Modeling and Simulation of the Energy Efficiency of Traditional Hammams: Application to the Site of Dar Bouazza in Morocco

Abstract

The municipality of Dar Bouazza is located on the outskirts of Casablanca (Morocco). It contains 16 traditional hammams whose operations are carried out with a great loss of energy and leading to a very high consumption of both wood energy and water. These losses are systematically reflected, in the medium or long term, on the environment (deforestation, water and air pollution, etc.) and on the economic profit of this sector. Therefore, the objective of this study is to make both environmental and sustainable proposals in order to save the energy of these hammams, an essential sector in Moroccan social and cultural life. These solutions are proposed according to the initial state of the hammam in which it is located. After the investigation, 6 types of hammams have been listed according to the design of their frames: insulation, existence or not of a Chebka or a double door. In addition to the use of an improved boiler that can be less expensive than the one of an excellent quality, various proposals are presented to improve the energy efficiency of these steam rooms. The gains in heat flux (or power) of each of the proposals have been calculated numerically through the example of a hammam whose hot room is 30m2 receiving about 300 clients/day and for which there is a terrace of more than 120 m2. The following typical theories have been used in the calculations: thermal transfers in buildings, theory of water/water heat exchangers or smoke/air and theory of solar collectors. The results of these simulations are given so that each owner has the choice of the improvement that he could use according to the type of hammam that he owns and according to the budget that he intends to invest in order to improve the energy efficiency of his hammam.
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