Experimental and Numerical Studies of a Porous Material for a New Indirect Regenerative Cooling System
Abstract
This paper presents the experimental and numerical results of evaporative tests through a porous material to be used in a novel evaporative cooling system for low-energy buildings. The critical component of the cooling system is a porous tank used as a heat exchanger and evaporator. The temperature of the water contained in the tank decreases because of radiation, convection and evaporation at the tank surfaces. The cooled water is then used to meet the cooling demand of a building, using a water to air heat exchanger. The aim of this paper is to choose a porous material and to determine experimentally its characteristics, particularly the water flux through the material the material, and the mass transfer coefficients. These data will then be used to calibrate the numerical model of the tank and predict the cooling potential of the proposed system.