skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Review of air flow measurement techniques

Abstract

Airflow measurement techniques are necessary to determine the most basic of indoor air quality questions: ''Is there enough fresh air to provide a healthy environment for the occupants of the building?'' This paper outlines airflow measurement techniques, but it does not make recommendations for techniques that should be used. The airflows that will be discussed are those within a room or zone, those between rooms or zones, such as through doorways (open or closed) or passive vents, those between the building and outdoors, and those through mechanical air distribution systems. Techniques that are highlighted include particle streak velocimetry, hot wire anemometry, fan pressurization (measuring flow at a given pressure), tracer gas, acoustic methods for leak size determination, the Delta Q test to determine duct leakage flows, and flow hood measurements. Because tracer gas techniques are widely used to measure airflow, this topic is broken down into sections as follows: decay, pulse injection, constant injection, constant concentration, passive sampling, and single and multiple gas measurements for multiple zones.

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Building Technologies Program (US)
OSTI Identifier:
809884
Report Number(s):
LBNL-49747
R&D Project: 474401; B& R EC0903000; TRN: US200308%%292
DOE Contract Number:  
AC03-76SF00098
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Dec 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; ACOUSTICS; AIR; AIR FLOW; AIR QUALITY; BLOWERS; DECAY; DISTRIBUTION; DUCTS; OCCUPANTS; PRESSURIZATION; RECOMMENDATIONS; SAMPLING

Citation Formats

McWilliams, Jennifer. Review of air flow measurement techniques. United States: N. p., 2002. Web. doi:10.2172/809884.
McWilliams, Jennifer. Review of air flow measurement techniques. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/809884
McWilliams, Jennifer. 2002. "Review of air flow measurement techniques". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/809884. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/809884.
@article{osti_809884,
title = {Review of air flow measurement techniques},
author = {McWilliams, Jennifer},
abstractNote = {Airflow measurement techniques are necessary to determine the most basic of indoor air quality questions: ''Is there enough fresh air to provide a healthy environment for the occupants of the building?'' This paper outlines airflow measurement techniques, but it does not make recommendations for techniques that should be used. The airflows that will be discussed are those within a room or zone, those between rooms or zones, such as through doorways (open or closed) or passive vents, those between the building and outdoors, and those through mechanical air distribution systems. Techniques that are highlighted include particle streak velocimetry, hot wire anemometry, fan pressurization (measuring flow at a given pressure), tracer gas, acoustic methods for leak size determination, the Delta Q test to determine duct leakage flows, and flow hood measurements. Because tracer gas techniques are widely used to measure airflow, this topic is broken down into sections as follows: decay, pulse injection, constant injection, constant concentration, passive sampling, and single and multiple gas measurements for multiple zones.},
doi = {10.2172/809884},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/809884}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2002},
month = {Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2002}
}