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Building Services Engineering 5th Edition Handbook

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156 Ventilation and air conditioning<br />

Air-cooled condenser<br />

B<br />

Evaporator C<br />

Boiler A<br />

Refrigerator cabinet<br />

Gas burner<br />

Absorber D<br />

5.20 Gas-fired domestic absorption refrigeration system.<br />

Ventilation rate measurement<br />

Measurement of room ventilation rate may be required for research into the energy consumption<br />

of heated buildings or to carry out commissioning tests on warm-air heating, ventilation or<br />

air-conditioning systems. Three basic methods are available.<br />

Smoke<br />

Provided that smoke detectors and alarms are deactivated and suitable warning is given, the room<br />

can be filled with smoke and the ventilation system switched on. The time to clear the smoke<br />

is used to calculate the air change rate and volume flow rate. Smoke candles or an oil-burning<br />

generator are used.<br />

Anemometer<br />

The air velocity through each ventilation grille and any obvious gaps around doors and windows<br />

is measured using a suitable anemometer: a rotating vane for large grilles, and a thermistor,<br />

mini-vane or pitot-static tube for small airways. The air flow rates into and out of the room are<br />

calculated from the airway areas and the average air velocities through them.<br />

Tracer gas<br />

A non-toxic tracer gas (nitrous oxide or helium) is released into the room and thoroughly mixed<br />

with portable fans to fill the complete volume. Samples of room air are taken at intervals<br />

and passed through an analyser, which measures the concentration of tracer gas. The room<br />

air change rate is calculated from two known concentrations and the time interval between<br />

them. This technique can be used for naturally ventilated buildings and produces accurate<br />

results.<br />

The katharometer measures air electrical conductivity and gives an output of percentage concentration<br />

of tracer in air. An infrared analyser uses a source of infrared radiation and passes it<br />

down two tubes to receiving photocells. One tube contains a reference gas and the other the<br />

sample of room air. The different gases absorb different amounts of radiation, and the variation<br />

in the signals from the photocells is calibrated as the percentage of tracer gas in the air.

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