Top down natural ventilation systems, usually referred to as ‘windcatchers’, have been used recently in modern non-domestic buildings in the UK. These systems combine inlet and outlet into a single roof mounted terminal, which is split into sections. Literature exists on theoretical, scale modelling and wind tunnel tests to evaluate the performance of the systems; however there is a scarcity of performance in-use tests. This paper presents the results of air exchange rate tests using the tracer gas decay method carried out in three operational buildings with windcatchers.
In a test cell equipped with an operating table, a medical lamp and a manikin representing the surgeon, air velocity and tracer-gas concentration were automatically measured at more than 700 points. Numerical simulations were performed too for analyzing air quality in operating rooms. The results showed that the distribution of the contaminants depends strongly on the presence of obstacles like medical equipment and staff.
Tracer gas sorption in and permeation through building materials influence tracer gas ventilation measurements. The permeation of the commonly used tracer SF6 through three different building materials (gypsum board, wood particle board and MDF-board) with and without paint has been experimentally investigated. The results show that the tracer diffuse through untreated boards and that gypsum board has the largest permeability towards SF6. However, the diffusion rate of tracer is effectively reduced when the boards are coated with two layers of latex paint.
Tracer gas measurements are commonly used to estimate the fresh air exchange rate in a room or building. Published tracer decay methods account for fresh air supply, infiltration, and leaks in ductwork. However, the time delay associated with a ventilation system recirculating tracer back to the room also affects the decay rate. We present an analytical study of tracer gas decay in a well-mixed, mechanically-ventilated room with recirculation.
Airflow measurements techniques are necessary to determine the most basic of inddoor air quality questions : "Is there enough fresh air to provide a healthy environment for the occupants of the building?" . This publication outlines airflow measurement techniques, but it does not make recommendations for techniques that should be used. The airflows that are discussed are those within a room or zone, those between or zones, such as through doorways (open or closed) or passive vents, those between the building and outdoors, and those through mechanical air distribution systems.
This paper deals with measurement of the capture efficiency of REEXS (Reinforced Exhaust System). For the experiment a local exhaust hood was designed with the possibility of working either as a traditional circular exhaust hood or as a REEXS. Experimental measurements were done both for the traditional hood and the REEXS, with the same exhaust flow rate. The results were then compared.The results proved that the main weaknesses of the traditional local exhaust hood can be improved by using REEXS hood.
It is well known that the introduction of tracer gas techniques to ventilation studies has provided much useful information that used to be unattainable from conventional measuring techniques. Data acquisition systems (DASs) containing analog-to-digital (ND) converters are usually used to perform the key role which is reading and saving signals to storage in digital format. In the measuring process, there are a number of components in the measuring equipment which may produce system-based noise fluctuations to the final result.
In the IEA-ECBCS Annex 23 'Multizone Air Flow Modelling,' a sensitivity analysis procedure, that included both the Monte Carlo and Fractional Factorial analyses, was defined to evaluate COMVEN, a multizone air flow code. This procedure is here applied to evaluate COMVEN, when the simulation of the ventilation of a detached house is performed for the case of ventilation driven mainly by stack effect.
The research described in this paper is part of a project aimed at improving energy costs and the indoor environment of atrium buildings. Tracer gas techniques were used to assess the ventilation performance in terms of air distribution and contaminant migration patterns and to measure the air infiltration rate of a three-storey atrium. This atrium serves as an entrance to a large office-laboratory complex.
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