Numerical Investigation of Indoor CO2 Concentration Distribution in an Apartment

Abstract

In a residential kitchen, a number of pollutants are generated due to cooking and are released into the ambient air; these can significantly affect the indoor air quality of residential environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the indoor environmental conditions via the velocity field, temperature field and CO2 concentration distribution during cooking in a kitchen in a typical Korean apartment. Numerical simulations were conducted using the computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT 6.3 for solving the continuity, momentum, energy and concentration equations in an unsteady state with the standard k—ε turbulence model. The parameters used for the simulations included: (1) the extraction flow rate of the range hood (0, 500, 750 and 1000 m3·h-1) and (2) the angle between the inlet airflow and the ceiling (90°, 45° and 22.5°). The findings illustrated that the temperature and CO2 concentration distribution could be greatly influenced by the extraction flow rate of the range hood. Also, by reducing the angle between the airflow and ceiling, the area-averaged temperature could be reduced in the breathing plane of the kitchen. The findings of this research could contribute to the reduction of energy consumption and the adverse effects caused by cooking.