Preliminary studies on a new method for assessing ventilation in large spaces.

States that it is difficult to achieve good mixing in a large space and that the usual methods to evaluate the ventilation system in such large spaces with the age of air measured by tracer gas is not often practicable. Proposes a new method to evaluate this ventilation, based on the normal step-down or decay method. A small control volume of tracer gas is used as opposed to filling the entire space. the local mean age of air is then measured in a study of the transient decay curve of the tracer gas concentration.

A comparative study of two tracer gases: SF6 and N2O.

This study compares the characteristics of two tracer gases - sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6), and nitrous oxide (N20) – whose densities are different from that of air (i.e. 5.11 and 1.53, respectively). The study is based on exclusively experimental work; and concerns the behaviour of the two gases with regard to their distribution and dispersion in an experimental cell, incorporating into the comparison method an index that is intended to characterise the ventilation of an enclosed space, namely ventilation etfectiveness,

Air intake contamination by building exhausts: tracer gas investigation of atmospheric dispersion models.

The reintroduction of toxic gases emitted from roof stacks can significantly affect the quality of the air inside a building. The determination of a safe distance between the sources of pollution and the fresh air intakes is based on a complex exercise that must take into account several wind, physical and topographical factors. Estimates of maximum concentrations as a function of downwind distance from a stack can be obtained using empirical models provided by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers [ASHRAE, 1997](1).

Air change rate measurement: the log/linear decay of tracer gas concentration with time.

A great deal of the literature on general ventilation expresses the adequacy of the volumetric flow rate of air in terms of the number of room air changes per hour. Although the concept of air change rate has very little relevance to the control of contaminants as it relates to the size of the room and not to the scale of the problem, the overall amount of air entering and leaving a workplace is of fundamental importance in assessing the quality of the working environment.

Study of the ventilation efficiency under some typical air flow conditions in a mechanically ventilated room.

The present study deals with indoor air quality and is mainly based on an experimental work. The experimental set up is a full scale test cell with a ventilation system which comprises a fixed air supply and a mobile extract. A source of pollutant continuously supplies tracer gas at the centre of the cell. We carried out 12 tests under steady state and with various conditions. The test parameters were the exhaust location, the fresh air now rate and the supply air temperature.

Comparison of experimental and numerical test results of the airflow in a room with displacement ventilation.

The paper presents a comparison between the results of experimental tests airflow pattern forming in a room with displacement ventilation and numerical calculation. The heat source in the room was a heating plate. Quasi-laminar diffusers supplied the air with the ventilation change rate from l to 7 h-1. Temperature and velocity distributions in the plume and in its surroundings as well as the tracer gas concentrations in the background were measured. The airflow in the room was also predicted by means of CFD, using the standard k-E turbulence model and standard log-law wall-functions.

Experimental and numerical prediction of indoor air quality.

This paper is based on a dual approach (experimental and numerical) in order to predict the indoor air quality for small ventilated enclosures. The experimental part employs a ventilated test room and a tracer gas technique (constant method as gas injection) to estimate the diffusion of a pollutant. The gas used is the sulphur hexafluoride (F6S). The numerical approach is a CFD simulation, adding a convection - diffusion equation (to determine the local mass fraction of the pollutant) to the equations normally used to solve a turbulent flow.

Pollutant dispersion simulated with tracer gas in a naturally ventilated test house.

The New Zealand Building Code has kept with tradition in allowing residential building ventilationdesigns based entirely on openable window areas. Working against this tradition, however, is a trend inNew Zealand towards more airtight construction and declining reliance on open windows. Contributingto this trend are changing patterns of occupancy with fewer people at home during the working week,along with developing concerns for personal security.

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