Application of solar radiation to the ventilation of an experimental chamber through a set of dual skin facades
The aim of this numerical work is to evaluate the influence of a set of three Dual Skin Façades (DSF) on the thermal comfort and air quality inside a virtual occupied experimental chamber under various airflow rates. Each DSF is constituted by two transparent glasses and an adjustable venetian blind located in the air channel existing between the two surfaces. A system of energy balance integral equations is used to estimate the air temperature inside the virtual chamber and DSF and the temperature in the different elements of the virtual chamber and a system of mass balance integral equations is used to estimate the contaminants inside the virtual chamber and the DSF. The uncomfortable hours integral model is used to evaluate the total number of uncomfortable hours due to warm and cold indoor conditions and also due to indoor air quality conditions. The acceptable levels of indoor thermal comfort, evaluated by the Predicted Mean Vote index, must be within category C of ISO 7730 standard. The acceptable levels of indoor air quality, evaluated by the carbon dioxide concentration, must be below the limit of 1800 mg/m3 proposed by the ASHRAE 62.1 standard. Three airflow rates were chosen: 0.0389 m3/s, 0.0778 m3/s and 0.1167 m3/s. The airflow that guarantees, at the same time, the best indoor air quality and thermal comfort levels is obtained through the minimization of the total number of uncomfortable hours. As best option, it was obtained the airflow rate of 0.1167 m3/s.