Computational Aeroacoustic Analysis of a Heating Coil Within a Ventilation Duct

This study computationally investigates the sound generation of air flow through a heating coil within a ventilation duct. Noise sources originating from unsteady flow through the centrifugal fan, heating coil, and ducting are identified with steady RANS techniques using a commercially available CFD solver. Built-in aeroacoustic modules are used to refine the mesh to resolve acoustic frequencies in the computational model. Sound spectral analysis is performed in the near field. With the continued exponential progression of technology, computational numerical models become increasingly more applicable and practical to a larger variety of engineering problems. Traditionally, aeroacoustic analysis has been performed on noise sources such as aircraft. However, more interest into acoustic source modeling in other fields has expanded. For example, wind turbines, automotive sources such as rear view mirrors, HVAC systems, and other noise generating devices. As the population continues to grow it is of interest to characterize the acoustics of HVAC equipment, in the future, to prevent unwanted noise within buildings. Furthermore, the inquiry is to question the practicality of computational aeroacoustic methods, which are known to be computationally intensive, for industrial use in HVAC design.