Thermal Comfort in an Office Room Using Square Diffuser

Abstract

velocity distribution and air flow patterns. Abstract The office is an important part of daily life, people spend most of their time working inside of the office and thus the quality of the indoor air environment is a significant factor affecting the productivity and happiness of office users. Many factors influence the pattern of airflow: indoor air quality, thermal comfort and energy saving in an office room. In this study, the effects of the square diffusers on thermal comfort investigated numerically for an office room. Numerical research was subsequently carried out using the validated CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model. This model solved the continuity, energy conservation and momentum equations in addition to k–ε model equation for turbulence modelling. Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) is a frequently used tool for assessing human comfort rating. A PPD based control HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) system has the potential to provide enhanced thermal comfort inside a location by taking into consideration all main thermal comfort variables. The CFD results revealed that the PPD values in the room varies on average between 10% and 20% and thus thermal conditions occurred according to ASHRAE standards in the model office room with a square diffuser.