Plumes in a stratified environment

Started: October 2017
Supervisor: Burridge, H.C; Pain, C.
As part of the CDT in Fluid Dynamics across Scales

Description of Research

20 % of all energy consumed in Europe is used to condition buildings, through heating or cooling for instance. As people are spending an increasing amount of time indoors, it is predicted that the consumption of energy in buildings will rise still further in the upcoming years. Unlike mechanical ventilation or air conditioning, natural ventilation relies only on the flows created by temperature differences and/or wind in buildings. A feature of traditional architecture, it is being reintroduced into modern buildings as an attempt to reduce their environmental impact and to improve the living and working conditions of their occupants.

Natural ventilation involves complex flow dynamics notably including buoyancy driven flows and stratified environments. Therefore, to better understand natural ventilation and how it can be used, these flows need to be further studied. Using Fluidity, an open source CFD code which can perform large eddy simulations, this project aims to simulate such ventilation flows with a focus on their effects on thermal comfort and exposure to pollutants within the built environment. 

Background

Carolanne has an MEng from Imperial College in Aeronautical Engineering.

Carolanne Vouriot

Fluid Mechanics Research Student 
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering 
Imperial College London SW7 2AZ 
carolanne.vouriot12@imperial.ac.uk