COUPLING OF A MULTI-ZONE AIRFLOW ANALYSIS PROGRAM WITH A COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS PROGRAM FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY STUDIES

摘要

Many Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) studies use multizone airflow analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. Multizone analysis needs little computing time, but assume uniform air distribution in each zone. CFD can provide field distribution for each zone but is very computationally demanding. The present study attempted to integrate the two programs together to take their advantages by using three coupling strategies. Virtual coupling uses CFD simulation results to provide boundary conditions for CONTAM. Quasi-dynamic strategy improves the discharge coefficients in CONTAM based on CFD simulation. Dynamic coupling uses CONTAM to provide flow/pressure boundary conditions for CFD and improves the discharge coefficient in CONTAM by using CFD results. Preliminary results show that all the three coupling schemes can result in more reliable airflow patterns. Further investigations are needed to improve the coupling procedures and to apply to more complex cases.