Experimental Investigation on Local Air Age and Air Distribution of Stratum Ventilation

Because of the multiple problems on high energy consumption and unbalanced thermal comfort caused by the traditional ventilation system,a new concept of ventilation-stratum ventilation has been proposed,which sends the fresh air to the breathing zone directly.In this paper,the local air distributions of the displacement ventilation and the stratum ventilation in a model office were measured.The air ages in the breathing zone for the displacement ventilation and stratum ventilation were compared with the tracer gas concentration decay method.The decay curves of tracer gas concentration for these two ventilation systems in the breathing zone were obtained,and the air ages were calculated.The experimental results show that the stratum ventilation system can offer lower air age for four mechanically ventilated cases in the breathing zone,and it can also provide better thermal comfort,which renews the air of breathing zone more quickly and reduces the energy consumption in some degree.The experimental investigation provides a theoretical basis for the application of stratum ventilation system.

Adaptive Wall-Based Attachment Ventilation:A Comparative Study on Its Effectiveness in Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms with Negative Pressure

The transmission of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)has presented challenges for the control of the indoor environment of isolation wards.Scientific air distribution design and operation management are crucial to ensure the environmental safety of medical staff.This paper proposes the application of adaptive wall-based attachment ventilation and evaluates this air supply mode based on contaminants dispersion,removal efficiency,thermal comfort,and operating expense.Adaptive wall-based attachment ventilation provides a direct supply of fresh air to the occupied zone.In comparison with a ceiling air supply or upper sidewall air supply,adaptive wall-based attachment ventilation results in a 15%–47%lower average concentration of contaminants,for a continual release of contaminants at the same air changes per hour(ACH;10 h^(-1)).The contaminant removal efficiency of complete mixing ventilation cannot exceed 1.For adaptive wall-based attachment ventilation,the contaminant removal efficiency is an exponential function of the ACH.Compared with the ceiling air supply mode or upper sidewall air supply mode,adaptive wall-based attachment ventilation achieves a similar thermal comfort level(predicted mean vote(PMV)of0.1–0.4;draught rate of 2.5%–6.7%)and a similar performance in removing contaminants,but has a lower ACH and uses less energy.

Numerical simulation study of gob air leakage field and gas migration regularity in downlink ventilation

Aiming at the issue that mass of gas emission from mining gob and the gas exceeded in working face, gob air leakage field and gas migration regularity in downlink ventilation was studied. In consideration of the influence of natural wind pressure to analyze the stope face differential pressure, gob air leakage field distribution and gas migration regularity theoretically. Established a two-dimensional physical model with one source and one doab, and applied computational fluid dynamics analysis software Fluent to do numerical simulation, analyzed and contrasted to the areas of gob air leakage on size and gas emission from gob to working face on strength when using the downlink ventilation and uplink ventilation. When applied downward ventilation in stope face, the air leakage field of gob nearly working face, and the air leakage intensity were smaller than uplink, this can effectively reduce the gas emission from gob to working face; when used downlink ventilation, the air leakage airflow carry the lower amount of gas to doab than uplink ventilation, and more easily to mix the gas, reduced the possibility of gas accumulation in upper comer and the stratified flows, it can provide protection to mine with safe and effective production.

Hydro-mechanical response with respect to the air ventilation for water filtration in homogeneous soil

When water penetrates into soil,interstitial air can become trapped by the infiltrating water.Neglecting the effect of air ventilation could cause deviations in the predicted pore water pressure and the associated effective stress.This study aims at the effect of air ventilation on the coupled hydro-mechanical responses in homogeneous soil during infiltration.A schematic concept of infiltration conditions(open-and closed-valve)in homogeneous soil is proposed for investigating their impacts on the pore water pressure and effective stress.Experiments of vertical soil column filled with Ottawa sand(ASTM C77820/30)were designed for two types of air ventilation(namely,open and closed infiltration).The evolution of pore water pressure at the cylinder bottom was recorded,and served as a benchmark problem for evaluating the coupled hydro-mechanical response.Coding with the commercial software,GeoStudio,was employed for the dynamic behaviors of pore-water and-air pressures as well as the evolving effective stress.It was found in both the experiments and numerical investigations that the infiltration condition plays a crucial role for the ascending rate of pore water pressure as well as the associated effective stress.These results illustrate the inevitable impacts of the air ventilation conditions on the mechanical properties of the soil during infiltration.

Practical Mitigation Strategies for Countering the Spread of Aerosolized COVID-19 Virus (SARS-CoV-2) Using Ventilation and HEPA Air Purifiers: A Literature Review

This paper assesses, through an extensive literature review, the use of ventilation and High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) purifiers as practical mitigation strategies for reducing the spread of aerosolized COVID-191 virus. HEPA is a well-defined standard by the U.S. Department of Energy for filters. The focus of the literature review was on indoor air quality (IAQ) and COVID-19, with a particular emphasis on classroom settings. The start of the review, January 2020, was chosen to coincide with the first cases of COVID-19 in North America. Although children under the age of 12 are currently not yet vaccinated, there is mounting pressure for a return to normal by the start of the new school year, 2021. Also, many classrooms lack pre-installed mechanical ventilation systems (Olsiewski et al., 2021);therefore, mitigation in classrooms often falls solely in the hands of teachers and students. Research shows that ventilation and air purification are essential tools to counter aerosolized transmission (<5 μm) of the COVID-19 virus. According to Curtius et al. (2020), the inhaled dose of particles containing virus RNA is six times lower when using air purifiers with an ACH (air changes per hour) of 5.7. However, ventilation and air purifiers are not replacements for masks, which remain vital for countering droplet (>5 μm) transmission. In addition, occupancy (i.e., number and proximity of people present in a given area) and group activity levels (e.g., talking, shouting, singing) play a critical role in viral transmission. Although natural ventilation by opening windows can be an essential strategy to help counter the spread of the virus, the level of ventilation offered by opening windows is largely uncontrollable as it is subject to weather conditions and building design. One must also consider the energy implications (i.e., loss of heat) that this strategy carries. Scientific evidence shows that varying levels of continuous and/or intermittent ventilation, either mechanical or natural, combined with the use of HEPA air purifiers, can provide a higher degree of protection than window access alone (Curtius et al., 2020). Systematic deployment of a hybrid mitigation strategy incorporating both ventilation and HEPA air purification in schools, offices, or other facilities offers a practical way to establish a safe re-opening of society in Canada.

Air renewal times and ventilation rate calculations for underground workings using radioactive measurement

Potential alpha emitters are of prime concern to the ventilation engineer due to their rapid concentration increasing once radon released in the mine atmosphere, causing tissue irradiation and lung cancer.Studying of the time based variations of the natural ventilation in tunnels and their relationship to the external parameters contribute to the air circulation assessment. Due to the continuous and high fluctuation of the meteorological conditions affecting the air circulation and intensity through the underground workings, there is a difficulty in the natural ventilation assessment by only the ordinary meteorological measurements. So, in this paper, the possibility of using the radioactive measurements, allowing for the air aging and ventilation quality to be qualified, is investigated through three different underground structures. Referring to the most confined structure of them, results show that one structure has a better exchange rate by a factor 1.8 and the other has the best rate by a factor 2.1. This parameter can be linked to the operating costs and size of a future ventilation system.

Ventilation of air-conditioned residential buildings: A case study in Hong Kong

More and more studies reported that there were insufficient ventilation and excessive CO_2 concentration in air-conditioned residential buildings, but few solutions were provided. This study investigates the overnight evolution of CO_2 concentration in air-conditioned residential buildings and then focuses mainly on the evaluation of three ventilation strategies, including overnight natural ventilation, short-term mechanical ventilation and short-term natural ventilation. On-site measurements were conducted in a typical residential bedroom in Hong Kong in September. The indoor and outdoor CO_2 concentration, air temperature and relative humidity as well as the outdoor wind speed during the measurements were analysed. Ventilation rates were calculated based on the time series of CO_2 concentration. This study confirms that additional ventilation is usually needed in air-conditioned residential buildings. Overnight natural ventilation with even a small opening is associated with excessive energy consumption and deteriorated indoor thermal environment. Short-term natural ventilation strategies are inefficient and uncontrollable. Compared to the best short-term natural ventilation strategy, a reasonably designed short-term mechanical ventilation strategy requires only a 41% of ventilation period to complete one full replacement of indoor air and to reach a lower indoor CO_2 concentration. Nighttime case studies and a theoretical analysis suggest that a few several-minute mechanical ventilation periods could potentially maintain an acceptable indoor air quality for a normal sleeping period of 8 h.

Study on Model of Indoor Air Pollution Forecast for Decoration Under Natural Ventilation Condition

To establish the model of indoor air pollution forecast for decoration. Methods The model was based on the balance model for diffusing mass. Results The data between testing concentration and estimating concentration were compared. The maximal error was less than 30% and average error was 14.6%. Conclusion The model can easily predict whether the pollution for decoration exceeds the standard and how long the room is decorated.

Numerical simulation and analysis for indoor air quality in different ventilation

Indoor air environment includes indoor thermal environment and air quality, and a reasonable ventilation provides guarantee for a good indoor environment. A numerical study of the indoor environment in different ventilation is presented in this paper. The External Energy Saving Lab of the WenYuan Building was selected for this purpose, and its indoor air quality and thermal performance in the typical summer climate were simulated. For the numerical simulation, the techniques of Fluent Air-pak was adopted to establish the physical and numerical model of lab. A attention is given to the velocity field and the distribution of pollutant concentration, followed by a discussion of two ventilation modes (displacement ventilation and up-in and up-out ventilation). By comparison, it is found that the Displacement ventilation in improving indoor air quality is obviously superior to the traditional up-in and up-out ventilation.

Prediction Analysis on the Transport Distance of Supply Air in Warm Air Heating Room with Impinging Jet Ventilation Systems

To overcome the disadvantages of displacement ventilation( DV) and traditional mixing ventilation( MV) system,a new ventilation system known as impinging jet ventilation system( IJVS)has been developing. The warm air can be supplied with impinging jet ventilation( IJV), while the DV is only used for cooling.However,the flow and temperature field of IJV under heating scenario has had few references. The paper is mainly focused on computational fluid dynamics( CFD) and developing an adequate correlation between the distance L that warm air can reach and different parameters in the warm IJVS by using response surface methodology( RSM). The results indicate that L decreases as the supply velocity υ decreases but increases as the supply temperature difference ΔT or the discharge height h decreases. In the variable air volume( VAV) system, it is necessary to determine supply parameters both under the maximum-heat-load condition and the small-heat-load condition. Unlike the VAV system,the constant air volume( CAV) system has no need to study the small-heat-load condition. Draught discomfort near the nozzle becomes the issue of concern in IJVS, thus the suitable discharge height is of great importance in design and can be calculated based on the predictive model.

Ventilation of indoor formaldehyde and estimation of its emission and air exchange rate

Residents living in the cold areas such as Harbin generally experience a residence time of approximately 6 months in chilly winter without frequent natural ventilation. To find out the influence of a short period of ventilation on the indoor formaldehyde concentration inside a new building, an investigation was conducted for the instance of twice ventilation in a day through window opening. The results showed that the initial concentration of formaldehyde was 3.53 -8. 48 times as high as the concentration after 10 min ventilation. After closing the window, the indoor formaldehyde concentration increased with time and followed an exponential equation of C = C0 exp（ - b ＊ t） ＋ （ a ＋ Cu, ） [ 1 - exp（ - b ＊ t） ] with correlation coefficient （ R^2 ） of 0. 945 - 0. 999, based on the statistical analysis of 14 groups of measurement data. The developed equation can be used to estimate the emission rate of indoor formaldehyde sources and the air exchange rate of the test room simultaneously.

Use of Ventilation-Index in the Development of Exposure Model for Indoor Air Pollution—A Review

In indoor environment, emission factor of the cooking fuel plays a vital role in determining correlation between exposure assessment and health effects. Both indoor and outdoor air pollution exposures are widely influenced by the ventilation status. An optimum control of the air change rate has also significant impact on the exposure pattern. A number of studies revealed that the indoor particulates and gaseous exposures, resulting from the combustion of various cooking fuels, are associated with significant adverse health effects on pregnant mothers and new born babies. The impacts of ventilation status on air pollution exposure in households’ kitchens or living rooms have not been explored enough. Except a few studies with concrete rooms, especially in industries, no other studies have been established on the correlation between the ventilation index and air pollution exposure. The intent of this review is to discuss reported findings focused on the ventilation and exposure to air pollution. This will obviously help better understanding to modulate exposure profile in household condition using simple tool of ventilation measurement.

Natural Ventilation by Air Captors and Extractors Sheds in Hospitals in Brazil： Wind Tunnel Measurements

Natural ventilation is an efficient design strategy for the passive cooling of buildings, especially in tropical countries such as Brazil. Among the ventilation strategies, sheds can be highlighted. These structures consist of roof openings that work as air captors or extractors depending on their location in relation to the prevailing wind directions. The hospitals of the Sarah Network, designed by the Brazilian architect Joao Filgueiras Lima, Lele, are worldwide known for using these elements to improve natural ventilation. This paper analyses the natural ventilation performance of sheds for air collecting and extracting in two Sarah hospitals located in the cities of Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. In each building, the sheds were analyzed for air extracting and collecting. The analyses were carried out by reduced physical models in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel. The wind velocity was measured at external and internal points of the buildings, using hot-wire anemometers. The results show that the wards in Rio de Janeiro hospital are 17% more ventilated than the ones in the Salvador hospital. However, this difference occurs not only because of the collecting sheds but also because of set of openings and the configuration of the covering in hospitals in Rio de Janeiro.

Role of Atmospheric Boundary Layer(ABL)Height and Ventilation Coefficient on Urban Air Quality--A study based on Observations and NWP Model

Air pollution is an issue of great concern in any urban region due to its serious health implications.The capital of India,New Delhi continues to be in the list of most polluted cities since 2014.The air quality of any region depends on the ability of dispersion of air pollutants.The height or depth of the atmospheric boundary layer(ABL)is one measure of dispersion of air pollutants.Ventilation coefficient is another crucial parameter in determining the air quality of any region.Both of these parameters are obtained over Delhi from the operational global numerical weather prediction(NWP)model of National Centre for Medium Range Weather forecasting(NCMRWF)known as NCMRWF Unified Model(NCUM).The height of ABL over Delhi,is also obtained from radiosonde observations using the parcel method.A good agreement is found between the observed and predicted values of ABL height.The maximum height of ABL is obtained during summer season and minimum is obtained in winter season.High values of air pollutants are found when the values of ABL height and ventilation coefficient are low.

Air Flow Prediction and Evaluation of Ventilation Effectiveness with Different Zonal Configurations

This paper proposes a numerical method for the study of ventilation efficiency in buildings. The developed model is validated with the experimental results of Nielsen who tested the isothermal flow in a scaled model of a ventilated room. A zonal method is used to predict airflow patterns in the same ventilated room. The different equations governing the flow in the room were coded in Matlab for different operating conditions, different zonal configurations of the room and different number of cells （control volumes）. The efficiency of the ventilation was determined by calculating the number of ACH （air changes per hour） for each cell. The present results show the importance of the inlet air flow rate, the space resolution and the jet inlet dimensions on the determination of air quality.

Increasing Ventilation by Passive Strategies: Analysis of Indoor Air Circulation Changes through the Utilization of Microclimate Elements

A demand for renewable alternatives that would be able to deal with the problems related to well-being is directly linked to the world’s growing needs to save energy and reduce environmental costs. For a project implementation addressing these issues, it is essential to know the climatic conditions of the target area. Taking natural ventilation, climatic factors, and renewable alternatives as important sources of comfort, in this work, passive strategies, through the utilization of microclimate elements as well as the location of outside obstacles, were imposed on an initial and specific project. The objective was to introduce obstacles which could interfere in the field of external wind and evaluate whether this outside intervention is able to make changes in indoor air circulation. The wind fields for the studied cases were obtained by computational simulations, and their consequences were analyzed to attain thermal comfort. The method adopted to obtain the wind fields was a Petrov-Galerkin type method, which is a stabilized mixed finite element method of the Navier-Stokes equations considering the incompressibility and formulated in primitive variables, velocity and pressure. The obtained results point to the solutions that promote the increase or decrease of the wind-field intensity.

Experimental study on indoor environment improvement in toll booth by personalized ventilation technology

The necessity and feasibility of the use of the personalized ventilation（PV）technology in a toll booth is described.First,the indoor environment of the toll booth equipped with a PV system is analyzed.Based on the analysis results,a set of equipment for controlling the indoor air quality（IAQ）of the toll booth is devised.Then,a full-scale model of the toll booth is set up in the laboratory.The airflow organization,the optimum operation parameters,and the restraint effects of the PV system on pollution are also experimentally studied.The experimental results on the air supply characteristics show that the PV system can effectively reduce the air age,improve the ventilation efficiency,and enhance the comfort and acceptability of human beings.In addition,this system plays a significant role in preventing pollution.

Application of ventilation management programs for improved mine safety

The purpose of ventilation management systems is to ensure the health and safety of underground workers by creating and incorporating structured plans, procedures and processes on the day-to-day operations of the mine ventilation system. The application of ventilation management programs consists of audit, verification, and corrective action procedures to:(1) ensure adherence to regulatory standards,or to(2) return to compliance and safety standards when an upset condition arises. This paper describes how a ventilation management program can be developed and implemented to ensure regulation compliance, to increase safety, to improve operational efficiency and to reduce the operating costs of an operating mine. Two case applications are presented in this paper. The first case is presented to demonstrate use of a ventilation management program in response to a site inspection and audit, with follow-up application of corrective actions. The second case application describes how air quality conditions has been substantially improved with the development and implementation of a ventilation management program for an operating underground hard rock mine.

Numerical Analysis on Ventilating and Air Conditioning Scheme of Shenyang Subway Station

Different cities have different climate conditions and outdoor temperature and humidity, so the scheme of an environment control in subway should be analyzed by considering objective conditions, project cost and operating status. In this paper, a physical and mathematical model is built according to the design of Shenyang subway (line 1), the boundary conditions of the model are defined by the design and experiments, the numerical analysis of ventilating scheme and air conditioning scheme is introduced individually, and the temperature field and air flow field of the two schemes are compared, so that the feasibility of using a ventilating scheme in subway of northeast cities is discussed. Considering comfort and economy, it can be concluded that mechanical ventilation is feasible in subway of northeast cities because the air temperature there is not very high in summer.

Alternate solutions for mine ventilation network to keep a preassigned fixed quantity in a working place

In underground constructions, a good ventilation design not only delivers fresh air to establish good working environment, but also provides a scientific and reliable basis to prevent disasters. In emergency cases, unexpected closure of the main airways may occur, providing the workers with alternative airways is substantial. This is important not only to sustain personnel lives, but also to prevent the mine ventilation system from damage. In this research, alternate solutions were introduced in case of failure in the underground construction to keep a pre-assigned fixed quantity in a working place for mine ventilation network. Eight different collapse scenarios were proposed to study their effect on the air quantity distribution among the branches in the ventilation circuit. From these scenarios, it is found that providing a sufficient air quantity in the working places could be achieved through modification of the network topology and adjusting the values of the regulators pressure. It is also indicated that the distance between the collapse and working places has a great effect on the amount of air delivered to it. A reduction in the power consumption could be done by re-arrange the installed regulators and decreasing the number of nodes and branches inside the network. A relationship representing the effect of changing the network topology on the total network power consumption was deduced through regression analysis. It is found that the total network power is quadratic dependent on the number of regulators and number of branches while it is directly dependent on the regulator power.