Parametric study of air curtain door aerodynamics performance based on experiments and numerical simulations

Abstract

Air curtains have been widely used to reduce infiltration through door openings and save heating/cooling energy in different types of buildings. Previous studies have found that there exist three aerodynamics conditions: optimum condition (OC), inflow break-through (IB), and outflow breakthrough (OB) conditions, which are important for categorizing air curtain performance subject to such key parameters including supply speed and angle, and presence of a person during an actual operation.However, few studies have focused on the effects of these parameters on air curtain performance in terms of resisting infiltration and reducing exfiltration. This research presents a parametric study of air curtain performance based on reduced-scale experiments and full-scale numerical simulations. It was found that increasing air curtain supply angle improves air curtain performance when it is operated under the OC and IB conditions but creates excessive exfiltration under the OB condition. Increasing supply speed of air curtain generally improves the air curtain performance whereas this improvement deteriorates with the increase of supply angle under the OB condition. The presence of person, either directly under or below the air curtain, almost has no effect on the infiltration/exfiltration during the OC condition. Moreover, the person in the doorway can block airflow from both directions, contributing to less infiltration under the IB condition and less exfiltration under the OB condition than without the person. This study provides valuable insights into air curtain aerodynamics performance under different operational conditions and key contributing parameters.

Experimental Study on the Aerodynamic Sealing of Air Curtains

“…However, there is no systematic approach to the contaminant aerodynamic sealing in the transition between the optimum condition and the 'inflow breakthrough condition'. The studies on the application of air curtains have been based on experiments [13,[26][27][28][29], on CFD models [23,29,30], and on semi-analytical models [12,31].…”

Full-size experimental assessment of the aerodynamic sealing of air curtains for particulate matter

“…3,15,38–43 Qi et al. 33 presented a parametric study about air curtain performance. However, it was not developed to assess either the jet or the exhaust parameters that are to be fulfilled to keep the jet in the transition between the optimum condition and the ‘inflow breakthrough condition’.…”

“…The study of the use of air curtains to avoid contaminant spreading has been reported, for tobacco smoke control, 17,18 for operating rooms, 7,[19][20][21][22][23][24] in offices, 25 for protection of art works in museums and of cultural heritage, 26,27 in personalized air curtains, 28 in open refrigerated display cabinets [29][30][31] and in public transportation. 32 The studies on the performance of air curtains have been based on CFD models, 25,27,28,31,[33][34][35][36] on semi-analytical models, 16,37 and on experiments. 3,15,[38][39][40][41][42][43] Qi et al 33 presented a parametric study about air curtain performance.…”

Evaluation of the Effect of different Process Parameters of Air Curtain through CFD Analysis

“…For validating the CFD model of air curtain, velocity profile of complete system considered during analysis for different pressure difference that is 0.2, 3.6, 6.4, 7.3 and 8.7 Pa were taken and then it is compared with the velocity profile obtained during the experimental analysis performed by Goubran et.al [1]. Through numerical analysis, the value of volume flow rate of air at outer outlet of door during intrinsic and extrinsic condition is calculated.…”