EFFECT OF SUPPLY AIR DIFFUSERS AND RETURN AIR GRILLES ON ROOM AIR DISTRIBUTION IN A SMALL ROOM

Abstract

Air-conditioning, which is used to lower the room temperature and humidity in an enclosed room, are widely used in Singapore to provide a comfortable indoor environment for occupants. However, some findings indicate that numerous occupants feel too cold rather than comfortable. Supply air diffuser and return grille are the components which have a significant impact on the air turbulence inside the enclosed space and thus affect the thermal comfort in the room. It is important to study how the supply air diffuser and return grille affect thermal comfort, in order to improve the design of the location of supply air diffuser and return grille. This research seeks to address the impact of the location of supply air diffuser and return grille on the thermal comfort. CFD tools are used to simulate the various possible locations of supply air diffuser and return grille in a small room with few furniture to find the location with better efficiency in cooling the room temperature and providing occupants with better thermal comfort. Data, e.g., air temperature, air velocity, relative humidity and other variables generated from the simulation models is collected and analyzed. PMV-PPD index is computed for the comparison of occupants thermal comfort in the simulation models. Finally, recommendations are made for the reference of the preferred location of supply air diffuser and return grille.