Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates
The general consensus among academics is that the spatio-temporal humidity distribution is more or less uniform in an indoor space. This has, for the large part, not yet been proven by an academic study; subsequently, this paper aims to demonstrate that this is not always true. The paper makes use o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/681 |
| _version_ | 1797406152418394112 |
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| author | Matthew Bonello Daniel Micallef Simon Paul Borg |
| author_facet | Matthew Bonello Daniel Micallef Simon Paul Borg |
| author_sort | Matthew Bonello |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The general consensus among academics is that the spatio-temporal humidity distribution is more or less uniform in an indoor space. This has, for the large part, not yet been proven by an academic study; subsequently, this paper aims to demonstrate that this is not always true. The paper makes use of a validated transient CFD model, which uses the Low Reynolds Number k-<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi>ϵ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula> turbulence model. The model simulates people in a room at a constant skin temperature and emitting a constant source of humidity using source terms in the species equation. The model is eventually used to predict the implications of having a high source of humidity, in the form of occupancy, on the micro-climate’s spatio-temporal humidity distribution. The results for the high-occupancy case show that different locations experience various amounts of humid air, with a 31% difference between the lowest and highest locations. The amount of water vapor in each person’s proximity is deemed to be highly dependent on the flow of the inlet jet, with the people farthest from the jet having an overall less mass of water vapor in their proximity over the two-hour experimental period. This paper has concluded that there are, in fact, cases where the humidity non-uniformity inside an interior environment becomes substantial in situations of high occupancy. The results of this paper may be useful to improve the design of HVAC systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:21:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27f3e6a777584b5f8735337a41d2373d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:21:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-27f3e6a777584b5f8735337a41d2373d2023-12-03T15:08:13ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-01-0114368110.3390/en14030681Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-ClimatesMatthew Bonello0Daniel Micallef1Simon Paul Borg2Department of Environmental Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, MaltaDepartment of Environmental Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, MaltaDepartment of Environmental Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, MaltaThe general consensus among academics is that the spatio-temporal humidity distribution is more or less uniform in an indoor space. This has, for the large part, not yet been proven by an academic study; subsequently, this paper aims to demonstrate that this is not always true. The paper makes use of a validated transient CFD model, which uses the Low Reynolds Number k-<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi>ϵ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula> turbulence model. The model simulates people in a room at a constant skin temperature and emitting a constant source of humidity using source terms in the species equation. The model is eventually used to predict the implications of having a high source of humidity, in the form of occupancy, on the micro-climate’s spatio-temporal humidity distribution. The results for the high-occupancy case show that different locations experience various amounts of humid air, with a 31% difference between the lowest and highest locations. The amount of water vapor in each person’s proximity is deemed to be highly dependent on the flow of the inlet jet, with the people farthest from the jet having an overall less mass of water vapor in their proximity over the two-hour experimental period. This paper has concluded that there are, in fact, cases where the humidity non-uniformity inside an interior environment becomes substantial in situations of high occupancy. The results of this paper may be useful to improve the design of HVAC systems.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/681CFD analysishigh occupancyhumidity distributioninternal micro-climatespatio-temporal distribution |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Bonello Daniel Micallef Simon Paul Borg Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates Energies CFD analysis high occupancy humidity distribution internal micro-climate spatio-temporal distribution |
| title | Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates |
| title_full | Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates |
| title_fullStr | Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates |
| title_short | Humidity Distribution in High-Occupancy Indoor Micro-Climates |
| title_sort | humidity distribution in high occupancy indoor micro climates |
| topic | CFD analysis high occupancy humidity distribution internal micro-climate spatio-temporal distribution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/3/681 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matthewbonello humiditydistributioninhighoccupancyindoormicroclimates AT danielmicallef humiditydistributioninhighoccupancyindoormicroclimates AT simonpaulborg humiditydistributioninhighoccupancyindoormicroclimates |