Cooling with Porous Ceramic

The use of porous ceramic for passive evaporative cooling in buildings

Dr Rosa Schiano-Phan, 1 June 2009

School of the Built Environment

Cooling with Porous Ceramic

The use of porous ceramic for passive evaporative cooling in buildings

Use of porous ceramic in the tradition

Recent developments and research
Manufacturing process
Building integration of porous ceramic systems
Cooling Performance

Cooling with porous ceramic in the tradition

Muscatese Window system

 Mashrabiya and window systems in Egypt and Sicily

 Wind-catchers in Iran and Iraq

 Wind-catcher and Maziara water jar in Egypt (1970-80s)

 Improved Iranian Wind Tower (1980s)

Pabellon de Espana, Zaragoza Expo 2008

Architect: Francisco Mongado

750 clay columns over shallow
water body

EVAPCOOL Research project

Passive Evaporative Cooling
using porous ceramic
Low cost - low maintenance cooling system
No risks of microbiological contamination
Simple System with Standardised Components

Large wet surface areas available to evaporation

Water reservoir with small volume to surface ratio

Principle of operation in perimeter rooms

b) Wind-catcher

Ceramic Evaporators

OUT

IN
a) Cavity Wall

Fan

Porous Ceramic Components

Manufactured by Elsa Ceramiche, Florence, IT

Ceramic Manufacturing Processes

Pressing

Drawing/Extruding

Casting

Casting in Chalk Moulds

CLOSED MOULD

OPEN MOULD

Properties of cast ceramic

Plastic properties

Kaolin

High level of porosity

Low Firing
Temperature

Uniform distribution of mechanical

and physical properties on the
whole surface

Silica

Properties of cast ceramic

Porosity: Volume of pores over volume of the porous solid in %
Apparent Porosity
True Porosity

P = (W-D)/(W-S) x 100
W: Weight of Wet specimen
D: Weight of Dry specimen
S: Weight of Specimen in
water

Permeability f(h, p)

Casting Production Cycle

Storage of row materials

Mixing of row materials

(feldspar, kaolin, silica)

Casting in Chalk Moulds: Filling & Drying

30% water

Thickness depends on:

Time
Temperature
Hygroscopic property of chalk
Raw materials

20% water

Casting in Chalk Moulds: Emptying

Water content 12-15%

Ready for extraction

Casting in Chalk Moulds: Manual Extraction

Complex operation
Compromise mechanical prop.
Easier for open mould
Closed multiple parts mould
requires opening before
extraction

Casting in Chalk Moulds: Firing & Finishing

Low firing T to assure

high porosity

Glazing is avoided to
preserve permeability

Casting in Chalk Moulds: Development of prototype

Development of prototype: Design studies

Porous ceramic cooling system: assembly options

STACKED OPTION

HUNG OPTION
CANTILEVERED OPTION

Generic Integration of the Evapcool systems in

a typical office building

Performance - Case Study Building:

Apartment Block in SW Seville (1958-64)

BED
N3

LIVING
ROOM

BED
S

KITCHEN

FLAT D

BED
S

CORRIDOR

BED
N2

BED
NW
BED
W

BED
S

LIVING
ROOM

KITCHEN

BED
N1

FLAT A
B

Performance Analysis:
Temperature profile for a typical summer day

Indoor and Ambient Temperatures for representative hot day

DBT

Ambient

Supply T 0.03m3/s

34
32
30
28

26
24
22
20
18
16
1

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Hr

Frequency of indoor Temperatures exceeding 28 oC in summer

(Jun-Aug)

DBT

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

RT

77.9
72.9

43.0

44.5
27.7

NV only

NTV only

27.3

PCS & NTV

(Occupied time when DBT above 28degC for One Day Simulation = 29%)

Air Movement and T distribution

SINGLE SIDED VENTILATION

EVAPORATIVE COOLING

Temperature Plots

Peak T: 32degC

Peak T: 27degC

PPD Plots

PPD: 37-70%

PPD: 5%

Conclusion

Porous Ceramic Evaporators can be integrated in existing

residential buildings in perimeter cavity wall construction;

The proposed system can meet residual cooling loads of typical

apartments where a number of mitigation techniques can be
adopted to improve comfort conditions and building performance;

The system can reduce peak air temperature of about 6-7degC and
improve the U-value of existing walls (from 1.3 to 0.3W/m2.K);

The system is more effective at higher ventilation rates and the

position of inlets has an impact on comfort;

Annual energy savings up to 31kWh/m2 can be achieved in a typical

apartment and CO2 savings of 18.5 Tonnes/yr in the whole building.

 Further developments Sketch ideas:

Coolwall

 Coolwall idea

+
=

&

 Coolwall prototype pattern

Promotion and Dissemination of

Passive and Hybrid Downdraught Cooling
in Buildings

PHDC Project:
Post Occupancy Evaluation of case study buildings around
the world
Market assessment
Design Sourcebook & Simplified Performance Assessment
Tool
Symposia & Workshops in EU, China, India: next in Malta on
25-26th June 2009
Website: www.phdc.eu

Thank you!
rosa.schiano-phan@nottingham.ac.uk