Empirical assessment of air movement acceptability in an office with personalized ventilation system

Abstract

In recent years, Personalized Ventilation (PV) systems have been applied in several indoor spaces, such as offices, theatre halls, vehicle cabins, airplanes and so on. The personalized ventilation systems have several advantages such as low energy consumption, and high air quality in the breathing zone. On the other hand, acceptability of air movement is an important affecting factor on the performance of PV systems. In the present study, the acceptability of air movement in the PV system is experimentally assessed at 16°C, 24°C and 32°C, on eight healthy male subjects. The results indicated that about 53% and 50% of the subjects satisfied with inlet temperature of 24°C and 32°C, respectively. Also, results showed that the draught may occur at 16°C in this PV system. Based on the location of supply diffusers, the hand, chest and head directly were affected by air movement and it can cause about 50, 47 and, 41% of subjects to have cold sensation in the mentioned body parts, respectively. Also, results indicated that the whole body sensation is a function of local sensation and it follows the body parts with most discomfort.