Creating non-uniform thermal environment in large space buildings based on column attachment ventilation

The traditional ventilation aims to create a uniform indoor environment, which neglects the diverse thermal requirements of different locations within large-space building, resulting in significant energy waste. This study proposes a method based on partition control using column attachment ventilation to create a non-uniform indoor environment under cooling conditions. The main factors influencing thermal environment differences among zones were identified through orthogonal experiments, and the effects of partition control on indoor convective heat transfer and thermal comfort were analyzed. A 1:4 scale model was used to conduct temperature field verification experiments. The results indicate that under the column attachment ventilation mode, partition control can create a non-uniform environment, enhancing indoor temperature non-uniformity by 3.67 times compared to uniform ventilation. The factors influencing zonal thermal environment differences are air supply temperature difference (ΔT_s) > column shape > air supply velocity difference (ΔV_s). When ΔT_s is 2 °C, the sub-zone average temperature difference reaches up to 1.3 °C. Additionally, the difference in the air supply temperature affects the distribution of convective heat transfer between zones. A dimensionless correlation for the Nusselt number in the enclosed large-space under square column attachment ventilation (S-CAV) was established with a 5.6% average absolute deviation. This study can enrich the research on non-uniform environment in large space buildings and promote its application in practical engineering.