Analisis Aliran Udara pada Ruang Kelas untuk Mencapai Kenyamanan Termal Menggunakan Metode Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Abstract

A comfortable environment plays an important role in creating ideal conditions for classrooms. One important part of an ideal environment is having comfortable thermal conditions. Human thermal comfort basically depends on the airflow structure and the heat transfer mechanism that occurs between the human and the surroundings. Good airflow distribution in air-cooled classrooms will create a comfortable indoor thermal environment and benefit the physical and mental health of students and improve work efficiency. Based on the results of previous research conducted in FT USU classrooms as many as 71 of 393 students feel thermal discomfort when learning in classrooms that use air conditioning. This study aims to analyze the effect of variations in the type of cooling facilities used in an effort to achieve thermal comfort by analyzing the distribution of air flow using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation in the classroom of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sumatra (FT USU) Medan. This study also analyzed the level of thermal comfort using the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD) methods. The results showed that there is a nonuniformity of airflow in each classroom of the object of research caused by the nonuniformity of the type of cooling facilities. Rooms that use fans produce 75% higher airflow than rooms that use air conditioners. Based on the results of the air distribution simulation using CFD, 3 rooms using air conditioning from 5 classrooms of the research object have met the thermal comfort standards according to SNI 03-6572-2001 regarding the average wind speed in the classroom. The simulation results show that the room that uses a fan produces 15% higher air temperature than the room that uses air conditioning. Thermal comfort assessment results show that classrooms using fans produce PMV value of 81.9% and PPD value of 87.8% higher than classrooms that use air conditioning.