Experimental Thermal Assessment of a Trombe Wall Under a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Climate of Mexico
The conventional Trombe wall (TW) with concrete construction has been shown to enhance the indoor environment of buildings in cold and Mediterranean climates. Thus, a TW is an option for reducing energy consumption related to thermal comfort for buildings in the northwestern region of Mexico, charac...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/185 |
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| Summary: | The conventional Trombe wall (TW) with concrete construction has been shown to enhance the indoor environment of buildings in cold and Mediterranean climates. Thus, a TW is an option for reducing energy consumption related to thermal comfort for buildings in the northwestern region of Mexico, characterized by arid and semi-arid conditions with low winter temperatures. The thermal behavior of the TW and a conventional facade (CF) of concrete were compared when installed in the southern wall of reduced-scale test boxes in Ensenada, B.C. Unlike other research works available in the literature, which typically monitored a data point measure of the wall and room temperatures, the present study measured the temperature of key components: the absorber wall, the air at the bottom and top vents, the glass cover, and the air at the cross-section plane of the TW test box. The results showed that the TW increases the air temperature through its channel up to <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mn>14</mn><mrow><mo> </mo><mo>∘</mo></mrow></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>C and yields a maximum thermal efficiency of 84% during a sunny winter week. Further, the indoor air temperature at the midpoint of the TW test module is up to <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mn>6</mn><mrow><mo> </mo><mo>∘</mo></mrow></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>C greater than the obtained on the CF-test module; therefore, the TW improved the thermal comfort conditions during winter. |
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| ISSN: | 1996-1073 |