Heating Performances of a Large-Scale Factory Evaluated through Thermal Comfort and Building Energy Consumption

Abstract

Workshops with a large area and a high ceiling height without compartments, such as large-scale assembly factories, have an uneven thermal comfort during heating, making it difficult to establish an effective heating strategy. In this study, we evaluate the heating performance of a large-scale factory based on thermal comfort and energy flow and discuss effective heating methods. In addition, an analysis of the heating performance of a large-scale factory is attempted for the first time. To analyze the heating performance, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and building energy simulation (BES) were used to confirm thermal comfort distribution and energy flow in a large-scale factory. Temperature distribution and thermal comfort were evaluated through CFD, and the temperature of a large-scale assembly factory was compared with experimental data. Based on the CFD results, the current heating level of large factories was predicted to be 15.4 °C, and the ADPIrev was 70%. Moreover, the BES results show that the energy losses due to forced ventilation and the inflow of outside air contributed 35.5% and 27.8%, respectively. The heating strategy proposed in this study could improve thermal comfort by 79% compared to the same energy consumption. Therefore, to improve the heating performance compared to the heating energy consumption of large-scale factory, the imbalance in thermal comfort caused by the inflow of outside air must be resolved.

Keywords

• HVAC
• thermal comfort
• computational fluid dynamics
• building energy simulation
• large-scale factory