Validation of fast fluid dynamics for room airflow

In some emergencies, such as fire or accidental release of chemical/biological agents in buildings, it is very useful to simulate the flow on real time or even faster than real time so that proper measures can be taken to minimize casualties. The traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of fire or transient contaminant transport in buildings is accurate but too time consuming, such as by using unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS) and large eddy simulation (LES). On the other hand, multizone flow network modeling is fast, but its accuracy is poor. Therefore, a new CFD technology, named Fast Fluid Dynamics (FFD), was developed. The FFD is faster than traditional CFD, and more accurate than multizone modeling. This paper shows the validation of the FFD through three cases: (1) flow in a lid-driven cavity; (2) flow in a plane channel; and (3) flow in a ventilated room. The results conclude that the FFD method can simulate the flows faster than real time, although some discrepancies exist between the numerical results and experimental data. The discrepancies are acceptable for the emergency management.