The behavior of the buoyant plume of air shed by a human being in an indoor environment is important to room ventilation requirements, airborne disease spread, air pollution control, indoor air quality, and the thermal comfort of building occupants. It also becomes a critical factor in special environments like surgery rooms and clean-rooms. Of the previous human thermal plume studies, few have used actual human volunteers, made quantitative plume velocity measurements, or considered thermal stratification of the environment. Here, a study of the human thermal plume in a standard room environment, including moderate thermal stratification, is presented. We characterize the velocity field around a human volunteer in a temperature-stratified room using particle image velocimetry (PIV). These results are then compared to those obtained from a steady three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solution of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) using the RNG two-equation turbulence model. Although the CFD simulation employs a highly simplified model of the human form, it nonetheless compares quite well with the PIV data in terms of the plume centerline velocity distribution, velocity profiles, and flow rates. The effect of thermal room stratification on the human plume is examined by comparing the stratified results with those of an additional CFD plume simulation in a uniform-temperature room. The resulting centerline velocity distribution and plume flow rates are presented. The reduction in plume buoyancy produced by room temperature stratification has a significant effect on plume behavior.
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e-mail: bac207@psu.edu
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November 2006
Technical Papers
A Computational and Experimental Investigation of the Human Thermal Plume
Brent A. Craven,
Brent A. Craven
Gas Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering,
e-mail: bac207@psu.edu
The Pennsylvania State University
, University Park, PA 16802
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Gary S. Settles
Gary S. Settles
Gas Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University
, University Park, PA 16802
Search for other works by this author on:
Brent A. Craven
Gas Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University
, University Park, PA 16802e-mail: bac207@psu.edu
Gary S. Settles
Gas Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University
, University Park, PA 16802J. Fluids Eng. Nov 2006, 128(6): 1251-1258 (8 pages)
Published Online: March 19, 2006
Article history
Received:
June 1, 2005
Revised:
March 19, 2006
Citation
Craven, B. A., and Settles, G. S. (March 19, 2006). "A Computational and Experimental Investigation of the Human Thermal Plume." ASME. J. Fluids Eng. November 2006; 128(6): 1251–1258. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2353274
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