Study of an integrated personalized ventilation and local fan-induced active chilled beam air conditioning system in hot and humid climate

A novel integrated personalized ventilation and local fan-induced active chilled beam (PV-ACB) air conditioning system is proposed and analyzed through energy and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation methods. Energy performance and indoor environmental conditions of this system are investigated via Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) and ANSYS Fluent respectively. Energy simulation results illustrate that PV-ACB system, compared with the conventional variable air volume (VAV) system, could achieve 16% energy savings at 100% peak cooling load. A maximum 42% energy savings is obtained at 25% part cooling load, indicating the superior energy saving potential under part load conditions. Vertical thermal stratification is observed in CFD simulation results, 23–24 °C at the occupant level (0–2 m) and 26–27 °C in the upper zone (2–4 m). Horizontally, temperature around occupants is 22–23 °C, lower than the temperature of 26–27 °C in other areas, demonstrating the horizontal temperature difference caused by the conditioned outdoor air from personalized ventilation. Both energy and CFD simulation results illustrate that this novel PV-ACB air conditioning system is able to achieve considerable energy savings, superior occupant thermal comfort and enhanced indoor air quality (IAQ).