Cooling performance evaluation of overhead mixing and floor displacement ventilation systems inside a bus by using 65-nodes thermal comfort model

The aim of this study is to compare the performance of floor displacement and overhead mixing ventilation systems in providing the thermal comfort conditions for bus passengers. For this reason, the flow and energy have been numerically simulated inside a Scania 4212 bus with its 45 passengers. In the case of displacement ventilation, the inlet diffusers have been located under the seats at the floor and for mixing ventilation mode, the inlet diffusers have been established overhead of passengers. In both cases, as mentioned in ASHRAE standard for public transportation, the inlet air rate of 5 lit/s has been provided for each passenger and the inlet air temperature has been controlled until the predicted mean vote index is within the allowable range of thermal comfort standards. In displacement ventilation because of locating the inlet diffusers on the floor and the buoyancy effects, the air temperature in foot region is about 18C, which is lower than other parts of body and vertical temperature difference in overhead mixing ventilation occurred less than floor displacement ventilation and the temperature difference between foot and head region is only 2C. In overhead mixing ventilation, air temperature near the head is about 24C while in floor displacement ventilation the temperature is about 26C that is not in neutral zone. The results of 65-nodes thermal comfort model indicate that the temperature difference between skin neutral temperatures of each segment in floor displacement mode is higher than overhead mixing ventilation