Internal partitioning and air movement in mixing ventilation.

In this study, the effects of internal partition on ventilation performance in terms of room air change efficiency and ventilation effectiveness were investigated. A model test room was used and the physical test conditions were simulated numerically by using a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code under isothermal conditions. The test room was ventilated in mixing mode and different partition configurations, including its location, height and gap underneath as well as the contaminant source location, were examined. The results show that each partition configuration including its location, height and gap underneath, has an individual influence on the ventilation performance in the model test room. For instance, the partition, the partition location at a certain condition can sometimes improve the air movement and ventilation effectiveness. It is also found that increasing the partition height without the gap underneath has an optimum value to produce better ventilation performance. When combining these effects, however, the outcome becomes different due to the interactions among the partition parameters. Finally, it is concluded that an ideal ventilation design needs to consider both aspects of supplying fresh air to the occupied zone as well as removing contaminants from the indoor space concerned.