Abstract—The paper presents a computer model and
experimental results of a sub-wet bulb temperature evaporative
cooling system for space cooling in buildings in hot and dry
climates. The cooler uses porous ceramic materials as the wet
media for water evaporation. Under selected test conditions of
airflow dry bulb temperature of up to 45o C and relative
humidity of up to 50%, it was found that the supply air could be
cooled to below the wet bulb temperature with a maximum
cooling capacity of 280 W/m2 of the wet ceramic surface area. It
was also shown that the overall wet bulb effectiveness is greater
than unity. This performance would make the system a
potential alternative to conventional mechanical air
conditioning systems in hot and dry regions.
Index Terms—Buildings air conditioning, evaporative
cooling, heat and mass transfer, porous ceramics.
R. Boukhanouf and A. Alharbi are with The University of Nottingham,
Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Nottingham, NG7 2RD,
UK (e-mail: rabah.boukhanouf@nottingham.ac.uk,
laxaa17@nottingham.ac.uk ).
H. G. Ibrahim and M. Kenzari are with Qatar University, Department of
Architecture and Urban Planning, Doha, Qatar (e-mail:
hatem_ibrahim@qu.edu.qa, meryem_kanzari@qu.edu.qa)
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Cite:R. Boukhanouf, H. G. Ibrahim, A. Alharbi, and M. Kanzari, "Investigation of an Evaporative Cooler for Buildings in Hot and Dry Climates," Journal of Clean Energy Technologies vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 221-225, 2014.
