Prediction of the volume flux of the thermal plume above a sitting person

The paper presents a verification of a relatively simple method of volume flux calculation applied to the asymmetrical thermal plume generated by a sitting person in a condition of an upward piston flow. The method is based on a model of a thermal plume above a point heat source in an unbounded space. The plume volume flux, V̇, can be calculated based on the following equation: V̇ = k_v Q_c^{1/ 3} (z_t - z _v)^5/3. In the equation z_t is the distance from the measuring plane to the top of the heat source and Q_c is the convective part of the heat loss. A value of the entrainment coefficient, k _v, equal to 0.006 was used. The position of the virtual origin of the plume to the heat source top, z_v, was optimized for seven different cases of thermal plumes above a sitting thermal manikin and the best agreement between the measured and calculated volume fluxes, not exceeding ±20%, was obtained for z_v=-1.66 m.