Project Case Study
A single-sided natural ventilation and thermal comfort study for a three-floor Masjid building, assessed at a peak occupancy of 300 people.
Building
Three floors
Peak occupancy
300 people
Ventilation
Single-sided
Time snapshots
30s & 130s
Project summary
This CFD study compared three airflow configurations while considering the existing building's architectural features.
The comparison focused on temperature and velocity patterns at 30 seconds and 130 seconds.
Building
Existing three-floor Masjid
Peak occupancy
300 people considered
Configurations
Straight inlet, 45° inlet, straight inlet with ceiling fan
Evaluation planes
Ceiling level, floor level and cross-section
Comparison times
30 seconds and 130 seconds
01 / Context
HyperCurve Solutions Private Limited carried out a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study of an existing three-floor Masjid building to evaluate ventilation and thermal comfort under single-sided natural ventilation. The assessment considered peak occupancy of 300 people while retaining the existing wall craftsmanship and architectural features.
02 / Scope
The study examined how the orientation of incoming air affects ventilation through the main hall. It compared straight airflow, airflow entering at 45 degrees, and straight airflow with a ceiling fan to understand temperature development and air movement in the occupied space.
Model preparation
The existing building layout was represented in CAD, including supply/return grilles, ducting and damper locations. The inlet design review also covered façade openings and door/window details used to establish the airflow entry configuration.
Simulation setup
A volume mesh was generated for the building domain. Results were examined on Plane 1 at ceiling level, Plane 2 at floor level, and Plane 3 at a cross-section through the building.
Simulation results
The reported contours compare straight airflow, 45-degree airflow and straight airflow with a ceiling fan at 30 seconds and 130 seconds.
The described areas remain warm, at approximately 308 K or higher, when straight airflow is used without a ceiling fan.
Adding a ceiling fan visibly improves mixing and lowers occupied-zone temperature over time.
The 45-degree inlet case performs worse than the straight-flow case in the reported comparison.
Air movement
Velocity contours show how inlet direction affects the penetration of incoming air into the occupied zone.
Noticeable air movement is visible in the occupied zone for straight airflow and for straight airflow combined with a ceiling fan.
In the 45-degree case, minimal velocity reaches the room interior. This indicates that inlet direction is important to how effectively incoming air penetrates the space.
Sectional review
Cross-section temperature and velocity results reinforce the trends observed on Plane 1, showing how airflow and cooling move through the occupied volume.
What the section reveals
Straight airflow, with or without a ceiling fan, drives air movement and cooling deeper into the hall than the 45-degree airflow case.
Engineering interpretation
The findings below reflect the configurations and conditions described in this case study; final design decisions should be validated against project-specific site conditions and applicable requirements.
01
Single-sided ventilation performs best in this comparison when incoming air is aligned straight with the inlet (0°).
02
The assessed 45° airflow configuration under-performs and sends less air movement into the room interior.
03
A ceiling fan improves air mixing and reduces occupied-zone temperature compared with straight airflow alone.
For the assessed peak occupancy of 300 people, the study recommends prioritising an aligned inlet orientation and including ceiling fans to support thermal comfort.
Project outputs
The assessment produced geometry, mesh and visual result outputs to support the ventilation comparison.