COMPUTER AIDED THERMAL ANALYSIS OF AEROBRIDGE INTERIORS AT THE CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The city of Chennai (13.08° N, 80.27° E) is a leading centre for trade and travel in India. As of the year 2010, Chennai’s Anna International Airport handled annual international passenger traffic of about 4 million and the airport handled about 87 aircraft movements a day. The handling of this high amount of passenger traffic and providing them with proper comfort and satisfaction is a challenging task for the Airport Authority of India. As a part of their services, ten aerobridges have been provided at the Chennai International Airport, allowing passengers to board and disembark comfortably without stepping outside into the natural environment. Further, the aerobridge structure also provides them with additional protection from the sun and rain. In this study we have performed some detailed thermal analyses on the enclosed environment of the aerobridge provided at Anna international airport, Chennai. The study sought to identify the shortcomings in the present structure and configuration of the aerobridges. Also, methods to improve this important feature of the airport service are suggested, which would consequently help to improve the travelling comfort of the passengers. A PT Bukaka Teknik Utama aerobridge model was modelled in Catia™ V5R17 software. Various building energy simulations and analyses such as spatial comfort analysis, HVAC analysis and other related thermal analyses of the aerobridges interiors were performed with the help of Autodesk Ecotect™ Analysis 2011 software. The study concluded that the passengers would feel uncomfortable while walking through the present structures of the aerobridges. Various improvements in existing aerobridges structures are suggested to improve the comfort and satisfaction of the passenger using them. The model results of aerobridges draped with Eco-walls yields us some promising results. The temperature of the interiors of the aerobridge was reduced by almost 2°C. The Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning loads were reduced by about 60-65% of the original loads required for the current Aerobridges.