Uniform Floor Heating System — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project analyzes uniform floor heating in a completely enclosed room using ANSYS Fluent, showing how CFD can be used to evaluate and optimize radiant heating in a controlled space. In a floor-heating system, the entire floor acts as a gentle, distributed heat source, and warmth spreads upward through the room by natural convection rather than from a single localized radiator. The study examines how heat rises from the heated floor, how the air stratifies, and how uniformly the room is warmed. Within the HVAC Engineering: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project introduces distributed radiant heating and the goal of thermal-comfort uniformity, shifting the focus from ventilation toward heating performance itself.MethodologyThe geometry is a simple, perfectly sealed rectangular room with a uniform floor heating element, prepared for CFD analysis with attention to mesh quality and refinement near the heated floor and the room boundaries. The walls and ceiling are treated as adiabatic surfaces, while the heated floor provides the thermal boundary condition that drives the flow. Air is modeled with the ideal-gas law so that the density variations responsible for buoyancy are captured, and radiation properties are configured so that all relevant heat-transfer mechanisms are accounted for. A turbulence model suited to enclosed natural convection is selected, and convergence strategies appropriate to the challenging, low-velocity thermal flow are applied.AnalysisPost-processing produces temperature contours and velocity vector fields that visualize the thermal stratification and airflow, along with streamlines that illustrate the convection-cell structure within the enclosed space. From these you can interpret the vertical temperature gradients, assess how uniformly the floor heats the room, and evaluate the heat-transfer rate from the floor to the room air. The setup also supports parametric study — varying floor temperature or room aspect ratio to see how heating dynamics and comfort respond. By the end of this project, you'll be able to set up a natural-convection simulation for an enclosed heated space, apply the ideal-gas model and appropriate turbulence treatment, and interpret temperature and airflow fields to evaluate heating uniformity, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency.

Single Sided Ventilation in a Room Considering a Heater — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project analyzes indoor airflow dynamics and thermal behavior within a heated room using natural single-sided ventilation in ANSYS Fluent. The setup features an aluminum heating radiator producing 23,469 W/m³ of thermal output as the primary heat source, while a side-mounted window serves as the natural ventilation outlet, operating at ambient atmospheric pressure with backflow temperatures matching interior conditions. The aim is to characterize the airflow patterns and thermal distribution that develop when a single opening ventilates a heated space — a configuration typical of everyday residential rooms. Within the HVAC Engineering: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project builds on the basic heated-room case by adding an opening, introducing natural ventilation coupled with an internal heat source.MethodologyThe three-dimensional room model was constructed in Design Modeler, with interior dimensions of 2.15 m × 2.16 m × 3.32 m and a rectangular heating unit positioned along the base of one sidewall to represent a typical residential heating configuration. The computational grid was developed in ANSYS Meshing using an unstructured topology of 987,087 cells, providing sufficient resolution to capture the flow and thermal boundary layers.The simulation uses a pressure-based solver under steady-state conditions, combining fluid dynamics with thermal analysis and including gravitational effects (9.81 m/s²) to capture buoyancy. Turbulence is modeled with the realizable k-epsilon model using standard wall functions. The boundary conditions define the window as a pressure outlet at atmospheric conditions, the room surfaces as stationary walls with zero heat flux, and the radiator as a volumetric heat-generation source. Pressure–velocity coupling is handled with the SIMPLE algorithm, with high-order discretization schemes for improved accuracy and standard initialization at atmospheric conditions (101,325 Pa, 300 K).AnalysisThe analysis generates comprehensive flow and thermal field data, including pressure, temperature, and velocity distributions in both 2D and 3D. Velocity vector fields reveal the circulation patterns set up by the interaction between the radiator's buoyant plume and the ventilation flow through the window. Cross-sectional analysis is carried out on XY and YZ planes, with multiple YZ sections examined to fully characterize the three-dimensional nature of the heated room's airflow and thermal behavior. From these results you can assess how effectively the single-sided opening ventilates the space, how heat distributes through the room, and where warm or stagnant regions form.

Double Skin Façade — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project simulates airflow within a building's double-skin façade (DSF) using ANSYS Fluent. A double-skin façade is a building envelope with an air cavity between two layers, where solar-heated air rises by buoyancy — providing passive heating and aiding ventilation and cooling inside the building. The study evaluates the buoyancy-driven circulation set up within this cavity when the glazed outer layer absorbs solar energy. Within the HVAC Engineering: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project couples solar gain with buoyancy-driven airflow inside the building envelope, moving from single-room ventilation toward the behavior of the building skin itself.MethodologyThe three-dimensional geometry, built in DesignModeler, is a rectangular cavity measuring 0.6 × 3.2 × 5 m, composed of a duct for airflow and a glazed section that absorbs solar heat. The openings include a 0.2 m rectangular inlet at the bottom of the glass wall and a 0.2 m outlet near the top. Meshing in ANSYS Meshing yields 490,725 elements.The glass section is modeled with a volumetric heat generation of 6,940 W/m³ to represent solar gain. The building walls are brick and subject to convection to the interior at T = 300 K with a heat-transfer coefficient of h = 23 W/m²·K (free convection). Supply air enters the façade at 304.55 K and atmospheric pressure. To capture the buoyancy effect, the air density follows the ideal-gas law and gravity of 9.81 m/s² is applied, so the temperature differences generated by the solar gain drive the flow.AnalysisPost-processing provides 2D and 3D pressure, velocity, and temperature contours, along with 2D and 3D velocity vectors. The vectors show an upward flow within the cavity, confirming the buoyancy-driven ventilation within the double-skin façade. From these results you can evaluate how effectively the façade drives passive airflow, how the solar gain distributes heat through the cavity, and how the design contributes to ventilation and thermal regulation of the building.

DescriptionThis module uses ANSYS Fluent to simulate a swamp cooler (evaporative cooling) system applied to building HVAC, a key topic in sustainable climate control engineering. Swamp coolers cool indoor air through water evaporation rather than mechanical refrigeration, offering an energy-efficient alternative to conventional air conditioning in suitable climates. The simulation models how cooled, humidified air distributes through a building space and affects indoor thermal comfort.MethodologyThe building geometry, including the swamp cooler components, is created/imported in ANSYS Fluent, with meshing designed to resolve both room-scale airflow and the finer details of the cooler unit. Boundary conditions define air intake properties (temperature, humidity) at the cooler inlet along with the building envelope's thermal characteristics (walls, windows). A turbulence model suited to low-speed, buoyancy-driven indoor flow is selected, alongside humidity and latent heat transfer modeling to capture the evaporative cooling process and its effect on air properties.ConclusionResults include temperature and humidity contour maps across the cooled space, along with air velocity vector fields used to evaluate air distribution and identify stagnant zones. Cooling efficiency and temperature reduction are quantified, along with estimates of water consumption and energy usage. These results support swamp cooler design optimization across different climates and inform their integration into sustainable, energy-efficient building HVAC systems.

Description: This module introduces beginners to CFD analysis of chevron plate heat exchangers using ANSYS Fluent, a compact and highly efficient heat transfer device widely used across industries such as food processing and HVAC. The course builds foundational skill in simulating these plate-based exchangers, starting from the basics of the ANSYS Fluent interface and progressing through a complete simulation workflow suited to newcomers in thermal-fluid engineering.Methodology: The training walks through constructing a simplified chevron plate geometry, defining the working fluid properties, and setting appropriate inlet flow rates, temperatures, and outlet conditions, along with wall boundary conditions on the plate surfaces to capture realistic heat transfer behavior. Basic solver settings are configured, including an introductory turbulence model appropriate for beginner-level analysis, and the simulation is monitored through to convergence.Analysis: Results are explored through basic visualizations of velocity fields and temperature contours, along with an interpretation of fundamental pressure drop characteristics across the plate arrangement. These insights connect the observed flow and thermal behavior back to real-world chevron plate exchanger performance, giving learners a practical grounding in convective heat transfer analysis and a foundation for tackling more advanced heat exchanger CFD topics.

Description: This module introduces beginners to CFD analysis of reverse cross flow plate heat exchangers using ANSYS Fluent, a highly efficient, compact configuration common in HVAC systems and industrial process cooling. The course builds on core plate heat exchanger concepts by focusing on the cross flow arrangement's distinct plate layout and flow pattern, and extends into comparing how different flow directions affect thermal performance.Methodology: The training covers building a simplified cross flow geometry, defining the working fluid and plate material properties, and setting appropriate inlet and outlet conditions for both fluid streams, along with wall and interface boundary conditions to capture realistic heat transfer behavior. Solver parameters and convergence criteria suited to cross flow simulations are configured, and the solution is monitored for stability through to convergence.Analysis: Results are examined through velocity field and temperature contour visualizations, along with calculated local and overall heat transfer coefficients and exchanger effectiveness. The module also compares co-current and counter-current flow arrangements, evaluating how flow direction shapes temperature profiles and overall heat transfer effectiveness, giving learners a practical basis for informing design decisions in reverse cross flow heat exchanger applications.

DescriptionSpiral heat exchangers are compact, coiled-channel devices used across chemical, petrochemical, and food processing industries for their space efficiency, self-cleaning behavior under fouling conditions, and strong performance with viscous or particulate-laden fluids. This CFD study uses ANSYS Fluent to model the fluid flow and heat transfer behavior within a spiral heat exchanger, capturing how the curved, counter-current channel geometry influences thermal performance compared to conventional straight-channel designs. The analysis provides a foundation for understanding how spiral configurations can be evaluated and optimized using computational tools before physical prototyping or deployment.MethodologyThe simulation begins with construction of the spiral channel geometry and definition of the fluid domains for both hot and cold streams. Material properties are assigned to the working fluids, and boundary conditions are specified at the inlets and outlets, including flow rates and stream temperatures for each channel. Wall and interface boundary conditions are configured to reflect the curved geometry of the spiral passages, which affects near-wall flow behavior and heat transfer differently than straight-channel arrangements. Solver settings, including solution methods and convergence criteria, are configured to handle the complexities of curved flow paths, and the simulation is monitored throughout the solving process to confirm stability and convergence.Results AnalysisPost-processing focuses on visualizing velocity fields and temperature distributions to reveal how fluid moves and heat transfers through the spiral channels. Local and overall heat transfer coefficients are extracted alongside pressure drop values, giving a quantitative basis for assessing exchanger performance. These results are compared against conventional heat exchanger benchmarks to evaluate gains in space efficiency and heat transfer enhancement, as well as the self-cleaning and fouling-resistance characteristics that distinguish spiral designs. The resulting insights support informed design decisions for improving spiral heat exchanger performance in real-world thermal management applications.

Porous Chamber Heat Transfer — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project explores heat transfer through porous media using ANSYS Fluent, analyzing the thermal behavior of a porous chamber. When fluid flows through a porous material while heat is exchanged, the combination of the solid matrix and the fluid filling its pores governs the overall heat transfer in a way that a plain fluid does not — making porous media a powerful tool for thermal management. Porous materials appear throughout heat exchangers, thermal energy storage, and electronic cooling, and understanding how they transfer heat is central to optimizing those systems. Within the Porous Media: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project introduces heat transfer to the porous-zone model, building on the flow-only cases toward coupled thermal-porous analysis.MethodologyThe project uses a pre-configured porous chamber model. The flow through the porous medium is governed by Darcy's law and its extensions, implemented through the porous-media model, while the heat transfer depends on the effective thermal conductivity that combines the solid and fluid phases. The mesh is generated to capture the porous structure appropriately, and the physical models are selected and configured — the porous-media model together with suitable turbulence and heat-transfer models. Boundary conditions are defined for the fluid inlet and outlet (flow rates, pressures, and temperatures) and for the thermal conditions at the porous-solid interfaces, so the coupled flow and heat transfer through the chamber are captured realistically.AnalysisPost-processing visualizes the flow patterns through velocity vectors and streamlines and the temperature distribution through contour maps, assessing the heat-transfer effectiveness across the chamber. A parametric study examines how changes in porosity and permeability affect the flow patterns, pressure drop, and heat-transfer rates, allowing the porous structure to be optimized for a given thermal application. The results also support calculating effective heat-transfer coefficients and evaluating local thermal non-equilibrium — the temperature difference between the solid and fluid phases. By the end of this project, you'll be able to set up a coupled porous-media heat-transfer simulation, apply Darcy's law with appropriate thermal boundary conditions, run a parametric study of porosity and permeability, and interpret the temperature and flow fields that determine the thermal performance of a porous chamber.

Parabolic Solar Collector — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionWelcome to the Parabolic Solar Collector CFD Simulation module. This project explores concentrated solar power using ANSYS Fluent, focusing on how a parabolic solar collector captures and converts solar energy into useful heat. A parabolic collector uses a curved reflector to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver tube running along its focal line; the concentrated energy heats the tube wall, which in turn transfers heat to the working fluid flowing through it. The essential components are the reflector, the receiver tube, and the working fluid, and the key physics is the convective heat transfer between the heated tube wall and the fluid inside. Within the Renewable Energy: Beginner CFD Training Package, this project opens the solar-thermal collector group, introducing concentrated solar heat capture and fluid heating in a receiver tube.MethodologyThe setup begins with a meshing strategy that captures both the complex parabolic reflector shape and the cylindrical receiver tube accurately. The appropriate physical models are then selected — turbulence, heat transfer, and radiation models suited to a solar-thermal application. The boundary conditions define the physics of the collector: a solar heat flux is applied to the receiver tube surface based on the solar concentration factor to represent the concentrated sunlight, while the fluid inlet and outlet conditions set the flow rate, temperature, and pressure of the working fluid entering and leaving the collector. Together these capture how the concentrated solar energy is absorbed at the tube wall and carried away by the fluid.AnalysisPost-processing focuses on the temperature and flow behavior within the collector. Temperature contours reveal how heat is distributed along the length of the receiver tube, and the thermal boundary layer is examined for its influence on heat-transfer efficiency. Velocity profiles in the receiver tube reveal the fluid flow patterns, and the effect of turbulence on enhancing convective heat transfer is assessed. From these results the overall thermal efficiency can be quantified, and the insight used to refine key design parameters such as receiver-tube diameter, reflector shape, and flow rate. By the end of this project, you'll be able to set up a solar-thermal collector simulation in ANSYS Fluent, apply concentrated solar heat flux and fluid boundary conditions, interpret the temperature and flow fields, and apply those insights to the design of parabolic-trough systems for solar power plants and thermal energy storage.

DescriptionCooling of Airfoil Surface by Lateral Hole Air Inlets CFD Simulation examines how lateral cooling holes can be used to manage surface temperatures on an airfoil exposed to high-temperature conditions, a technique widely used in aerospace thermal management. This ANSYS Fluent study focuses on the interaction between the external airflow and the cooling air ejected from lateral inlets, aiming to understand how that interaction affects surface temperature distribution and overall cooling effectiveness.MethodologyThe airfoil geometry incorporates a defined arrangement of lateral cooling holes, with the mesh built to resolve both the airfoil surface and the intricate geometry around each hole. External flow conditions — freestream velocity, temperature, and pressure — are defined alongside the cooling air inlet parameters, including flow rate, temperature, and pressure at the lateral holes. Turbulence, heat transfer, and compressibility models are selected to capture the coupled fluid-thermal behavior, with particular attention to how the cooling jets exiting the lateral holes mix with the external boundary layer flow.AnalysisThe simulation produces surface temperature contours that reveal how effectively the lateral hole cooling reduces temperatures across different regions of the airfoil, along with insight into thermal boundary layer development and its influence on cooling performance. Cooling effectiveness is quantified using standard aerospace thermal management metrics, allowing different hole configurations and blowing ratios to be compared and optimized. These results connect directly to real-world applications such as turbine blade and vane cooling in gas turbine engines and thermal management of hypersonic vehicle surfaces, where controlling surface temperature under extreme conditions is critical to component durability and performance.