Numerical analysis and field measurements of the airflow patterns and thermal comfort in an indoor swimming pool: a case study

摘要

Public indoor swimming pools are a very popular type of sports facility. They need to ensure good indoor air quality and thermal comfort of the occupants (TCO) while reducing their energy consumption. The objectives of this study are to develop a numerical code, based on the zonal method; to investigate the indoor airflow patterns; and to determine the TCO in the indoor swimming pool. The numerical simulation, performed using the TRNSYS software (version 17), is validated against intensive field measurements, carried out in the public indoor swimming pool located at Bishop's University (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada), of the temperature, velocity, and relative humidity of the air as well as the surface temperature of the walls, ceiling, and floor. The developed code is then used to study the indoor flow patterns and to evaluate the TCO using three indexes: the humidex chart, the predicted mean vote (PMV), and the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD). The results show a hot-humid rather uncomfortable atmosphere is prevailing in the occupied parts of the studied indoor swimming pool. The calculated airflow rates show that, due to the position of the ventilation inlets and outlets, most of the ventilation air circulates in the upper part of the building causing an insufficient air renewal in the occupied parts of the studied indoor swimming pool.