Do Ngoc Kien; Nguyen Minh Phu; Thi Tam Thanh Nguyen · 10.48084/etasr.14861 https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.14861
Engineering Technology & Applied Science Research
A Numerical Study on Natural Ventilation Using a Horizontal Solar Chimney with a Bell-Mouth Inlet and Major Geometric Modifications Do Ngoc Kien; Nguyen Minh Phu; Thi Tam Thanh Nguyen A numerical study was conducted to examine the natural ventilation performance of a horizontal solar chimney connected to a confined space. The study analyzed the impact of geometric modifications on the air mass flow rate. Four designs were examined using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model: a Base Case (BC), a Radius Elbow (RE), a Bell Mouth (BM), and a combined Bell Mouth and Radius Elbow (BMRE). The BM inlet and the RE, significantly improved aerodynamic efficiency by reducing flow separation and pressure losses. The BMRE design reached the highest air mass flow rate of approximately 0.0425 kg/s at a heat flux of 800 W/m2, which is a significant increase compared to the BC's flow rate of 0.039 kg/s. These results confirm that optimizing the geometries of the inlet and elbow can improve the efficiency of passive solar ventilation systems.
Building ventilation
Numerical / CFD
2026
Engineering Technology & Applied Science Research
yes
2026-02-09 12:00:00 00001928
a numerical study on natural ventilation using a horizontal solar chimney with a bell-mouth inlet and major geometric modifications
2026
Engineering Technology & Applied Science Research
Do Ngoc Kien; Nguyen Minh Phu; Thi Tam Thanh Nguyen
10.48084/etasr.14861
Abstract
A numerical study was conducted to examine the natural ventilation performance of a horizontal solar chimney connected to a confined space. The study analyzed the impact of geometric modifications on the air mass flow rate. Four designs were examined using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model: a Base Case (BC), a Radius Elbow (RE), a Bell Mouth (BM), and a combined Bell Mouth and Radius Elbow (BMRE). The BM inlet and the RE, significantly improved aerodynamic efficiency by reducing flow separation and pressure losses. The BMRE design reached the highest air mass flow rate of approximately 0.0425 kg/s at a heat flux of 800 W/m², which is a significant increase compared to the BC's flow rate of 0.039 kg/s. These results confirm that optimizing the geometries of the inlet and elbow can improve the efficiency of passive solar ventilation systems.
Abstract by the authors, reproduced under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Original publication via the link below.
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