ASHRAE Journal - October 2019 - 85

RESEARCH REPORT

Research Projects
1196-RP

(The Research Strategic Plan is available at www.ashrae.org/research.)

Develop Software to Calculate the Application
Seasonal Efficiency of Commercial Space Heating
Boiler Systems Based on ASHRAE Standard 155P

September 2000 - July 2020 (P) Completion tied to Standard 155) Iowa State University, Principal Investigator, Ron Nelson TC 6.1, Hydronic and Steam Equipment and Systems

Boilers are estimated to account for 42% of space heating energy use in the
commercial and multifamily sectors in the U.S. Signiﬁcant energy savings could be
achieved in commercial and multifamily buildings by optimizing the selection of commercial boiler systems in new buildings and at the time of boiler replacement. Currently,
however, commercial boilers and all other types of commercial heating equipment are
rated only in terms of steady-state efﬁciency at full load, which does not provide a
meaningful indication of relative operating costs. The objective of this research project
is to develop user-friendly windows-based software will greatly accelerate adoption
of seasonal efﬁciency analysis for commercial boiler systems. A signiﬁcant obstacle
to the use of any new standard is the learning curve for users to become familiar
with the new terminology and inputs and learn how to do the computations. With this
software, the level of effort required of new users of the standard will be dramatically
reduced and can be focused on the more important tasks of evaluating outputs and
developing an intuitive sense of the factors that affect the seasonal efﬁciency of
commercial boiler systems.

1262-RP

Relate Air Quality and Other Factors to Comfort and
Health Related Symptoms Reported by Passengers
and Crew on Commercial Transport Aircraft Part 2)

January 2007 - December 2019 (P); Battelle Memorial; Principal Investigator, Ann Louise
Sumner and Ryan R. James, Ph.D.; TC 9.3, Transportation Air Conditioning

The principal aim of this research project is to relate perceptions of discomfort or
health related symptoms of ﬂight attendants and passengers to possible causal factors,
including cabin and bleed air quality and other factors such as reduced air pressure, jet
lag, inactivity, humidity, ﬂight attendant duty schedule and fatigue, circadian rhythm,
stress and noise. In particular, the following speciﬁc objectives are to be addressed
in Part 2 of this project:
* Measure and characterize contaminants in cabin air that are introduced via
ECS in a variety of airplane types;
* Measure and characterize contaminants in cabin air that are not introduced
via ECS. Ventilation rates shall be assessed;
* Quantify the effect of aircraft type, maintenance, APU, engine age and
operations-related parameters on cabin and bleed air quality; and Investigate
relationship of the measured cabin air contaminants, ventilation rates and
other factors with reported symptoms among passengers and ﬂight crew.

1579-RP

Testing and Evaluation of Ozone Removal Air
Cleaning Devices for Improving IAQ

January 2019 - February 2020; University Texas Austin; Principal Investigator, Richard Corsi;
TC 2.3, Gaseous Air Contaminant/ Removal Equipment); Co-sponsor, Environmental Health Committee EHC), and SSPC 62.1

ASHRAE Standard 62.1 requires reduction of ozone in ventilation air under NAAQS
nonattainment conditions. Therefore, building design professionals, ﬁlter manufacturers,
and building owners and operators are in critical need of information relating to the

performance of ozone removal devices under a variety of environmental conditions for
both design and operating requirements. In the future, there may possibly be a parallel
requirement for residences in Standard 62.2. It is anticipated that the testing will utilize
existing laboratory test rigs with modiﬁcations depending on types of devices selected).
This will help to keep costs down and increase acceptance of the results in the industry.

1604-RP

Demand Based Flow Control for Cleanrooms

September 2011- January 2020 (P); Engsysco, Inc.; Principal Investigator, Wei Sun; TC 9.11,
(Clean Spaces)

Very little research has been done on dynamic control of airﬂow to control particles in
cleanrooms - matching airﬂow to the desired contamination limits. The high energy use
and resulting cost for typical systems today and concern over availability of electricity
suggests that the ventilation rate should be adjusted in order to achieve the desired
cleanliness yet minimizing excess airﬂow.
Up till now, this technology was not applied, as real time particle measurement
systems did not have both sufﬁcient precision, reliability, and cost effectiveness, and
controls did not have adequate reaction time. Also, owners and operators of industrial
cleanrooms have been hesitant to make changes to the air exchange rates in cleanrooms
due to misconceptions that varying ﬂow rates through cleanroom ﬁlters will disrupt the
ﬂow and cause particle counts to increase.
The main objective of this project is to establish a scientiﬁc approach to implement
demand-controlled ﬁltration ventilation rate) for cleanrooms for the two cleanroom
classes ISO, 7 and 8, 10 000 and 100 000) that have the broadest application. For
example, these two classes comprise 85 to 90% of pharmaceutical class rooms.
Based on the results of this research, a future project could well research applying
this approach to other more stringent classes.

1614-RP

Developing a Test Method to Determine the
Effectiveness of UVC Systems on Commercial
Cooking Effluent

September 2017 - August 2019 (P); Syracuse University; Principal Investigator, Jianshun
Jiang; TC 5.10, Kitchen Ventilation

If the photochemical and oxidative processes taking place within a UV system
are proven to be effective and safe, a UV system can offer many beneﬁts. These
beneﬁts include: reduced duct cleaning intervals, a decreased likelihood of a duct ﬁre,
increased commercial kitchen ventilation heat exchanger efﬁciencies, and possible
reductions of VOC's and grease particulate emissions. Quantitative testing will allow
for a recommendation to be made on how effective a UV system will be when installed
and quantify the beneﬁts based on data from third party analysis.

1644-RP

Smoke Control in Long Atria

September 2019 - November 2020; Jensen Hughes; Principal Investigator, Jennifer Wiley; TC
5.6 (Control of Fire and Smoke)

An increasing number of large building complexes are being constructed to include
long atrium spaces. Airport terminals, shopping malls, conference centers, hotels, and
sports arenas are examples of facilities with long atria, and all these facilities have
high population concentrations. With the present level of knowledge, it is impossible
O C T O B E R 2 0 19

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ASHRAE Journal - October 2019

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