Airflow pattern and performance of wall confluent jets ventilation for heating in a typical office space

Abstract

To investigate an air distribution system with the potential to provide a comfortable thermal environment and efficient ventilation performance in heating mode, this study compared the numerical results of the RNG k-[Formula: see text] model, realizable k-[Formula: see text] model and SST k-ω model with experimental data obtained from a typical office with wall confluent jets ventilation (WCJV) for heating. The SST k-ω model was chosen for numerical study of WCJV. The findings showed that the WCJV performed better than mixing ventilation (MV) in the heating mode because WCJV could entrain less ambient air and maintain the jets’ momentum and energy to reach the occupied zone. The effects of supply air temperature difference (in the range of 2.00°C to 7.79°C) and supply air velocity (in the range of 2.20 m/s to 8.50 m/s) on the jet velocity profiles and ventilation performance of WCJV were also quantified. The results showed that the jet velocity profile was more sensitive to the supply air velocity than to the supply air temperature difference. Accordingly, reducing the supply air velocity might result in poorer thermal environment and air quality in the occupied zone because the warm air jets cannot spread out over the floor area. The results can be helpful in understanding WCJV used for ventilation under heating mode.