-east wall. With the wind influence suppressed using a windproof net at the chimney outlet,
the solar radiation and the temperature difference between the room and the outside were two major sources
contributing to the stack flow. The inverse condition, higher room temperature than the outside, was the major
driving force of stack flow during the absence of solar radiation. The limiting effect of the room inlet size was also
demonstrated. The field data validated the plume model, which predicted all the data with reasonable accuracy.
Our study indicates that a properly designed solar chimney can provide reliable ventilation round the clock
during most time of the year in Hangzhou or cities with similar climate. Extra measures are only needed in
summer times when neither the solar radiation nor the inverse condition is available.
1. Introduction understand the design basics. In the fundamental modeling of the solar
chimney, the key issue is to correctly represent the buoyancy force in the
Solar chimneys use solar energy to generate airflow movements that heated chimney channel. For vertically heated channels, the widely used
could be used for building ventilation [1], cooling of PV panels [2], crop single zone model represents the airflow field by one density [1]. A
dry [3] etc. The solar chimney is especially effective in improving indoor popular approach is to use a weighted temperature of the outlet and inlet
thermal comfort when combined with other technologies, such as temperatures [24,25] to calculate the density. Energy equations are
evaporative cooling [4,5], wind towers [6], and ground heat sources [7, solved for the outlet temperature. The uncertainty with the single zone
8]. The energy saving potentials of solar chimneys in buildings have model is associated with the choice of the discharge coefficient. In
been discussed [9–11]. Monghasemi and Vadiee [12] provided a review different studies, different values of the discharge coefficient were used
on the possible applications of solar chimneys in space heating and even when the geometries of the chimney were similar [24–26]. Sand
cooling. berg and Moshfegh [27] proposed a different model by considering the
One of the key indicators for the solar chimney performance is the vertical stratification of the density in the channel. They produced a
produced stack flow given the amount of heat. Although several studies correlation between the mass flow rate and the heat flux. The stratifi
have discussed the influences of heat sources [13,14], geometry pa cation model assumes a uniform temperature (thus density) at the same
rameters [15,16], and various enhancement measures including the use height inside the chimney. This assumption may be valid for chimneys
of thermal storage [17–20], novel structures [21,22], and new materials with a small gap-to-height ratio. As demonstrated by experimental data
[23], the physical modeling approach is a more effective way to [28,29], the model predicts poorly for chimneys with larger
* Corresponding author.Yu Hang Tang Rd 866, Yue Ya Lou 405, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
** Corresponding author. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
E-mail addresses: guoqinghe@zju.edu.cn (G. He), wuqian@zust.edu.cn (Q. Wu), Lizhgu@zust.edu.cn (Z. Li), gewenqing@zju.edu.cn (W. Ge), 21812123@zju.edu.
cn (D. Lv), 123@zjxzh.com (L. Cong).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107648
Received 18 November 2020; Received in revised form 4 January 2021; Accepted 22 January 2021
Available online 29 January 2021
0360-1323/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
gap-to-height ratios. He et al. [30] proposed a model that uses a plume of enhance the utilization of earth tubes for energy saving. Thateenaranon
constant width to represent the boundary layer attached to the wall. The et al. [38] demonstrated the application of solar chimney technology in
plume model therefore considers the density variations both vertically a full-scale bio-climatic house that featured roof top-solar chimneys,
and horizontally. The model was validated by multiple datasets from Tromble walls, and a vertical glazed solar chimney. The resulting ben
various references [31,32]. efits included the improved thermal environment as well as the illumi
While most studies focused on the solar chimney performance in the nance. However, the ventilation rate of the solar chimney was not
presence of solar radiation, relatively fewer studies have reported its specifically addressed in these studies, and no modeling of the chimney
performance in real buildings subject to actual environments regardless flows was discussed. To our knowledge, despite the large volume of solar
the fact that this technology has found applications in many buildings. chimney studies, the actual ventilation performance in the real envi
Khedari et al. [33] demonstrated that the solar chimney could still ronment has not been examined sufficiently. There is a lack of the
enhance the ventilation effect of a test room in a school building that validation of solar chimney models by field data. In practice, it is
was subjected to single-sided natural ventilation with an open window important to understand how a solar chimney will impact building
and an open door. In a different test house in Thailand, Khedari et al. ventilation around the clock with and without solar radiation.
[34] reported that the solar chimney could save cooling energy in a hot The objective of this study is to understand the ventilation perfor
climate based on the measurement of the electrical consumption of an mance of the solar chimney in the real environment and to provide field
air-conditioner. Chungloo and Limmeechokchai [10] reported ventila data for model validation. This study explores the ventilation potential
tion flows of an inclined roof top chimney at different times of the year of a thermal-driven solar chimney in a test house by minimizing the
with discussion focused on the influence of solar radiation and hardly on impact of wind using a windproof net at the outlet. The flow rates of the
the night time performance. They used a wind shield at the room inlet to solar chimney were monitored consecutively for multiple weeks. The
reduce the wind effect and found the solar chimney delivered an air influence of related factors such as the solar radiation, ambient tem
change rate (ACH) of 1.13–2.26. Arce et al. [26] reported one day’s perature, wind, and inlet size were studied. A general analytical model
measurements with an outdoor solar chimney model that was not developed earlier [39] was validated. The results of this study will be
attached to a building. Both the wind effect and the thermal gradients helpful for architects and building engineers.
were responsible for the induced flow rates. Four studies reported the
performance of four solar chimneys in actual buildings. Tan et al. [35]
reported that the solar chimney improved the thermal environment in a
zero energy classroom in Singapore based on measurements that lasted
for 120 days. Cheng et al. [36] and Yu et al. [37] used solar chimney to
Fig. 1. Photos of experimental set-up. (a) An overview of the test house, (b) Surroundings, (c) Windproof net, (d) The channel extension with velocimeters, (e) The
lower part of the solar chimney channel with a pyranometer installed inside the channel, and (f) The room inlet with a pipe connected for flow calibration. (For
interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
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G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
2. Experiment that it was hard for the wind to blow through. The main purpose was to
prevent the wind from blowing directly at the outlet in either leeward or
2.1. Solar chimney and test house windward direction. The two sides of the outlet were open and a grill
was placed at each side to reduce direct wind blowing.
The test house was in Hangzhou city (30◦ 16ʹN, 120◦ 12ʹE), which lies There could be cracks and gaps at places such as the door, the win
in the lower basin of the Yangtze River. Its climate produces a strong dow frames, and the joint where the horizontal duct met the wall. The
demand for both cooling (summer) and heating (winter). Based on the air tightness of the room was measured using the tracer decay method on
Typical Meteorological Year data [40], the daily average temperature September 28, 2019. After the door and windows were closed and the
varies between – 5 ◦ C and 37 ◦ C, and the average total horizontal solar door seams and the opening to the chimney channel were sealed with
irradiation is 13.5 MJ/(m2∙day). duct tape, an amount of CO2 was released in the room. The air then was
The solar chimney was attached to a test house on a university mixed using two small fans inside the room. The concentration of CO2
campus (Fig. 1). It was surrounded by hills to the north and a five-story was measured using two CO2 data loggers (ZDR-CJ, 0–5,000 ppm, 2%).
high building to the south. The hills and the building were considerably The concentration was observed to drop from about 2,000 ppm to
higher than the test house. There was a 40 m by 100 m relatively open around 1,400 ppm within 1 h. The air change rates were calculated
area between the hill and the test house on the north-west side and two based on the concentration decay profile recorded by the two loggers.
open roads on the south-east and the south-west corners (Fig. 1b). There They were very close in terms of air change rate (ACH): 0.33 h− 1 and
were relatively dense bushes on the west side of the building (Fig. 1a). 0.34 h− 1. These values were slightly smaller than the leakage rate of 0.5
The test house was south facing, eight degrees to the east, with one room h− 1 measured in a test house in the same region by Ge et al. [41]. In both
on each side. The east room was chosen for the study. It had one window cases the door frames were sealed. The values in this study were slightly
on the east wall and one on the south wall. A full-scale solar chimney smaller possibly because a casement type of windows was used in this
was attached to the south-east wall and connected to an extension inside study while a sliding window was used in Ref. [41]. The casement type is
the room. The extension was a 2.75 m long horizontal metal duct normally more airtight than the sliding type. In Ref. [41], it was further
(Fig. 1d). On the north wall, there was a 0.3 m (height) by 0.4 m (width) observed that the leakage rate dropped to 0 when the window frames
opening functioned as the room inlet. were also sealed in addition to the door seams, suggesting that the air
Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the experiment system. The leakage mainly came from the gaps in the door and window frames.
solar chimney was a vertical air channel of 3.5 m high, 1.0 m wide and
0.13 m deep. The vertical channel of the chimney had a 12 mm thick
plywood panel painted black as the absorber plate and a 10 mm thick 2.2. Instrument and calibration
plain tempered glass pane on each of the three out-facing sides. At the
bottom and top of the channel, the channel was connected to a metal The solar irradiation on the absorbing wall was recorded by a pyr
elbow with the same cross-area (0.13 m2). At the top of the solar anometer (QTS-4, <5%) as shown in Fig. 1e. The temperatures in the
chimney, the discharge outlet was covered with a windproof net to room, along the chimney channels, and at the chimney outlet were
minimize the wind interference (also see Fig. 1c). The net was dense so measured using T-type thermocouples (±0.5 ◦ C). Temperatures were
recorded every minute using the NI 9213 data acquisition module. The
Fig. 2. Plane view of the test house and details of the solar chimney.
(a) Plane view (b) Section view (c) Sketches of windproof measures. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the
Web version of this article.)
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G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
outdoor temperature and wind data were collected using a portable- a vertical solar chimney that is connected with multiple ducts or pipes.
meteorological station (Jingzhou PC-5, T: ±0.2 ◦ C, wind speed: ±0.3 This model assumes that the non-uniform density distribution across the
m/s, wind direction: ±3◦ ) installed on the roof, close to the solar solar chimney, caused by thermal boundaries along the heated walls, is
chimney outlet. All data were recorded every minute unless otherwise an important factor on the stack flow. Furthermore, the model assumes
noted. that the buoyancy effect of each thermal boundary can be represented
Flow rates in the chimney channel were determined by measuring by a plume of constant thickness, the density of which varies only with
the flow velocity in the horizontal extension (or duct) of the channel height. In the plume model, the plume thickness is a key parameter and
using velocimeters (JTR07, ±0.04 m/s). Four velocimeters were placed was found to be correlated with the channel Reynolds number. He [39]
in the duct to measure the air speed across the channel (Figs. 1d and 2a) proposed a set of correlations that apply for a wider range of Reynolds
at a frequency of 10 Hz. The average speed of every 60 s was recorded. number: 17 < Re < 23,151. The plume model has been shown to explain
The flow rate in the duct was determined based on the average ve successfully 15 laboratory datasets from the literature with reasonable
locity and the cross-sectional area. The velocities at the four locations in accuracy: 75% of the predictions are within 17% difference. Compared
the duct did not necessarily represent the average velocity because the with the alternative single zone model [1] and the stratified model [27],
flow in the duct may not be uniform or developed. A calibration of the the plume model needs no further calibration of discharge coefficients.
flow measurement was carried out by connecting the room inlet with However, like the two other models, the plume model has not been
one 3.65 m long PVC pipe with an inner diameter of 105 mm (Fig. 1f). tested against the field data.
The flow rates in the round pipe could be measured more reliably, and To apply the plume model, three types of input data are needed. The
they were used to calibrate the flow rate in the square duct. A variable first is the environment temperatures. These include the temperature of
speed fan was used to draw air from outside into the room through the the ambient environment the solar chimney discharges air to and the
pipe to simulate the chimney flow. A velocimeter (JTR07), calibrated in temperature of the intake air by the solar chimney. In this study, the
a mini-tunnel, was located in the middle of the round pipe to measure ambient temperature was the outside air temperature recorded by the
the velocity at the center line of the pipe. The calibration procedures weather station. The intake temperature was the room temperature
produced the following equation for the conversion of flow rates in the measured by one thermocouple. The second is the heat flux applied to
square duct to the correct flow rates. the solar chimney channel. In this study, the heat flux was estimated
∑ using the following formula
A ui
Qpipe = 2.5874 (1)
4 q = I(1 + 0.5α⁄ τ) (2)
where A is the cross-sectional area of the channel and ui (i = 1 to 4) are where I is the recorded solar irradiation on the absorbing plate (W/m2).
the readings of the four velocimeters. Fig. 3 shows the calibration results α and τ are the solar absorption coefficient and transmittance, respec
of the measured flow rates in the duct. It shows that the probe had fair tively, of the glazing panel. The solar irradiation intensities on the
accuracy but good consistency. The calibration was necessary and absorbing plate and on the glazing surface were measured using two
improved the accuracy of the flow measurement in the square duct. The pyranometers and their ratios were used to estimate the transmittance of
correction coefficients resulting from the two calibration tests in 2018 the glazing panel. A week’s daytime measurement resulted in an average
and 2019 were consistent. Using the method in Ref. [42], the un value of τ = 0.75. The absorption coefficient was assumed to be α = 0.2
certainties for the flow measurement in the pipe and the square duct and it was assumed that half of the heat absorbed by the glazing panel
were estimated as 0.0005 m3/s and 0.017 m3/s, respectively. was lost to the outside air. More accurate estimation of the heat flux
could be performed; however, based on the authors’ experience, the
3. Model model prediction was not sensitive to the heat flux. Equation (2) is a
sufficient estimation. Two plumes were considered: one along the
An analytical model called the plume model was developed earlier absorbing plate, one along the glazing wall opposite to the absorbing
by He et al. [30] for the prediction of flow rates in a vertically-heated plate.
channel. Its improved version [39] can be used to predict flow rates in The third type of input data is the geometrical information and the
flow resistance coefficients. The flow resistance coefficients are deter
mined independently. These coefficients are based mainly on the ge
ometries of the solar chimney system and to a less extent on the flow
itself. Using Ref [43] as a guide, the following resistance coefficients
were identified: entrance to the room from outside (via round pipe or
square room inlet), sudden expansion (pipe to square room inlet),
discharge of room inlet to the room, entrance from room to the chimney
channel, inflow bend, outflow bend, and discharge outlet. These resis
tance coefficients are shown in Fig. 4. The flow resistance coefficients of
the two inflow ducts were also considered. The final input parameters
are summarized in Table 1.
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G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
Fig. 4. Sketch of the solar chimney system with identified flow resistance Fig. 6. Frequency distribution of the hourly moving average ACH during the
coefficients. measurement periods. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.) (For interpretation
of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web
Table 1 version of this article.) (For interpretation of the references to color in this
Summarized geometrical information and resistance coefficients for the execu figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.) (For
tion of the codea. interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is
Case 1:Without Φ105 pipe
referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 5. Measured flow rates and their 60-min moving averages in terms of ACH.
(Data periods: 10/30 13:00 to 12/13 3:41, 2018; 9/12 12:00 to 9/15 23:59,
2019; and 9/29 15:00 to 10/5 23:59, 2019). (For interpretation of the refer
ences to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of
this article.)
Fig. 7. Measured data from November 24 to December 1, 2018. (Tr: indoor
temperature; Tamb: outdoor temperature; To: outlet temperature; irradiation is
moving averages. The 60-min moving average represents the actual the vertical irradiation on the absorbing wall; step = 8 min). (For interpretation
ventilation effect in terms of ACH. The ACH varied from 0.1 to 9.7 h− 1 of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web
with an average value of 3.45 h− 1. Fig. 6 plots the frequency of the version of this article.)
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G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
6
G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
Fig. 10. Four wind directions shown in the top view of the solar chimney (left) and their frequencies (right).
flow. It was the warmer room air that provided the draft for the solar
chimney flow. The heat loss of the flow in the chimney channel could be
considered. Based on the average flow rate (0.05 kg/s, see Fig. 13), the
convective heat transfer coefficient on the internal side of the chimney
channel was estimated to be 5 W/(m2⋅K). The convective heat transfer
coefficient on the external side was assumed to be 23 W/(m2⋅K). With
these two values, the overall heat transfer coefficients were estimated to
be 4.1 and 2.8 W/(m2⋅K) for the glazing wall and plywood absorbing
board, respectively. It took only a few seconds for the code to finish the
run of 9 days of 12,959 records from Nov. 22 to 30 on a regular desktop
pc (Intel i7-7700 CPU @3.60 GHz).
Fig. 12. Measured irradiation, temperature difference, ventilation rates from Fig. 13 shows the model prediction along with the measured values
September 25 to 27, 2019, when a round pipe of diameter 105 mm was con during two periods with strong daytime solar radiation. Case 1 was from
nected to the room inlet (step = 1 min). (For interpretation of the references to November 22 to 30, 2018 when the room inlet was the square opening
color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this (0.3 m × 0.4 m). Case 2 was the test from September 24 to 28, 2019
article.) (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the
when a 3.65 m long pipe with a diameter of 105 mm was connected to
reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
the room inlet. The agreement between the model and the measurement
is reasonably good in Case 1. The model follows the trend of the
In the inverse conditions, when there was no heating in the solar measured flow rates. It captures the spikes of the solar-driven flows and
chimney, the density of the air in the channel was assumed to be the the sags during the transitions from solar-driven daytime to the room-
same as that of the room air. This is because the warmer room air air- driven nighttime. For the solar-driven part, 46% of the data have
entered the channel as a result of inertia from the previous solar driven Model|
a deviation (|EXP−EXP × 100%) less than 30% and 63% have a deviation
7
G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
Fig. 13. Comparison between the model prediction and the measurement. Case 1: 11/22–30, 2018, Case 2: 9/24–28, 2019. (For interpretation of the references to
color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.) (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is
referred to the Web version of this article.)
less than 50%. For the nighttime part (inverse condition), the model ⎛ ⎞
appeared to over-predict the flow by 20%. In case 2, however, the de ⎜
ṁpl , q ≥ q0
⎟
⃒( )
viations of the model prediction from the experimental measured were ṁ = ⎜
⎝ ⃒ plume thickness ⎟
⎠ (3)
⃒
more notable. For solar-driven flows (irradiation intensity > 5 W/m2), 0.8ṁpl ⃒ ρSC = ρroom ,
channel depth
= 1 , q < q0
the peak flows were over-predicted by 30%. But half of the data were
over-predicted by 38%–146%. These deviations were obviously larger where ṁpl is the mass flow rate calculated by the plume model [39]. The
than those encountered in Ref. [39] for the similar range (Re < 1400). coefficient 0.8 is the correction for the inverse condition cases. q0 is the
The difference is even larger for the nighttime inverse condition. threshold of the solar irradiation. Normally q0 = 0. However, due to the
For case 2 further examination revealed that the average difference uncertainties associated with the measurement of radiation, a slightly
between the predictions and the measurements is 0.0044 kg/s, which is higher value is recommended. In Fig. 14, q0 = 5 W/m2 is used. With
very close to the room leakage rate of about 0.0035 kg/s (or 0.335 h− 1 Equation (3), 70% of the data points were predicted within 30% dif
from the tracer decay test). Therefore, we suspect that when the ference and 80% were predicted within 50% in case 1. The plume model
entrance resistance increased with the addition of a small pipe, a sig with Equation (3) is the first model ever demonstrated to be able to
nificant part of the air entered the room through the leaking cracks. The predict independently the solar chimney ventilation rates in the real
actual solar chimney flow rate should be the sum of the flow in the pipe environment 24 h a day. By independently, it means no adjustment of
(room inlet) and the leakage rate through cracks and gaps. When the resistance coefficients or discharge coefficients based on the field data is
leakage rate of the room was accounted for, the agreement between the needed in using the model. Similar attempts were made in a few studies
model prediction and the measurement improved considerably as shown for the round-the-clock simulation, such as those by Naraghi et al. [48]
in Fig. 14. About 52% of the data have a deviation less than 30% and and by Marti-Herrero and Heras-Celemin [49], but the models they used
84% have a deviation less than 50%. The prediction accuracy is com were dependent on the temperature differences between the chimney
parable to that of Case 1. gap and the outside. Influence of the room temperature was not dis
After the consideration of the leakage rate and the correction for the cussed in their models. In fact, solar radiation has been the main focus in
inverse conditions, the plume model predicted well the solar chimney the solar chimney studies, and few studies have mentioned the role of
flow as shown in Fig. 14. The final recommended use of plume model is the room temperature, which was demonstrated as a key factor in this
show in Equation (3): study. To address the influence of the room temperature, Hong et al.
[11] revised the single-zone model [50] so that it could be used to
correctly predict the inverse conditions. The difficulty with the use of
single zone model is that the discharge coefficient has to be adjusted for
a better match.
This study shows that the solar chimney is able to provide ventilation
not only at sunny daytime but also at night with inverse conditions. The
inverse condition is more popular in the heating season or in the colder
region. In warmer areas or in the summer cooling time, the inverse
condition is rare. Solar radiation is likely the only heating source and the
solar chimney-driven ventilation may behave periodical cycles as
demonstrated in the simulations [11]. In such cases, heat storage many
be needed to extend the solar chimney effect to times when the solar
radiation is not available [51,52].
5. Conclusions
Fig. 14. Comparison between the model prediction and the measurement for
Case 2 after the measured data are corrected with the leakage rate from the air The performance of a solar chimney attached to a test house was
tightness test. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend,
studied in the fall and winter seasons. The measurement data show that
the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
8
G. He et al. Building and Environment 193 (2021) 107648
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Declaration of competing interest
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