An engineering approach to modelling of dynamic insulation using ESP-r

The use of Dynamic Insulation (DI) can enable recovery of conduction heat loss through a building envelope. This is an active process that allows air to move through the fabric against the temperature gradient. Additionally it promises better indoor air quality, primarily due to filtration properties of the construction material [11]. This paper is concerned with quantifying the energy savings and enhancement of human comfort if this technology is integrated into a building. To ascertain the impact of the technology on whole-building performance, it is necessary to undertake detailed dynamic modelling. A suitable building and plant simulation computer tool (ESP-r) was employed to do this. A technique for modelling the dynamic insulation was developed and validated against known analytical solutions. A full-size test house was then simulated, in the UK climate, with and without DI. Comparative results show that better thermal comfort and energy savings are possible with the use of DI. The results obtained have been translated into suggestions for best practice

Critical review of recent development in fiber reinforced adobe bricks for sustainable construction

Open Access via Springer Compact Agreement. The authors gratefully acknowledge the research support fund provided by the Sudanese Ministry of Higher Education, School of Engineering University of Khartoum and the School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Novel health monitoring procedure for reinforced concrete slabs

This research considers the problem for vibration based damage diagnosis in reinforced concrete slabs. It suggests the analysis of the time domain measured accelerations for the purposes of fault detection and quantification. The measured accelerations from different damage states of the slab are first subjected to initial transforms to bring them to vectors with reasonable component number. These vectors are further transformed using principal components analysis (PCA), which brings their coordinates down to two. In addition to reducing the number of measured acceleration points, PCA clusters the new vectors making distinguishable the different damage states. The results from the application of the suggested method convincingly demonstrate that the method can be applied for fault detection as well as for estimating the damage extent

An Experimental and Numerical Study of Passive Solar Ventialtion in Buildings

A new bioclimatic building, featuring an integrated solar chimney roof, provided the ideal prototype for design and construction o a 1/12th scale model building and its micro-climate. Laboratory tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of the model allowed the building's performance to be assessed, and together added valuable physical insight into the performance of the proposed passive solar ventilation system. Experimental results also provided the necessary feedback to develop the numerical model, offering a worthwhile alternative to expensive, time consuming full-scale tests

Scale Models and CFD Analysis of Air Flow in Passively Ventilated Buildings

A new bioclimatic building concept based on solar-driven ventilation is analysed through the use of physical and numerical modelling. Measurements are conducted for a 1/12th laboratory scale model designed to replicate the full-scale prototype and its microclimate. Predictions are obtained by employing advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques, and the experimental results provide the benchmarking required in the development of the numerical model, which may offer a viable alternative to expensive full-scale tests. The combination of laboratory and computational results gives additional physical insight into the prevailing phenomena determining the ventilation levels, and a first assessment on the feasibility of the concept

Small-scale and Numerical Modeling of a Passive Solar Ventialtion System

An experimental and numerical study is presented, analyzing the performance of a new bioclimatic building, featuring an integrated solar chimney roof. Laboratory tests on a 1/2 scale model building, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed, aimed to provide the needed predictive tools for the thermal behaviour of the full scale prototype. Experimental measurements and numerical results are compared, and they are in good agreement. The study lends support to the practice of combining Small-Scale Modelling and CFD for the evaluation of energy efficiency and comfort in buildings

Physical and Numerical Modelling of a Solar Chimney-based Ventilation System for Buildings

THe paper describes an experimental and numerical study to analyze the thermal performance of bio-climatic building prototype in NIgeria. The roof performs as a solar chimney, generating an air flow through the living space if the building to provide cooling. Experimental tests on a 1:12 small-scale model of the prototype are outlined, and the results, both qualitative and quantitative, are used to validate a two-dimensional flow simulation model, in which the steady state conservation equations of mass, momentum and thermal energy are solved using a finite volume formulation. The experimental and numerical results, expressed in terms of temperature and velocity fields, for two different windows geometries are critically evaluated and compared with good agreement

Production of belite calcium sulfoaluminate cement using sulfur as a fuel and as a source of clinker sulfur trioxide: pilot kiln trial

A pilot-scale trial was undertaken in a 7·4 m kiln to demonstrate the production of belite calcium sulfoaluminate cement clinker using sulfur as a raw feed. The sulfur was introduced in its elemental form as fuel to the burner, thus partially offsetting fuel costs while providing sulfur trioxide which is incorporated in the clinker. The study demonstrates that sulfur trioxide is readily sequestered into cement clinker in a standard rotary kiln; however, some scrubbing of the exit gas may still be required. As the products of scrubbing (anhydrite or gypsum) are usually required to optimise the cement formulation, the recovered sulfur product can find an immediate use in the final cement product. This trial demonstrates the successful production of targeted belite calcium sulfoaluminate clinkers at scale using sulfur as both a fuel and sulfur trioxide source