Experimental studies of a pulse pressurisation technique for measuring building airtightness

Zheng, Xiaofeng; Cooper, Edward; Zu, Yingqing; Gillott, Mark; Tetlow, David; Riffat, Saffa; Wood, Christopher

Abstract

A pulse pressurisation technique is developed and utilised for determining building leakage at low pressure, based on a 'quasi-steady pulse' concept. The underlying principle of the technique is to subject the building envelope to a known volume change in a short period of time (typically 1.5 s). The resulting pressure pulse is recorded, from which the leakage characteristic at low pressure is determined. The technique minimizes the effects of wind and buoyancy forces and has proven to be repeatable. It can employ a compact and portable test rig and does not need to penetrate the building envelope. Therefore, it can establish the leakage of a building very quickly and efficiently. Throughout the various stages of research and development of the pulse technique, experimental investigations have been carried out under different configurations and scenarios in order to validate the changes that have been made for the purpose of system development and optimisation. This paper provides an overview of experimental investigations in the validation process by covering comparison between blower door and pulse unit, comparison between piston-based pulse unit and nozzle-based pulse unit, testing with multiple pulse units in a large building, testing with a known opening, and testing in different building types with a range of volumes and airtightness levels. It enables us to understand the strengths and also the limits of the pulse technique, from the experimental and practical perspective.

Citation

Zheng, X., Cooper, E., Zu, Y., Gillott, M., Tetlow, D., Riffat, S., & Wood, C. (in press). Experimental studies of a pulse pressurisation technique for measuring building airtightness

• Conference Name: 17th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technology (SET 2018)
• Start Date: Aug 21, 2018
• End Date: Aug 23, 2018
• Acceptance Date: Aug 21, 2018
• Deposit Date: Nov 22, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2018
• Keywords: Building airtightness; Blower door; Pulse technique; Experimental validation
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1301795
• Related Public URLs: http://set2018.org/