Sign of Trouble

Four Cyclops

Transport

Industry

Comfort(HVAC)

Habitats

HVAC

Air conditioning by refrigeration is an energy hungry technology that is promoted as the only effective solution for meeting comfort standards for air temperature and humidity. Actually, these standards were set for a temperate climate but they are routinely applied to our country, which is in the tropical zone, with disastrous results for both our economy and ecology. By contrast, our heritage buildings such as the Taj Mahal at Agra, the Gol Gumbaj at Bijapur and countless others remain thermally comfortable throughout the year without using any energy. This heritage is my inspiration.

The Problem

Air conditioning systems use refrigeration to pump heat out of conditioned space to achieve thermal comfort. Pumping requires energy. To cool a small room, even an efficient air conditioner would use one kilowatt of electricity. To supply this unit, the power plant would have to burn four kW equivalent units of primary energy such as oil or coal etc., due to inefficiencies and losses. Six more primary units are used in drilling, pumping and transporting fuel to the power station. Thus ten units of primary energy are used for running an air conditioner using one kW. Each kW equivalent unit of primary energy would emit approximately one half kg of CO2 into the atmosphere.

A Garden Path to Disaster.

Actually refrigeration was invented, not for human comfort, but to replace ice that had to be harvested from frozen lakes and was used mainly for food preservation
Its use for air conditioning might have been sustainable in the short mild summers of USA in the past, but its use in India today is neither economically nor ecologically viable In the year 2007 the HVAC industry in India alone had added 6000 megawatts of demand for power

If this is ten percent of the total installed capacity, then the industry is emitting 30,000 tons of CO2every hour.
One does not need much imagination to realize what the global warming caused by such demands can do, and is doing, to our environment.

Cooling India-A whole new ball game

In USA/Europe In severe winters, the main worry is how to keep the heat IN Buildings are insulated: Have low thermal mass. Comfort is maintained by circulating hot/cold air. Mild summers mean lower cooling load and higher efficiency. Energy is cheap and reliable.

In India In sweltering summers, the worry is how to keep the heat OUT Buildings are bare and have high thermal mass. This adds to the cooling load High ambient causes low efficiency. One gets less cooling at a much higher energy cost. Energy is costly and unreliable

A whole new ball game

Ever since we left the caves, buildings have been our bastions against the elements. Every culture has evolved its architecture to suit the local environment. US/European buildings have to be heated to guard the occupants against the biting cold outside. Thus they are tightly insulated to prevent cold drafts and heat loss. This meant less backbreaking work of chopping and hauling wood to keep the home fires burning. HOWEVER IN INDIA THERMAL COMFORT MEANT AVOIDING HEAT STRESS

What is the Solution?

Our heritage buildings! They remain comfortable without any mechanical cooling system, earth tunnels or wind towers Our master builders of yore have been using a three pronged technique to achieve thermal comfort using no energy: I. Create barriers II. Build massive structures and use them as thermal capacitors. III.Drain out the stored heat. The barriers were trees, verandahs, hollow walls, stone screens etc. Mass was created by thick walls and high ceilings. Drain for the stored heat was provided by water bodies in contact with the plinth and by special plasters that promoted radiation to the sky. None of these require any energy at all. Still all our heritage buildings remain within a comfortable temperature range throughout the year. They have zero global warming potential and zero carbon emissions.

A whole new ball game

A thin wall will fast become hotter than the human skin

A thick wall will remain cooler much longer

Classic Examples!
Size 205 feet square
Walls 10 feet thick Wall Height 110 ft.

Total Height 200 ft.

Dome diameter Outside 144 feet Inside 125 feet Uninterrupted Area 18337 Sq.Ft

The Gol Gumbaz At Bijapur-

Mass And Sky Radiation

Classic Examples!
The two storied Lotus Mahal which is designed in such a way when the atmospheric temperature goes up the water in the tank starts circulating in the hollow place inside the wall keeping the room cool. The circulated water goes back to the overhead tank, gets cooled & again starts circulating.

Lotus Mahal At Hampi

 Classic Examples!

Isnt this what the whole world is looking desperately for?

Yes and No! Yes to the technique and no to the technology. The old technology is obsolete because: Barriers- While trees, verandas etc are still used in rural and semi urban locations, they are not feasible in high density cities. Massive structures as thermal capacitors- Too 2. expensive. Thick walls also reduce the saleable carpet area from the built up area. Flowing water or open water bodies as heat sinks- Cost 3. of land and decreasing supply of water prevents its general use.
1.

BUT WE CAN USE MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULT

Initial Version of Natural Cooling System

Heritage Technique
Real mass

Modern Technology
Virtual Mass, being a welded grid of iron pipes filled with water and connected to: Virtual River, being a cooling tower, circulating cool water through the grid

Real river

Initial Natural Cooling System

Water Filled Pipe Grids Connected To Heat Rejection Units

Initial Natural Cooling System

-Water in the grids was under vacuum so it boiled at 24

Deg. C. The vapour was led to a cooling unit without pumping, using thermal forces only. -It was cooled by a heat exchanger located within the cooling unit and condensed into liquid. -A small pump circulated evaporatively cooled water through the other side of the heat exchanger. -The cooling unit also had an economizer, a fan and controls. . -The next few slides show an actual installation at Jaipur.

The Kabra Home at Jaipur

The Pipe Grid On Roof Slab

Finished Roof And Heat Rejection Unit

ANLYSIS OF READINGS
COMPARISON OF PEAK VALUES AT ROOF ( TEMPERATURES IN DEGREES CELCIUS)
ROOF TOP SIDE KABRA HOUSE NEIGHB OURS HOUSE 54.6 52.8 UNDER SIDE 29.3 45.2 DIFFER ENCE 25.3 17.6 LOAD REDUCTION SURFACE TEMPERATURE 29.3 45.2 ROOM DESIGN 24 24 REDUCTION PERCENT

DIFF

05.3 21.2 15.9 75

EFFECT ON COOLING LOAD IF AIR CONDITIONED

NOTE: SINCE BODY TEMPERATURE IS 34C, THE WHOLE KABRA HOUSE IS AS COMFORTABLE AS A HERITAGE BUILDING

The Latest Version

Welded steel pipes were replaced by tough corrugated polypropylene plastic tubing. A water tank and a radiator replaced the Heat Rejection Unit. Instead of boiling water under vacuum, a small pump simply circulated the water through the pipes and a radiator. The full system is described in the next slides.

A Zero Environmental Impact Thermal Comfort System

An innovative, very simple thermal comfort system that has no impact on the environment, costs little to implement and has zero running cost Based On Indian Heritage And Modern Technology
Test report Pilot Project At Our Premises Updated on 2nd June 2011 Submitted by

Surendra H. Shah Member ISHRAE Mumbai Chapter Cell - 09322229441, Office: 022- 40040316. Email: mail.surendrashah@gmail.com

A Zero Environmental Impact Thermal Comfort System

Introduction Air conditioning is an energy and resource hungry technology that has become a major contributor to global warming. This is an attempt to use the techniques of our ancestors that provide thermal comfort using no mechanical systems to reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning. In the West, due to insulated buildings, only air is treated, while our ancestral wisdom aims to keep the structure cool.

A Zero Environmental Impact Thermal Comfort System

How Our Ancestors Did It Our ancestors used massive structures to absorb solar heat with negligible temperature rise and a water body or sky radiation to drain out the collected heat. A structure that is several degrees cooler than the body surface (which is at about 35 Deg, C), will provide thermal comfort without any artificial cooling, as is evident from our heritage buildings. It is not practical to create massive buildings anymore and water is going to become very scarce. So we have emulated their technique, but have replaced their technology with a modern one.

A Zero Environmental Impact Thermal Comfort System

Modern Solution We still use the technique of keeping the structure cool by draining out the heat, but using modern technology. The following are photographs of various stages of erection and charts based on the collected data.

Step 1 Lay 25mm dia. Corrugated polypropylene pipe in a continuous loop over the bare slab

Step 2 Cover the pipe loop with a 50 mm screed. Do water proofing over it

Step 3 Connect the submersible pump in the tank to the loop, heat pipe and back to the tank. Connect sensors to data logger & power up

Heat pipe Sky Radiator 1000 liter tank Cooled Slab

A Schematic Diagram of the System

Results
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

A data logger recorded several temperatures as shown in these charts. This chart shows the ambient temperatures in sun & shade for one day
9:01:44 0:16:46 1:26:46 2:41:46 4:01:46 5:21:46 6:41:46 10:16:44 11:26:44 12:51:45 14:11:45 15:21:45 16:36:45 17:46:45 19:01:45 20:21:45 21:36:45 22:46:46 8:01:46

Amb temp in sunlit

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Amb temp in shade

This chart shows top and bottom temperatures with the cooling system off

9:01:44

0:16:46

1:26:46

2:41:46

4:01:46

5:21:46

6:41:46

10:16:44

11:26:44

12:51:45

14:11:45

15:21:45

16:36:45

17:46:45

19:01:45

20:21:45

21:36:45

Slab top temp

Slab bottom temp

22:46:46

8:01:46

Results
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

This chart shows temperatures with water flowing, but the heat pipe fan turned off.
9:01:44 0:16:46 1:26:46 2:41:46 4:01:46 5:21:46 6:41:46 10:16:44 11:26:44 12:51:45 14:11:45 15:21:45 16:36:45 17:46:45 19:01:45 20:21:45 21:36:45 22:46:46 8:01:46

Slab top temp

40 38 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20

Slab bottom temp

This chart shows the tank water temperature, slab top temperature, slab bottom temperature, and ambient temperatures in sunlight for one day after the heat pipe fan was switched on.

9:35:29

0:28:59

1:28:59

2:18:59

3:08:59

4:18:59

5:08:59

6:08:59

6:58:59

7:53:59

10:25:29

11:15:29

12:10:29

13:10:29

14:00:30

14:55:30

15:45:30

16:28:58

17:23:58

18:18:58

19:08:58

19:58:58

20:53:58

21:53:59

22:48:59

Tank water temp

Slab1 top temp

Slab 1 bottom temp

23:38:59

Amb temp in sunlit

8:43:59

Conclusions
The charts show conclusively that it is possible, by using the wisdom of our ancestors, to maintain the bottom of a bare sunlit concrete slab around 30 Deg. C without any refrigeration or evaporative cooling system. When standing under the slab, one feels quite comfortable The only components being a plastic pipe, a radiator and a pump in a water tank, the system is quite simple and inexpensive The total power used by the pump and fan is 70 watts. A small solar PV panel will reduce the running cost to zero, as there is no water cost.

Thank You!
This is an ongoing project that we are planning to run for one year. It is an open source data bank that we intend to update often and post results on our website www.panasiaengineers.com

Everyone is welcome to access the site and use the information freely with the disclaimer that this is a report of our activity and not a monograph. --==0O0==--