Numerical Simulation on Air Distribution of a Tennis Hall in Winter and Evaluation on Indoor Thermal Environment

Article history: Received: 15.12.2013. Received in revised form: 17.2.2014. Accepted: 18.2.2014. Supplying air with ball spout air diffusers is a common air-conditioning system for air distribution in large space stadiums. When supplying hot air with ball spout diffusers in winter, the phenomenon of hot jet upturning may appear, so the design should consider adjusting the spout angle so as to control the rising airflow. The purpose of the paper is to predict and optimize the air distribution of a tennis hall in winter for the purpose of guiding the design and regulation of air-conditioning system. Based on the optimal scheme of summer conditions, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique, the air distribution and indoor thermal environment of a tennis hall in winter were numerically simulated. Two conditions were considered discharging air with spouts downwards with a 30 degree slope and discharging air horizontally. Indoor thermal environment was evaluated from two case studies including the protection of the movement of the ball and thermal comfort of the human body, and consequently, the optimal design was then proposed. The results can provide some guidance for air distribution design and spout regulation in winter conditions of air-conditioning systems in similar tennis halls.