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Personalized Ventilation: Evaluation of Different Air Terminal Devices
Personalized Ventilation: Evaluation of Different Air Terminal Devices
Abstract
Personalized ventilation (PV) aims to provide clean air to the breathing zone of occupants. Its performance depends to a large extent on the
supply air terminal device (ATD). Five different ATDs were developed, tested and compared. A typical office workplace consisting of a desk
with mounted ATDs was simulated in a climate chamber. A breathing thermal manikin was used to simulate a human being. Experiments at
room air temperatures of 26 and 20 8C and personalized air temperatures of 20 8C supplied from the ATDs were performed. The flow rate of
personalized air was changed from less than 5 up to 23 l/s. Tracer gas was used to identify the amount of personalized air inhaled by the
manikin as well as the amount of exhaled air re-inhaled. The heat loss from the body segments of the thermal manikin was measured and used
to calculate the equivalent temperature for the whole body as well as segments of the body. An index, personal exposure effectiveness, was
used to assess the performance of ATDs in regard to quality of the air inhaled by the manikin. The personal exposure effectiveness increased
with the increase of the airflow rate from the ATD to a constant maximum value. A further increase of the airflow rate had no impact on the
personal exposure effectiveness. Under both isothermal and non-isothermal conditions the highest personal exposure effectiveness of 0.6 was
achieved by a vertical desk grill followed by an ATD designed as a movable panel. The ATDs tested performed differently in regard to the
inhaled air temperature used as another air quality indicator, as well as in regard to the equivalent temperature. The results suggest that PV may
decrease significantly the number of occupants dissatisfied with the air quality. However, an ATD that will ensure more efficient distribution
and less mixing of the personalized air with the polluted room air needs to be developed.
# 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
0378-7788/02/$ – see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 7 7 8 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 0 2 - 0
830 A.K. Melikov et al. / Energy and Buildings 34 (2002) 829–836
Nomenclature with a thick boundary layer at the height of the head. The free
convection movement will change the skin temperature due to
cE;N2 O concentration of N2O in exhaled air (ppm) convection heat transfer and will thus affect man’s thermal
cI concentration of SF6 in inhaled air (ppm) sensation. The free convection flow transports air, which
cI,0 concentration of SF6 in inhaled air without might be contaminated from the lower part of the space,
personalized ventilation (ppm) upward to the breathing zone. It also carries the bioeffluents
cI;SF6 SF6 concentration in inhaled air (ppm) and vapor emitted from the human body. Furthermore, occu-
cI;N2 O concentration of N2O in inhaled air (ppm) pants’ breathing generates an air movement due to exhalation.
cP concentration of SF6 in inhalation zone (ppm) The interaction between the airflow from the PV, the free
cPV concentration of SF6 in personalized air (ppm) convection flow around the body and the airflow of exhalation
cPV;SF6 SF6 concentration in personalized air (ppm) is of primary importance for occupants’ thermal comfort and
cR concentration of SF6 in exhaust room air inhaled air quality [6]. The interaction is influenced by the
(ppm) strength of the free convection flow and the thickness of its
cS concentration of SF6 in supply room air (ppm) boundary layer, the characteristics of the invading flow gen-
cS;SF6 SF6 concentration in air supplied to the erated by the PV (mean velocity, velocity profile, turbulence
chamber (ppm) intensity, direction, temperature, etc.), the posture, shape and
C thermal resistance offset of skin temperature area of the occupant’s body exposed to the invading flow, the
control system of thermal manikin equal to clothing design, etc.
0.054 (K m2/W) The supply air terminal device (ATD) is an essential part
Qt measured sensible heat loss (W/m2) of any PV system. It plays a major role in the distribution of
teq manikin-based equivalent temperature (8C) air around the human body and thus, determines occupants’
Dteq,h difference in manikin-based equivalent tem- thermal comfort and perceived air quality.
perature for the head (8C) A study on performance of five different supply ATDs in
Dtinh difference in temperature of inhaled and room regard to occupants’ thermal comfort and inhaled air quality
air (8C) was designed and performed. The results are presented in
this paper.
Greek letters
eP personal exposure effectiveness
eRI re-inhaled exposure index 2. Experimental method
eV ventilation effectiveness
2.1. Experimental facilities and conditions
principle is that often room air movement is changed due to A typical office workplace, consisting of a desk with a
furniture rearrangement and this may increase occupants’ personal computer, was simulated in a climate chamber. The
complaints of draught and/or poor air quality. ATDs were mounted on the desk. The climate chamber was
Environmental conditions acceptable for most occupants 5 m 6 m 2:5 m. It is possible to maintain temperature
in a room may be achieved by providing each occupant with and relative humidity of the air inside the chamber with a
the possibility to generate and control his/her own preferred high degree of accuracy. The velocity generated by the
local environment. Personalized ventilation (PV) aims to ventilation system of the chamber is lower than 0.06 m/s.
provide each occupant with personalized clean air direct to A detailed description of the climate chamber is given in [9].
the breathing zone. Each occupant can control the environ- A breathing thermal manikin consisting of 16 body seg-
ment at his/her workplace. Thus, occupants’ satisfaction and ments was used to simulate a human being. The manikin sat on
productivity can be increased as a result of improved air an office chair in front of the computer at a distance of
quality, thermal comfort and control over the environment. approximately 0.15 m from the desk. During most of the
Energy use may be lowered, depending on system design tests, it was in an upright position. However, several tests were
and operation. In order to improve the quality of the inhaled also performed with the manikin leaning forward (approxi-
air, clean personalized air should reach the breathing zone mately 0.1 m from the upright position). The surface tem-
unmixed with the polluted room air. The velocity should be perature of the manikin was controlled to be equal to the skin
low in order to avoid draught. temperature of an average person in thermal comfort and heat
In a calm, comfortable environment, upward free convec- loss from each body segment was measured. The manikin was
tion movement exists around the human body due to the dressed as specified later in this section.
temperature difference between the room air and the surface The manikin was equipped with an artificial lung that simu-
of the clothing and of the skin of bare body parts. The free lates the human breathing function. The breathing cycle (inha-
convection flow becomes weak when the temperature differ- lation, exhalation and pause) and the amount of respiration air as
ence is small. The airflow is slow and laminar with a thin well as temperature and humidity of the exhaled air were con-
boundary layer at the lower body parts, and fast and turbulent trolled. The artificial lung was adjusted to simulate breathing
A.K. Melikov et al. / Energy and Buildings 34 (2002) 829–836 831
of an average sedentary person performing light physical work: generating air jets directed toward its face. This device is
breathing frequency of 10 times/min, volume of 6 l/min, breath- described in detail in [11,12], is available on the market, and
ing cycle of 2.5 s inhalation, 2.5 s exhalation and 1.0 s break, was provided by the manufacturer.
and exhaled air with a temperature of 34 8C and a relative Isothermal (winter) conditions with an operative tempera-
humidity of 95%. The air was exhaled from the nose and ture of 20 8C and a personalized air temperature of 20 8C and
inhaled through the mouth. A mixture of 90% CO2 and 10% non-isothermal (summer) conditions with an operative tem-
N2O (dinitrogen oxide) was used to mark the air exhaled by the perature of 26 8C and a personalized air temperature of 20 8C
manikin. The two gases have the same physical properties were simulated in the climate chamber (the room air tem-
(same density) and do not react with each other [6]. The perature was equal to the mean radiant temperature). Experi-
temperature of the inhaled air was measured by a fast thermistor ments were performed at airflow rates of less than 5 up to 23 l/s.
mounted inside the mouth cavity of the manikin. The breathing During the ‘‘summer’’ experiments, the manikin was dressed
manikin is described in detail by Melikov et al. [6,10]. with underwear, short-sleeved T-shirt, pants, socks and shoes,
Five different ATDs were developed and studied. The giving a total clothing insulation of 0.062 m28C/W (0.4 clo)
ATDs are schematically shown in Fig. 1. The movable panel [13]. During the ‘‘winter’’ experiments, the clothing garment
(MP) allows the direction of the personalized airflow in was underwear, short-sleeved T-shirt, long-sleeved shirt,
relation to the occupant to be changed within a wide range. sweatshirt, pants, socks and shoes, providing a total thermal
The results discussed in this paper were obtained with the insulation of 0.155 m28C/W (1.0 clo). In both cases, the
MP positioned 0.2 m in front of the manikin’s face and 0.3 m manikin was seated on the office chair with an additional
above the nose. The flow of personalized air was directed thermal insulation of 0.023 m28C/W (0.15 clo).
toward the manikin’s face. The direction of the personalized
airflow from the computer monitor panel (CMP), mounted 2.2. Measuring procedure
on the monitor at a distance of 40 cm from the edge of the
desk, could be changed on a vertical plane. The results for A constant dose of tracer gas, sulphur hexafloride (SF6),
this ATD reported in the following were obtained when it was used to mark continuously the air in the chamber.
was inclined at 208 toward the manikin (isothermal condi- Complete mixing of the tracer gas with the air supplied to
tions) and when inclined 108 apart from the manikin (non- the chamber was achieved as the tracer gas was dosed to the air
isothermal conditions). The vertical desk grill (VDG) and long before it entered the chamber. The personalized air was
the horizontal desk grill (HDG) mounted at the edge of the kept free of the tracer gas. As already discussed, a mixture of
desk provide, respectively, a vertical and a horizontal flow of CO2 and N2O was dosed in the air exhaled by the manikin.
personalized air direct to the breathing zone of the occupant The concentration of SF6 and N2O was measured in the air
or against the occupant’s body. During the tests, two of the inhaled by the breathing thermal manikin, in the air supplied
ATDs, namely CMP and VDG, were tested also in modified to the climate chamber and in the air supplied by the PV
versions, CMP-mod and VDG-mod having a 50% larger and system. The measurements were made by a gas monitor
a 50% smaller cross-sectional area, respectively. The last based on the photo-acoustic infrared detection method of
ATD, the personal environments1 module (PEM) consists measurement. The concentration measured under steady-
of two nozzles mounted at the two edges of the desk. They state conditions during the last 30 min of each experiment
allow for changes of the direction of the personalized air in was averaged and analyzed.
horizontal and vertical planes. In this experiment, the noz- During the experiments the inhalation took 2.5 s of a 6 s
zles were located at a distance of 0.8 m from the manikin, breathing cycle; only the temperature measured during the
inhalation period was averaged and used in the analyses.
defined the breathing (inhalation) zone as a semisphere with where 36.4 is the deep body temperature (8C), Qt the
a radius of 0.3 m. However, as shown by Melikov et al. [6] measured sensible heat loss (W/m2), C the thermal resis-
this definition is not accurate, especially with PV, due to the tance offset of the surface temperature control system of the
complex airflow conditions. thermal manikin equal to 0.054 (K m2/W).
The aim of PV is to provide occupants with 100% clean
personalized air. In order to assess easily the performance of
PV with different ATDs, an index, personal exposure effec- 3. Results and discussion
tiveness, eP, expressed as the percentage of personalized air
in inhaled air, was used [22]: The purpose of PV is to achieve the highest possible
quality of the air inhaled by occupants by providing clean air
cI;0 cI
eP ¼ (2) at the breathing zone. Thus, the quality of the inhaled air
cI;0 cPV when PV is applied should be better than with a total-volume
where cI,0 is the concentration of pollution in the inhaled air ventilation system (mixing and displacement). Ideally, the
without PV, cI the concentration of pollution in the inhaled inhaled air should consist of 100% personalized air, i.e.
air, cPV is concentration of pollution in personalized air. eP ¼ 1.
This index is equal to one when 100% of personalized air Fig. 2 compares the ventilation effectiveness obtained
is inhaled and it is equal to zero if no personalized air is with the tested ATDs under isothermal conditions at differ-
inhaled. A carefully designed and properly maintained PV ent flow rates. The results show that the ventilation effec-
system should provide clean air with no pollutants, i.e. tiveness increases with the flow rate. However, it is rather
cPV ¼ 0. For this condition, Eq. (2) can be simplified to: difficult to find the amount of personalized air inhaled by the
cI;0 cI manikin as well as to rank the performance of the tested
eP ¼ (3) ATDs. Therefore, the personal exposure effectiveness index
cI;0
(Eq. (2)) was used in this study.
During the experiments without PV, the SF6 concentration The personal exposure effectiveness of the ATDs is
in the climate chamber was uniform and the SF6 concentra- compared in Figs. 3 and 4 for isothermal and non-isothermal
tion in the inhaled air was equal to the SF6 concentration in conditions, respectively. The personal exposure effective-
the air supplied to and exhausted from the chamber. There- ness as a function of the flow rate is shown in the figures. The
fore, in the present study, eP was modified as: performance of the ATDs was different and it changed with
cS;SF6 cI;SF6 the flow rate. It was also affected by the air temperature
eP ¼ (4) conditions. The results showed that an increase in the flow
cS;SF6 cPV;SF6
rate from zero has no immediate effect on the personal
where cS;SF6 is the SF6 concentration in the air supplied to the exposure effectiveness. Only when a certain initial flow rate
chamber (ppm), cPV;SF6 the SF6 concentration in the perso- is reached does the personal exposure effectiveness for most
nalized air (ppm), cI;SF6 the SF6 concentration in the inhaled of the ATDs studied start to increase rapidly with the flow
air (ppm). rate, i.e. the personalized air penetrates the free convection
The re-inhaled exposure index [6] was used to assess the flow around the body and reaches the face of the manikin.
amount of exhaled air re-inhaled by an occupant due to the The initial flow rate, at which the personal exposure effec-
interaction of airflow of personalized air and airflow of tiveness starts to increase, depends on the distance of the
exhalation: ATD from the occupant as well as on the design and size
cI;N2 O (cross-section) of the ATD. It is also clear from the results
eRI ¼ (5)
cE;N2 O
where cI;N2 O is the concentration of N2O in the inhaled air
(ppm), cE;N2 O the concentration of N2O in the exhaled air
(ppm).
Manikin-based equivalent temperature, teq, was used to
assess the performance of the ATDs in regard to occupants’
thermal comfort [15]. The manikin-based equivalent tem-
perature is defined as the temperature of a uniform enclosure
in which a thermal manikin with realistic skin surface
temperature would lose heat to the environment at the same
rate as it would in the actual environment. In this study, the
manikin-based equivalent temperature, teq, was calculated
by the following expression:
Fig. 2. The ventilation effectiveness obtained with the tested ATD as a
function of the flow rate of personalized air under isothermal conditions:
teq ¼ 36:4 CQt (6) personalized air temperature and room air temperature 20 8C.
A.K. Melikov et al. / Energy and Buildings 34 (2002) 829–836 833
airflow from CMP-mod dropped on the desk and the perso- the paper. The parameters are listed in the table for two flow
nalized air mixed with the room air. The results of the rates of personalized air. The first flow rate, 10 l/s, represents
comparison shown in Fig. 5 demonstrate the importance the minimum amount of outdoor air typically required by the
of the airflow interaction at the breathing zone; this must be ventilation standards and guidelines [16,17] per building
carefully considered during the design of PV systems in occupant today. The second flow rate corresponds to the
practice. It was found that the relationships presented in minimum flow rate of personalized air needed to achieve
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 depend on the posture of the manikin. maximum personal exposure effectiveness with each of the
Experiments on this effect are in progress. tested ATDs. For VDG and PEM, these two flow rates are
The present standards and guidelines recommend ventila- identical.
tion rates from 4 to 10 l/s occupant in offices without Similar to the findings in [6], the results of this study show
smoking and up to 30 l/s occupant when some smoking is that a rather small amount of exhaled air (<1%) was re-
allowed [16,17]. ATD with a large outlet, providing laminar inhaled with the tested ATDs. Nevertheless, in this regard
airflow with a low velocity that will not cause draught two of the tested ATDs, VDG and PEM performed best; less
discomfort for the occupants, has been previously suggested than 0.3% of the exhaled air was re-inhaled by the manikin
by Melikov [18] as one of the design recommendations for with this ATD. For CMP and MP, the amount of re-inhaled
PV systems. Such an ATD will make it possible to provide air increased with the increase of the flow rate. The opposite
the high airflow rate of 30 l/s occupant, as recommended in tendency was observed for PEM. The amount of re-inhaled
the guidelines [17], at relatively low velocity without local air was higher under non-isothermal conditions in compar-
thermal discomfort. In practice, however, most often 10 l/s ison with isothermal conditions for all ATDs.
per occupant may be required. Under these conditions, better In a calm environment, people inhale mainly the air from
results will be achieved by a relatively small ATD, such as the free convection flow around the body. Therefore, the
VDG, compromising for the inhaled air quality. temperature of the inhaled air is higher than the ambient air
The different airflow distribution achieved by the tested temperature. The inhaled air temperature without PV mea-
ATDs had a significant impact on the temperature of the sured during this experiment was 21.6 8C at a room air
inhaled air as well as on the amount of re-inhaled air. The temperature of 20 8C and 28.1 8C at a room air temperature
ventilation effectiveness (eV), the personal exposure effec- of 26 8C. The results of the present study show that the
tiveness (eP), the re-inhaled exposure index (eRI, in %), and temperature of the inhaled air generally decreased with an
the difference in the temperature of the inhaled air with and increase in the flow rate from the ATDs, under both iso-
without PV (Dtinh), for the tested ATDs under both isother- thermal and non-isothermal conditions. The personalized air
mal and non-isothermal conditions, are listed in Table 1(a was able to penetrate the free convection flow around the
and b). The difference in the equivalent temperature for body. However, under isothermal conditions, the inhaled air
the head (Dteq,h), identified with and without PV, is listed in temperature with PV was measured only slightly lower than
the table as well. This parameter will be discussed later in the inhaled temperature without PV and nearly the same for
Table 1
Ventilation effectiveness (eV), personal exposure effectiveness (eP), re-inhaled exposure index (eRI), inhaled air temperature difference (Dtinh) and manikin-
based equivalent temperature difference for the head (Dteq,h) identified with the tested ATDs under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions
Air terminal device Flow rate of personalized air (l/s) eV eP eRI Dtinh (8C) Dteq,h (8C)
a
(a) Isothermal (winter) conditions
HDG 10 1.61 0.38 0.19 0.6 4.5
5 1.54 0.35 0.21 0.3 0.8
VDG 10 1.92 0.48 0.03 0.6 3.9
PEM 10 1.45 0.31 0.20 1.0 3.1
CMP 10 1.35 0.26 0.46 0.8 0.8
20 1.82 0.45 0.35 0.9 3.1
MP 10 1.69 0.41 0.56 0.3 0.7
20 2.38 0.58 0.66 0.5 2.5
(b) Non-isothermal (summer) conditionsb
HDG 10 1.30 0.23 0.49 2.2 3.2
5 1.32 0.24 0.48 2.1 0.7
VDG 10 2.27 0.56 0.30 5.1 6.0
PEM 10 1.52 0.34 0.25 3.3 3.1
CMP 10 1.39 0.28 0.67 2.9 2.0
20 1.59 0.37 0.75 4.5 3.6
MP 10 1.47 0.32 0.61 3.2 2.4
20 2.00 0.50 0.74 4.6 4.2
a
Room air 20 8C, 30% RH; personalized air 20 8C, 30% RH.
b
Room air 26 8C, 30% RH, personalized air 20 8C, 30% RH.
A.K. Melikov et al. / Energy and Buildings 34 (2002) 829–836 835
all ATDs studied. The inhaled air temperature decreased and CMP, and 0.8 8C for VDG and PEM. Thus, occupants
substantially by increasing the temperature difference may feel slightly cooler with VDG and PEM. Occupants
between the personalized air and the room air may decrease the flow rate through these two ATDs, which
(Table 1(b)). Under non-isothermal conditions (room air will improve their thermal comfort, but will also decrease
temperature 26 8C), the ATD with the greatest ability to the personal exposure effectiveness, i.e. the quality of the
decrease the inhaled air temperature was VDG. The inhaled inhaled air. Under non-isothermal (summer) conditions (26/
air temperature decreased by 5 8C from the inhaled air 20 8C), the cooling effect of all ATDs, except MP, is around
temperature without PV. The decrease of inhaled air tem- 1 8C. Under these conditions, the cooling effect of MP is
perature by MP and PEM was also high, whereas HDG almost twice as high, 1.9 8C. This cooling effect, even
decreased the inhaled air temperature by only about 2 8C. though small, may be sufficient for many occupants who
Increasing the temperature difference, the inhaled air tem- need only minor adjustment of the local thermal environ-
perature may further be decreased; however, this may ment. Tszuki et al. [11] tested two ATDs and reported
decrease the amount of personalized air in the inhaled air, differences in the cooling power as well. A decrease of
due to a buoyancy effect, and may also cause thermal the personalized air temperature (if possible) can further
discomfort for the occupant due to local cooling of the body. increase the cooling effect of the body caused by the PV
The quality of the inhaled air is the most important system.
criterion for performance assessment of PV systems. How- Draught, defined as unwanted local cooling of the body
ever, it is also important that at comfortable temperatures the due to air movement, is one of the most frequent complaints
PV does not affect occupants’ thermal comfort and that in a in practice. Studies show that the neck and the feet are the
warm environment it provides the body with cooling. As body parts most sensitive to draught [19]. The body parts
already mentioned, the manikin-based equivalent tempera- directly exposed to the personalized air can be cooled more
ture was used in the present study to assess the performance than is acceptable for the occupants. For example, if occu-
of the ATDs in respect to occupants’ thermal comfort. The pants’ arms and hands are exposed to cool air supplied
equivalent temperature for the whole body and some of the upward from the edge of the table, the occupant will feel
16 body segments decreased when the flow rate of perso- uncomfortable and his/her performance may decrease even
nalized air increased. The ability of the ATDs tested to affect when the whole body feels thermally comfortable. The
the whole-body heat loss was evaluated by calculating the draught sensation increases when mean velocity and turbu-
difference in the manikin-based equivalent temperature lence intensity increase and air temperature decreases.
caused by the PV and the equivalent temperature measured Furthermore, airflow toward the front of the body causes
without a PV system. The results obtained at the minimum less discomfort than airflow from the back [20,21]. The
flow rate for each of the tested ATDs are compared in Fig. 6. tested ATDs distribute the air with relatively high velocity
The equivalent temperature measured without PV (reference mainly at the front of the body, i.e. the head, the chest, the
condition) was 21.1 and 26.6 8C at room temperatures of 20 arms and the hands. For most of the tested ATDs (except
and 26 8C, respectively. HDG), the equivalent temperature measured for the head at
The comparison in Fig. 6 shows that under isothermal the minimum airflow needed to achieve maximum perso-
(winter) conditions the cooling effect is low, 0.4 8C for HDG nalized exposure effectiveness was lower than the other
body segments of the manikin, i.e. the head was cooled
most. The performance of the tested ATDs in this regard can
be seen in Table 1(a and b). The difference in the equivalent
temperature for the head (Dteq,h), measured with PV and
without PV is listed in the table. The greatest cooling effect
was measured with VDG under both isothermal and non-
isothermal conditions. The cooling effect measured with
CMP and MP under non-isothermal conditions was high as
well. In general, it may be expected that occupants, in order
to decrease draught discomfort, will use PVat low flow rates,
and this will cause a decrease in the amount of inhaled
personalized air (the personal exposure effectiveness
decreases when the flow rate decreases) and an increase
Fig. 6. Decrease in the whole-body manikin-based equivalent temperature in the inhaled air temperature. These changes will have a
caused by personalized ventilation from the reference condition (without negative impact on the quality of the air as perceived by
personalized ventilation). The effect of the tested ATDs is compared. The occupants.
comparison is made for the minimum flow rate (shown in the figure) In general, it may be expected that two of the tested ATDs,
needed to achieve maximum personal exposure effectiveness. Winter
conditions (room and personalized air temperature of 20 8C) and summer namely VDG and MP, will perform well in practice since
conditions (room air temperature of 26 8C and personalized air they will not affect occupants’ general thermal sensation
temperature of 20 and 23 8C) are compared. significantly and will provide more personalized air in
836 A.K. Melikov et al. / Energy and Buildings 34 (2002) 829–836