The effectiveness of a ventilation system in terms of the age of air and its ability to remove contaminants will be significantly affected if part of the exhaust air is recirculated. In this paper the consequences of recirculation of air in mechanical ventilation systems on ventilation effectiveness parameters is examined. Two alternative methods of establishing ventilation effectiveness parameters relating to air change efficiency and contaminant removal effectiveness when recirculation of air is present are presented.
A high resolution particle-imaging velocimetry has been developed and applied to study full-scale room air flows. The system is designed to study local field quantities in occupied zones (microclimate), ventilation effectiveness, and airborne pollutant transport in the indoor environment. The system can be applied to evaluate indoor environment in typical commercial and residential settings. The technique and instrumentation have been applied successfully to study localized air flow patterns and particle concentration distribution in the indoor environment.
In order that sampling points may be strategically located, it is desirable to have knowledge of the spatial variation of ventilation eflectiveness parameters prior to measuring them using tracer gas sampling techniques. The research described in this paper is being carried out to establish a tracer gas sampling strategy as well as to facilitate the prediction of ventilation effectiveness parameters. The procedure developed requires the division of the internal space into a large number of cells and, by the application of CFD, the mass flow rates between adjacent cells to be established.
Office workers continue to complain about air quality problems, and a significant industry has developed to measure pollutants and environmental conditions such as temperatures and humidity. The effectiveness of the ventilation system is often ignored because it is a difficult measurement to carry out and interpret. The results contained in this paper make a start towards understanding the performance of mechanical ventilation in New Zealand office buildings.
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