Numerical and experimental study of velocity and temperature characteristics in a ventilated enclosure with underfloor ventilation systems

M. P. Wan, C. Y. Chao

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Airflow and temperature distributions in an enclosure with heat sources ventilated by floor supply jets with floor or ceiling air exit vents were investigated using experimental and numerical approaches. These ventilation configurations represent the floor return or the top return underfloor ventilation systems found in real applications. Experiments and numerical simulations were performed on a full-sized environmental chamber. The results reveal that the temperature stratification in the enclosure highly depended on the thermal length scale of the floor supply jets. When the thermal length scale of the supply jet was ≫1, temperature stratification was minor for all tested heat densities and air distribution methods. Significant vertical temperature gradients occurred when the jet thermal length scale was ≪1. Changes in air distribution methods also became significant for temperature stratification at small supply jet thermal length scales. Temperature stratification also affected the terminal height of the momentum-dominant region of the vertical buoyant supply jets. The applicability of these results to underfloor ventilation design was also discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)342-355
Number of pages14
JournalIndoor Air
Volume15
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2005

Keywords

  • Buoyancy flux
  • Momentum flux
  • Supply jet
  • Temperature stratification
  • Thermal length scale
  • Underfloor ventilation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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