Assessment of the thermal environment in an aircraft cabin

A full-scale section of a flight cabin with 21 seats was used to study the thermal environment in aircraft under laboratory conditions. Fourteen heated cylinders and two thermal manikins were used to simulate the heat load, the buoyancy flow and the flow obstruction from passengers in the cabin. Mean air velocities were measured in the range 0.105 ¿ 0.658 m/s.

The measured air temperature differed by -0.6°C to + 2.1°C from the set point temperature. The whole-body equivalent temperature was 1.5-2°C lower in the outer seats than in the middle seat. The largest asymmetry in the segmental equivalent temperature, up to 5.8°C, was identified in the outer seats.

The results reveal that in an aircraft cabin, passengers in the outer seats may be exposed to thermal asymmetry and draught and may not find the thermal environment acceptable if the ventilation air is not properly supplied.