Computation of room air distribution

Abstract

This paper describes the results of an ongoing evaluation of a computational-fluid-dynamics-based computer program for predicting room air distribution. Computed air velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and temperature are compared with measured data from full-scale experiments involving isothermal and nonisothermal airflow conditions. For isothermal airflow conditions, computed results agree reasonably well with measured data. For nonisothermal airflow conditions, computed airflow patterns agree well with those observed in the experiments. However, for the latter case, there is a discrepancy between computed and measured spatial distributions of the air velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and air temperature. Possible reasons for the discrepancy are discussed.