Natural smoke filling in atrium with liquid pool fires up to 1.6 MW.

Experimental studies on natural smoke filling in an atrium induced by a liquid pool fire up to 1.6 MW were carried out. The new full-scale burning facility, the PolyU/USTC Atrium constructed at Hefei in China, was used. Five sets of hot smoke tests with diesel pool fires of 2 x 2 m placed on the floor were carried out. All openings were closed, except leaving a small vertical vent of 0.2 m high for supplying fresh air. Transient variations on the mass of the burning fuel, the vertical temperature distributions and the smoke layer interface heights were measured.

CFD based airflow modelling to investigate the effectiveness of control methods intended to prevent the transmission of airborne organisms.

The airborne transmission of disease is a constant threat and while diseases such as Tuberculosis were considered all but extinct in the western world, the resurgence of it demonstrates that the spread of these diseases has to be taken very seriously. This paper describes the method of application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), more appropriately called Airflow Modelling for the Building Services Industry, to the airflow and heat transfer in a Hospital Isolation Room Application.

Nitrous oxide pollution: a geostatistical method to assess spatial distribution of anaesthetic gases and hospital staff exposure.

In this study we evaluated the diffusion of nitrous oxide in a few operating rooms, using spatial data modelling techniques, in order to assess hospital staff exposure and to promote risk management. Indoor air sampling was carried out, during routine operating activity, by means of transportable infrared spectrometer, with geostatistical techniques. We detected high average concentrations of nitrous oxide (from 8 ppm to 445 ppm, with a peak of 1345 ppm).

The role of simplified ventilation modeling for the application of low energy design: a library case study.

This paper discusses how simplified thermal and ventilation tools could be used during thefeasibility study of buildings to demonstrate the advantages of natural and low energyventilation strategies. The paper focuses on local authority library buildings in South-EastEngland and two simplified tools were used; one using a dynamic thermal simulation andventilation method and another based on the admittance method. The prediction of both toolswere compared with measured temperatures from an existing library that has a knownoverheating problem.

Modeling contaminant exposure and indoor air quality in a single-family house.

In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a variety of mixing models is used to evaluate the indoor air quality in a small single-family house. CO2, CO, NO2, formaldehyde (HCHO), and vapor are tracked throughout the house to determine the concentration levels, occupational dosing, and personal exposure for a family of two adults and two children. Variations in metabolic activity, smoking, gas stove cooking, and showering make exposure very dependent on the individual's location in the house due to pollutant migration.

Environmental comfort models for individual occupants.

Conventional models of building occupants' environmental preferences such as thermal comfort are used to give guidelines for the average environmental conditions that will satisfy large groups of people. The research described in this paper investigates how the preferences of an individual occupant can be modeled to predict their preferred thermal and environmental conditions. A novel, Internet based questionnaire was developed to gather thermal sensation votes.

Physical model of an air conditioned room (space) for control analysis.

This paper describes a procedure for deriving a dynamic model of an air-conditioned room (space) by applying physical laws to it. The room under control is divided into five zones. The dynamics of each zone can be described by a lumped-capacity model, and a total of I 5 linear differential equations can be obtained. The model parameters derived from this procedure can be numerically related to the overall heat transfer coefficients for the room, and the various significant time constants associated with the room envelope.

Air flow characteristics through modulated louvered windows.

This study investigated the pressure flow characteristics over a number of fullscale modulated louvered windows (MLW). The various MLW parameters included louver inclination angle (8), depth (L), aperture (d) and the ratio of aperture/depth (d/L%). Airflow models were developed using both power law and quadratic model equations. By examining the coefficient of determination (r2) for both model equations, it was evident that the quadratic model equation suggested the best curves fit.

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