Assessing stack ventilation strategies in the continental climate of Beijing using CFD simulations

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe performance of a stack-ventilated building compared with two other building designs have been predicted numerically for ventilation and thermal comfort effects in a typical climate of Beijing, China. The buildings were configured based on natural ventilation. Using actual building sizes, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were developed, simulated and analysed in Fluent, an ANSYS platform. This paper describes the general design consideration that has been incorporated, the ventilation strategies and the variation in meshing and boundary conditions. The predicted results show that the ventilation flow rates are important parameters to ensure fresh air supply. A predicted mean vote (PMV) model based on ISO-7730 (2005) and the predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) indices were simulated using custom field functions (CFF) in the fluent design interface for transition seasons of Beijing. The results showed that the values of PMV are not within the standard acceptable range defined by ISO-7730.