CFD comes handy in the investigations of heat transfer problems related to everyday usage . Placement of air-conditioned in large spaces is one such area where the use of computational fluid dynamics is envisaged in this case study .

1. STUDY OF AIR CONDITIONER
LOCATION IN AN OFFICE SPACE.
Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) this study brings out
the importance of placing the air conditioner at appropriate location
in the room for effective cooling.

2. CURRENT ROOM LAYOUT
360cm
 The black color line represents the
outer wall which is 290cm high.
 The brown color line represents
the wooden partition of the room
which is 200cm high.
 The green color exits are also
200cm in height.
 Bluestar AC of 1.5 ton capacity is
at the center position of the wall.
 Fan 1 & 2 at a height of 275cm.
 The room is divided into two parts
represented as Division I &
Division II.
600cm
Bluestar AC,
1.5 Ton
Entrance Door
(Always Closed)
Exit 1 to Hall
(Always Open)
Exit 2 to Hall
(Always Open)
120cm
80cm
DIVISION
(I)
DIVISION
(II)
90cm 100cm
300cm
Fan 1 Fan 2

3. 290cm
200cm
Exits to Hall
(Always Open)
Entrance Door
(Always Closed)
SOLIDWORKS MODEL
 The model of the room with
wooden partition was modeled in
Solidworks.
 Air conditioner was not modeled in
this model.
 Two fans were also modeled.
 Two exits (always open) and the
entrance door (always closed) were
also modeled and can be seen in
the attached picture.

4.  In the current position of the air conditioner, it was experienced that the temperature distribution was
not uniform in the two divisions (I & II) of the room. The division I, which was just below the air
conditioner was much colder than the other one.
 It was required that the temperature distribution in the whole room to be uniform, for this the
computation fluid dynamics comes into play to study the proper location to install the air conditioner
for uniform temperature distribution.
 Three cases were performed :-
I. In first case, only the two fans were simulated using MRF technique.
II. In the second case, air conditioner was positioned at its current position to study the current
temperature distribution.
III. In the third case, the positioned of the air conditioner was changed and the temperature distribution
was studied.
PROBLEM STATEMENT

5. North
South
East
West
Top
Bottom
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
The temperatures to be assigned at wall
boundary conditions were taken at
around 2 p.m. when the temperature
reaches its maximum value.
 The Top, North, East & West facing
walls are exposed to sunlight.
 The temperature of Top, East, North
& West facing walls reaches the value
of 30º,30º,32º & 37ºC respectively.
 The Bottom floor, South facing wall
& the wooden partition were assumed
adiabatic.
The two exits were assumed at
atmospheric pressure.

6. CASE I CASE II CASE III
In case 1, the temperature
distribution in the room was
studied when only the two fans
are operating and the air-
conditioner is off.
In case 2, the temperature
distribution in the room was
studied when the two fans were
operating along with the air-
conditioner. This was the current
scenario in which the temperature
distribution was not felt uniform
by the occupants working there.
In case 3, change in the current
location of the air-conditioner was
proposed. The case was simulated with
ANSYS Fluent & the temperature
distribution was studied & compared
with first two cases.
CASE DESCRIPTION

7. CASE 1:- ONLY TWO FANS UNDER
OPERATION

8. Exit 1 to Hall
(Always Open)
Exit 2 to Hall
(Always Open)
DIVISION
(I)
DIVISION
(II)
Fan 1 Fan 2
 Temperatures were given to the
walls as discussed earlier.
 Exit 1 & Exit 2 were modelled
as pressure outlet at atmospheric
pressure.
 Entrance door is not modelled as
it will remain closed.
 Fan 1 & Fan 2 were modelled
using MRF technique and given
the rpm of 180.
CASE 1:- ONLY 2 FANS UNDER OPERATION

9. CASE 1:- MESH USED
 The unstructured mesh generated in ANSYS Meshing tool was later converted into polyhedral cells in FLUENT solver
to save the computational time.
 The computational domain was left with 15,95,105 polyhedral cells after conversion in FLUENT.

10. CASE 1:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Front Plane
 The temperature contour was plotted on a front plane & the non-uniformity in temperature distribution can be
clearly seen in this arrangement.
 The temperature in the division I is around 30ºC due to heated west facing wall whereas the temperature in
division II is around 29ºC.
Top Wall (30ºC)
WestFacingWall
(37ºC)
EastFacingWall
(30ºC)
Division I Division II

11.  The temperature contour was plotted on a plane passing through center of Fan 1 & parallel to right plane.
 The average temperature on this plane is around 29.5ºC. The region below the fan is at lower temperature (29ºC)
as compared to average temperature. However the region near the hot wall (32ºC) facing North is at relatively high
temperature than the average one.
CASE 1:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane BB
B
B
NorthFacingWall
(32ºC)
Top Wall (30ºC)
Division I
Plane BB Location

12.  The temperature contour was plotted on a plane passing through center of Fan 2 & parallel to right plane.
 The average temperature on this plane is around 28.5ºC. The region below the fan is at lower temperature (27ºC)
as compared to average temperature. However the region near the hot wall (32ºC) facing North is at relatively high
temperature than the average one.
CASE 1:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane CC
NorthFacingWall
(32ºC)
Top Wall (30ºC)
Division I
Plane CC Location
C
C
Division II

13. CASE 2:- TWO FANS WITH AC UNDER
OPERATION (AC AT CURRENT LOCATION)

14.  Same boundary conditions were
used on walls as in Case 1.
 An air conditioner is also
modelled with inlet opening of
80cm X 6cm.
 Mass flow rate of 465 cubic feet
per minute (cfm) is given to ac
inlet. (equivalent to 0.2688 kg/sec
of air)
 The temperature at ac inlet was
set to 20ºC.
CASE 2:- TWO FANS WITH AC UNDER OPERATION
(CURRENT SCENERIO)
Exit 1 to Hall
(Always Open)
Exit 2 to Hall
(Always Open)
DIVISION
(I)
DIVISION
(II)
Fan 1 Fan 2
Current Location
Of AC

15. CASE 2:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Front Plane
 The temperature contour was plotted on a front plane & the non-uniformity in temperature distribution can be
clearly seen in this arrangement also.
 The temperature in the division I is around 24.5ºC whereas the temperature in division II is around 26.5ºC.
 The temperature has decreased in both divisions after installation of air conditioner as compared to case I.
Top Wall (30ºC)
WestFacingWall
(37ºC)
EastFacingWall
(30ºC)
Division I Division II

16. CASE 2:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane 144cm Above The Floor
 The temperature contour was plotted on a plane 144cm above the floor. The non-uniformity in the temperature
distribution can be seen between the two divisions.
 The wooden partition was the main reason behind this two temperature zones.
 The temperature in Division I & II were around 26.5ºC & 28.5ºC respectively.
Division I Division II

17. CASE 2:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane 220cm Above The Floor
 The temperature contour was plotted on a plane 220cm above the floor. The uniformity in the temperature
distribution can be seen at this height between the two divisions.
 This was due to the fact that the height of the partition was 200cm therefore the temperature above this height was
uniform. The temperature at this height was around 26ºC.
Division I Division II

18. CASE 3:- TWO FANS WITH AC UNDER
OPERATION (AC AT PROPOSED LOCATION)

19.  Same boundary conditions as
case II.
 Mesh settings were also same and
polyhedral cells were used.
 The proposed location for the air
conditioner can be seen in the
figure.
CASE 3:- TWO FANS WITH AC UNDER OPERATION
(AC AT PROPOSED LOCATION)
Exit 1 to Hall
(Always Open)
Exit 2 to Hall
(Always Open)
DIVISION
(I)
DIVISION
(II)
Fan 1 Fan 2
New Location
For AC

20. CASE 3:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Front Plane
 The temperature contour was plotted on a front plane & now the uniformity in temperature distribution can be
clearly seen in this proposed arrangement.
 The temperature in the division I is around 26.5ºC whereas the temperature in division II is around 26ºC.
 The temperature has decreased in both divisions equally after installation of air conditioner.
Top Wall (30ºC)
WestFacingWall
(37ºC)
EastFacingWall
(30ºC)
Division I Division II

21. CASE 3:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane 144cm Above The Floor
 The temperature contour was plotted on a plane 144cm above the floor. The uniformity in the temperature
distribution can be seen between the two divisions.
 The temperature distribution can be seen more uniform as compared to case II with proposed air conditioner
position. The temperature in Division I & II are around 27.25ºC respectively.
Division I Division II
CASE II.

22. CASE 3:- RESULTS
Temperature Distribution on Plane 220cm Above The Floor
 The temperature contour was plotted on a plane 220cm above the floor.
 This is above the height of wooden partition. In this case the temperature is 1ºC high in Division 1 as compared to
Division 2.
 The temperature distribution here is around 26.5-27.5ºC.
Division I Division II

23.  In this case study, three cases were simulated using ANSYS Fluent to determine the optimize
location for the air-conditioner in an office layout. Multiple Reference Frame was used to
simulate the fan in this study.
 From this case study, it was confirmed that the temperature distribution between the two divisions
were not uniform for the present position of the air-conditioner.
 After optimizing the position of air conditioner, the temperature distribution up to the normal
working height was found uniform whereas in current case two temperature zones were formed
(temperature in Division 1 was much high as compared to Division 2).
CONCLUSION