A numerical study of ventilation flow through a 3-dimensional room with a fan

Numerical simulation of ventilation flow through a real-sized 3-dimensional room containing undesirable warm air has been performed, using a commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software package. The standard K-epsilon turbulence model with wall functions is used. It is shown that the fan's flow rate only affects significantly the room's temperatures when it is low, corresponding to the free-convection-dominating regime. In forced-convection regime, increasing fan's flow rate results in little change in the room's temperature, but can also enlarge pockets of warm air. Influence of fan's location is also considered. In the forced-convection regime, fan's location does not affect significantly temperature distribution or flow pattern in the room.