Numerical study on high induction air diffusers for improved indoor environmental quality in vehicles

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Automotive, Mechatronics and Mechanics, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
² CAMBI Research Center, Faculty of Building Services, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
³ Renault Technologie Roumanie, Group Renault Romania, Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

The amount of time spent in traffic by vehicle occupants has increased dramatically over the last two decades. This is because the average commute length and time spent stuck in traffic without a way out have increased at rates far exceeding population growth. At the same time, the quality of life has increased, in many areas of this world, leading vehicle users to prefer increased thermal comfort conditions inside the cabins when they are in traffic, a better thermal comfort in the vehicle being nowadays an important parameter when choosing a new vehicle. A solution to improve the thermal comfort of vehicle users is to uniformize the airflow inside vehicle by enhancing the mixing of the freshly introduced air with the ambient air. Based on literature previous research, air mixing can be improved by passive means using innovative air diffusers which have the ability of entraining more air than regular air diffusers. A comparative numerical study between different air diffusers will be carried out in the present paper with the help of Ansys Fluent software. The results revealed that a particular air diffuser, based on the lobed shaped cross orifice was found to entertain with 35% more air than a regular air diffuser.