Improvement of air quality in a ward of four beds by changing diffuser angle

Abstract

Improvement of air quality in a ward of four beds by changing diffuser angle Jeong-Su Kang Dept. of Mechanical Convergence Engineering The Graduate School Hanyang University Interest in indoor air pollution and ventilation has increased significantly in all aspects of life since the COVID-19 pandemic. While medical and health institutions recommend natural ventilation by opening windows, it requires considering various factors such as the building structure and outside air quality, and it may not be practical to control many of them. Therefore, studies to improve indoor air quality are actively ongoing. Studies on the improvement of mechanical ventilation are one of them. When fresh air flows into a room through mechanical ventilation, the last device it passes through before reaching the room is a diffuser. The diffuser forms a circulating airflow in the room, allowing fresh air to reach the entire room and letting out the air through the exhaust vent to help keep the room comfortable. The fixed blade of a diffuser enables air to be supplied at a fixed angle. Since it uses a processed blade, the diffuser's air supply and exhaust angles have a direct impact. This study aims to find a way to improve indoor air quality by combining the angles of the supply and exhaust valves for active indoor air circulation through experiments and numerical analysis. The age of the air was used as an indicator of improvement. The result showed that combining two different angles improved the age of air by up to 5%.