A novel arrangement of metal fin heat recovery device in a dual channel wind scoop windcatcher system for reducing the building energy demand in temperate climates

The windcatcher, an innovative natural ventilation apparatus, facilitates the provision of fresh air and ensures indoor thermal comfort under suitable external conditions. This research introduces an advanced dual-channel windcatcher system that employs a rotary wind scoop, offering ventilation regardless of wind direction and incorporating passive and low-energy technologies. A cost-effective, low-pressure loss heat recovery design for the rotary scoop windcatcher was devised, featuring stationary fins between the supply and return channels. This design allows for heat recovery in the natural ventilation system, with heat being consistently transferred through the metallic fins. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model, corroborated by experimental data, was adapted to assess ventilation performance and heat recovery efficiency. The findings revealed that the windcatcher system, equipped with a heat recovery (HR) unit, maintained over 95% of its initial ventilation rate. Furthermore, a heat recovery efficiency exceeding 15% was attained by utilizing a one-meter-long heat recovery unit in this study.