Thermal behaviour of Trombe wall with venetian blind in summer and transition seasons

Trombe wall with venetian blind can work in winter heating mode, summer sunshading mode and transition season ventilating mode. In this study, the thermal performance of the Trombe wall with venetian blind in summer and transition seasons is analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. A 2-D model was developed and validated using experimental data. The model was employed to determine the induced air flow and heat transfer of Trombe wall in summer and transition season mode. The effects of the system configuration on the thermal performance were investigated. The results show that larger spacing between the slat and inner wall and larger slat angle help enhance the natural convective flow and reduce the air temperature in both summer and transition seasons, thus leading to better cooling effect and less solar radiative heat gain of the external wall. The natural convective flow rate is more sensitive to the area of the outlet vent than that of the inlet vent.