Determination of Turbulent Prandtl Number for Thermal Fluid Dynamics Simulation of HVAC Unit by Data Assimilation

Abstract

Regarding high-precision temperature field prediction of a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit using thermal fluid dynamics simulation, the determination of the turbulent Prandtl number (Prt) was a key issue. In this study, we present an attempt to improve the accuracy of thermal fluid dynamics simulations in HVAC units by adjusting the Prt using data assimilation techniques. First, we simultaneously measured the velocity and temperature in the hot and cold air mixing zone of a simple HVAC model using particle image velocimetry and thermocouples. Second, we coupled data assimilation to the thermal fluid simulation model to determine the Prt in the mixing field. Finally, we proposed two functions of the Prt for high velocity and low velocity regions using multidimensional analysis. In the future, we believe that the Prt functions can be applied to thermal fluid simulations of actual HVAC unit to accurately predict performance without conducting prototype experiments, thereby contributing to reducing development cost and time of HVAC unit.