Numerical Study of Trombe Wall as a Passive Ventilation System: The Case of Moroccan Climate

Abstract

Nowadays, as building's energy consumption has become of outstanding importance, passive solar design strategies such as Trombe Walls have received extensive attention from researchers all over the world. In this context, the present work is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the feasibility of using the Trombe wall as an effective natural ventilation technology in order to achieve potential energy savings as well as acceptable thermal comfort conditions. To that aim, a mathematical model describing the thermal performance of the studied wall system was used, and then by means of COMSOL Multiphysics software, a parametric study of a single room with four different wall configurations that differ only in the inlet and outlet air vent position was carried out under six Moroccan climate zones namely: Agadir (Zone I), Tangier (Zone II), Fez (Zone III), Ifrane (Zone IV), Marrakech (Zone V) and Er-rachidia (Zone VI) during both winter and summer seasons. Temperature and velocity fields in the test room incorporating the Trombe wall were analyzed. From the simulation results, some useful conclusions were derived.