Computational fluid dynamics simulation of thermal comfort in naturally ventilated room by the fresh air valve installed in an external wall

Abstract

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the thermal comfort distribution in residential buildings has grown in importance in recent years. Convection and radiation are the dominant forms of heat and mass transfer in rooms, during heating period, and CFD simulations is necessary to achieve a good understanding of the thermal environment. In naturally ventilated rooms, sidewall openings have important influence on air change rate and airflow conditions. Fresh air valve is installed in occupied spaces, in the external wall. During heating period, it has a major effect on mixing indoor and outdoor air, profiles of temperature of indoor air and on the thermal condition and indoor air quality of the rooms. The article presents numerical simulations conducted by solving partial differential equations for three dimensional heat transfer. For the simulations it was applied Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. A series of simulations has been carried out to profiles of temperature and velocity of indoor air in naturally ventilated room with fresh air valve, installed in external wall on different height. Obtained results prove correlation with calculations of profiles of indoor air temperature, estimated using thermometer. It is recommended to consider the inlet size and location of fresh air valve to set the best results to assess thermal comfort in naturally ventilated rooms.