Airplane cabin mixing ventilation with time-periodic supply: Contaminant mass fluxes and ventilation efficiency

Jo Hendrik Thysen*, Twan van Hooff, Bert Blocken, Gert Jan van Heijst

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Airplane cabin ventilation is essential to ensure passengers' well-being. The conventional ventilation method is mixing ventilation with a statistically steady supply, which, according to former studies, has reached its limits regarding, for example, the ventilation efficiency. However, the effect of a statistically unsteady (time-periodic) supply on the mixing ventilation efficiency has remained largely unexplored. This research uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the large eddy simulation (LES) approach to study isothermal time-periodic mixing ventilation in a section of a single-aisle airplane cabin model, in which the air exhaled by the passengers functions as (passive) contaminants. Two time-periodic supply strategies are evaluated. The induced time-periodic airflow patterns promote an efficient delivery of fresh air to the passenger zone and affect the passengers' expiratory plumes. This results in increased mean contaminant mass fluxes, causing a strong reduction of the mean contaminant concentrations in the passenger zone (up to 23%) and an increased contaminant extraction from the cabin. Mean velocities increase with up to 55% but remain within the comfortable range. It is shown that the ventilation efficiency improves; that is, the contaminant removal effectiveness and air change efficiency (in the full cabin volume) increase with up to 20% and 7%, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13151
JournalIndoor Air
Volume32
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Nov 2022

Keywords

  • airplane cabin
  • computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
  • convective and turbulent contaminant mass fluxes
  • large eddy simulation (LES)
  • time-periodic mixing ventilation
  • ventilation efficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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