Investigation of Free and Forced Convection in

Different Ventilations
Aya Aws Saad (14-00101)

Sawen Faraidun (12-00041)

Meer Baban(13-00309)
 1. Introduction

Ventilation is an essential technique used for two purposes: first is to improve air quality and

second is to provide thermal comfort, heat transfer mechanism through the buildings. In addition,

ventilation replenish oxygen, remove moisture smoke, heat, and dust, and remove odors. Thus,

the air is kept circulating. Ventilation is investigated in different shapes and reynolds, nusselt

number, and other numbers were studied. First, ventilation enclosure for two and three

ventilation ports are studied with a uniform constant flux heat source placed on the bottom. The

fluid flows through opening located on the lower left of the rectangular cavity and exists at

three openings two at the top right and left of the vertical wall and one opening at the middle of

the top horizontal wall. The model was assumed to be two dimensional. Also, the walls are

assumed to be adiabatic. In addition, for simplicity the height of all four openings is kept

constant and the aspect ratio is 2. For the second enclosure, two outflow and one inflow were

studied. Outflow openings were located at the top right and left of the vertical wall. The inflow

opening is at the bottom left of the vertical wall. The height of all of the openings in the two

rectangular cavities was kept constant (H=0.1) for simplicity [1]. Next, to improve ventilation

and heat transfer quality nanofluid has been used widely in many applications. Heat transfer is

improved due to the increase in effective thermal conductivity of the fluid. The effects of volume

fractions of copper-water nanoparticles and the outlet opening location on mixed convection was

studied with a vented cavity and hot obstacle. Here Richardson number changes from 0.1 to 10

and Grashof number is kept at 10^4 so that as Grashof number is kept constant, Richardson

number changes with Reynolds number. Results will be given as isotherms, streamlines, and

local and average Nusselt number.[2]

In nuclear installations, fire smoke damage the major safety equipment such as blocking high

efficiency filter (HEPA) in ventilation or some other electronic devices. These are causing the

generation of heat, chemical reactions and black smoke. Also, it has effects on the combustion

process which smocking is occupying the whole and has response on it. This feedback

accommodated by two ways either canceling the air around the fire source or altering the rate of

fresh air on the road to fire room. The doorway flow is an example of this investigation of smoke

movement. To determine the amount of smoking expansion and the quantity of fresh air coming

back to the fire that leads the combustion regime, a proper explanation is need because of having

high mass and energy flows between rooms. Typically, by way of a doorway- type, opening

atmosphere is connected with enclosed fire. Because of the transformation of temperature

between the two sides of the doorway, the buoyancy directs the flow in physical mechanism.

Since 1970s, the theoretical basis of flow portrayal has been anticipated on Bernoulli’s approach.

The flow is realized to be bidirectional with outflow of smoke and inflow of fresh air. The

density difference or temperature difference, the dimensions of doorway, and the discharge flow

coefficient Cd have effects on the neutral plane and the inflow and outflow rates. Several

experiments have been done on the shape of temperature profile in the fire room for doorway

flow correlations such as numerical CFD simulations, and this experiment is improved in

investigating advanced laser measurement technique for velocimetry (PIV/S-PIV systems).

In mechanical ventilation, some terms should be added to buoyancy such as forced convection in

flow description, the inertia term, the driving force in ventilation system. There are some

applications that have been investigated on the mixed convection case for doorway flow

(coupling natural and forced ventilation), and they have been carried on positive pressure

ventilation (PPV) systems for smoke control, the interest of forced ventilated fire scenarios, and
the heat ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) system in buildings. The performance of doorway

flows combines with the effect of mechanical ventilation has been investigated experimentally.

The Bernoulli approach for mixed convection application advanced for natural ventilation in

addition of the pressure leaded by mechanical ventilation.[3] The objective of this paper is to

investigate the ventilation arrangements by study on combined free and forced convection in an

enclosure, effect of nanofluid and outlet port location, and induction of doorway flow by effects

of natural and forced ventilation in large scale fire experiments.

2. Methodology and Computational Details

In this research paper a rectangular cavity of aspect ratio, H/L=2.0 is considered, and

constant heat flux source q uniformly established on the bottom wall. On the lower left vertical

wall there is inflow opening, and outflow openings on the top of both vertical walls and middle

of top wall as shown in figure (1). The height of the all four openings are 0.1H, and the other

walls of the cavity are adiabatic. Through the inflow opening, there is uniform flow velocities

(Vm) at a constant temperature Tm. In the enclosure, there is three ventilations, one in each

side(left & right) of the top part, and one at the center of roof; in the bottom part of walls there is

heat source.
 Figure (1)

The following equations have been used for collecting data on combined free and forced

convection heat transfer, and it has been investigated on a number of different fluid flow states

with Reynold number (50,100, 200), and Richardson number range 0 ≤ Ri ≤ 10. [1]

For the nanofluid effect on ventilation, Lattice Boltzmann method is used as it gives two

functions one for the fluid field and the other for temperature field. The equations below used in

the case of lack of nanofluid in order to compare two cases later.

For flow field: Fi(x + ciΔt,t + Δt)=fi(x,t)+ Δt/Ƭv [fieq (x,t)-fi (x,t)]+ ΔtciFk
For temperature field:

gi(x + ciΔt,t + Δt)=gi(x,t)+ Δt/ƬD [gieq (x,t)-gi (x,t)]

In addition, the local equilibrium distribution is calculated to determine the type of problem needs to

be solved through : Fieq=wiρ[1+ (ci.u/cs2) +( ½*(ci.u)2/cs4 ) – (½*u2/cs2)

gieq=wiƬ[1+ (ci.u/cs2)

Also, the lattice Boltzmann model is used in order to simulate the nanofluid. Thus the equations

below were used with the presence of nanofluid. The geometry for the vented cavity is given below

with three outflow and one inflow with a central fin.

(figure 2)

In addition, the effect of outlet openings and streamlines and comparison of streamline between

nanofluid with volume fraction 0f 0.03 and 0 for different richardson number are obtained. A

represents the first outlet port location, b represent the second outlet port location, and c represent the

third outlet port location.

(figure 3)
(figure 4)

In the simulation model the fluid is assumed to be at steady state, 2D, and laminar flow. The vented

cavity is square with a vertical rectangular obstacle at the middle of the cavity. As shown in figure B,

the distance from inlet port to ground is 8H and from the ground to the outlet port is 2H. The length

of inlet and outlet is 5H so that a fully developed flow is attained. The effects of the ports on

isotherms are also obtained within the same volume fraction of nanofluid as the previous case. [2]
(figure 5)

In mechanical ventilation for multi enclosure, fire tests are designed to test heat release

rate calculation or fire tests in doorways. This scenario presented in (Figures 6&7) contains a set

of three sections (named L1, L2, L3) that are completely closed and connected to each other via

two identical doorways (H = 2.17 m and w = 0.80 m). The dimensions of rooms are also same (4

m in height * 5m *6 m). Between fire rooms (L2& L3) there is a rock wool panels which is

thermally insulated. Gas propane is used as a fire source, and it is located at the center of fire

room L2. The entering ventilation network duct on the top sThe ventilation network comprises

an admission duct on the upper interior surface of a room L1 and an exhaust duct on the ceiling

of room L3. So that the direction of air flow in ventilation goes from L1 to L3. As a result, two

different situations can be considered, i.e. forced ventilation and either in the opposite (flow at

the upstream doorway, D12) or definite direction (flow at the downstream doorway, D32) smoke

flows.

Figure (6) Top and Side Views of the facility with the three rooms and two doorways
Figure (7) pictures of the facility, from left to right, upstream room L1, fire room L2 and

downstream room L3.

In consideration of the fire power and the ventilation flow rate seven fire tests are measured. The

fire heat release rate (HRR) varies from 100 kW to 400 kW and the ventilation flow rate varies

from 500 m3/h to 3100 m3/h . The ventilation rate, qv, is set before setting on fire to the targeted

value and its value fluctuates during the combustion phase. Propane gas produce the fire, and it

measured by a mass flow meter. The flow rate in both inlet and exhaust ventilation ducts is

measured by pitot tube or it known as pitot tube devices. The membrane pressure sensors are

used between the rooms to measure static pressure. The two doorways are equipped with seven

bi-directional velocity probes and seven Type-K thermocouples positioned at the centerline of

the doorways (z = 0.04 m, 0.39 m, 0.74 m, 1.09 m, 1.43 m, 1.79 m, 2.14 m). There is same

procedure for all tests. Firstly, the ventilation network is started in order to achieve the targeted

ventilation flow rate. Secondly, the fire HRR is set aside and the gas burner turned on over the

test duration. The fire room is dynamically filled with hot smoke and blended convection stream

shows up at the doorways. At that point, there's a consistent behavior of the stream at the
doorways and the temperature stratification within the rooms. The information examined within

the paper are normal values amid this consistent stage. [3]

3. Results and Discussion

In the combined free and forced convection a study has been performed for two

ventilation arrangement in a rectangular enclosure. One is two port ventilation arrangement and

the other is three port ventilation arrangement. In this study the Reynold number values that were

used were 50,100, and 200, and the Richardson numbers used were between 0 and 10. During the

study a connection between the Reynold number, Richardson number and heat source surface

nusselt number had been discovered. From the studies it is shown that the Nusselt number

increases with the Richardson number at first but after that it does not affect it. As for Reynold

number it is shown in the study that as the Reynold number increases, the heat source

temperature decreases and this is because of the improvement in heat transfer.[1]

(Variation of average heat source surface Nusselt number with Richardson number for different

values of Reynold number)

In the study of mixed convection heat transfer in a ventilated square, effect of outlet port

location is tested on fluid flow and heat transfer, the port is at 3 different vertical positions;

p1,p2, and p3. we have concentrated on the effect of nanoparticles on the rate of heat transfer and

Nusselt number for different Richardson numbers ranging from 0 to 10. The tests have been

conducted at three different Richardson numbers as shown in the accompanying figure. At

Richardson number = 0.1 it is observed that the inlet flow with high force is influenced by
sudden extension and makes the positive pressure gradient. The flow goes to the top and bottom

of the obstacle and moves to the outlet port, downward flow has low momentum and a small

change happens on the right side of the obstacle. When the Richardson number is increased to

one, we can see that the flow goes to the bottom of the obstacle rather than top and bottom and

the forced convection is much more effective on the left side of the obstacle. At Richardson

number = 10 we can observe that the natural convection makes the large vortex on the left side of

the obstacle and most of the flow passes through the bottom of the obstacle. We can see a pattern

where the Richardson number is increased the maximum Nusselt number is at the left and

bottom of the obstacle. Figures for all three Richardson number is shown below.
 (Variation of local Nusselt number with different outlet positions and Richardson number

for pure fluids)

In mechanical ventilation for multi enclosure we have learned that the effect of

ventilation is dependant on the fire scenario. For example a parametric analysis shows that the

increase in fire HRR results in an increase in temperature in all the rooms., and also the increase

in ventilation flow rate reduces the temperature in the upstream room but has no effect on the

downstream room. The experimental data will also be compared with the theoretical data based

on bernoulli.the velocity profiles are the main things compared at two door way for all the tests.

For the comparison of the velocity profile it is found that both the theoretical and experimental

shows a one directional flow as is shown in the accompanying figure. There is an agreement

between the theoretical and the experimental in both door ways. The agreement is that the
velocity profile would be expected in case of natural ventilation.

(figure 8)

(The theoretical is the dashed line; the experimental with star symbol)

For the increase in HRR and increase in ventilation flow rate a fire test is done when the

temperature profile in the three rooms are measured during the steady state. In the test the upper

and lower layer temperatures and also the position of the interface are calculated. A pattern is

discovered in the test, the upper layer temperature in the downstream room is higher than the

upstream and this is due to the direction of the smoke. The test shows that the rise in HRR
increases the temperature in both the upper and lower layer, but as the statistics of the test shows

the temperature in the upper layer is increased to a much larger extent than the lower one. The

effect of ventilation is also studied in this experiment and it shows that it increases the

temperature in the fire room but decreases the temperature in the adjacent rooms and that is

mainly due to the smoke thickness, but if we compare change in the fire room to the adjacent

rooms we can see that due to the effect of ventilation the change in the fire room is not very

much compared to the adjacent rooms.[3]

(The effect of fire HRR based on test)

4. Conclusion

Natural and Forced convection in different types of ventilation were studied. For the first

case, rectangular cavity was considered with one inlet and two outlet and one inlet and three

outlets. First, Nusselt number rose up with the Richardson number. however, after that it stayed

the same. Also, as the Reynold number increases, the temperature of the heat source decreases

and this is because the heat transfer improved. For the second case, the effect of copper

nanoparticles on the heat transfer rates was analyzed. The concentrations was 0 and 0.3% and

tested for different richardson numbers (0.1,1,10). The addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid

enhanced the rate of heat transfer at different Richardson numbers and outlet port positions. For

the third case, analysis shows that the rise in fire HRR, increases the temperature in all the
rooms. Also the increase in ventilation flow rate reduces the temperature in the upstream room

but doesn’t change the condition of the downstream room.

Bibliography

[1]. Kumar, Satish and A.N. , Mathur. “Combined Free and Forced Convection in an Enclosure

with Different Ventilation Arrangements” International Conference on Computational Heat and

Mass Transfer. 2015.

[2]. Mehrizi, A.Abouei, H. Hassanzade, Afroozi, K. Sedighi, and A.A. Rabienataj Draz, “ Mixed

Convection Heat Transfer in a Ventilated Cavity with Hot Obstacle: Effect of Nanofluid and

Outlet Port Location”, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 26 April.

2012.

[3]. Koched, Amine and Laurent, Audouin, “ Doorway Flows Induced by the Combined Effects

of Natural and Forced Ventilation in Case of Multi-compartments Large-Scale Fire

Experiments” , Centre d’e ́tudes nucléaire ́aires de Cadarache, 6 Jan. 2015.