Experimental evaluation of the cooling and heating dynamics for a vertical ventilation concept in a generic car cabin

A low-momentum ceiling-based ventilation concept is compared to dashboard ventilation in a full-scale generic car cabin (GCC).The dimensions of the cabin correspond to the interior of a typical mid-size car. To provide different boundary conditions, representing winter and summer, the GCC is equipped with a jacket cooling/heating. Thermal manikins simulate the heat release and the obstruction of passengers. With the objective to verify the thermal comfort and the global heat transport characteristics in the GCC, the velocities as well as the air and surface temperatures are recorded. In the present study, the cooling and heating dynamics of the low-momentum ceiling ventilation are examined and compared to a simplified dashboard ventilation with regard to thermal comfort and heating/cooling efficiency. It is found that the cooling and heating dynamics of the low-momentum ventilation differ significantly in comparison with the dashboard ventilation. Overall the low-momentum ceiling offers several benefits regarding the thermal comfort and efficiency.