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A Thermal-Fluid Approach to Sauna Room Modelling and Analysis: CFD-Based Investigation of Heat Transfer and Energy Efficiency in Modern Sauna Rooms
Halmstad University, School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability.
2025 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (professional degree), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This thesis presents a comprehensive thermal-fluid analysis of sauna room configurations using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to evaluate heat transfer, airflow patterns, and energy efficiency. Two room layouts are compared: a traditional Glass Door (GD) setup and a modern Glass Front (GF) design, with a focus on the thermal implications of using glass versus wood paneling. The study employs the realizable k-epsilon turbulence model with enhanced wall treatment to simulate heat transfer by buoyancy-driven natural convection within the sauna environment and includes radiation modelling via the Discrete Ordinates (DO) method. First-order analyses based on the heat diffusion equation were conducted to support the simulation results and guide boundary condition setup. Validation was performed against experimental data from a real-world sauna lab, showing good agreement with an average deviation of 7%. The results reveal that the GF configuration increases energy demand by 26% compared to the GD setup, primarily due to the higher emissivity and lack of insulation in glass surfaces, despite minimal differences in flow behavior and thermal stratification. The findings suggest that design choices significantly impact operational efficiency, with implications for cost, environmental sustainability, and user comfort.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
Keywords [en]
Sauna, CFD, Thermal, Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, Ansys Fluent
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-56384OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-56384DiVA, id: diva2:1968783
External cooperation
Sauna360 AB (TYLÖ)
Educational program
Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, Sustainable Design and Innovation, 300 credits
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2025-06-13 Created: 2025-06-13 Last updated: 2025-10-01Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
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  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
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