Indoor air flow

The use of open-source CFD has been growing in both industry and academia. Open-source CFD saves users a considerable license cost and provides users with full transparency of implementation and maximum freedom of customization. However, it is often necessary to assess the performance of an open-source code before applying it to the practical use. This study applies one of the most popular open-source CFD codes – OpenFOAM to the indoor airflow and heat transfer prediction. The performance of OpenFOAM is evaluated and validated against a well-documented benchmark test.

Large eddy simulations (LES) were performed for flows relevant to or incurred in ventilation air motions with and without thermal effects. The emphasis was placed on the discussion of the possibility and potential of LES for modelling indoor air flows. Some prospective views were given on the capability and implementation of the LES approach. LES is a potential tool for providing detailed and accurate solution of turbulent flow and heat transfer in analyses of indoor environment and building energy performance.