Effects on the Ventilation of a Two-Storey Building under Different Thermal Conditions

Abstract

In this paper it is shown how the air flow rate of decentralized ventilation devices can be affected by a staircase of a two-storey building under different thermal conditions. Since these devices need local fans for supplying the requested volume flow, pressure loads have a significant impact on the delivered volume flow rates. Regarding this, the study comprises two analyses: First, a CFD-model is developed to simulate the ventilation air flow through a simplified staircase. By varying parameters for rooms’ temperature and ventilation direction, the hydrostatic pressure in the staircase is evaluated. The simulations – characterized by high Archimedes numbers – are successfully validated with findings from preliminary work. In a second part, the pressure conditions inside the staircase are referred to outside conditions. Consequently, a static pressure difference at the ventilation device on each storey can be observed. We found that the deliverable volume air flow rate can decrease up to 10 % from the nominal flow rate due to temperature differences between the storeys and outside. Therefore, heat recovery and ventilation effectiveness may also be impaired.