The cooling effect of personalized ventilation systems

Personalized ventilation (PV) can improve thermal comfort and inhaled air quality by supplying air to each workstation separately. This study investigates the impact of PV on the thermal state of the users under summer boundary conditions. Two approaches to evaluating the cooling effect of PV were investigated, based on equivalent temperature and based on thermal sensation. Both approaches implemented measured and simulated values of the cooling effect of PV. Before conducting the simulations, the numerical model was first validated against measured data collected in a climate chamber equipped with a thermal manikin. Results indicated that the thermal sensation approach can be more suitable for evaluating the cooling-effect of PV due to the complex physiological factors it considers.