Objectives

Finish with tracer gas measurement

Blower door and duct bluster measurements

Tracer gas
and IAQ Applications
Quantification of outside air
Air distribution system efficiency
Air change Efficiency
Contaminant removal effectiveness

Leak detection House/chamber/duct/

Duct flow
Re-entrainment of exhaust air into ventilation
system
Simulate toxic pollutant distribution
Many other applications

A Good Tracer Gas?

Non-toxic
Environmental friendly
Colorless and odorless
Easily detectable
Inert
No other sources

Common Tracer Gases Used

Carbon Dioxide
Nitrous Oxide
Freon
Helium
Sulfur Hexafluoride

Application 1:Quantification of outside air

Volumetric Air Measurements

Standard Test
ASTM E741 - 00(2006)
Available by the UT library website

Test Method for Determining Air Change in

a Single Zone by Means of a
Tracer Gas Dilution

ASTM E741 Test Method

Different methods:
Concentration Decay (or concentration
increase)
Constant Injection

Concentration Decay Method

Inject predetermined volume of gas into room
Mix room air to get uniform concentration
Monitor gas concentration decay
Aim for 10 samples over measured time
Use reactor model to predict concentrations

Theoretical Basis
Space balance
VoldC/d = VCin-VCout+N
If Cin = constant & Vol/V = ACH

dC/(Cin-Cout) = ACH d
Integrate:
.

V
Cin

Cout

Source

ACH =1/{ln[Cin(=)- Cout)]- ln[Cin(=0)- Cout)]}

Concentration Decay Method

Air Change Rate:
In the case of zero inlet concentrate and
perfect mixing in the space
ACH =- (ln C2 - ln C1)/ (in hours)
C1 = Tracer Gas Concentration at start of test
C2 = Tracer Gas Concentration at end of test

Tracer gas result

[minutes]

Decay Test
Advantages
Dont need to release precise amount
Dont need to measure volume (if Cout = 0)

Disadvantages
Need to keep building well-mixed
Recontamination from buffer spaces
House needs to stay in one condition for
entire test

Single zone Example:

Coffee Houses

Lohaus and Waring (2006) ArE 381E Course Project

How do you estimate

uncertainty?
1. Use standard error of slope
2. Follow ASTM E741
ACH < 10%

Advanced Tracer Gas Testing

Multi-zone flows
Easiest Use several unique tracer gases
Harder Use flow and mass balances

Consider Two-Zone Building

(non-perfect mixing)
V4

V1

V3

V5

V6

V2
E

V1

V2

Tools
Mass balance on tracer gas
Mass (flow) balance on air
Measured concentrations in each space

vdA

Equations
dC1
Vol
V2Cout V6C2 E V3 V1 C1
1 dt
dC2
Vol
V4Cout V3C1 vd AC2 V6 V5 C2
2 dt

V1 V5 V2 V4

and V4 V5 V3 V6

mesure : C1 ( ), C2 ( )

How many unknowns? Equations?

Flow direction for interzonal flow
Air exchange rate for spaces
Sums of flows

Solution procedure
Reduce mass balance to one equation by solving
C2 equation for C1 and substituting into C1 equation
2nd order ODE
Same thing for C1 equation

6 unknown flows
Overall flow balance can be used to get two unknown
flows
Measured tracer gas concentrations can be used to
eliminate two more flows
Additional data needed for solvable system
We need to use multiple tracer gasses!
Or we need to measure flows with flow meters!

Example 2 Air distribution system efficiency

How well is outside supply air distributed to
breathing zones in occupied areas?
Air exchange efficiency
ASHRAE Standard 129 Measuring Air Change
Effectiveness
Uses Tracer Gas Techniques
Age-of-Air Measurements

Why Worry About Good Mixing?

Poor Mixing
Occupant complaints
ASHRAE Standard, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air
Quality
ASHRAE Standard is based on amounts of outside air
getting to breathing zone not to supply air louvers
Short circuiting airflow patterns
Where a significant portion of supply air flows directly to
the exhaust, bypassing the occupied portion (breathing
zone) of the ventilated space.

Air Exchange Effectiveness

The definition is based on a comparison of
the age of air in the occupied portions of
the building to the age of air that would
exist under conditions of perfect mixing of
the ventilation air.

Age of Air
The age of the air at a give location is the
average amount of time that has elapsed since
the air molecules at that location entered the
building.
Amount of time outside air has been in an area
Two Methods of determination
Step-up constant tracer gas injection
Tracer gas concentration decay

How to measure Age of Air?

Step down method:
Injection and mixing
Air in the room is marked with tracer gas (injection
and mixing)
Ventilation turned on

Age of Air Measurements

Locations of interest
In the exhaust (C)

Constant Injection

V = N / (Cout - Cin)

V
Cin
You need to get to steady state injection

Source

Cout

Constant Injection
Advantages
Can determine time-dependence of air
exchange rates

Disadvantages
Need to keep building well-mixed
Recontamination from buffer spaces
Need to have mass flow controller
Need to measure volume (for ACH())

How to measure Age of Air

and Air Exchange Effectiveness
Age of air at a location =

Average tracer gas level during test

Tracer gas level at beginning of test

Air change effectiveness (E)

E=

avg age of air Exhaust

avg age of air age of air in breathing zone

avg age of air =

E = < 1.0 (less than perfect mixing)

E = 1 (perfect mixing)

Significance of
Air Exchange Effectiveness
ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004 Ventilation
for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
- Outside air requirements = QA/E as E
decreases, OA should increase
US Green Building Council LEED Rating
requires an E > 0.9 in all ventilated zones

Tracer Gas Instrumentation

Tracers which we use

SF6 Gas analyzer
ppm with IR absorption or photo-acoustic IR
ppb with GC/ECD

CO2 Tracers gas analyzer ( CO2 sensor )

Infiltration/Leakage Measurements
(Calibrated Fans)

Flow going through fan is calibrated to

pressure rise across fan
If you measure pressure, than you know flow

Requires very smooth inlet and outlet

conditions
Often have to restrict flow to get measurable
pressure signal for low flows
Examples:
Blower door and Duct Blaster
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Fan Pressurization

1.
2.
3.
4.

In 1970s, smoke evacuation fans used

to find air leakage
Install blower door
Use fan to create artificial pressure
difference between inside and outside
Use smoke stick (or cigarette, etc.) to
visualize flow patterns.
Seal leaks

Quantitative Blower Door

How many points should you measure?

How can you estimate uncertainty?

http://www.energyconservatory.com/products/products1.htm#pd16

Test Data
1000 ft2 house, 10 ft high ceilings
Two-point test
1688 CFM at 51 Pa
1048 CFM at 24.5 Pa

What is ACH50 (50), C?

Answers
50= 1 ACH
C = 131.07 CFM/Pan
n = 0.65

Reporting blower door data

Flow (or air exchange rate) at a given
pressure
Equivalent Leakage Area

What are dimensions of c?

Comment
Blower doors do not measure air
exchange rate
Why not?

What do they measure?

Blower Door Misc.

All windows and doors to outside closed
Why? What about buffer spaces?

HVAC off
Hard to do on windy days
Watch out for buckling linoleum floors and fireplaces
Flow direction change/ring change can be
discontinuous
Remember to record before and after reference
pressures with fan covered

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More Blower Door Tests

Measure component leakage

What fraction of leakage is due to a certain
component?
Tape off component and repeat test

What are issues with this approach?

Series leakage paths (AKA pressure

diagnostics)
Air leaks to attic and then to crawlspace and
then to outside

Residential Component
Leakage
Component

Range

Average

Walls

18-50%

35%

Ceilings

3-30

13

Windows/Doors

6-22

15

Fireplaces

0-30

12

HVAC

3-28

18

Other Vents

2-12