Author: Caesar Wiratama
Abstract
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is increasingly applied in HVAC design to evaluate airflow distribution, thermal comfort, and ventilation effectiveness. In this study, an HVAC CFD workflow based on OpenFOAM using the tensorHVAC template is presented and applied to a small café case study. Three indoor unit placement configurations were investigated using blockMesh and snappyHexMesh for mesh generation, the buoyantSimpleFoam solver, and the k-ω SST turbulence model. Indoor environmental performance was assessed using air velocity, temperature, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD), Draft Rate (DR), and air age. The results show that one configuration achieved more uniform airflow and temperature distribution, resulting in near-neutral thermal comfort, low draft risk, and well-distributed air age, while the other configurations produced localized discomfort and ventilation inefficiencies. The study demonstrates that the tensorHVAC template provides a robust and practical framework for simplifying OpenFOAM-based HVAC simulations and supporting informed indoor unit placement decisions.
Figure 1. Indoor unit placement for (a) case 1, (b) case 2, and (c) case 3
Figure 4. Velocity distribution of (a) case 1, (b) case 2, (c) case 3
Figure 5. Temperature distribution of (a) case 1, (b) case 2, (c) case 3