Buildings require ventilation to supply fresh, clean air and so ensure that contaminants and heat do not accumulate. Ventilation strategies such as displacement ventilation may be used in different seasons or climates to minimise the building’s energy requirement.
A new paper by Dan Toy and professor Andy Woods explores the effect of a rapid change in the temperature of the supply air on displacement ventilation. Using a series of new laboratory experiments, Dan and Andy have identified four transient flow regimes, which may develop when the temperature of the supply ventilation is varied. These regimes will affect the temperature profile and the dispersal of contaminants within the building.
The paper has been recently published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and is available here.