Parametric Enhancement of a Window-Windcatcher for Enhanced Thermal Comfort and Natural Ventilation

<p dir="ltr">Window-windcatchers, a passive ventilation method, have been shown to improve ventilation and enhance thermal comfort. Preliminary characterization of a novel window-windcatcher has been undertaken in a previous work, but no relationship had been identified between the actual ventilation rate (Q_act), the wind velocity (V_Tw) and crucial design parameters such as the fins angle (<i>ϴ</i>)). In this paper, the relationship that quantifies how the window-windcatcher’s performance depends on V_Tw and <i>ϴ</i> was determined. Additionally, for the first time, the ventilation performance of the window-windcatcher was optimized by studying the effects of<i> ϴ</i> and the fins-wall distance (D_W−f) through a Computational Fluid Dynamics parametric study (ANSYS)|. In this optimization approach, the angle ϴ and the distance D_W−f corresponding to the maximum actual-to-required ventilation rate were found to be 80° and 45 cm, respectively. The actual ventilation rate increased by approximately 13.2% compared with the baseline design of the windcatcher (<i>ϴ</i> and D_W−f equal to 40° and 45 cm, respectively); this corresponds to an increase of approximately 8.6% in the actual-to-required ventilation rate, according to the ASHRAE standards.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Atmosphere<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050844" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050844</a></p>