• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1042-1050
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• 2003

A heating flow discharged from a 4-way ceiling type indoor unit has been investigated to determine the design parameters for the optimal flow control. The flow was measured by a PIV(particle image velocimetry) system and an experimental model of 1/10 scale with a transparent room was devised by satisfying the Archimedes number. This similarity is generally used in cases where the forced convection has similar magnitude of the natural convection. To optimize the heating flow, several vane angles and vane control algorithms of cross and right angle controls were considered. Regarding the vane angle, experimental results show that 30$^{\circ}$is an optimal angle to avoid re-suction flows without significant increase in flow noise. Temperature distribution measured in the environmental chamber ensures the increased thermal comfort when compared to the case, 60$^{\circ}$angle. At the optimal angle, applying open/close control gives rise to more uniform distribution of the heating flow than without control. Especially, the cross-control seems to be satisfactory for thermal comfort.