Hyeon-Seok Seo
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 23, no. 7, pp.1840-1845, 2009

Abstract : Many studies on air-conditioning systems are more focused on the individual thermal comfort rather than the thermal efficiency, due to an increase in health concerns. There are several factors influencing the thermal comfort, such as temperature, humidity, convection and air movement, etc. Numerical analyses were performed to investigate the effect of blade angle on the flow characteristics in the vicinity of diffuser blades of a room air conditioner (RAC), with three different blade discharge angles of 45.1◦, 58.6◦ and 116◦. We used the commercial code FLUENT to calculate the twodimensional steady thermal flow fields with different impeller rotational velocities. The angular velocities were located within the range from 900 rpm to 1200 rpm. Turbulence closure was achieved using a standard k-ε model. A moving reference frame (MRF) approach was adopted to simulate the flow field generated by the impeller in an RAC. The results were graphically depicted with various geometrical configurations and operating conditions.

Keyword : CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics); Discharge angles; RAC (Room Air Conditioner); Rotational velocity