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Mixing ventilation is where air is supplied into the space with relatively high momentum flux in order that the air in the space will be mixed to a reasonably uniform temperature, yet satisfying the requirement for low air speeds. This is usually achieved by supplying air at a high level within the space (i.e. outside the occupied zone). This form of ventilation generates vertically mixed air within a space. The second approach is displacement

CFD Analysis in the Built Envir onment Inter nal Ventilation

I. Lavedrine, ARUP , San Francisco, USA Dr D. Woolf, ARUP , London, UK

Introduction

FD is applied to a vast range of building types and ventilation strategies throughout the design process, from feasibility or concept through to detailed design and even post-occupancy. Although CFD is traditionally thought of as a specialist application, its use is becoming more widespread and mainstream throughout the building industry, opening up to nonexpert and expert users alike. One important application of CFD in the built environment is the modeling of office spaces. Such airflows can be placed into two categories. Firstly, natural ventilation flows are those generated by air movement through openings in the faade. This air movement can be buoyancy-driven with internal heat gains (e.g. people, machinery, lighting and solar gains) creating temperature differentials between inside and outside and/or wind-driven by the external pressure field. Secondly, flows may be driven by mechanical ventilation systems. In this case, the air movement has different regions of momentum sources and mixing with heated or cooled air interacting with other sources of buoyancy within the space yielding complex flow patterns. Natural ventilation can be combined with mechanical ventilation (mixed mode) either by design or with user interaction, e.g. opening a window. A typical feature of internal flows is that the driving forces are usually small. For either of these types of ventilation, one of the fundamental measures is occupant thermal comfort (Fanger 1972). Furthermore, one of the typical requirements for thermal comfort is low air speeds and a fairly narrow band of air temperatures within the occupied zones. A number of solutions have been developed within the HVAC industry and these can be categorized into mixing ventilation and displacement ventilation.

ventilation whereby air is supplied into the space at low level and with low momentum. The natural sources of buoyancy generate upward flowing plumes which carry heat and pollutants to high level and away from the occupants. This approach leads to temperature stratification within the space and has the advantage that the supply air volume can be lower than for a mixing system and energy can be saved with air supplied at a higher temperature. Descriptions of natural and mixing flows and buoyant convection in confined spaces can be found in Linden, Lane-Serff and Smeed (1990), Linden (1999), Morton et al (1956) and Baines and Turner (1968). Many buildings are satisfactorily designed and constructed without recourse to CFD analysis. Indeed, for tried and tested design solutions, there is little to be gained by more complex analysis. However, there are cases with an unconventional air distribution design, for example, where an assessment of the likely performance of the proposed design may be required in order to provide confidence in the design. The design process may use CFD with or without other calculation techniques such as dynamic thermal modeling or hand calculations. The performance assessment usually relates to a greater understanding of the air movement and air temperature distribution within a space or, more precisely, the interaction of the HVAC system with the building envelope, internal heat gains and climatic influences over a year. Other issues, such as moisture levels, may require consideration in certain circumstances, e.g. a condensation risk analysis. Page 15

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1. Example: Office Space
In the application challenge carried out by Arup, an assessment was made of a ventilation system for an open plan office (figure 1). intermediate (between displacement supplied a and An system standard mixing floor-

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Test Data
Monitoring was used to compare the internal environment on the 2nd and 3rd floors and also to understand the performance of the building fabric between these floors. In addition, the measurements were used to generate information to feed back into the original CAD design tools to enhance future designs. Although the floor plans are the same on each floor (as shown in Figure 2), the geometry differs with a 3m
Figure 1: View of the working office

system) is used where air is through mounted swirl diffusers from ducts in an underfloor void. The supply air has greater momentum and mixing than that which would be typically associated with a displacement system.

floor-to-ceiling height on the 2nd floor and 4m on the 3rd

The office is situated next to the docks at Cardiff Bay, UK and was designed in 1994-1997 using in-house thermal analysis software [Oasys Ltd] and a commercially available CFD code [Computational Dynamics Ltd]. The structural design comprises a 4-storey steel frame with pre-cast concrete ceilings. The external envelope is The traditional brick, cavity and block construction.

floor. In addition, the exposed ceiling surfaces differ. The 2nd floor has an exposed concrete soffit and the 3rd floor has a profiled ceiling with a metal covering. Measuring stations were located at three positions on the South West side of the building on each floor, i.e. six measuring stations in total. Each station measured the vertical temperature gradient from 0.1m to 2.8m above the floor (4 points in total). air speeds. Heat flux and surface temperatures at ceiling level were also monitored, but not

building is L-shaped with sides approximately 35m long, its width varying between 14 and 18m (see Figure 2). The floor plate has an area of 3,100m and is open plan with
2

a limited number of cellular offices. A notional corridor goes through the center of each floor plate and the work spaces are either side of the corridor. The building uses a mixed mode ventilation system with a night purge facility incorporating mechanically-operated vents and the thermal mass of soffit and walls. CFD predictions were carried out in 1997 as part of the building design process, i.e. a design stage analysis. The building was occupied in August 1998 (see Figure 1). Measurements of the completed building were carried out as part of the monitoring process during summer 2001. Finally, as part of the application challenge in 2003, postoccupancy CFD predictions using STAR-CD were carried out using boundary conditions taken from the monitoring process. The primary objective was to understand the effect of air supply flow rate on the air temperature distribution within the space. Page 16

Figure 2: Office floor plan with dimensions

CFD Analysis
The post-occupancy computational mesh was made up of approximately 300,000 fluid cells with increased

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One possible source of error between the measurements and predictions relates to internal heat gains (occupancy levels and computers in use) as this was not recorded during the monitoring process. However, standard office use assumptions were made as follows: Occupants - 1 person per 13m2 of floor area (49 people per floor) at a convective heat output rate of 35W per person. Machines - 10W/m2. This was assumed to be 100% convective and was applied as an equivalent heat source in W/m3. Lights - 10W/m2. This was assumed to be 55% convective (fluorescent lamps) and was applied as an equivalent heat source in W/m2 at ceiling level. Air temperature distributions on horizontal and vertical sections through the space (Figures 5 & 6) showed the local effects of supply air diffusers and lighting heat loads as well as the vertical stratification within the office space.

resolutions close to the surfaces as well as the supply inlets and extract grilles (see Figure 3). The flow obstruction due to furniture was not represented in the model as the displacement flow direction is predominantly in the vertical direction, i.e. a small influence on the air movement was assumed.

Figure 3: Views of the CFD mesh

Figure 4: Supply air diffuser locations Figure 5: Air temperature distribution 0.1m above floor level

Swirl diffusers are geometrically quite complex with small length scales compared with the office space. A simple representation was therefore used which was initially compared (air temperatures and velocities), in isolation, with published manufacturers test data. Adjustments in flow direction and volume were made to each inlet boundary making up the diffuser to optimize the jet representation for the chosen diffuser at the required flow rate (see Figure 4). Wall and supply air temperatures were set according to the data obtained from the monitoring process.
Figure 6: Air temperature distribution on two vertical sections

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Comparing Test Data With CFD Predictions
One of the major problems relating to the monitoring data was that it was not explicitly generated for comparisons with the CFD predictions. Table 1 shows an example of comparative data for measured and predicted postoccupancy air temperatures at one measuring station location and as an average value for a particular height above the floor at 16:00 hours (all in C).
Height above floor (m) Measurement (at measuring station) CFD prediction CFD prediction (at location of measuring station) (average value)

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R eferences
[1] Baines, W.D. & Turner, J.S. 1968. Turbulent Buoyant convection from a source in a confined region. J. Fluid Mech. 37, 51-80 [2] Computational Dynamics Ltd. STAR-CD v3.1 Theory manual [3] Fanger, P .O. 1970. Thermal comfort analysis and applications in environmental engineering. 244p Danish Technical Press [4] Linden, P .F., Lane-Serff, G.F. & Smeed, D.A. 1990. Emptying filling boxes: The fluid mechanics of natural ventilation. J. Fluid Mech. 212, 300-335 [5] Linden, P .F. 1999. The fluid mechanics of 1988-1999.

0.1 1.1 1.8

23.6 24.3 25.0

23.6 25.1 25.4

23.9 25.0 25.3

natural ventilation. Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 31, 201238 [6] Morton, B.R., Taylor, G.I. & Turner, J.S. 1956.

Table 1: Comparison between measured and predicted air temperatures

Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources. Proc. Roy Soc Lond. A 234, 1-23 [7] OASYS Ltd 1992. OASYS computer program manual, ROOM analysis

Conclusions
Validation of airflow prediction in buildings using CFD is inherently difficult. Studies are usually completed long before the building is constructed, making in situ comparisons between measured data and modeling extremely rare. Unless there is an airflow problem with a completed building, the client is usually unwilling to finance post-occupancy CFD studies. This challenge is further compounded by the differences between the input assumptions used in the modeling and the real operation of the building, e.g. variations in temperature boundary conditions, internal heat gains, building operation and control. The majority of comparative studies are therefore carried out in academia using test chambers and other experimental facilities examining particular HVAC or fabric-related issues.

For Further Information, visit www.cd-adapco.com www.arup.com

Although

comparisons

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measurements

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problematic, there is an increased acceptance of the results with architects and clients alike. Good correlation is possible between measured and predicted air temperatures in a working office space. Page 18 April 2004