Investigation of the effects of temperature for supplied air from a personal nozzle system on thermal comfort of air travelers

Publication date: December 2017
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 126
Author(s): Zhaosong Fang, Hong Liu, Baizhan Li, Xiuyuan Du, Andrew Baldwin
Air travel has become the most popular form of long distance travel owing to speed and convenience. In order to create a healthy and thermally comfortable environment in the aircraft's cabin, personalized nozzle ventilation is supplied to passengers. In such a system, the temperature of the supplied air is normally lower than the ambient temperature by 5 °C. In this study, an experimental investigation of thermal responses and skin temperature measurements was carried out in a mock-up of an aircraft cabin. The results indicate that local cooling is an effective way to improve the overall thermal comfort, especially for cooling the upper body. Based on paired t-test analyses, there were no significant temperature differences between the effects of isothermal and non-isothermal air supply on subjective responses and mean skin temperatures. The regression models of local thermal and overall thermal sensations were obtained and analyzed. Such models will be beneficial for the optimum design of future personalized nozzle ventilation systems.