Special Issue - 2021 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

Zero Energy Cooling Chamber and Zero Energy

Cooling System in Building Wall
Ashitha G, Sonaraj P R, Shilpa P.
Sooraj Krishna P M, Thejus Sreehari Assistant Professor,
B-tech Graduates, Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering Vadakara, Kozhikode, Kerala College of Engineering Vadakara, Kozhikode, Kerala

Abstract: Zero Energy Cooling Chamber (ZECC) is a cooling cool chambers stay 10- 15° C cooler than the outside
chamber in which the temperature inside the chamber is 10- temperature and maintain about 90 percent relative
15 degree Celsius lower than the outside ambient humidity. And they are easy to build out of locally
temperature. And also it can maintain 90% of relative available materials, such as brick, sand, bamboo, straw, and
humidity. ZECC is working based on the principle of
evaporative cooling. That is the evaporation of water can
gunny bags.
create a cooling effect. The chamber is an above- ground The study deals with the application of the principle of
double-walled structure made up of bricks. The cavity of the evaporative cooling to the building to create natural
double wall is filled with riverbed sand. The rise in relative cooling inside the building and conducting experimental
humidity (90% or more) and fall in temperature (10-15 studies on ZECC by using alternative materials as cooling
Degree Celsius) from the ambient condition can be achieved medium.
by watering the chamber twice in a day. Performance II. Z ERO E NERGY COOLING CHAMBER
evaluation of cool chambers at different locations of the As it is named, there is no need for electrical and
country was found to be satisfactory for short term storage. mechanical energy for the functioning of this storage
Spoilage of fresh fruits and vegetables was serious problem in
tropical countries. Cool storage can prong the life of produce.
structure. Cooling chambers works on the principle of
The study deals with the construction of ZECC with evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is the reduction
modification in its design and construction and temperature in temperature resulting from the evaporation of a liquid,
measuring tests were conducted on it to determine the which removes latent heat from the surface from which
capacity of structure to lower the temperature. The concept of evaporation takes place. This process is employed in
application of evaporative cooling principle to building wall to industrial and domestic cooling systems, and is also the
create natural cooling is also discussed. physical basis of sweating.
This structure is erupted over a single row of brick floor
I. I NTRODUCTION and double layer of brick wall in sides with an interspace of
Energy is integral to almost every aspect of modern life. 7.5cm filled with river sand. The top of the storage space is
It is used for transportation, communication, industrial and covered with coconut leaves or gunny cloth in a bamboo
domestic purposes like heating, cooling, cooking, lighting structure. The cool chamber is saturated with water for first
as well as other appliances Both economic growth and time thereafter sprinkling of water once in the morning and
technological advancement of a country depends on it. once in the evening is enough to maintain the required
Cooling is required to maintain the freshness of fruit and temperature and humidity. These chambers helps to
vegetables during storage. Conventional vapor maintain a very high humidity of 95% throughout the year
compression cooling systems that use chlorofluorocarbons and it also reduce the temperature of the chamber even
(CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and during summer months. These chambers are ideal for
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) contribute to ozone depletion storage for a short period and helpful for small and
and global warming. The International Institute of marginal farmers to store their produce. Fig. 1 and 2 show
Refrigeration in Paris (IIF/IIR) has estimated that photographs of typical ZECC to store vegetables.
approximately 15% of all the electricity produced in the
world is employed for refrigeration and air conditioning
processes of various kinds, and the energy consumption for
air conditioning systems has recently been estimated at
45% for all households and commercial buildings.
Therefore, an eco-friendly cooling system is required to
reduce the emissions of harmful gases.
Spoilage of fresh fruits and vegetables is a serious
problem in tropical countries. Cool storage can prolong the
life of fresh produce, but refrigeration equipment is
expensive to buy, expensive to run, and expensive to
maintain. There is, however, a practical, low-cost
alternative for on-farm fruit and vegetable storage which
employs the cooling power of evaporation. Zero energy

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Special Issue - 2021 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

• The bottom portion of the PVC pipes is closed. Fig

3 and 4 show the plan and sectional view of ZECC
constructed for the study.
• The cavity layer is filled layer by layer using the
following materials,

TABLE I. EVAPORATIVE MEDIUM LAYERS

Layer Material
First layer (bottom A composite material consist of soil,
layer) coco peat and wood powder (20cm)
Second layer Charcoal (5cm)
Composite material consist of soil,
Third layer
coco peat and wood powder (20cm)
Fourth layer Charcoal (5cm)
Composite material consist soil, coco
Fifth layer
Fig. 1. Zero Energy Cooling Chamber peat and wood powder (20cm)

Fig. 2. Commercial scale Cooling Chamber

III. DESIGNED NEW ZECC

A. Materials
The following materials are used to construct a laboratory
model of ZECC. Fig. 2. Designed ZECC top view (Dimensions in cm)
• Bricks
• Composite mixture of soil, wood powder and coco
peat
• Charcoal
• PVC pipes
• Bamboo shoot and coconut leaf
• Clay mortar
B. Construction Procedure
The following procedure is adopted to construct a
laboratory model of ZECC.
• An upland having a nearby source of water supply is
selected.
Fig. 4. Designed ZECC sectional view (Dimensions in cm)
• Floor of size 72cm×72cm is made.
• The double wall is erected at a height of 80cm IV. WORKING OF SYSTEM
having a cavity of 11cm. • Sufficient quantity of water is supplied to the
• PVC pipes (5cm diameter) are installed vertically in evaporating medium of ZECC and fill water in the
the cavity in which the distance between adjacent PVC pipes.
pipes are 40cm. • Close the ZECC by using top cover.
• Before the installation of PVC pipes, perforations • When the temperature of surrounding area increases
are made on its surface and the perforations should due to sunlight the evaporation of water takes place
not face the inner and outer wall. in ZECC as a result of it a cooling effect will be
created, thereby the temperature inside the chamber

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Special Issue - 2021 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

will be reduced and also maintain the relative Funnel, funnel stand, filter paper, beaker, graduated
humidity. cylinder, weighting machine and following procedure is
• The PVC pipes are installed for the proper adopted to find the property.
distribution of water throughout the evaporating • Place 6 funnels in to the funnel supports. Place a
medium. Water distribute to the evaporating beaker under the lower end of the each funnel.
medium through the perforations made on the PVC • Fold the filter paper to form cones. Insert them in the
pipes. The PVC pipes should be free from funnel.
perforations at the layers of charcoal. The use of
• Make 50g of samples by mixing soil, wood powder
charcoal helps to increase the evaporation rate.
and coco peat by different composition, from this take
15g for the test. Add 15g of samples to each funnel, in
V. COMPOSITE MATERIAL FOR BUILDING W ALL
which the 6 samples are of in different composition.
Rock wool, coco coir, clay pebbles and soil all have
different levels of water holding capacity. Water holding • Using a graduated cylinder, measure 50 ml of water.
capacity is the ability of the material to hold its own or Slowly pour the water in to the funnel with the
added water during the application of force, pressure, sample. Don’t allow the water to spill over the top of
centrifugation or heating. the filter paper.
Water holding capacity (%) = [(volume of water added • Measure the volume of water collected in each beaker
to the sample – volume of water run down through the which drains through the sample after 20 minutes.
sample) / (volume of water added to the sample)] ×100. • Do the experiment in three times.
Water holding capacities of composite mixes consisting of
soil, wood powder and coco peat in various proportions are
found out and are shown in Table 2. Apparatus used are

TABLE [Link] HOLDING CAPACITY

Wood
Soil Coco peat Water for test Water obtained at Water holding Average water holding
Sample powder
(g) (g) (ml) the beaker (ml) capacity (%) capacity (%)
(g)

15 30 5 50 34 32
15 30 5 50 35 30
1 32
15 30 5 50 33 34

15 34 1 50 30 40
15 34 1 50 28 44
2 41.3
15 34 1 50 30 40
15 32 3 50 32 36
15 32 3 50 32 36
3 34.7
15 32 3 50 34 32
25 22 3 50 36 28
25 22 3 50 35 30
4 28.7
25 22 3 50 36 28
25 24 1 50 29 42
25 24 1 50 29 42
5 41.3
25 24 1 50 30 40
25 20 5 50 37 26
25 20 5 50 37 26
6 25.3
25 20 5 50 38 24

Among the 6 samples, sample 2 is selected for the

work. Sample 2 has more water holding capacity compared
to the other samples. And the soil to wood powder ratio is
more which help to the percolation of water through the
composite mix and also reduce its hardening during drying.

VI. Z ERO E NERGY COOLING CHAMBER

CONSTRUCTION STAGES
Stage 1 : Ground levelling
Ground is levelled by using soil as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5. Water holding capacity analysis

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Special Issue - 2021 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

Stage 4: Top cover for Zero energy cool chamber

A top cover is provided for zero energy cooling
chamber made of coconut leaf and bamboo shoots.

Fig. 6. Levelling of ground

Stage 2 : Basement work

Basement and floor are constructed by using bricks
after the leveling of ground as shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9. Finished Zero Energy Cool Chamber

VII. MEASURED T EMPERATURE VALUES

A. Quantity of Water for the Working of ZECC
From the data obtained from water holding capacity test on
sample 2;
The average water holding capacity of sample 2 = 41.3%
15g of sample can hold 20.7 ml of water.
1kg of sample will hold 1.38 liters of water.
Weight of sample required for the chamber = 31.1kg.
Maximum quantity of water in which 33.1kg of sample can
hold= 33.1×1.38 = 45.67 liters.
By considering the safety of wall supply 60% of maximum
Fig. 7. Basement work quantity of water, that is approximately 28 liter water.
Stage 3: Wall construction B. Temperature Measurement test on ZECC
Double brick wall is constructed by using clay mortar. The temperature inside and outside the chamber and at
11 cm width of cavity is left between inner and outer brick the room is measured by using Generic digital thermometer
wall. The wall is constructed up to 80 cm height then (Fig.10). Range of measurement Generic digital
installed PVC pipes of 2 inch diameter and 75 cm height at thermometer is 50° C to 70° C. The temperature values are
the middle of cavity of each wall. Before the installation of shown in Table 3.
the PVC pipes perforations of 0.5 inch diameter should be
made on its surface and the perforations should not face
inner and outer wall and bottom of PVC pipes should be
closed. Center to center distance between the perforations
is 5 cm and perforations should be absent at the charcoal
layer zones. After the installation of PVC pipes as shown in
Fig.8, filling the composite mix (20 cm) and charcoal (5
cm) as layer by layer is done and finished as shown in Fig.
9.

Fig. 10. Generic Digital Thermometer

VIII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The temperature measured inside, outside and at the
room during different time intervals in different days. The
temperature readings are taken after the watering of Zero
energy cool chamber. That is 28 liter water is supplied to
Fig. 8. Pipe installation and cavity filling Zero energy cool chamber on 08/04/19. The outside
temperature is varying with time and intensity of sunlight

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Special Issue - 2021 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

but the inside temperature remains nearly same at all the

time of temperature measurement in a day. The day to day
variation in temperature inside the chamber is considerably
low. From Fig. 11, it is clear that the temperature inside the
chamber slightly increases with day after the watering. It is
better to done watering once in a week for good working of
chamber.
From the experimental study conducted on Zero
energy cool chamber, it is clear that Zero energy cool
chamber can reduce the inside temperature 10° C to 15° C
lower than the outside temperature (Table 3). And also it
can maintain a constant temperature inside the chamber.

Fig. 11. Average temperature inside the chamber

TABLE 3. MEASURED TEMPERATURE VALUES

Temperature Average
Temperature inside Room temperature
Date Time interval outside the temperature inside
the chamber (° C) (° C)
chamber (° C) the chamber (° C)
9:30am to 10am 31.3 36 33.2
1:15pm to 1:45pm 31.3 45.2 37.4 31.3
09/04/19 3pm to 3:30pm 31.3 35.4 33.2

9:30am to 10am 31.5 35.8 33

1:15pm to 1:45pm 31.5 46.4 37.6 31.5
10/04/19 3pm to 3:30pm 31.5 36 33.1

9:30am to 10am 31.7 36.1 33.7

1:15pm to 1:45pm 31.9 44 36.8 31.8
11/04/19 3pm to 3:30pm 31.9 35 33.4

9:30am to 10am 31.9 34 33.4

1:15pm to 1:45pm 32.1 39.4 36.2 32
12/04/19 3pm to 3:30pm 32.2 35.2 33.1

9:30am to 10am 32.4 36.2 34.5

1:15pm to 1:45pm 32.5 38.4 36.2 32.4
24/04/19 3pm to 3:30pm 32.5 35.1 35.1

12pm to 12:30pm 32.6 38.6 36.3

26/04/19 3:15pm to 3:45pm 32.6 34.9 33.1 32.6

IX. E VAPORATIVE COOLING PRINCIPLE TO

BUILDING W ALL
The aim of this study is to apply the evaporative
cooling principle to building wall to create natural cooling
effect inside the building and to encourage the sustainable
building construction. The building wall can be constructed
as same that of zero energy cool chamber wall by making
some changes in design and applying some new
evaporative cooling technologies.
A. Evaporative Cooling Building
Evaporative cooler building of 215.3 square feet floor
area and 4.25 m height is designed and proposed as an Fig. 12c. Building section A-A
example (Fig. 12). The Evaporative cooler building is
working under the principle of evaporative cooling. The
building should be constructed on upland having nearby
source of water.

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ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

carry load from roof. The columns will helps to make the
walls free from carrying the load. Construct double brick
wall and left a cavity of width 15cm between the inner and
outer wall up to a height of 3.9m. Place PVC pipes of
diameter 2 inches and height 3.2m vertically in the cavity
in which the center to center distance between the adjacent
PVC pipes are 40cm. the bottom portion of each PVC pipes
should be closed before its installation. The remaining
portion of the cavity is filled with composite mix (soil,
wood powder, and coco peat) as alternate layers as shown
in Table 4.
TABLE IV. LAYERS OF BUILDING WALL
1st layer Composite mix (80cm)
2nd layer Charcoal (20cm)
3rd layer Composite mix (80cm)
4th layer Charcoal (20cm)
Fig. 12a. Plan of the building
5th layer Composite mix (80cm)

C. Water supply system

Water is supplying from the water tank placed on the
top of building. Water flows down under gravity. A pipe of
diameter 1.5 inch carries water from the tank to the
rectangular pipe system installed in the cavity of double
wall at a height of 3.4m from the floor level. The branching
pipes connected to rectangular pipe system carry water to
the main PVC pipes, which is placed vertically in the
cavity of wall. The center to center distance between the
branching pipes are 40cm. The flow of water to the pipe
system can be controlled by providing valve system. The
sectional view of water supply system has showed in
Fig. 12b. Elevation of the building Fig.13.
B. Wall construction Holes of diameter 0.5 inch should be made on the PVC
Construct RCC columns of cross section 35cm × 35cm pipes on both sides at the zone of composite mix and the
and 3.9m height at the four corners of the building. The center to center distance between the holes is 16cm. the
columns are constructed to take load from the beam which holes should not face into inner and outer wall.

Fig. 13. Layers of wall

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ISSN: 2278-0181
NCIIE - 2021 Conference Proceedings

X. I NTERPRETATION OF RESULTS • The temperature inside the chamber slightly

From the experimental investigation carried out, it was increases with days after the watering.
observed that the zero energy cool chamber reduced the
• It is better to watering once in a weak for good
inside temperature 10 to 15 degree Celsius lower than the
working of chamber.
outside temperature.
Analyzed the inside and outside temperature of the • Around 28 liter water is supplied for the cooling
cool chamber after the first watering. It is observed that the of chamber.
temperature is in between 31 to 32 degree Celsius in the • Designed zero energy cool building of dimension
first week of measurement. The temperature inside the
chamber slightly increases with days until the next REFERENCES
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Energy Cool Chamber and Post Harvest Treatment On Self
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Based on the experimental investigation conducted on [6] Islam M.P,Morimoto.T(2012)Storage Behavior Of Tomoto
zero energy cool chamber the following conclusions were Inside The Zero Energy Cool Chamber.
[7] Shubham Damodar Bokkarde And Akshay Prakash Varghe
drawn. (2013). Fabrication And Experimental Study On New Zero
• The constructed zero energy cool chamber Energy Cool Chamber With A Solar Driven Adsorption
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[8] Dr.T N Boob (2014) American Journal Of Engineering
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• The inside temperature in the cool chamber Block.
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• The day today variation in temperature inside the In Industrial Building
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