Independent Environmental Control for Relics Preservation and Visitors' Thermal Comfort in Archaeology Museums

The environmental control in archaeology museum buildings should take into account the requirements of both visitors' thermal comfort and relics preservation. However, the environ-mental conditions for the thermal comfort of visitors are usually different to those for relics preservation, and the specialized needs of the latter are usually ignored due to financial and technological limitations. In this paper, an independent environmental control method employing a split air conditioning system for visitor comfort and a displacement ventilation system for relic preservation was proposed. An experimental study has been carried out to examine the feasibility and performance of the method. The results show that both air conditioning systems could be operated independently with different working parameters and operation models. Additionally, the different environmental needs of visitors and relics were simultaneously satisfied with this energy-saving method.