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

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/809884· OSTI ID:809884

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.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Building Technologies Program (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
809884
Report Number(s):
LBNL-49747; R&D Project: 474401; B& R EC0903000; TRN: US200308%%292
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Dec 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Measured Performance of Over the Range Microwave Range Hoods
Technical Report · Sun Aug 30 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · OSTI ID:809884

Documenting air movements and infiltration in multicell buildings using various tracer-gas techniques
Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · ASHRAE Trans.; (United States) · OSTI ID:809884

A multitracer system for multizone ventilation measurement
Journal Article · Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Review of Scientific Instruments; (USA) · OSTI ID:809884