Effect of flow structures on natural ventilation performance in office model

Abstract

The recent Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic has highlighted the importance of indoor ventilation. In particular, ventilation is crucial in residential spaces and workspaces, where people spent most of their day. Natural ventilation is a cost-effective method for improving indoor ventilation. It can provide safe and comfortable residential and working environments without additional energy consumption. In this study, the ventilation performance was experimentally studied by measuring the concentration of ultrafine particulate matter according to the opening conditions of the windows and door of an office model in a wind tunnel. Furthermore, the internal flow structure in the office model was quantitatively analyzed through particle image velocimetry to determine the factors that affected the ventilation performance. The mean velocity inside the model and the ventilation performance increased with the opening angle of the windows. In particular, the opening condition of the door strongly affected the ventilation performance. This study is expected to provide a guideline for effectively improving the ventilation performance in indoor spaces. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]