A Performance Comparison of Three Ventilation Modes in an Office with Internal Partitions

Abstract

Partitions are widely installed in commercial buildings, which could block the supplied air and then have an influence on indoor environment. This paper mainly aims to investigate the performances of mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV), and stratum ventilation (SV) in a partitioned office via computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A simulation model was established and validated through experimental measurement. The distributions of temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, predicted mean vote index (PMV), and local mean age of air were examined. The results indicated that the partition had significant effects on ventilation performances under DV, wherein the obstacle effect of the partition could lead to both heat and contaminant accumulations around the occupant, and then resulted in a risk of thermal discomfort as well as a reduction of inhaled air quality. In contrary to DV, the indoor air quality and thermal comfort of occupant were slightly influenced by the partition under MV and SV. With the same air change rate and supply air temperature, SV exhibited a better cooling effect and ensured a higher inhaled air quality than MV and DV in a partitioned office. The results of this study could help to provide a reference for the design of the air-conditioning system in a space with partition.