An innovative personalized displacement ventilation system for airliner cabins

Abstract

A B S T R A C TIn airliner cabins, mixing ventilation systems with gaspers are not efficient in controlling contaminant transport. To improve the cabin environment, this investigation proposed an innovative ventilation system that would reduce contaminant transport and maintain thermal comfort. We manufactured and installed the proposed ventilation system in an occupied seven-row, single-aisle aircraft cabin mockup. Air velocity, air temperature, and contaminant distribution in the cabin mockup were obtained by experimental measurements. The investigation used the experimental data to validate the results of CFD simulation. The validated CFD program was then used to study the impact of the locations and number of exhausts on contaminant removal and thermal comfort in a one-row section of a fully occupied Boeing-737 cabin. Although the diffusers in the proposed system were close to the passengers' legs, the air velocity magnitude was acceptable in the lower part of the cabin and the leg area. The proposed system provided an acceptable thermal environment in the cabin, although passengers could feel cold when placing their legs directly in front of the diffusers. The four-exhaust configuration of the new ventilation system was the best, and it decreased the average exposure in the cabin by 57% and 53%, respectively, when compared with the mixing and displacement ventilation systems.

Evaluating the commercial airliner cabin environment with different air distribution systems

“…50 The hybrid turbulence model and the Eulerian model have been validated by experimental data in our previous study. 43 We manu-…”

“…correctly predict the convective heat transfer as demonstrated in our previous study. 43 This study employed the SIMPLE algorithm for coupling pressure and velocity, the PRESTO! scheme for discretizing pressure, and the second-order upwind scheme for all the other variables.…”

A Review of CFD Analysis Methods for Personalized Ventilation (PV) in Indoor Built Environments

“…Some important studies on CTM development were also included in the review, even they did not involve PV systems. However, those CFD studies on PV's application in vehicles, such as aircraft [64,65] and vehicle compartments [66,67], are excluded in this review as they are out of the scope.…”

Can we migrate COVID-19 spreading risk?

“…In addition to masks and screens, advanced ventilation systems such as personalized ventilation systems (You et al, 2018) and displacement ventilation (Shi et al, 2020) are also effective in migrating the infection risk. By using airplane cabin as an example, clean air could be supplied at a lower temperature than the cabin air from individual air supply units underneath of the seats in front row as shown Fig.…”

“…By using airplane cabin as an example, clean air could be supplied at a lower temperature than the cabin air from individual air supply units underneath of the seats in front row as shown Fig. 2(a) (You et al, 2018). The buoyancy force from a passenger's body would generate a thermal plume that can bring the clean air from the lower part of the cabin to the breathing zone of the passenger.…”