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Table of Contents
How To Use This Application Guide ................................................................................ I How This Guide is Organzed.......................................................................................... I Getting Help .................................................................................................................... I Where To Send Comments ............................................................................................ I Chapter 1Introduction................................................................................................... 1 Importance of Room Pressurization .............................................................................. 1 Objective of this Application Guide ................................................................................ 1 Intended Audience ......................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2Pressurization Applications ........................................................................ 3 Room Static Pressure.................................................................................................... 3 Building Pressurization .................................................................................................. 4 Room Pressurization Applications................................................................................. 5 Chemical Laboratories ................................................................................................ 5 Biological Laboratories................................................................................................ 5 Biosafety Level 1 (BL-1) ........................................................................................... 6 Biosafety Level 2 (BL-2) ........................................................................................... 6 Biosafety Level 3 (BL-3) ........................................................................................... 6 Biosafety Level 4 (BL-4) ........................................................................................... 7 Hospitals...................................................................................................................... 7 Animal Holding Rooms................................................................................................ 7 Clean Rooms............................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 3Room Pressurization Design Criteria ....................................................... 11 Design Considerations................................................................................................. 11 Room Pressurization Reference Data ......................................................................... 14 Room Pressurization Factors ...................................................................................... 15 Leakage Area............................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 4Room Static Pressure Control .................................................................. 17 Laboratories ................................................................................................................. 17 Airflow Tracking Static Pressure Control .................................................................. 17 Airflow Tracking Control Considerations ................................................................ 19 Direct Pressure Control............................................................................................. 21 Direct Pressure Control Limitations........................................................................ 23
Door Effects ............................................................................................................ 23 VAV Fume Hood Effects......................................................................................... 23 Cascaded Pressure Control ...................................................................................... 24 Dual Pressurization Laboratories.............................................................................. 25 Health Care Facilities................................................................................................... 27 Infectious Isolation Rooms ........................................................................................ 27 Protective Isolation Rooms ....................................................................................... 27 Static Pressure Control by Airflow Tracking.............................................................. 27 Infectious Isolation Room Layout .............................................................................. 28 Ventilation and Control System Application .............................................................. 28 Room Pressure Monitors .......................................................................................... 29 Protective Isolation Room Layout ............................................................................. 29 Ventilation and Control System Application .............................................................. 29 Isolation Room Changeover...................................................................................... 30 Clean Rooms ............................................................................................................... 30 Particulate Contamination ......................................................................................... 30 Clean Room Standards............................................................................................. 31 Clean Room Pressurization Applications.................................................................. 33 Airlocks...................................................................................................................... 34 Airlock Construction .................................................................................................. 38 Clean Room Static Pressure Control ........................................................................ 40 Control System Components .................................................................................... 41 Room Pressurization Control .................................................................................... 42 Chapter 5Air Pressurization Fundamentals ............................................................. 43 Forces Exerted by Air .................................................................................................. 43 Total Pressure ........................................................................................................... 43 Static Pressure .......................................................................................................... 44 Velocity Pressure ...................................................................................................... 45 Air Velocity ................................................................................................................... 47 Units of Pressure Measurement .................................................................................. 47 Differential Pressure .................................................................................................... 48 Summary of Pressure Components ............................................................................ 48 Glossary............................................................................................................ Glossary-1 Index ........................................................................................................................ Index-1
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Getting Help
For more information about room pressurization, contact Greg DeLuga Greg.Deluga@sbt.siemens.com in Systems & Advanced Technology.
II
Chapter 1Introduction
Chapter 1 introduces the topic of room pressurization and discusses the: Importance of Room Pressurization Objective of this Application Guide Intended Audience
Intended Audience
This Application Guide has been written to serve an audience with a wide range of interests: Persons with overall administrative and management responsibilities in facilities that require room pressurization will find this guide an informative tutorial on the concept and ramifications of room pressurization. The content is intended to enable such individuals to effectively dialogue with their facility operations and safety professionals concerning facility safety and operational issues involving room pressurization. Persons with day-to-day operational responsibilities in virtually all types of facilities can use this guide as a general reference on the subject of room pressurization. This guide also provides practical information that will enable such individuals to determine whether existing ventilation systems are capable of and are functioning in a manner that provides the required room pressurization. Safety professionals in research and industrial facilities, and supervisory personnel in clinical treatment facilities should find the room pressurization concepts and other basic information presented in this guide helpful in understanding the role of room pressurization in protecting workers and occupants from airborne hazards. HVAC system designers should find the descriptions of room pressurization systems (and their associated control systems) informative and helpful in choosing one type of system over another. This Application Guide also provides direct design assistance for properly configuring ventilation systems and their associated controls to meet specific room pressurization applications.
It is important to use the terms positive and negative when referring to room static pressure values since it is not always apparent which location is at the higher (or lower) static pressure. Positive indicates that the location has the higher static pressure while negative indicates that the location has the lower value. So, stating that a room is positively pressurized indicates that the room has a higher static pressure than the reference area. Conversely, stating that a room is negatively pressurized indicates that the room has a lower static pressure than the reference area. Note also that a room can, and often does, have multiple static pressure values. For example, a room may be negative 0.01 inches w.c. with respect to an adjoining corridor and it could also be positive 0.01 inches w.c. with respect to another room or area. Because pressure values are always referenced to another area, there is no limit to the number of pressure values that a given room or space may have with respect to other locations. If the static pressure of a certain room were negative 0.02 inches w.c. with reference to an adjacent corridor, it would be equivalent to saying that the static air pressure of the room is 0.02 inches w.c. lower than the static pressure of the corridor. It could also be stated that the corridor is positive 0.02 inches w.c. with respect to the room.
NOTE:
In Chapter 5, Table 4. Velocity Pressure vs. Airflow Velocity shows that a differential pressure of 0.02 inches w. c. would result in an airflow velocity from the positive space to the negative space of about 566 feet per minute.
Given the chance, air in a positively pressurized room (higher static pressure) will flow out of the room and into an area of lower static pressure. Conversely, air will flow into a room that is negatively pressurized (lower static pressure) from a higher pressure (positively pressurized) room or area. The potential direction of airflow is always from the higher pressure area (positively pressurized) toward a lower pressure area (negatively pressurized).
Building Pressurization
A proper building ventilation system design ensures that all areas of the building are at a slight positive pressure with reference to the outdoors to prevent outside air from entering the building. Note that even rooms within a building that are negative with respect to the adjacent corridor or another room, are often at a positive static pressure with respect to the outside of a building. Without building pressurization, outside air (in accord with the positive-to-negative airflow) will enter a building in several ways, including door clearance openings, construction cracks, gaps, and even the porosity of the outer walls. However, by maintaining the inside of the building at a slight positive static pressure with respect to the outside, this undesirable inward airflow is prevented. Without overall positive building pressurization, the inflow of outside air can pose many problems: Unfiltered outside air can deposit airborne dirt wherever the air enters. For example, around window frames, electrical outlets, etc. Unfiltered outside air can bring in harmful contaminants and unpleasant odors creating health and inside air quality (IAQ) problems. Cold outside air can produce drafts and cold spots especially near the outer walls, which adversely affect an otherwise good comfort control system. Humid outside air can condense on cooler interior surfaces of the building causing dampness, wet spots and promoting growth of mold. This would very likely occur in unseen places, such as inside wall spaces and above ceilings. Air entering through door clearances or window gaps can create annoying whistling sounds. A building interior that is negative with respect to the outdoors will result in hard to open entry and exit doors along with annoying inward drafts whenever a door is opened.
Chemical Laboratories
A chemical laboratory room must be maintained at a negative static pressure with reference to adjoining non-laboratory rooms to ensure that transfer air will not flow out of the laboratory room and into the adjoining areas. Rather, transfer airflow should be directed into a laboratory room from the adjacent areas (corridors or other non-laboratory rooms) to prevent laboratory room chemical fumes from migrating out of a laboratory room. Although it is desirable to keep laboratory room air from migrating into other areas of a building as a health safeguard, it is also important from an IAQ perspective. Room air from chemical laboratories often contains some trace amount of chemical fumes or gasses. Although the concentration of chemicals or gasses in the air might be extremely slight and not a health hazard, building occupants may react to the odor and assume that they are being exposed to an unhealthy or hazardous environment. Therefore, it is advantageous to prevent airflow out of laboratory rooms by ensuring that the rooms are maintained at a negative static pressure with reference to adjoining non-laboratory areas.
Biological Laboratories
Biological laboratory rooms must also be maintained at a negative static pressure to prevent airflow out of the laboratory room. Aside from preventing chemical odors from leaving the room, the inward directional airflow created by negative room pressurization is intended to prevent airborne pathogens from migrating out to other building areas. Biological laboratories are classified as Biosafety Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 with respect to the potential hazard that the particular laboratory presents due to the substances present and the nature of the work performed.
High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. HEPA filters are capable of entrapping biological aerosols.
Hospitals
Operating rooms, intensive care units, nurseries, and certain other areas in hospitals are normally positively pressurized to prevent harmful pathogens (germs) from entering these rooms. In these instances, transfer air can only flow out from the positively pressurized room to prevent or at least retard airborne contaminants from entering the room. Certain patient rooms, particularly those for treating AIDS patients and any patient that is at a high risk of infection, are also maintained at a positive pressure (referred to as protective isolation rooms) to ensure patient protection via proper directional airflow. Hospital rooms may also be negatively pressurized (referred to a infectious isolation) to prevent airborne pathogens from patients with a contagious disease, such as Tuberculosis, from migrating out and infecting hospital workers or other patients. In these instances, the rooms negative pressurization ensures that the direction of transfer airflow is always into the infectious isolation room.
Relatively few BL-4 laboratories exist since they deal with exotic, highly dangerous (with no known cure) infectious substances. Such laboratory facilities are usually isolated from other buildings and protected with a sophisticated security system to ensure against any unauthorized access.
Clean Rooms
Nearly all pharmaceutical, biomedical, microelectronics, as well as the optical industry and many others, need to prevent contamination of their products or processes by maintaining a clean room environment. In particular, the pharmaceutical and biomedical production facilities require very careful room pressurization control to ensure against biological and chemical agent contamination as a condition for meeting and maintaining regulatory (FDA) compliance. Microelectronics fabrication and electronic component assembly areas need a high degree of environmental purity to prevent particulate contamination in the manufacturing process. As microelectronic chips and data storage media continue to become more miniaturized while providing greater processing power and data storage capacity, even the smallest airborne particle could create an undesirable circuit-to-circuit bridge. Todays microelectronic circuit conductors are 100 times smaller in width than a human hair and use even smaller spacing between conductors. These applications all require the most intensive form of contamination prevention. As some components created by the micro electronics and optics industry become even more miniaturized, contamination concerns extend down to the single molecular level. In all clean room applications, infiltration of contaminants from adjacent areas and the outdoors (dust particles, pathogens, aerosols, etc.) is prevented by maintaining the clean room space at a substantial positive pressure with respect to the surrounding areas. In many clean room applications the surrounding areas are also positively pressurized in order to act as buffer zones to help ensure against accidental contamination of the most critical areas.
Table 1 lists various room pressurization applications and the normal static pressure relationships required.
Table 1. Room Static Pressurization Applications.
Application
Comments
Chemical Laboratory
0.01 to 0.02
Negative
These values apply to general chemistry laboratories. (Higher hazard laboratories such as those handling toxic chemicals or radioactive substances should be at an increased negative pressurization level. Such labs may require double door entry provisions and a two-stage pressurization level.) Although negative pressurization is not specifically required for BL-1 labs, it is recommended for odor control. Lab support areas should be at lesser negative pressurization levels than the laboratory itself to ensure airflow is from the area of least risk to highest risk. Airlock entry/exit provisions, clothing change areas, other support areas, and the laboratory itself should all be under increasingly negative pressure to ensure airflow is toward the laboratory as the highest hazard area. Air supplied to surgery rooms to meet ventilation and pressurization requirements should not be re-circulated from other areas. These general support areas include autopsy rooms, cage washing, and feed storage rooms, as well as incinerator and sterilizer rooms. Surgical support areas such as gowning, hand washing, etc., should be positively pressurized at multiple pressurization levels, keeping the surgical room as the most positive area. The CDC actually recommends a minimum pressurization level of 0.001 i h f h h
0.01
2.5
Negative
2.5 to 8 2.5 to 12
Negative
Negative
0.01
2.5
Positive
0.01
2.5
Negative
0.01 to 0.02
2.5 to 5
Positive
0.01
2.5
Positive
Application
Comments
0.01
Negative
inches w.c. for these rooms; however, most designs incorporate higher pressurization levels. The most effective isolation room arrangement incorporates a lower pressurized anteroom as a buffer zone between the isolation room and corridor. Surgical suites include gowning, hand washing, etc. All areas of the surgical suite should be positively pressurized using dual or multi-staged pressurization levels to keep the surgical room the most positive area. Pharmaceutical processing rooms should be 0.05 inches positive with respect to rooms leading into the processing room. Such rooms should be at least 0.02 inches positive with respect to each other and non-classified areas.
Hospital Surgical Suite Delivery Nursery Cystoscopy Trauma Clean Room: Pharmaceutical Mfg.
0.01 to 0.02
2.5 to 5
Positive
0.05 to 0.10
12.5 to 25
Positive
0.05 to 0.20
12.5 to 50
Positive
Clean spaces used for highly critical processes should be at least 0.05 inches positive to any connecting space and so on. An anteroom having 0.02 inches less positive pressurization should separate adjoining spaces that are of the same classification but used for different purposes.
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Design Considerations
As stated previously in this guide, the positive or negative room static pressurization relationship between two spaces determines the potential for transfer airflow between them. Unintentional openings that allow transfer airflow in or out of a negatively or positively pressurized room are cumulatively referred to as the rooms leakage area. However, if there is no room leakage area (the room is sealed off), then there can be no airflow in or out of the room, even though a static pressure difference exists between the room and other areas. In buildings, rooms cannot generally be totally sealed off. Except for extreme situations, such as Biological Level 4 laboratories, there is little reason to try to maintain a perfect seal or barrier between pressurized spaces. Personnel, equipment, and contents must be allowed to continually enter and leave such spaces. Thus, a perfect seal or barrier is not a practical solution for the prevention of unwanted air transfer. This consideration leads to the fundamental reason for maintaining a differential static pressure relationship between two spaces. Aside from a perfect seal or perfect isolation, the next best way to prevent unwanted air transfer is to maintain a differential pressure that only allows air transfer in an acceptable or desired direction. The differential static pressure relationship between spaces is then created and maintained by a properly designed and controlled ventilation system. The most commonly used means to maintain a room at a negative or positive pressure is by airflow tracking. Airflow tracking, also referred to as volumetric airflow tracking, maintains a fixed differential airflow or offset between the total air supplied to the room and the total air exhausted from the room. The total air supplied to and the total air exhausted from a room to which airflow tracking is applied is considered to be the air that is provided by a fan powered, ducted, ventilation system. Figure 1 illustrates the airflow relationship of a negatively pressurized room where the total room exhaust airflow exceeds the total room supply airflow by the fixed airflow tracking offset.
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For a negatively pressurized room, airflow tracking ensures that the total amount of air exhausted from the room always exceeds the amount of air that is supplied to the room. This creates a slight vacuum effect in the room, which causes air from adjacent areas to flow into the room through the rooms leakage area. For a positively pressurized room, airflow tracking ensures that the total amount of air exhausted from the room is always less than the amount of air that is supplied to the room. This creates an excess amount of air in the room, which tends to flow out from the room and into adjacent areas. Applying airflow tracking as the method of achieving room static pressurization does not ensure that a specific room static pressure value is attained. However, it does ensure that the room static pressure will be negative or positive as desired, and that the desired directional airflow into or out of the room will be maintained. Since the goal of room pressurization is to always ensure proper directional airflow, airflow tracking is a very reliable way of achieving this goal. Figure 2 shows a chemical laboratory room with an airflow arrangement that maintains a negative static pressure. Both the room supply airflow and the total room exhaust airflow must be controlled to be at specific values to achieve the required airflow tracking offset for the room. The resulting deficiency in the rooms supply air creates the negative static pressure relationship between the laboratory room and the corridors. Since the laboratory room static pressure is negative with respect to the corridors, air always has a tendency to flow into the laboratory from the corridors, thus preventing undesirable airflow from the laboratory room to the corridors.
12
Design Considerations
Figure 2. Laboratory Room at a Negative Static Pressure with Respect to the Adjacent Corridors.
LAB0193R1
13
where: Q is the differential airflow in Cubic Feet per Minute (cfm) A is the total room leakage area in Square Feet dP is the differential pressure in Inches of Water (inches w.c.) (SI) Q = 840 A (dP)1/2
where: Q is the differential airflow in Liters per Second, A is the total room leakage area in Square Meters dP is the differential pressure in Pascals The graph in Figure 3 depicts the relationship between room differential pressure, room leakage area and differential airflow. Figure 3 also shows room leakage area in square feet as a family of curves on the graph. The differential airflow (difference between the total room supply and total room exhaust airflows) is shown as Cubic Feet per Minute (cfm) along the horizontal axis of the graph. The resulting room differential (static) pressurization values are shown as Inches of Water (inches w.c.) along the vertical axis. To determine what room differential airflow is needed to provide a particular differential pressure, the desired differential pressure value on the vertical axis is followed to where its horizontal line intersects the room leakage area curves. The required differential room airflow is then indicated along the bottom of the graph directly below the points of intersection.
In applications where it is necessary to prevent contamination by air flowing into the laboratory room from adjacent spaces, the laboratory room can be maintained at a positive static pressure. However, the laboratory room must be separated from the adjoining area (a corridor) by a vestibule room that is maintained at a negative static pressure. Equations taken from 1999 ASHRAE Application Handbook, Fire and Smoke Management Section, Page 51.5.
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0.020 0.019 0.018 0.017 0.016 0.015 0.014 0.013 0.012 0.011 0.010 0.009 0.008 0.007 0.006 0.005 0.004 0.003 0.002 0.001 0.000
0.1 Ft2 ROOM LEAKAGE AREA CURVES 0.2 Ft2 0.3 Ft2 0.4 Ft2 0.5 Ft2 0.6 Ft2 0.75 Ft2 1.0 Ft2 1.5 Ft2
LAB0194R1
25
50
75
100
125 150
175 200
400
Figure 3. Room Differential Airflow vs. Differential Pressure for Various Room Leakage Areas.
Leakage Area
Most modest sized rooms, such as a two-person laboratory with two hinged doors, will have a total room leakage area of about 0.5 to 1.0 sq. ft. even with relatively tight construction. To obtain a tighter room, extensive sealing and meticulous attention to poke-throughs (places where conduit, piping, ducts and other items pass through the rooms walls, ceiling, and floor) is required. However, room pressurization can be more easily maintained at a constant value if the room construction is not extremely tight.
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Figure 3 shows that when a room has as little as a 0.2 sq. ft. leakage area, a small change in differential airflow such as only 25 cfm causes a rather large variation in the resulting differential pressure value. Whereas, the same 25 cfm differential airflow variation for a room having a 1.0 sq. ft. leakage area would exhibit a much smaller differential pressure variation. Except for biological laboratory rooms where highly contagious pathogens are present, and very critical clean rooms, little is gained by attempting to make the room exceptionally tight. Rather, a rooms static pressure can be maintained at a more stable value if the total room leakage area is perhaps between 0.5 and 1.0 sq. ft. Note also that if room leakage area were significantly greater than about 1.5 sq. ft. the resulting leakage area curve would lie close to the bottom of the chart in Figure 3. Trying to maintain a 0.01 Inch static pressure differential for that much leakage area requires very high differential airflows. Experience indicates that a negative 0.01 inches w.c. room differential pressure (typical for chemical laboratory rooms) cannot be maintained in rooms that have a leakage area much greater than about 1.5 square feet due to the excessively high differential airflow required. Thus, except for very large rooms, a reasonable room tightness of between 0.5 and 1.5 sq. ft. of leakage area is recommended when a 0.01 inches w.c. room differential pressure is desired. It is also very important to consider the effect that opening a room door will have on room pressurization. Opening a single width door of average size will increase a room's leakage area by approximately 20 square feet or more. The resulting room leakage area curve would essentially lie horizontally along the bottom of the graph and result in a near zero differential pressure value for the room. With an open door, no appreciable differential static pressure value can be maintained without an excessively high amount of differential airflow. Consequently, it should be realized that a rooms differential pressure drops to near zero anytime a door is opened. However, the occurrence of near zero differential pressure should not be interpreted as a failure to contain contaminants or prevent an undesirable air transfer, since the proper directional airflow (inward for a negative room and outward for a positive room) will still be maintained even with a (temporary) large increase in room leakage area.
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The most appropriate method of controlling a room's static pressure is dependent upon the room application. Since the purpose for maintaining a differential pressure relationship between rooms is to prevent cross contamination, the consequences of cross contamination must be known in order to determine the most appropriate method of control. If the main concern is to contain unpleasant odors, the consequences might be very small. On the other hand, very serious consequences result if occupant safety and health are involved. These are most typically associated with laboratories involved with highly infectious biological aerosols, highly toxic laboratory chemicals and others such as radioactivity. This section covers room pressurization control applications for many applications and provides detailed recommendations for achieving the desired pressurization relationship between a particular space and adjacent areas.
Laboratories
Airflow Tracking Static Pressure Control
Airflow tracking is the preferred room static pressurization control approach for most laboratories. Airflow tracking can maintain desired room pressurization for both constant air volume (CAV) ventilation systems as well as variable air volume (VAV) ventilation systems. Figure 4 shows the essential components of a typical chemical laboratory room ventilation system using a single duct supply terminal. This room ventilation system arrangement enables using airflow tracking for maintaining room pressurization. The Room Controller and the Fume Hood Controllers precisely control the room airflow as described below. The Fume Hood Controllers modulate the exhaust airflow of the FUME HOODS to always maintain the proper amount of exhaust. For constant air volume (CAV) fume hoods, the fume hood exhaust is maintained at a constant value regardless of the amount that the fume hood sash is open. For variable air volume (VAV) fume hoods the fume hood exhaust is modulated so that the fume hood face velocity (incoming airflow) is maintained at the desired constant value.
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SUPPLY TERMINAL
CFM
CFM
CFM
CFM
ROOM CONTROLLER
LAB0195R1
The specific amount of air exhausted by a VAV fume hood depends on the extent that its respective sash is open5. Aside from controlling the fume hood exhaust airflow, each Fume Hood Controller also provides an output signal to the Room Controller that indicates the exact amount of fume hood exhaust airflow. The Room Controller is apprised of the amount of exhaust air that is being exhausted by each fume hood in the room. In addition to fume hoods, the Room General Exhaust that is directly controlled by the room controller may also draw air out of the laboratory room. A room general exhaust is often required for VAV laboratories with VAV fume hoods for one of the following reasons: Allow more air to enter the room from the supply terminal. Maintain sufficient room ventilation. Maintain the desired room temperature when the fume hood sashes are closed.
The Room Controller maintains direct control over the Supply Terminal that provides the supply make-up air for the room. In a CAV laboratory, the supply airflow into the room is normally maintained at a constant value since the fume hood exhaust normally remains constant. However, in a VAV laboratory the total room exhaust is dependent upon the fume hood exhaust that varies in accordance with the fume hood sash position. Thus, the Room Controller in a VAV laboratory must modulate both the incoming supply airflow via the Supply Terminal and the Room General Exhaust to maintain a proper balance between the total room exhaust airflow and the incoming supply airflow.
A VAV fume hood controller uses an airflow sensor and a modulating damper in the fume hood exhaust to maintain the required exhaust airflow in accordance with the fume hoods total open sash area. This ensures that fume hood face velocity remains constant for all sash positions. Each VAV fume hood controller continuously sends the fume hood exhaust airflow value to the room controller.
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Laboratories
In a VAV laboratory the Room Controller must modulate the Room General Exhaust to ensure that there is sufficient total room exhaust to meet the required minimum room ventilation rate (ACH). The ROOM CONTROLLER must also modulate the Room General Exhaust to ensure that there is sufficient total room exhaust for the amount of supply airflow necessary to maintain the desired room temperature. To maintain the required room static pressure, the room controller modulates the total room supply airflow to maintain the desired airflow tracking offset between the total room supply and total room exhaust airflows. Whenever the room's total exhaust airflow changes, the room controller adjusts the room supply airflow to maintain the airflow tracking offset. With a VAV ventilation system there may be times when the room will require more supply airflow to cool the room in order to maintain the desired room temperature. In such instances, the room controller increases the amount of supply airflow to maintain the desired room temperature. In addition, the room controller also increases the room general exhaust so that a corresponding amount of room air is exhausted to maintain the airflow tracking offset. Summarized, the many functions of the room controller include: Maintaining the proper amount of room general exhaust to ensure that the required minimum room ventilation rate6 is always maintained. Maintaining the proper amount of room supply airflow needed to maintain a constant airflow tracking offset between the total room exhaust and room supply airflows. Increasing the supply airflow when needed to maintain the proper room temperature. Simultaneously increasing the room general exhaust to maintain the required constant airflow tracking offset.
In negatively pressurized rooms the ACH rate is determined by the total room exhaust airflow. In positively pressurized rooms the ACH rate is determined by total room supply airflow.
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Option 1, designing the ventilation system to maintain a specific room differential airflow, is generally recommended for applications where a lower room differential pressure (perhaps 0.01 to 0.02 inches w.c.) is sufficient. Recall that the primary purpose of room pressurization is to create the proper directional airflow to prevent or retard undesirable transfer of air. Therefore, it is the airflow direction rather than an arbitrary static pressure7 that should be the design goal of a laboratory ventilation system. This approach enables the room airflow tracking control scenario to be set up without a lengthy trial and error process. Option 2, choosing a specific room static pressure, is usually only necessary for applications where higher level room static pressures are required and where cross contamination must be strictly prevented. This presents a more difficult challenge for the testing and balancing process, and is not recommended for most laboratory applications. In actual practice it typically requires simultaneous adjusting the airflow in many rooms to achieve the correct airflow balance. This is particularly the case when several rooms adjoin a common corridor. Furthermore, it may not be possible to achieve a given static pressure relationship if a rooms leakage area is too large or the adjacent space does not have sufficient excess supply makeup air (such as a corridor). For example, consider using Option 2 in a situation where 10 laboratory rooms adjoin a common corridor. Also assume that the balancing process finds that an average airflow tracking offset of 400 cfm is necessary to maintain a specific negative room pressurization value. The corridor will, therefore, need to have a supply makeup airflow of 10 rooms 400 cfm (or 4000 cfm) to attain the required room static pressure. However, the total amount of room transfer air required (in this case 4,000 cfm) would not be known during the design process, and might exceed the actual amount of corridor supply air that is actually available. In contrast, following Option 1 would enable an airflow tracking offset to be initially chosen and specified for each room. Then the total amount of excess corridor air would be known. Even when a laboratory room door is fully opened and the doorway area increases the total leakage area of a room, no change in the amount of room transfer airflow occurs. Although the room static pressure will diminish, the desired airflow direction (into the negatively pressurized room) will be maintained. Finally, a specific airflow tracking value cannot ensure that a constant positive or negative static pressure value will be maintained over the life of a building. As seasons pass and building conditions change over time, the actual room static pressure level will also undoubtedly vary somewhat from what it was initially. This necessitates periodically checking (at least annually) and, perhaps, readjusting the differential tracking value as needed. Although there will likely be some variation in the specific static pressure level when using airflow tracking, it should again be noted that the primary goal of maintaining a room at a negative (or positive) static pressure is to ensure that an undesirable transfer of air does not occur. Airflow tracking will meet this goal by maintaining the proper directional airflow.
Differential pressure should be used to ascertain if the airflow is in the right direction (into the room) and as a convenient reference for periodic testing to ensure that the amount of differential airflow is consistent over time.
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Laboratories
A VAV fume hood controller uses an airflow sensor and a modulating damper in the fume hood exhaust to maintain the required exhaust airflow in accordance with the fume hoods total open sash area. This ensures that fume hood face velocity remains constant for all sash positions. Each VAV fume hood controller continuously sends the fume hood exhaust airflow value to the room controller.
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SUPPLY TERMINAL
CFM
CFM
CFM
CFM
STATIC PRESSURE
LAB0196R1
ROOM CONTROLLER
The Room Controller also monitors the room static pressure via the Room Static Pressure Sensor and controls the total room supply airflow to maintain the required room static pressure set point. If the room static pressure is less than the set point, the controller reduces the supply airflow to increase the difference between the room supply and total room exhaust airflows and, thus, increase the rooms negative static pressure. If the room static pressure is greater than the set point, the controller increases the supply airflow to decrease the difference between the room supply and total room exhaust airflows and, thus, decrease the rooms negative static pressure9. With a VAV ventilation system there may be times, particularly during the cooling season, when the room will require more supply airflow to maintain the desired room temperature than the amount needed to maintain the required room static pressure. In such instances, the Room Controller will increase the amount of supply airflow to maintain the desired room temperature while simultaneously increasing the room general exhaust as necessary so that the room static pressure remains constant. In a VAV laboratory room served by a single supply duct that also has a Room General Exhaust, the many functions of the Room Controller include: Maintaining the proper amount of room general exhaust to ensure that the required minimum room ventilation rate10 is always maintained.
9 10
In negatively pressurized rooms the supply airflow needs to be less then the total room exhaust airflow. In positively pressurized rooms the supply airflow needs to be greater than the total room exhaust airflow. In negatively pressurized rooms the ACH rate is determined by the total room exhaust airflow. In positively pressurized rooms the ACH rate is determined by total room supply airflow.
22
Laboratories
Maintaining the proper amount of room supply airflow to maintain the required room static pressure. Increasing the supply airflow when needed to cool or heat the room while simultaneously increasing the room general exhaust to maintain a constant room static pressure.
Door Effects
When a room door is opened, the area of the doorway increases the leakage area of the room. Thus, opening a single width door can add about 20 square feet of leakage area to a room. Figure 3 shows that if a 20 square foot leakage area curve were drawn, it would lie almost horizontally along the bottom of the graph, even if the differential airflow were increased beyond the values on the graph. Under an open door condition, the room controller would attempt to correct for the low room static pressure level by reducing the supply airflow. However, no reduction in supply airflow would restore the room static pressure to its set point while a door is open. Meanwhile, the reduction in supply airflow would eventually have an adverse effect on the room temperature and humidity. To minimize the effect of an open door, the room controller should incorporate a means to limit the supply air reduction. One means is to impose a low limit on the supply airflow as part of the room pressure control scenario. Another means is to incorporate a door switch circuit that signals the room controller to not make any further reduction in the supply airflow whenever any door is not fully closed. Either of these methods can prevent the undesirable reduction in supply airflow, although the latter requires installation of a switch on each door and the associated circuit wiring.
To maintain a constant face velocity for all sash openings, the VAV fume hood exhaust is controlled. Thus, when a user opens or closes a fume hood sash, the associated fume hood controller will proportionately increase or decrease the fume hood exhaust airflow to maintain the required constant face velocity. This VAV fume hood control action can have a significant impact on the total room exhaust.
23
To obtain a reliable room static pressure value from the room static pressure sensor, the room controller must sample the sensor output for several seconds to factor out the pressure variations caused by personnel movement, room air currents, and even outside air wind gusts (referred to as signal noise). This delays the room controllers response to room static pressure variations. The slower control response translates into more elapsed time before the room supply airflow is properly adjusted to maintain the required room static pressure. This can result in an unacceptable delay before adequate supply makeup airflow is attained after a fume hood sash is repositioned11.
11
If a VAV fume hood sash is fully opened after being closed, it could require perhaps 10 or more seconds before a new stable room static pressure value can be used for controller response. This would delay increasing the supply makeup air required to offset the increased fume hood exhaust airflow and could therefore adversely affect fume hood containment.
24
Laboratories
It presents a greater design challenge and involves a more difficult startup and balancing process. In particular, the areas adjacent to the room (for example, corridors) must have the proper level of excess supply air since the laboratory room(s) airflow tracking offset will not remain at a constant value.
25
With respect to the ventilation system design, the vestibule exhaust would normally be a constant air volume (CAV) exhaust while the laboratory room could employ either a CAV or VAV ventilation arrangement. The important element is that the laboratory room controller must ensure that the total exhaust of the room combination is always greater than the room supply air. Each entryway into the laboratory room requires a vestibule unless the entryway connects to an adjoining laboratory room that is also protected against contamination by positive pressurization. If an adjoining area is not at the same static pressure as the laboratory room, a vestibule entry arrangement should then be used for that respective entry. When implementing a dual pressurization arrangement, it is advisable to ensure that the laboratory, vestibule walls, and ceilings be completely sealed to minimize the opportunity for transfer air to pass directly into the adjacent area from the laboratory. Depending on individual situations, an airlock type of entry for the vestibules may also be desirable. An airlock door arrangement uses electric door releases to ensure that only one door of the vestibule is opened at a time.
AIRFLOW TRACKING OFFSET ROOM SUPPLY AIRFLOW
VESTIBULE EXHAUST
EXHAUST
SUPPLY TERMINAL
CFM
CFM
DOORS
CFM
CFM
TRANSFER AIRFLOW
LAB0197R1
VESTIBULE
ROOM CONTROLLER
LABORATORY
Figure 6. Preventing Room Contamination by Room Positive Pressure & Vestibule Negative Pressure.
26
Healthcare Facilities
Healthcare Facilities
Infectious Isolation Rooms
Infectious isolation rooms in healthcare facilities are intended to ensure that the direction of airflow is always into the room, thus preventing the spread of disease to persons outside of the room, particularly the healthcare workers. The need for providing negatively pressurized infectious isolation rooms has become more focused because of the resurgence of the contagious disease Tuberculosis (TB). Since Tuberculosis is highly contagious, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published guidelines for preventing its transmission12. These guidelines call for a minimum room negative static pressure of 0.001 inches w.c. (0.25 Pa) for infectious isolation rooms along with a minimum room ventilation rate of 6, and preferably 12, air changes per hour (ACH). In actual practice, a 0.001 inches w.c. room static pressure is quite low and impractical to use as design criteria. A more practical isolation room static pressure level is at least 0.005 inches w.c. (or higher) since this level is more readily maintained and is a necessary minimum level to enable measurement of the room static pressure as well as continuous monitoring.13
12 13
1994 Guidelines for preventing the transmission of Mycobacterium and Tuberculosis in Healthcare facilities. The CDC guidelines also recommend that isolation room static pressure be monitored daily. This can be done using a visible smoke or by a permanently mounted static pressure sensing device that provides continuous indication of room static pressure.
27
ROOM CONTROLLER
CFM
SUPPLY
CAV EXHAUST CONTROLLER
EXHAUST
ANTEROOM
ROOM PRESSURE MONITORS
DOOR TRANSFER DOOR AIRFLOW
PATIENT ROOM
LAB0198R1
28
Healthcare Facilities
ANTEROOM
ROOM PRESSURE MONITOR DOOR
LAB0199R1
PATIENT ROOM
29
Clean Rooms
The demand for high quality pharmaceutical products and the continual miniaturization of electronic components has created an increasing need for contamination control in their associated processing and manufacturing areas. Maintaining the required degree of purity in these areas is highly dependent upon room pressurization to prevent contamination.
Particulate Contamination
Particulate that can contaminate products comes from a variety of sources, including: Occupants within the clean room Atmospheric dust Condensation of vapors Bacteria Chemical fumes
Keeping these contaminants within acceptable levels requires a coordinated approach, which includes: Proper Room DesignHigh purity clean rooms cannot normally be obtained by conversion or by upgrading existing non-clean areas. Clean rooms typically need to be initially designed with sufficient height and ancillary space (space above and below the clean room) to house the large amount of specialized air handling and filtering equipment necessary. Architectural & Physical BarriersClean rooms must be constructed of materials that will not release airborne particulate. Physical barriers (walls, ceilings, material joints, etc.) must also be meticulously sealed. Adjacent spaces and other support areas are often required to be constructed similar to the clean room itself in order to act as buffer zones between the clean and unclean spaces.
14
American Institute of Architects 1996 -1997 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities.
30
Clean Rooms
Construction ProceduresClean rooms must be constructed using specialized techniques and practices to prevent contamination of the room materials, ventilation ductwork, and room equipment. Room components, such as ductwork, must be precleaned and sealed before installation so that no residual particulate is present. Construction personnel must be properly trained and must follow rigid guidelines for handling construction materials and equipment, and in carrying out construction procedures. Typically, they must wear outer garments that protect against bringing contaminants into the clean room during the construction process. Tools and construction equipment must meet a specific level of cleanliness before they may be brought into the clean area. Room Utilization ProceduresClean room access must be restricted to authorized personnel only. Such persons must be properly trained in acceptable procedures and work practices. Specialty outer garments are usually required. Occupants must not consume food in the clean room. Special room cleaning, maintenance, and decontamination processes must be used. Room entry decontamination procedures must be followed. Ventilation & Directional Airflow Clean rooms typically require very high rates of HEPA or ULPA15 filtered ventilation airflow to maintain the required low level of airborne particulate in the room atmosphere. Airflow is typically from ceiling to floor in a laminar airflow arrangement that most often uses the entire ceiling as a supply plenum and filter bank. Room PressurizationProper differential pressurization has been found to be very effective and an absolutely necessity for preventing contamination in clean rooms. All clean rooms and surrounding areas must be maintained at specific levels of pressurization to ensure against improper directional airflow. Two, three or more levels of positive pressurization may be used in clean room applications with the most critical area at the highest positive pressure level and the adjacent areas or support at lower positive pressure levels. Adequate levels of differential pressurization and proper directional airflow are especially critical at the room entry and exit points.
15
HEPA - High Efficiency Particulate Air filters remove at least 99.97% of particulate 0.3 microns (0.3m) or larger in size. ULPA - Ultra Low Penetration Air filters remove 99.999% of particulate 0.12 microns (0.12m) or larger on size. A micron (m) is one millionth of a meter or approximately 0.00003937 inches.
31
Table 2 provides the allowable limits for 0.1, 0.5 and 5.0 micron size airborne particles per cubic foot and cubic meter for different clean room classifications for the current versions of the FS 209E and ISO/FDIS 14644-1 standards. These standards also establish allowable limits for other size particles aside from those listed in the table, however the particle sizes listed in Table 2 provide a comparison between the two standards.
Table 2. Clean Room StandardsParticle Concentration Limits FS 209E vs. ISO 14644-1.
0.1 m Particles Per Cubic Unit FS ISO Cubic Meter Cubic Meter 10 100 35 345 3,450 34,500 345,000 3,450,0 00 3.45 107 1,230 12,200 122,000 1,220,0 00 1.22 107 1.22 108 1.22 109 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,0 00 1 10
0.5 m Particles Per Cubic Unit FS Cubic Ft. Cubic Meter ISO Cubic Meter
5.0 m Particles Per Cubic Unit FS Cubic Ft. Cubic Meter ISO Cubic Meter
FS
ISO 1 2
Cubic Ft.
4 35 353 3,530 35,300 353,000 3,530,0 00 32 352 3,520 35,200 352,000 3,520,00 0 35,200,0 00 7 65 700 247 2,300 24,700 29 293 2,930 29,300 293,00 0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
32
Clean Rooms
++
ASEPTIC FILLING AREA
PREPARATION AREA
++
+++
+
PERSONNEL CORRIDOR
LAB0200R1
+
ENTRY & GOWNING AIRLOCK
Workers enter and exit through the respective airlock in which they either put on the required outer garments for entry or remove them upon exiting. The airlocks are each equipped with two sets of doors (sliding or hinged) with an electrical interlocking arrangement that allows a door to be open only when the other door is fully closed17. By allowing only one door to be open at a time, the amount of air that can flow out of the clean spaces through an airlock is limited. Using airlocks for the entry and exit provisions ensures that the required level of positive pressurization in the clean spaces is always maintained.
16
17
Aseptic refers to a space or area in which the bacterial count is contained within required limits. Although it is not a 100% sterile space it enables pharmaceutical products to be processed with a high degree of purity. Aseptic areas are generally Class 100 per FE 209E. In some airlock arrangements a time delay of as much as several minutes is also incorporated to allow time to ventilate the airlock before the other door can be opened.
33
The clean spaces are positively pressurized according to their required level of purity or cleanliness. The most critical operations are performed in the area that has the highest level of cleanliness (aseptic area), which also has the highest level of pressurization. In Figure 9, each plus sign indicates the area's relative level of positive pressurization. The more plus signs, the higher the positive pressurization. Clean room designs typically use a differential pressure of about 0.05 inches w.c. (12.4 Pascals) between each different clean room area classification. Thus, in Figure 9,the aseptic area (+++) would typically be designed to be 0.15 inches w.c. positive with respect to a neutral area such as the Personnel Corridor. The adjoining Preparation Area would then be maintained at about 0.10 inches w.c., and the entry and exit airlocks would be maintained at about 0.05 inches w.c. This ensures that airflow (shown by dotted lines and arrows) will always flow from the most critical and cleanest space (highest positive pressure) to a lesser clean space.
Airlocks
Four different types of airlocks are often applied to enable entry and exit to clean spaces depending upon the nature of the clean room's purpose: Cascading Pressure AirlockFigure 10 shows an airlock that is kept at a lower positive pressure than the adjacent clean space, but at a higher positive pressure than the corridor. As a result, air from the highly positive pressurized clean space cascades through the airlock to the area of least cleanliness, which is the Non Classified Corridor. The same quantity of air is supplied to and exhausted from the airlock. The FDA prefers this type of airlock when absolute containment of the clean space is not required. Pressure Bubble AirlockFigure 11 shows an airlock that is kept at a higher positive pressure than the adjacent spaces. This type of airlock is applied when it is necessary to separate a bio-contained clean area from other areas. Clean conditioned supply air is used to create a high positive pressure in the airlock, which does not have any exhaust provision. The supply airflows to the adjacent areas through the airlock leakage area that consists primarily of door clearances. This directional airflow prevents cross contamination between adjacent areas. The pressure bubble airlock is often used because its positive pressure relationship to the adjacent areas keeps contaminants from entering the airlock. Pressure Sink AirlockFigure 12 shows an airlock that is kept very negatively pressurized with respect to all adjacent areas. All of the air that is supplied to the airlock, plus all air that flows into the airlock from the adjacent areas, is mechanically exhausted from the airlock. This ensures against cross-contamination between adjacent areas. Although the pressure sink airlock prevents cross contamination between adjacent areas, its disadvantage is that unlike the pressure bubble airlock, it is subject to contamination from the adjacent areas.
34
Clean Rooms
Potent Compound18 AirlockFigure 13 shows a pressure bubble airlock combined with a pressure sink airlock. This two-compartment airlock arrangement allows personnel to protect themselves by putting on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as outer garments and sometimes respirators, in the pressure bubble area (++) before entering the pressure sink area ( ) and clean space area in which the potent compound substances are present. The negative pressure of the pressure sink area prevents contamination of the clean space by the adjacent areas such as the corridor. All clean conditioned supply air to the pressure bubble area (++) flows into the adjacent pressure sink and corridor. All of the clean conditioned air supplied to the pressure sink area along with all air that flows into that area is exhausted.
CLEAN SPACE
CEILING SUPPLY*
SLIDING OR HINGED DOORS
AIRLOCK
18
A potent compound is any substance that can present a danger to anyone coming into physical contact with the substance or airborne fumes or particulate from the substance.
35
CLEAN SPACE
AIRLOCK
36
Clean Rooms
CLEAN SPACE
37
CLEAN SPACE
CEILING SUPPLY*
CEILING SUPPLY*
LAB0204R1
Airlock Construction
Proper airlock construction is critical to ensuring that the required pressurization levels can be attained. All surfaces should be well sealed and covered with a highly impervious finish such as epoxy paint. Airlock doors can be either hinged or sliding. Hinged doors can typically be made to fit tighter (have less peripheral leakage area) especially if the frame is equipped with a seal or gasket and floor sweeps are used. When hinged doors are used, they should open into the dirtier area. Table 3 provides information on door leakage areas in inch-pound units.
38
Clean Rooms
Door Size
Total Closed Door Clearance Area Hinged Door (See Note 1) Sliding Door (See Note 2) 0.792 sq. ft. 0.833 sq. ft. 0.833 sq. ft. 0.875 sq. ft. 0.875 sq. ft. 0.917 sq. ft. 0.958 sq. ft. 1.042 sq. ft.
36 in. 78 in. 36 in. 84 in. 42 in. 78 in. 42 in. 84 in. 48 in. 78 in. 48 in. 84 in. 60 in. 78 in. 72 in. 78 in.
0.229 sq. ft. 0.240 sq. ft. 0.245 sq. ft. 0.255 sq. ft.
Note 1: Hinged door clearance area is based on 1/4 in. along the bottom and 1/8 in. along the sides and top.
Note 2: Sliding door clearance area is based on 1/2 in. around the entire door perimeter.
Figure 14 provides a graph of the airflow that results when a specific differential pressure is applied across various leakage areas (curves). The information in Table 3 and the graph in Figure 14 will help you approximate the differential airflow that results when a differential pressure is present. As an example, consider a 42 in. 84 in. closed airlock hinged door. The leakage area shown in Table 3 is 0.255 sq. ft. Figure 15 indicates that with a differential pressure of 0.0500 inches w.c. across the closed door, the resulting airflow would be approximately 150 cfm. Similarly, a 72 in. 78 in. closed sliding door (leakage area of 1.042 sq. ft.) with a differential pressure of 0.02 inches w.c. across would result in an airflow rate of approximately 520 cfm. The Differential Pressure and Differential Airflow data of Figure 14 is expressed by the following pressurization versus leakage area equations based on inch-pound (IP) or metric (SI) units: (IP) Q = 2610 A (dP)1/2
where: Q is the differential airflow in Cubic Feet per Minute (cfm) A is the total room leakage area Square Feet dP is the differential pressure Inches of Water (inches w.c.)
39
(SI)
Q = 840 A (dP)1/2
where: Q is the differential airflow in Liters per Second, A is the total room leakage area in Square Meters dP is the differential pressure in Pascals
0.0600 0.0575 0.0550 0.0525
0.1 Ft2 0.2 Ft2 0.3 Ft2 0.4 Ft2 0.5 Ft2 0.6 Ft2 0.7 Ft2 0.8 Ft2 0.9 Ft2
1.0 Ft2
1.4 Ft2 1.5 Ft2 1.6 Ft2 1.7 Ft2 1.8 Ft2 1.9 Ft2 2.0 Ft2
0.0375
INCHES of WATER
LAB0205R1
0.0025 0.0000
50
100
150 200
450
750 800
40
Clean Rooms
LAB0206R1
ROOM EXHAUST
MAKEUP AIRFLOW
ROOM EXHAUST
MAKEUP AIRFLOW
ROOM CONTROLLER
ROOM EXHAUST
DS
DS
EXHAUST
SUPPLY
41
The Makeup Airflow and Exhaust Airflow for each room is individually measured and controlled by the room controller.
42
Total Pressure
Air in motion occurs naturally as wind, but air can also be put into motion by mechanical means, such as a fan. Ventilation systems move fresh air into building areas and also remove contaminated air from areas by means of fans and ductwork. Any time air pressure (force per unit area) occurs as a result of air that is in motion it is termed total pressure. A piece of paper or tissue would be readily pushed through a ventilation system duct in the direction of airflow as a result of the force or effect of the air stream's total pressure. The total pressure of a moving air stream is at its maximum (and is always measured) in the direction of the airflow. Figure 16 illustrates the concept of total pressure as the result of an air stream moving through a ventilation system duct.
43
TOTAL PRESSURE
LAB0189R1
AIRFLOW
Figure 16. Total Pressure (Force Per Unit Area) Exerted in the Direction of Airflow and the Air Movement Force.
Static Pressure
In contrast to the force exerted by the wind or air in motion, air at rest can exert a force within any confined or enclosed space. Compressed air within an inflated tire exerts a force on the entire internal surface of the tire and the resulting force enables the tire to maintain its shape even when subjected to a heavy load. The force of air that is not due to its motion is also expressed in terms of force per unit area but it is termed static pressure. Static pressure is not the result of air movement. There may be no movement of the air in a tire or in a compressed air tank, yet air pressure most definitely exists. Unlike total pressure, static pressure is exerted in all directions as illustrated in Figure 17.
44
STATIC PRESSURE
LAB0190R1
Figure 17. Static Pressure is Force Per Unit Area Exerted Equally in All Directions and Not Caused by Air Movement.
Now, consider what happens when air in a confined area (such as a ventilation system duct) is put in motion. In a confined area, air in motion has both a total pressure and a static pressure component, and each of these components can be individually measured. However, to measure the static pressure of a moving air stream, care must be used to ensure that the pressure measurement is made perpendicular to the direction of air movement to exclude the effect of the total pressure component. If airflow in a duct is totally stopped by an obstruction (such as a fully closed damper) there can no longer be any force component due to air movement. However, even though the air is no longer moving, it still exerts static pressure in all directions (even in its previous forward direction). If you tried to measure the total pressure component (in the direction of normal airflow), you would receive a value that equals the static pressure. Therefore, total pressure equals static pressure when air is at rest. The static pressure that still exists does not result from air movement, but rather from the force that is being imposed upon the air. In ventilation systems the ventilation systems fans typically create this force.
Velocity Pressure
As previously stated, air can have two distinct measurable pressure components: Static pressure Total pressure
45
In still (non-moving) air the total pressure equals the static pressure. The total pressure in a moving air stream is always greater than its static pressure. If the static pressure value of a moving air stream is subtracted from the total pressure value, the resulting difference is called the velocity pressure. This velocity pressure component bears a relationship to the speed or velocity of the moving air stream. Thus, its value provides a means to determine the velocity of a moving air stream. Figure 18 illustrates the relationship of total pressure, static pressure, and velocity pressure in a moving air stream.
AIRFLOW IN DUCT
LAB0191R1
VELOCITY PRESSURE
46
Air Velocity
Air Velocity
As illustrated in Figure 18, pressure measurement instruments can determine both the total pressure and static pressure of an airstream in a duct. Subtracting the static pressure value from the total pressure value yields the velocity pressure, which, in turn, enables the velocity of the air stream to be determined. When air is rapidly flowing through a duct, it typically has a significant total pressure as evidenced by the force exerted in the direction it is moving. When air flowing through a duct is discharged into a room, its forward motion is significantly reduced while, due to the laws of physics (conservation of energy), its static pressure is increased. Then the difference between the total pressure and static pressure (the velocity pressure) becomes very small and, practically speaking, becomes nearly zero. Thus, the static pressure and total pressure become nearly equal as air enters a room, and for this reason, a rooms air pressure component can normally be considered to be only the static pressure.
NOTE:
If psi units were used instead of inches of water, 0.01 inches w.c. and 0.05 inches w.c. would have to be expressed as 0.000361 psi and 0.001805 psi respectively. Such small numerical values would be very cumbersome to use.20
19 20
In SI units the kiloPascal (kPa) is the normal unit of pressure measurement. (1.0 psi equals 6.89 kPa.) A pressure of 1.0 psi is equivalent to the force produced by a column of water 27.72 inches in height over a given area. Therefore, a column of water 1.00 inches in height would be fractionally equivalent to 1/27.72 of 1.0 psi or 0.0361 psi. A pressure of only 0.01 inch of water then becomes 0.000361 psi.
47
Differential Pressure
A pressure measurement is always a measurement of the pressure difference between two points or locations. Every pressure measurement can be termed a differential pressure measurement. In most instances, a plainly visible barrier separates the two locations. For example, when measuring automobile tire pressure, the measurement is the difference between the pressure inside the tire and atmospheric pressure outside the tire (with the tire wall being the barrier). Similarly, boiler steam pressure is a measurement of the difference between the pressure inside the boiler and atmospheric pressure outside of the boiler. In these and most other common pressure measurements, it is generally understood that the pressure value is the difference between the measured pressure and atmospheric pressure. Also, in most common pressure measurements it is usually apparent which location is at the higher pressure. For example, the pressure inside a steam pipe or inside an inflated tire is higher than outside of the pipe or tire. When referring to ventilation system pressures (typically room static pressure), it is usually necessary to indicate the two locations that comprise the pressure measurement since this is not always apparent. It is also necessary to use a positive or negative prefix to indicate which location is at the higher or lower pressure. Thus, when referring to the static pressures associated with ventilation systems, it is usually necessary to add a prefix. The prefix positive indicates that the point or location is at the higher pressure, while the prefix negative indicates that the area or location is at the lower pressure.
48
Table 4 lists velocity pressures and the corresponding airflow velocities for the typical range of ventilation airflows. Table 4. Velocity Pressure vs. Airflow Velocity21 Velocity Pressure Inches W. C.
0.0050 0.0100 0.0150 0.0200 0.0250 0.0300 0.0350 0.0400 0.0450 0.0500 0.0600 0.0700 0.0800 0.0900 0.1000 0.1100 0.1200
Pascals
Pascals
1.2444 2.4884 3.7326 4.9768 6.2210 7.4651 8.7093 9.9535 11.1977 12.4119 14.9303 17.4187 19.9070 22.3954 24.8838 27.3722 29.8605
32.3489 34.8373 37.3257 39.8141 42.3024 44.7908 47.2793 49.7676 62.2095 74.6514 87.0933 99.5352 111.9770 124.4190 136.8610 149.3030
21
Data applies to standard air at. 29.92 Inches of Mercury (Hg) and 70 F which equals 0.0750 lbs./ft (101.32 kPa & 21.1 C = 3 1.20 kg/m )
49
50
Glossary
Airflow Tracking (Flow Tracking)
A means of maintaining a positive or negative static pressure in a particular room with respect to an adjoining room, corridor, or building exterior. Airflow tracking consists of always maintaining a fixed amount of airflow difference between the total supply air and total exhaust air provided by the room or space ventilation system. Although the specific room supply and exhaust airflow may periodically change, airflow tracking maintains a constant airflow (cfm or l/s) differential. By maintaining more supply airflow than exhaust, a room is maintained at a positive static pressure with respect to a non-pressurized adjacent space. By maintaining less supply airflow than exhaust, a room is maintained at a negative static pressure with respect to a non-pressurized adjoining space.
Manometer
Instrument for measuring relatively low pressures as are commonly associated with ventilation system airflow. A manometer consists of a transparent vertical or slanted tube containing a liquid (oil, water, or mercury). A manometer is an accurate and very repeatable means of pressure measurement since it does not have any mechanical or electrical components. As such, it is not subject to deterioration in accuracy (drift) due to the effects of component wear and aging as is the case with instruments utilizing springs, gears, levers, and various electrical components. However, due to the difficulty in reading very small pressure values, manometers are not well suited for the very low pressure measurements that are typically associated with room pressurization (for example, 0.01 inches w.c.).
Glossary-1
Pascals (Pa)
SI unit to express relatively low air pressure values as is the case in ventilation system applications. One Pascal is much less than 1 inch w.c. (I/P unit for low pressure values) since 248.8378822 Pascals equal 1 inch w.c. In clean room pressure applications a typical room static pressure level of 0.050 inches w.c. would equate to approximately 12.4 Pascals. For higher pressures the Kilopascal (KPa) unit, which equals 1000 Pascals, is more commonly used. One psi is equal to approximately 6.895 KPa.
Pitot Tube
Standard design for an air pressure measurement probe used to measure total and static pressures of a moving air stream. For pressure measurement in ventilation system ducts, a pitot tube provides two pressure measurement outputs. One output is the full forward pressure of a moving air stream and is termed total pressure. The outer output is the air stream that is perpendicular (crosswise) to the direction of airflow and is termed the static pressure of the air stream. By connecting a differential pressure gauge (a manometer) to the two pitot tube measurement outputs, the difference between them, termed the velocity pressure, is obtained. Velocity pressure is mathematically related to the velocity of a moving air stream and provides a convenient way to determine the airflow velocity in FPM (I/P units) or m/s (SI units).
22
2-Glossary
Glossary
Static Pressure
Pressure exerted by air at rest or the force of air that is exerted perpendicular to the direction of airflow when air movement is present. Static pressure is not a resultant of air movement. The static pressure of an air stream will approach maximum value when the airflow velocity is reduced to zero by an obstruction such as a closed damper in a duct.
Total Pressure
Maximum pressure of a moving air stream that is exerted in the direction of airflow. Total pressure is measured by sampling the pressure directly in line with the normal direction of airflow. The total pressure of a moving air stream is always higher than the static pressure, since total pressure also adds the force produced by the moving air stream. As airflow velocity falls, total pressure also falls until at zero velocity the total pressure equals the static pressure.
Velocity Pressure
Mathematical difference between the total pressure and static pressure of a moving air stream. It is the additional pressure component that the moving air stream exerts in the direction it is moving due to its mass.
Glossary-3
4-Glossary
Index
A
ACH........................ See Room Ventilation Rate Air Velocity .....................................................47 airflow tracking ........ 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28 Airflow Tracking Control Considerations...............................19 Airlock Construction .......................................38 Airlocks...........................................................34 Animal Holding Rooms ....................................7
G
Glossary of Pressurization Terms ................... 1
H
Health Care Facilities............................... 17, 27 HEPA filters...................................................... 6 Hospitals .......................................................... 7
I
Inches of Water.............................................. 14 Infectious Isolation Room Layout .................. 28 anteroom .................................................... 28 patient room ............................................... 28 Infectious Isolation Rooms............................. 27 inside air quality ............................................... 4 Intended Audience........................................... 2 Isolation Room Changeover .......................... 30
B
Biological Laboratories.....................................5 biological laboratory rooms ............................16 Biosafety Level 1 (BL-1)...................................6 Biosafety Level 2 (BL-2)...................................6 Biosafety Level 3 (BL-3)...................................6 Biosafety Level 4 (BL-4)...................................7 buffer zones .....................................................8 Building Pressurization ....................................4
L
Laboratories ................................................... 17 leakage area ..11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 34, 38, 39, 40 Leakage Area ................................................ 15
C
cascaded pressure control.............................24 Cascaded Pressure Control...........................24 Cascading Pressure Airlock...........................34 Chemical Laboratories .....................................5 Clean Room Static Pressure Control .............40 Clean Rooms .............................................8, 30 Designs.......................................................34 Pressurization Applications ........................33 Standards ...................................................32 constant air volume ........................................26 Constant Air Volume ......................................21 Control System Components .........................41
M
moving air stream .......................................... 46
N
negatively pressurized room.......................... 12
P
Particulate Contamination.............................. 30 sources....................................................... 30 Pascals .................................... 9, 14, 34, 40, 50 positively pressurized room ........................... 12 potent compound ........................................... 35 Potent Compound Airlock .............................. 35 Pressure Bubble Airlock ................................ 34 Pressure Components ................................... 48 Summary .................................................... 48 Pressure Sink Airlock..................................... 34 Pressurization Applications ............................. 3 Preventing Room Contamination................... 26 Protective Isolation Rooms ............................ 27 Layout......................................................... 29 protective patient isolation rooms See Protective Isolation Rooms
D
Differential Pressure.......................................48 Direct Pressure Control..................................21 Direct Pressure Control Limitations ...............23 Door Effects ...................................................23 door leakage areas ........................................38 Dual Pressurization Laboratories...................25
F
fixed offset value ............................................25 Forces Exerted by Air.....................................43 fume hood exhaust airflow .............................24
Index-1
R
room differential pressure ............14, 16, 19, 20 room leakage ...................11, 14, 15, 16, 39, 40 Room Pressure Monitors ...............................29 Room Pressurization Applications ..................................................5 Control ........................................................42 Design Criteria............................................11 Factors........................................................15 Reference Data ..........................................14 Room Static Pressure Control .......................17 Room Ventilation Rate ...................................22
T
Total Pressure ................................... 43, 44, 48
U
Units of Pressure Measurement .................... 47
V
Variable Air Volume ....................................... 21 VAV............................. See Variable Air Volume VAV Fume Hood Effects................................ 23 Velocity Pressure..................... 4, 43, 45, 48, 50 measurable pressure components............. 45 Static pressure ........................................... 45 Total pressure ............................................ 45 ventilation airflows ......................................... 50 typical range ............................................... 50 Ventilation and Control System Application................................. 28, 30
S
Static Pressure.3, 13, 17, 27, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48 static pressure relationship ............................20
Index-2
Notes
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Notes
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