The influence of an architectural design alternative (transoms) on indoor air environment in conventional kitchens in Taiwan

This study intends to investigate indoor air environment via the flow field s, temperature fields and air contaminant (carbon monoxide) distributions i n the conventional residential kitchens, and look for effective methods to solve those problems through natural ventilation techniques. Numerical simu lations of the physical problem under consideration have been performed via a finite volume method for solving the governing equations and boundary co nditions. It is obvious that location of accumulation of air contaminants i s highly relevant to the location of gas fires, and using the residential r ange hood will be successful in eliminating air contaminants. An architectu ral design alternative, utilizing transoms, is proposed to improve indoor a ir environment in kitchens. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.