Cool Towers as a Passive Cooling Option: Study for a Students' Cafeteria in Islamabad, Pakistan

摘要

In the year 2010, a 1,115 m~2 (12,000 ft~2) student cafeteria was constructed on the campus of Comsats Institute of Information Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan. The cafeteria, which is less of a building and more of a covered patio, has been through occupancy for four summers and it was extremely hot and uncomfortable for occupants, particularly for prolonged periods. Air conditioning was not an option in this case because of the numerous openings in the cafeteria space, and also, because it would have been a costly and unaffordable option in terms of equipment and operation costs. A solution was sought to provide for an economic way to cool the cafeteria to bring the cafeteria temperatures down to minimum acceptable levels of comfort. It was thought to investigate the option of using cool towers, which are wind towers coupled with an evaporative cooling process, to provide cooling especially in the dry summer months, when the cafeteria is in peak use. While the proposed cool towers for the existing cafeteria would require initial capital investment, they could provide economical cooling for the life of the cafeteria. This research is intended to investigate the performance of cool towers in the summer months of Islamabad.