On-site measured indoor thermal environment in large spaces of airports during winter

Abstract

In a number of airport terminals, check-in, departure, and arrival halls are characterized by large spans without partitions and several connections to the outdoor environment; hence, air distributions in such halls are complex. This study compares the indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort produced by different heating methods and discusses such problems as outdoor air infiltration and vertical temperature gradient. The comparison is based on a series of indoor environment tests conducted at three airport terminals that use different air-conditioning modes, such as jet ventilation, low-temperature air supply, and radiant floor heating. The temperature gradient index in the vertical direction is utilized to illustrate the temperature distribution in large spaces equipped with either radiant heating or air heating. The results show that the conventional all-air jet ventilation is particularly disadvantageous because it causes extreme temperature gradients, whereas radiant floor heating is relatively beneficial in this aspect. Outdoor air infiltration is also evaluated in this study. Air infiltration in the first floor is more severe than that in the second floor because it is exacerbated by the stack effect. Additionally, this research analyzes corresponding suggestions, such as control of air supply, reduction of air infiltration through entrances, and adoption of radiant floor heating to improve the indoor thermal environment in large spaces.