Session: 02-02 Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer in Building Applications

Paper Number: 107024

107024 - Airflow Characteristics and Thermal Comfort of Air Diffusers Characteristics and Thermal Comfort of Air Diffusers 

Indoor environment quality control is very important for building operations as occupant of buildings spend up to 90% of their time indoors. After Covid-19 pandemic break out, indoor environment quality has become even more crucial to the society because of health concerns. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) covers conditions such as air quality, lighting, thermal conditions, ergonomics inside a building and their effects on the occupant or occupants of the building. Thermal conditions and air quality are usually achieved with the mechanical or natural ventilation systems or by HVAC equipment. As buildings became more complex structures, different airflow distribution systems to be developed to fulfill such requirements. For this purpose, not only the airflow distribution systems need to be modified but also diffusers that provide which supplies/draws air to/form systems are to be improved. Detailed analysis of these subcomponents is needed to assure that such devices provide high levels of comfort effectiveness and energy efficiency.

The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive analysis for air characterization and indoor air regime of different diffusers (square diffuser, operable flap diffuser) and their effect on comfort level of occupants Fanger’s model of thermal comfort is used with CFD simulations and a tool is considered for the validation experiments. Using more that 16 thermal sensors including one on a mannequin head, on a table and at foot level, the readings were correlated by using anemometers to measure air flow at supply diffuser and at different operating levels. CFD simulations were according to different scenarios which are to provide a comparison between diffusers and understand indoor airflow regimes. The results considering the flow interaction between diffusers and surroundings showed a detailed visual illustration in CFD simulations and their relation to perceived comfort levels.  

Presenting Author: Mehmet Pınar Mengüç Ozyegin University

Presenting Author Biography: Professor M. Pinar Mengüç received his BS and MS from ODTU/METU in Ankara, Turkey, and his PhD from Purdue University, USA in 1985, all in Mechanical Engineering. The same year he joined the University of Kentucky (UK), and promoted to the ranks of associate and full professor in 1988 and 1993, respectively. He was a visiting professor at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy during 199, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, during 1998-99 academic year, and at University of California, Los Angeles in 2022. He was awarded an Honorary Professorship at ESPOL, in Ecuador in 2006. At the end of 2008, he was promoted to Engineering Alumni Association Chair Professor at the University of Kentucky, which he held until 2021. He has six patents and has two patent applications. He is a co-author of more than 160 articles published in SCI journals, has co-authored more than 220 conference papers and six books. He has worked with more than 65 MS, PhD and Post-Doc researchers, and had more than 130 invited/keynote lectures delivered. He joined Özyeğin University, Istanbul in 2009 as the founding Head of Mechanical Engineering. The same year, he established the Centre for Energy, Environment and Economy (CEEE/EÇEM), which he is still directing. His research areas include radiative transfer, nano-scale transport phenomena, applied optics and sustainable energy applications. He is an elected member of Science Academy of Turkey, a fellow of both ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineering) and ICHMT (International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer), and a Senior Member of OSA (Optical Society of America). He is in the executive committees of several NGO, including ICHMT and Science Academy.
He is one of the Editors-in-Chief Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer (JQSRT) by Elsevier. Mengüç is the recipient of several recognitions, including the 2018 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award and the 2020 Purdue Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Award, for his lifetime achievements. The CEEE team, which he is leading, has received the 2019 First Place Award on ‘Efficiency’ from the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology and the 2020 First Place Award on ‘Energy Efficiency’ from the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Istanbul Chamber of Trade on a Sustainable Energy project they completed.