Abstract
In this investigation we show how better air diffuser designs can help optimize the air mixing process in a typical office room, thus achieving better thermal comfort with less energy consumption. The ANSYS Fluent software was used to investigate the flow behavior of the air supplied to the office room through a newly proposed Coanda effect enhanced diffuser. This was done for both the heating and cooling modes of the HVAC system. The proposed diffuser promotes the Coanda effect by delivering airflow jets which “hang” longer to the ceiling without the need for additional energy. The advantages of the new design are showcased by comparing its performance with that of an existing diffuser, namely the widely used “Multicone” design, where the flow is ejected at a predetermined angle. Various performance and ASHRAE Standard 55 thermal comfort parameters of building occupants are computed. The results show that the proposed diffuser presents a distinct advantage over existing designs, especially in cooling mode where it outperforms the standard Multi-cone diffuser by achieving better energy consumption and thermal comfort for the same input parameters. An added advantage of the proposed design is that it is expected to be cost effective to produce and install.
