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A novel point source oxygen supply method for sleeping environment improvement at high altitudes

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Abstract

The hypoxic environment at high altitudes causes various sleep disorders. Diffuse oxygen enrichment is an effective way to alleviate sleep disorders and improve the built environment in high altitude areas. In this study, a novel point source local diffuse oxygen supply method was proposed to improve the sleeping oxygen environment. The oxygen supply performance was investigated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method including the oxygen concentration and air velocity distributions. A sleeping experiment was conducted on the plateau to validate the CFD model. The occupied zone including the inhalation zone and the active zone was defined. The results showed that the oxygen concentration showed a rapid rise, then decreased slowly, and finally tended to be stable. The oxygen concentration after stabilization was remarkably influenced by indoor ventilation rate. The sleeping environment’s improvement was examined considering the oxygen enrichment efficiency, uniformity, stability and human comfort demand. The optimal strategies were recommended with a ventilation rate of 1 air change per hour, supplied oxygen concentration of 90%, and jet distance of 0.50 m. The study contributes to improving the oxygen environment and human sleep quality in an effective and energy-saving approach to the sustainable development of buildings in high altitude areas.

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Abbreviations

b :

distance from the axis to the jet boundary (m)

C :

concentration (%)

C 1, C 2 :

constants

C e :

concentration of pollutants in the inhaled air without personalized ventilation (%)

C eo :

average oxygen concentration in the inhalation zone without oxygen supply (%)

C i :

concentration of pollutants in the inhaled air (%)

C io :

average oxygen concentration in the inhalation zone (%)

C o :

oxygen supply concentration (%)

C s :

concentration of pollutants in the personalized ventilation air (%)

C so :

oxygen concentration in the oxygen supply gas (%)

d :

outlet diameter (m)

I :

turbulence intensity (%)

k :

turbulent flow energy

Q :

total flow rate of the outlet (m3/s)

Q o :

oxygen supply rate (m3/s)

r :

vertical distance from the axis (m)

S φ :

source term

T :

temperature (K)

t :

time (s)

U :

mean flow velocity (m/s)

u :

velocity distribution (m/s)

u 0 :

outlet velocity (m/s)

u m :

jet axis velocity (m/s)

v :

velocity (m/s)

x :

jet axial distance (m)

Γ :

diffusion coefficient

ε :

dissipation rate

ε p :

index of individual exposure

η :

percentage of oxygen supply gas in inhaled air (%)

ρ :

density (kg/m3)

φ :

general variable

ACH:

air changes per hour

AZ:

active zone

BZ:

breathing zone

DOS:

diffuse oxygen supply

DR:

draft risk

FSR:

facial-area speed ratio

IZ:

inhalation zone

JD:

jet distance

LAS:

local air supply

LDOS:

local diffuse oxygen supply

MOC:

mean oxygen concentration

NOPS:

number of point sources

OSC:

oxygen supply concentration

OSOD:

oxygen supply outlet diameter

OSR:

oxygen supply rate

POIE:

personal oxygen inhalation efficiency

VR:

ventilation rate

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Acknowledgements

We extend our gratitude to the funding supports of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51878532), the Shaanxi Province Natural Science Foundation Research Project of China (No. 2019JQ-392) and the Independent Research and Development project of State Key Laboratory of Green Building in Western China (No. LSZZ202008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Green Building in Western China, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710055, China

    Yanfeng Liu, Cong Song & Dengjia Wang

  2. School of Building Services Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710055, China

    Yanfeng Liu, Zhiyuan Song, Cong Song & Dengjia Wang

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  1. Yanfeng Liu
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Correspondence to Cong Song.

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Liu, Y., Song, Z., Song, C. et al. A novel point source oxygen supply method for sleeping environment improvement at high altitudes. Build. Simul. 14, 1843–1860 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0780-0

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