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Numerical Simulation of Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Distribution in Indoor Environment Using Two-Equation Turbulence Models

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Abstract

Heat transfer has a great effect on the energy saving of buildings. The main challenge is the description of turbulence effect. The present study conducts a computational fluid dynamics simulation of non-isothermal indoor airflow with contaminant diffusion to test the capability of four two-equation turbulence models. All two-equation turbulence models predict the similar velocity distribution, temperature distribution and concentration distribution. The SST \(k{-}\omega\) model obtains larger turbulent viscosity far away from walls than \(k{-}\varepsilon\) models, meaning that the gradients of velocity, temperature and concentration is small. The SST \(k{-}\omega\) model and the RNG \(k{-}\varepsilon\) model capture a large thermal plume above heaters. The computed temperature and carbon dioxide concentration are compared with the measurement. The standard \(k{-}\varepsilon\) model and the realizable \(k{-}\varepsilon\) model are capable of predicting a better temperature distribution. The realizable \(k{-}\varepsilon\) model has a good performance in simulating the concentration of \({\mathrm{CO}}_2\).

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohan Liu, Baoqing Deng, Xiucheng Han & Shijian Peng

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  1. Xiaohan Liu
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  2. Baoqing Deng
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  3. Xiucheng Han
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  4. Shijian Peng
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Correspondence to Baoqing Deng.

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Liu, X., Deng, B., Han, X. et al. Numerical Simulation of Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Distribution in Indoor Environment Using Two-Equation Turbulence Models. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Civ Eng 47, 1893–1907 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-022-01007-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-022-01007-4

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