EVALUATION OF THE HYGROTHERMAL BEHAVIOR OF A FULL- SCALE ADOBE EVAPORATIVE COOLER

A full-scale adobe-based evaporative cooler was built to be low-cost, and eco-friendly cooling storage for fruits and vegetables in vulnerable communities in developing countries. This paper evaluated the thermal behavior of the cooler, by measuring real-time conditions of temperature and humidity under different circumstances of water irrigation in 12 weeks during the dry season in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. Disregarding other variables (solar radiance and wind), the cooler without irrigation had a similar temperature loss but lower efficiency due to intrinsic evaporative cooling behavior of adobe. Results show the system can contribute to decreasing internal temperature even without water input.