Indoor air quality analysis based on the ventilation effectiveness for CO$_2$ contaminant removal in ventilated cavities

Abstract

A theoretical study to determine an optimal configuration for removal a CO$_2$ contaminant from inside a room is presented. The geometry considered was a 2D ventilated cavity in turbulent flow regime and solving the governing equations of mass, momentum and chemical species by the finite volume method. The interval of Reynolds number under study was $0 \leq Re \leq 2.5 \times 10^4$. The air inlet gap is located on the lower side of vertical right wall of the cavity. Three configurations of the cavity varying the air outlet gap on vertical left wall were analysed: in the upper side (case A), in the middle side (case B), and in the lower side (case C). From the results, case A removed the most amount of contaminant from inside room for a $Re = 5\times10^3$, which had an effect on energy savings. The lower levels of contaminant for higher Reynolds numbers were obtained for the case B. The case C was the less desirable for contaminant removal purposes.