The International                        UPDATED 22nd May 2011
Journal of Ventilation
Published Quarterly www.ijovent.org.uk          Subscribe to Journal  Online 

June 2011 Edition of the IJV now Published  Call for Papers

IJV now included in the Science Citation Index

  Paper 5
Automatic Ventilation Control of Trickle Ventilators

I Ridley¹, M Davies¹, W Booth² , C Judd², T Oreszczyn¹, D Mumovic¹

¹Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London , UK
²Building Services Research and Information Association, Bracknell , UK

Abstract

The possible benefits of automatic ventilation control of trickle ventilators in dwellings are investigated.  Such ventilators could offer an improvement in performance over fixed ventilators, due to their ability to adjust to environmental conditions without occupant interaction, thus improving energy efficiency and providing adequate indoor air quality.  The theoretical performance of both pressure and humidity controlled ventilators are examined and simple equations are presented, calculating the opening area of a ventilator required to maintain a given air change rate as a function of pressure or moisture generation rate.  Field tests in a highly instrumented test house were carried out on 3 types of trickle ventilator: fixed, pressure controlled and relative humidity controlled.  A computer model of the performance of these types of trickle ventilators was developed, tested and then used to assess the performance of theoretical automatic ventilators, in terms of energy efficiency, moisture control and thermal comfort. The results of the simulations set out the potential for pressure ventilators to reduce the occurrence of over ventilation in dwellings, and for humidity controlled ventilators to reduce the incidence of excess humidity without significantly increasing ventilation heat loss.

Key words:  background ventilation, pressure control, relative humidity control, air infiltration, dwellings, indoor air quality, computer simulation, trickle ventilators, condensation, controlled ventilation.

References

BS EN 13829: (2001) “Thermal performance of buildings – Determination of air permeability of buildings – Fan pressurization method”.   BSI , UK

BS EN13141-1: (2004) “Ventilation for buildings – Performance testing of components/products for residential ventilation – Part 1: externally and internally mounted air transfer devices”: prEN 13141-1(e) CEN.  BSI , UK

Crawley DB, Lawrie LK, Pedersen CO, Strand R, Liesen RJ, Winkelmann FC, Buhl WF, Huang YJ, Erdem A, Fisher DE, Witte MJ, and Glazer J: (2001) “EnergyPlus: Creating a New-Generation Building Energy Simulation Program.” Energy and Buildings, 33, (4), April, pp319-331.

Judd C, Booth WB, Ridley I, Davies M, Mumovic D and Oreszczyn T: (2005) “Field trials of pressure and humidity controlled ventilators – Final Report”. BSRIA Ltd and Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London . Report 18346/1 2 CI 71/6/10 BD2423 (F4).

Karava P, Stathopolous T and Athienitis AK : (2003) “Investigation of the performance of trickle ventilators”, Building & Environment 38, pp981-993.

Ridley I, Fox J and Oreszczyn T: (2004) “Controllable background ventilation in dwellings – the equivalent opening area needed to achieve appropriate indoor air quality”. International Journal of Ventilation, 3 (2), pp147-154.

Ross D, Stephen R and Pierce J: (2003)  “Background ventilators for dwellings.” BRE Information Paper IP2/03, ISBN 186081610X, Building Research Establishment.

Contents

Paper 1

Indoor Air Quality in Fifty Residences in Athens : Santamouris, M., Argiroudis, K., Georgiou, M., Livada, I. , Doukas, P., Assimakopoulos, M.N., Sfakianaki, A., Pavlou,  K., Geros V. and Papaglastra, M.

Paper 2

Variable Air Volume-Flow Systems - A Possible Way to Reduce Energy Use in the Swedish Dairy Industry: Rohdin, P. and Moshfegh, B.  

Paper 3

Experimental Evaluation of Combined DCV and Economizer Cycle Using a FLC Variable Air Volume (VAV) System: Karunakaran, R., Parameshwaran, R., Iniyan, S. and Anand A. Samuel  

Paper 4

Effects of Nozzle Geometry on the Air Flow Jet and Temperature Distribution in an Enclosed Space: Khan, M.I.  

Paper 5

Automatic Ventilation Control of Trickle Ventilators: Ridley, I. , Davies, M., Booth, W., Judd, C., Oreszczyn, T. and Mumovic, D.  

Paper 6

Minimum Outdoor Air Supply for Radon in High Rise Residential Buildings - Natural Ventilation v Air-Conditioning Unit: Lam, K.S., Chan, E.H.W., Chan, D.W.T., Fung, W.Y., Law, K.C. and Tai, C.T.

Paper 7

Measurement and Prediction of Aerodynamic Stability of an Axial-Flow Ventilation Fan near the Stall Condition: Cao, R. and Hu, J.  

Paper 8

Natural and Mixed Ventilation Design via CFD and Architectural Modelling: Todorovic, M., Ecim, O., Marjanovic, A. and Randjelovic, I.