A large number of split-type air conditioner are widely used in high-rise residential or office buildings in China and the outdoor units of air-conditioner are often installed at the sidewalls or on the roofs in the confined space of a high-rise building. The factors affecting the performance of air-conditioner are the solar radiation, the heat released from the outdoor units, the ventilation of the confined installation space of a building where the outdoor units are installed and so on, which are investigated in this study. The air flow and temperature distribution under steady-state condition near the two outdoor units installed on the same storey in a building are simulated by software FLUENT, in which the porous model and DO radiation model are used. The optimum installation distance from the supporting wall is obtained. The average temperature of the exit surface without wind is 1.18% more than that with wind. The results show that the heat released from the outdoor units and the ventilation of the confined installation space where the outdoor units are installed are the main factors affecting the thermal environment in the confined installation space; The influence of the solar radiation can be neglected.

Volume Subject Area:
Sustainable Environment
Keywords:
High-rise building, Outdoor units, Heat rejection, Fluid flow distribution, Solar radiation
Topics:
Air conditioners, Computer simulation, Heat, Solar radiation, Ventilation, Wind, Air flow, China, Computer software, Fluid dynamics, Radiation (Physics), Roofs, Steady state, Structures, Temperature, Temperature distribution
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 by ASME
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