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Numerical and Experimental Study of an Under-Ground Water Reservoir, Cistern

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Abstract

This article presents experimental and numerical study of an under-ground water reservoir (cistern) during six months operation in a semi-arid region. The cistern with one dome, four windcatchers and a water reservoir is located in Lar, a hot arid city at south of Iran. Outdoor and indoor air temperature and humidity, water temperature in three depths and dome surface temperature were measured using a data logging system. The results show that the average air humidity inside the cistern was almost constant during the experiments but its slight variation during a day follows inside air temperature changes. The inside air temperature was always lower than the ambient temperature and inside and outside average air temperature difference was about 6 °C. The difference was slightly higher in the hot seasons. The water reservoir was also modeled in 2D, axisymmetric and quasi steady numerical simulation for six months of operation. Highly stratified water temperature distribution was observed in the numerical results as well as the experimental measurements.

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Abbreviations

n :

Number of statistical data

ΔT :

Temperature difference

T :

Temperature

w :

Conversion factor

z :

Water depth, from ground surface

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Iran’s National Elites Foundation (INEF) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Zand Ave, Shiraz, 71348-51154, Iran

    S. M. A. Najafi & M. Yaghoubi

  2. The Academy of Science of IR Iran, P.O. Box 19735, Tehran, /167, Iran

    M. Yaghoubi

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  1. S. M. A. Najafi
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  2. M. Yaghoubi
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Correspondence to S. M. A. Najafi.

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Najafi, S.M.A., Yaghoubi, M. Numerical and Experimental Study of an Under-Ground Water Reservoir, Cistern. Water Resour Manage 31, 1881–1897 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1617-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1617-6

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