A Static Pressure Reset Control System with a New Type of Flow Damper for Use in Low Pressure Ventilation Systems

The control strategy for mechanical ventilation systems has significant impact on the performance of the system, in terms of energy consumption and correct air distribution. This paper presents a static pressure reset control system employing a new type of flow damper with lower pressure loss for use in low pressure ventilation systems. The flow damper has a droplet shape that minimizes turbulence generation and the resulting pressure loss. The performance of the damper was examined by making measurements of pressure loss and airflow. These were used to determine the required pressure loss for operation and the airflow accuracy. Results were compared to similar tests carried out with conventional flat plate dampers. A static pressure reset control algorithm was programmed and analyzed on a test system consisting of three dampers, representing three office rooms. The comparison of the dampers shows that the droplet shaped damper resulted in an airflow of 234 L/s at 30 Pa pressure loss, more than twice the airflow past a flat-plate damper at the same pressure loss (114 L/s). Also the droplet shaped damper could operate precisely down to 5 Pa pressure loss. The programmed control algorithm ensured that one damper was always fully opened, based on the flow demand to the zone, and that this reduces the static pressure loss under partial load by up to 53%. However, as the maximum static pressure during the tests was 15 Pa, the reduction was only 8 Pa, so it was not possible to document any significant fan power saving compared to a fixed static pressure control. A maximum static pressure of 15 Pa is a reduction of more than 50% compared to flat-plate dampers that required at least 30 Pa to operate precisely; this is expected to yield fan energy savings in practice.