%0 Conference Proceedings
%K mixed convection
%K airflow
%K cfd
%K large indoor space
%K pollutant dispersion
%A Buvaneswari Jayaraman
%A Elizabeth U Finlayson
%A Emily E Wood
%A Tracy L Thatcher
%A Phillip N Price
%A Richard G Sextro
%A Ashok J Gadgil
%B Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate
%C Beijing, China
%D 2005
%G eng
%I Tsinghua University Press
%P 2849-2853
%T Comparison between experiments and CFD predictions of mixed convection flows in an atrium
%V 3(3)
%1 <p>3</p>
%X <p>This paper compares results from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of airflow and pollutant dispersion under mixed-convection conditions with experimental data obtained in our 7m x 9m x 11m high experimental facility. A tracer gas was continuously released from a 1 m<sup>2</sup> horizontal source 0.5 m above the floor. Path-integrated concentrations were measured along multiple short and long sampling paths in three horizontal planes. A steady state CFD analysis was used to model these experiments. The Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were solved for the flow and temperature field using the commercial CFD software, StarCD. CFD results were compared with the measured path-integrated concentrations. Accuracy of CFD predictions was found to improve with inclusion of thermal effects, and further by using a low-Re turbulence model.</p>