Ventilation systems in ice rinks are designed to provide both air quality and comfort for the occupants. Design engineers and architects can use Airpak, the HVAC design tool developed jointly by Fluent Inc. and ICEM-CFD, to quickly build a model of the ice rink and its ventilation system using an object-oriented approach, the power of automated unstructured meshing tools, and the same robust solver engine that drives FLUENT.

Unstructured tetrahedral mesh used to model a collegiate ice rink

Ice resurfacing equipment powered by combustible fuels are sources of CO and NO ₂ , which can build up to harmful levels if the ventilation system design and/or operation does not meet air quality guidelines. Concentration levels of these harmful conta- minants can be predicted using Airpak's species transport mod- eling capability. Moreover, thermal comfort, which depends on assumptions about the activity and clothing of the spectators as well as the local humidity, temperature, air velocity, and mean radiant temperature, can also be predicted using airf low and temperature distributions computed by Airpak and a comfort calculation panel that uses the ISO 7730 standard for thermal comfort in indoor environments.

Airflow particle traces colored by Predicted Percent Dissatisfied (PPD) indicating extent of thermal comfort

Airpak comfort calculation panel

(click image for enlarged view)

For more information on Airpak, visit our web site at: www.airpak.fluent.com.

FluentNEWS