Airtightness measurement of an outdoor chamber using the Pulse and blower door methods under various wind and leakage scenarios

Zheng, Xiaofeng; Mazzon, Joe; Wallis, Ian; Wood, Christopher J.

Abstract

As a continued investigation following the previous testing of a house-sized chamber in a sheltered environment, this paper introduces an experimental study of airtightness measurement of an outdoor chamber using both the novel Pulse technique and the steady pressurisation method. The chamber has dimensions of approximately half that of a standard 20ft long shipping container. The chamber’s envelope was modified with multiple openings to provide a leakage level similar to that of an average UK house. Two sets of experimental tests were carried out independently at different times to investigate: a) How both methods compare on measuring the airtightness of an outdoor chamber at various leakage levels; and b) How the steady wind at various wind speed may affect the Pulse measurement of the chamber airtightness. Results show that the air permeability at 4 Pa measured by both methods has a percentage difference less than 16% in most testing scenarios, which is a slightly larger discrepancy than that found in the sheltered environment study. In steady wind tests, artificial wind at various speed levels was introduced in the Pulse tests by utilising a multi-gear portable trailer fan. Initial findings have shown that the impact of steady wind on the Pulse test is mostly insignificant when it is under 3.5 m/s. However, high wind speeds (4 m/s-9.5 m/s) decrease the value of air permeability at 4 Pa by 16%-24% in comparison to that measured under the fan-off condition in the steady wind tests.

Citation

Zheng, X., Mazzon, J., Wallis, I., & Wood, C. J. (2020). Airtightness measurement of an outdoor chamber using the Pulse and blower door methods under various wind and leakage scenarios. Building and Environment, 179, Article 106950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106950

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 5, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 24, 2020
• Publication Date: Jun 15, 2020
• Deposit Date: May 5, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 25, 2021
• Journal: Building and Environment
• Print ISSN: 0360-1323
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 179
• Article Number: 106950
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106950
• Keywords: Geography, Planning and Development; Environmental Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Building and Construction
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4383659
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Airtightness measurement of an outdoor chamber using the Pulse and blower door methods under various wind and leakage scenarios; Journal Title: Building and Environment; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106950; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.