Effect of aligned and misaligned ventilation opening affecting energy demand and air quality in buildings

This work focuses on a horizontally ventilated cavity filled with air, heated on one side wall and cooled on the floor surface. Therefore, this study has been carried out for a convective loop induced for a fixed Rayleigh number Ra = 106 and horizontal ventilation (moderate Reynolds number Re = 100) where the injection is either in cooperating or opposing to the convective loop. The study undertaken concerns different opening position in order to analyze the energy efficiency of such ventilation and the corresponding indoor air quality. The results obtained indicate that the natural convection and the forced flow (ventilation) play an important role in the flow structure and the mixing ability, the heat exchange (cooling need) and the temperature comfort. The optimum ventilating position is a compromise in order to minimize the cooling demand, keep the mixing ability and reduce the temperature heterogeneity.