Differentiated Control of Large Spatial Environments: Air Curtain Grid System

Linye Song, Kaijun Li, Xinghui Zhang (), Jing Hua and Cong Zhang
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Linye Song: College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Kaijun Li: College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Xinghui Zhang: College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Jing Hua: College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Cong Zhang: College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Large public buildings (LPBs) are the main energy consumers in cities, and the air conditioning system contributes a large part. Supply air allocation by partition can avoid excessive regulation of the system. In spatially interconnected LPBs, thermal coupling relationships exist between different subzones. The convective heat transfer to the non-occupied zone increases the actual cooling/heating capacity of the air conditioning area. This paper applies the air curtain as an airflow barrier indoors, and the air curtain grid system (ACGS) is created by the combined operation of multiple air curtains, which aims to reduce the convective heat exchange between adjacent subzones. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is established and simulated. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) For the scenarios addressed in this paper, the combination of a 60° diffuser air supply angle and 2 m/s air curtain velocity can reduce the convective load from the adjacent space by more than 50%. (2) It is recommended to install incomplete air curtains indoors, and a 50% air curtain coverage ratio can reduce 52% of the heat exchange. (3) The mathematical model of air infiltration/exfiltration under the combined operation of multiple air curtains is established and verified in ACGS. This paper provides a new approach to the air conditioning partition control of LPBs.

Keywords: air distribution; air curtain; non-uniform environment; energy conservation; CFD; large public building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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