Application of the Chimney Cap as a Method of Improving the Effectiveness of Natural Ventilation in Buildings

Abstract

Adequately designed natural ventilation is the cheapest and easiest way to effectively remove indoor pollutants and keep the air inside a building fresh. A prediction of the performance and effectiveness of ventilation in order to determine the design of a ventilation system can provide real and long-term cost savings. The worst time in terms of the efficiency of natural ventilation is the spring-autumn transition period [7]. In order to improve the efficiency of natural ventilation, chimney caps are used, among others. They are designed to improve the chimney effect described in colloquial language as a chimney draft. The chimney effect is a physical phenomenon of the formation of a spontaneous flow of a warmer gas, e.g. air, from the bottom up in stem channels [12]. The article analyses the influence of the chimney cowl on the improvement of the chimney effect in an apartment of a multi-family building with natural ventilation. Long-term tests of the chimney draft were carried out for the case without and with a chimney cap. The paper presents the results of the performance (air change rate, ACH) of natural ventilation for a building with an inlet gap measured for the transitional season (between the heating and the summer season). The measurements were performed during a windy period.

Keywords

• natural ventilation
• chimney cap
• ach
• wind effect
• effectiveness