Effective Solar Chimney Cross Section Ventilation Performance in Malaysia Terraced House

In hot and humid country, ventilation and thermal performance could be improved by effective natural ventilation strategies. However, the climatic conditions of the tropical countries are mainly distinguished by high air temperature and relative humidity as well as low wind velocity which are the main factors that reduce the comfort level of occupants, especially in the terrace house. The use of solar chimney in terrace house is one of alternatives to increase the thermal and ventilation performance of the indoor environment. This study initiated with field measurement in a selected case study house located in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia for software validation. Validation study of CFD in DesignBuilder software was done by compared with field measurement data, with the deviation ranges from 7.2% to 18%. The optimizations of solar chimney cross section were carried out. The results of CFD were observed in order to study the optimized length and width gap of solar chimney that could induce optimum air velocity and thermal performance in the indoor environment. The results show that the effective width gap for 36m3 room ranged from 0.6m to 1.0m while the length from 1.5m to 2.0m, whereby the induced air speed ranged from 0.04m/s to 0.223m/s. Based on the findings, the study has shown that the effective gap and length of solar chimney could increase the air velocity of indoor environment that creates a cooling effect on human body, especially for terrace house in Malaysia climate.