System and method for numerically evaluating thermal comfort inside an enclosure
First Claim
1. A method, implemented in a computing device, for numerically evaluating thermal comfort in an actual enclosure having a non-uniform thermal environment, comprising:
- performing a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment based on a given set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment;
performing a numerical analysis on the actual enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on a set of boundary conditions for the non-uniform thermal environment;
computing an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on the numerical analysis performed in the uniform thermal environment, non-uniform thermal environment, and surface temperature of each body part; and
evaluating the thermal comfort in the actual enclosure based on each computed teq using a numerical thermal comfort analysis module, wherein parameters that define the set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment and the non-uniform thermal environment are selected from the group consisting of inlet parameters, thermal manikin body surface parameter, enclosure wall parameters, semi transparent wall parameters, thermal manikin clothing parameters and outlet parameters.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for assessing thermal comfort in an enclosure is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes performing a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment to obtain a surface heat transfer coefficient (hcal) for each body part of the thermal manikin. The method also includes performing a numerical analysis on an enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in a non-uniform thermal environment to obtain a total heat flux (q″T) for each body part of the one or more thermal manikins. The method further includes computing an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins using the obtained associated hcal, the obtained associated q″T, and an associated surface temperature of the body part. Furthermore, the method includes evaluating thermal comfort in the enclosure based on each computed teq.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method, implemented in a computing device, for numerically evaluating thermal comfort in an actual enclosure having a non-uniform thermal environment, comprising:
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performing a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment based on a given set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment; performing a numerical analysis on the actual enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on a set of boundary conditions for the non-uniform thermal environment; computing an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on the numerical analysis performed in the uniform thermal environment, non-uniform thermal environment, and surface temperature of each body part; and evaluating the thermal comfort in the actual enclosure based on each computed teq using a numerical thermal comfort analysis module, wherein parameters that define the set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment and the non-uniform thermal environment are selected from the group consisting of inlet parameters, thermal manikin body surface parameter, enclosure wall parameters, semi transparent wall parameters, thermal manikin clothing parameters and outlet parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for numerically evaluating thermal comfort in an actual enclosure having a non-uniform thermal environment, comprising:
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multiple client devices; a computer network; and a remote server coupled to the multiple client devices via the computer network, wherein the remote server comprises; a processor; and memory, wherein the memory includes a numerical analysis tool and a numerical thermal comfort analysis module, wherein one of the client devices accesses the numerical analysis tool via the computer network and performs a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment using a given set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment to obtain a surface heat transfer coefficient (hcal) for each body part of the thermal manikin, wherein the one of the client devices using the numerical analysis tool further performs a numerical analysis on the actual enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment using a set of boundary conditions for the non-uniform thermal environment to obtain a total heat flux (q″
T) for each body part of the one or more thermal manikins, wherein the processor using the numerical thermal comfort analysis module computes an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment using the obtained hcal, the obtained q″
T, and an associated surface temperature of the body part, and wherein the processor using the numerical thermal comfort analysis module evaluates the thermal comfort in the actual enclosure based on each computed teq and outputs results of the evaluation on a display device of the one of the client devices. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. An article, comprising:
a storage medium having instructions, that when executed by a computing device, result in execution of a method for numerically evaluating thermal comfort in an actual enclosure having a non-uniform thermal environment, comprising; performing a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment based on a given set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment using a numerical analysis tool in the computing device to obtain a surface heat transfer coefficient (hcal) for each body part of the thermal manikin; performing a numerical analysis on the actual enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on a set of boundary conditions for the non-uniform thermal environment using the numerical analysis tool to obtain a total heat flux (q″
T) for each body part of the one or more thermal manikins;computing an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on the obtained hcal, the obtained q″
T, and an associated surface temperature of the body part using a numerical thermal comfort analysis module in the computing device; andevaluating the thermal comfort in the actual enclosure based on each computed teq using the numerical thermal comfort analysis module. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method, implemented in a computing device, for numerically evaluating thermal comfort in an actual enclosure having a non-uniform thermal environment, comprising:
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performing a numerical analysis on a calibration enclosure including a thermal manikin in a uniform thermal environment based on a given set of boundary conditions for the uniform thermal environment using a numerical analysis tool in the computing device to obtain a surface heat transfer coefficient (hcal) for each body part of the thermal manikin; performing a numerical analysis on the actual enclosure including one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on a set of boundary conditions for the non-uniform thermal environment using the numerical analysis tool to obtain a total heat flux (q″
T) for each body part of the one or more thermal manikins;computing an equivalent temperature (teq) of each body part of the one or more thermal manikins in the non-uniform thermal environment based on the obtained hcal, the obtained q″
T, and an associated surface temperature of the body part using a numerical thermal comfort analysis module in the computing device; andevaluating the thermal comfort in the actual enclosure by comparing each computed teq with a thermal comfort diagram using the numerical thermal comfort analysis module, wherein the thermal comfort diagram is formed using teq limits associated with comfort zone levels of each body part. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification