VENTILATION OF THE TOMBS OF THE VALLEY OF KINGS, LUXOR AND THE PYRAMID OF GIZA

Airflow characteristics in ventilated and air-conditioned spaces play an important role to attain comfortand hygiene conditions. This paper utilizes a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model toassess the airflow characteristics in ventilated and air-conditioned archeological tombs of EgyptianKings in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt . It is found that the optimum airside design systemcan be attained, if the airflow is directed to pass all the enclosure areas before the extraction withcareful selection of near wall velocities to avoid any wear or aberration of the tomb-wall paintings. Themode of evaluation should assess the airflow characteristics in any tomb passage according to itsposition in the enclosure and the thermal pattern and air quality. The airside design and internalobstacles are the focus of the present work. The free air supply and mechanically extracted ductedair play an important role in the main flow pattern and the creation of main recirculation zones. Theinternal obstacles can offend the airflow pattern by different ways, such as, by increasing therecirculation zones or by deflecting the main airflow pattern.