Numerical and experimental study on room airflow—3-D predictions using the k-ϵ turbulence model

Abstract Accurate prediction of velocity and temperature distributions in a room is indispensable for designing high quality air conditioning systems. This paper is concerned with the feasibility and validity of numerical simulation of room airflow. Turbulent recirculating flows in many types of ventilated rooms were numerically simulated in three-dimensions using the k-ϵ two equation turbulence model. The results obtained from the numerical simulation are compared with those given by model experiments concerned with velocity and diffusion fields. The correspondence between simulations and experiments is fairly good. It may be concluded that 3-D numerical simulations using the k-ϵ two equation model can predict turbulent recirculating flows in a ventilated room with sufficient accuracy from the viewpoint of engineering applications.