• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2013

The present study has been conducted for evaluating and comparing the performance of the underfloor air distribution system(UFAD) and the ceiling based air distribution system(CBAD) under cooling condition. Simulations and experiments were carried out for verifying the model by TRNSYS program about UFAD and CBAD. The results of simulation for various conditions of thermal load are summarized as followings. UFAD had an advantage for making thermal comfort because of lower temperature of the floor surface. Moreover, UFAD showed lower fan power about 30~50% than CBAD under the same conditions of thermal load. The energy saving rates of UFAD were increased to 17.7% in proportion to the thermal load on unoccupied zone(lighting). Ultimately, additional investigations should be done for analyzing optimized operating conditions of UFAD with considering the thermal performance of building envelop and the thermal load.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.826-831
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• 2006

In this paper, we discussed the energy performance of underfloor air distribution(UFAD) and overhead air distribution system according to outdoor air intake rates in a office building. For this, the laboratory(S lab.) is selected for measuring the thermal environments of UFAD system and overhead system. Based on the measured data, the TRNSYS simulation is used to evaluate the energy performance of UFAD system and the overhead system according to outdoor air intake rates. By increasing outdoor air intake rates from required outdoor air intake rates(100CMH) to maximum air intake rates, the energy savings of UFAD system comparing with overhead system are varied $15%{\sim}25.6%$ in summer, $12.8%{\sim}19%$ in fall/spring and not varied in winter(8%). As results of simulations on stratification height and cooling set temperature, the lower the stratification height and the higher cooling set temperature, the larger cooling energy savings of UFAD comparing with overhead system according to outdoor air intake rates.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.211-216
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• 2005

The authors carried out experiment, Computer Fluid Dynamics(CFD) and energy simulation of simulator. As a results of experiment and CFD, diffuser velocity is very important design factor for occupied zone air conditioning in Under Floor Air Distribution(UFAD) system. Then, in contrast to energy consumption of the Overhead system, the UFAD system could reduce 6.4% of the total energy because of occupied tone air conditioning. It concluded that tile UFAD system is more effective in energy Performance than the Overhead system.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.711-717
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• 2008

Despite the fact that UFAD(Under Floor Air Distribution) systems have many benefits and are being applied in the field in increasing numbers, there is a strong need for an improved fundamental understanding of several key performance features of these systems. This study numerically investigates the effect of supplied air temperature and supplied flow rate on the performance of UFAD, especially focused on thermal comfort. Also this study has compared UFAD with conventional overhead air distribution system. In contrast to the well-mixed room air conditions of the conventional overheat system, UFAD system produces an overall floor-to-ceiling airflow pattern that takes advantage of the natural buoyancy produced by heat sources in the occupied zone and more efficiently removes heat loads and contaminants from the space. Thermal comfort parameters were evaluated by CFD approach and then PMV was computed to detect the occupants' thermal sensation. Results show that radiative mean temperature plays crucial role on the evaluating PMV. Until now, the radiative temperature has been the missing link between CFD and thermal comfort, but the present study paves the way for overcoming this weakness.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2020

It has been reported about the energy saving performance of UFAD(under floor air distribution) system and NPC(night purge cooling) system respectively which are applied for commercial buildings. However, when two systems are used at the same time, the effect of heat transfer from floor plenum to slab may vary depending on the operating conditions of NPC. In this study, cooling energy demands were analyzed for building models with UFAD and NPC by using TRNSYS 17 program. UFAD was applied as a cooling system of the base building model, and the cooling energy demands were compared for 64 cases in which the operating time, supply airflow rate, and outdoor air temperature(T_o) of NPC. As a result, it was confirmed that the cooling energy demands were reduced to 30 ~ 80% level compared to UFAD alone, and in particular, the energy demand was reduced in proportion to the supply airflow rate or the operating time while T_o was 16 ~ 20℃. However, when T_o was 22℃, the increase in the supply airflow rate or the operating time results in a disadvantage in terms of cooling energy demands. In addition, the cooling energy demands for UFAD+NPC model were analyzed by applying weather data from three regions with different average outdoor air temperatures. As a result, the cooling energy demand of operating NPC only when T_o was below 20℃ was reduced by 27% compared to that of operating NPC continuously for 8 hours.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.15-20
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• 2006

Despite the fact that UFAD (Under Floor Air Distribution) systems have many benefits and are being applied in the field in increasing numbers, there is a strong need for an improved fundamental understanding of several key performance features of these systems. This study numerically investigates the effect of design parameters on the performance of UFAD, especially focused on thermal comfort. The design parameters considered in this study include supplied air temperature, supplied flow rate, diffuser shape, swirl, diffuser location, and floor-to-floor height. Also this study has compared UFAD with over head system, on the point of thermal comfort by evaluating PMV using radiative mean temperature, which shows how inadequate the evaluation of thermal comfort can be when radiation is neglected. Until now, the radiative temperature has been the missing link between CFD and thermal comfort, but the present study paves the way for overcoming this weakness.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2017

Underfloor air distribution (UFAD) is an air distribution strategy for providing ventilation and space conditioning in buildings. UFAD systems use the underfloor plenum beneath a raised access floor to provide conditioned air through floor diffusers that create a vertical thermal stratification during cooling operations. Thermal stratification has significant effects on energy, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort performance. The purpose of this study was to characterize the influence of a linear bar grille diffuser on thermal stratification in both interior and perimeter zones by developing Gamma-Phi based prediction models. Forty-eight simulations were carried out using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The number of diffusers, the air flow supply, internal heat gains, and solar radiations varied among the different cases. Models to predict temperature stratification for the tested linear bar grille diffuser have been developed, which can be directly implemented into dynamic whole-building simulation software such as EnergyPlus.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.40-46
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• 2016

In order to improve air quality of indoor environment, studies of the underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system for application in buildings are actively in progress based on temperature and air flow distribution. However, although the age of air is the major evaluation parameter, there has been very little study on this parameter for the UFAD system. In this study, we investigated the age of air to reach the air diffuser, which is installed at the bottom of the interior by the UFAD system. Computational fluid dynamics simulations showed no regular pattern to the maximum value of the age of air in accordance with air flow rate and the velocity at air diffuser. These factors can be deduced from air movement by considering that air emitted from air conditioners was rotated according to the bottom shape of the floor, and then, the age of air in the rotation center was increased. The average age of air of internal interior was reduced considerably as the flow velocity at the underfloor air diffuser was increased from 0.5 m/s to 1.0 m/s However, the age of air was not substantially affected with change in the air volume. Moreover, when the flow velocity at the underfloor air diffuser was higher than 1.0 m/s, the age of air showed no significant difference with change in air volume or height of measurement. These results imply that indoor air quality is more substantially influenced by flow velocity than air volume, and the appropriate flow velocity is 1 m/s or more.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.718-723
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to propose modeling method of Underfloor Air Distribution System with reliability and validity by comparing characteristics of modeling methods. For this, the modeling methods of UFAD were selected by investigating various modeling methods of previous researches. Then, simulations were conducted by using EnergyPlus which is dynamic analysis program of building energy. Annual energy consumption for each method was compared with a wide range of indoor thermal loads. As a result, the methodology of reducing internal gains can cause under sizing of the system. It suggests modeling methods to reflect occupied zone air-conditioning, temperature stratification and supply plenum which are the main characteristics of UFAD.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2004