Evaporative Cooling: Introduction

Introduction | Status Quo | Alternatives | Requirements | Load Minimisation | Conclusions | Bibliography

Evaporative coolers remain the most common means of cooling residential buildings in Alice Springs (Central Australia) today, although the installed stock of refrigerative air-conditioners is increasing, particularly in new construction. While consuming relatively small amounts of energy, standard evaporative coolers consume significant quantities of fresh water. On the other hand, refrigerative air-conditioners do not consume water but consume approximately 5 times more energy than evaporative coolers for the same cooling output. In light of growing problems with both global warming and diminuishing water resources, there is a need for more sustainable approaches to residential cooling in Alice Springs.

Given that Central Australia's hot arid climate is ideally suited to evaporative cooling, this article surveys the design and performance of a variety of alternative, passive solar-driven evaporative cooling devices in an effort to determine their feasibility for Alice Springs conditions. Published data is analysed in order to determine the nature of summer cooling demand in Alice Springs, and the performance, efficiencies and resource consumption of standard evaporative coolers evaluated. Data on alternative passive evaporative cooling systems is also evaluated. An assessment is then made of potential for passive evaporative cooling systems to meet the Alice Springs cooling demands.

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