Numerical analysis of single/ double sided ventilation for a room with the influence of solar radiation in Dhaka city

Abstract

The energy consumption of the world has been increasing day by day due to the population growth, the industrial development, and the technological advancement. In addition, according to the annual report of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the domestic sector is the largest energy consumption sector in Bangladesh. Moreover, the result of the study which was conducted by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) is that the average monthly temperature of Dhaka city is increasing significantly. The usage of different electrical equipment for cooling has been boosting up over time which is responsible for this large energy consumption. One of the approaches for saving energy is to utilize natural ventilation which is an alternative heat consumption efficient solution for decreasing the heat consumption in buildings and keeping a healthy indoor environment. In a living room, solar radiation has a pivotal influence on the heat balance in a number of ways. So, it is the demand of time to use natural ventilation in buildings with solar radiation. The focus of thisstudy is to live healthily and reduce the consumption of the mechanical system as well as build an energy efficient city by examining the wind profiles and temperature distributions on the inside and outsides of the buildings. In this research, a single room with single/double opening/s on the windward wall and the leeward wall has been studied using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) with the influence of solar radiation. Three dimensional computational model with a cubic room for four different configurations is calculated in the context of weather in Dhaka city. The Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equationis applied to the natural ventilation in the computational domain. The standard k-εturbulence model is used in this study. The physical model is solved by commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics. According to wind direction, the information about the airflow, ventilation rate and average room temperature are calculated and presented in this research work. The temperature inside the room maintains the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standard for all configurations. Based on the air quality and the volume average temperature, double openings in the windward wall are more comfortable than the other opening/s.