A numerical airflow pattern study of a floor swirl diffuser for UFAD system
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
Floor swirl diffuser is one of the commonly used diffusers in underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system. Geometrical design of the floor swirl diffuser will affect the airflow pattern of the indoor environment. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of geometrical design of a floor swirl diffuser on the aspects of airflow rate, number of diffuser blades, angle of attack of diffuser blades, and the grille thickness. Laboratory experiment was carried out to validate CFD simulation results. The results of this study have shown that diffuser blades have an important role in the airflow pattern. The grille thickness, which is required to withstand the impact and the load of human and furniture, needs to be minimized as the thickness is detrimental to the function of diffuser blades. Besides, airflow rate per diffuser is studied in UFAD system in order to achieve thermal stratification. The air throw is lower compared to a high angle of attack at the low angles of attack of 30° and 45°. The optimum number of diffuser blades to create the swirl effect is 18 blades with a free area of 18.86%.
Keywords
Underfloor air distribution (UFAD), Floor swirl diffuser, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Airflow pattern, Thermal stratification
Divisions
fac_eng
Funders
University of Malaya: UMRG Grant RG030/15AET,University of Malaya PPP Grants PG111-2012B and PG042-2016A
Publication Title
Energy and Buildings
Volume
158
Publisher
Elsevier