Purpose

Provide CASE with a modular test chamber to assess the impact of a variety of new technologies on environmental conditions and indoor air quality.

Technical Approach

• Analyze the effect of fan location and design on air flow in chamber
• Design and fabricate traverse insertion panel
• Update LabVIEW code for traverse movement and sensor analysis
• Design, construct, and perform thermal analysis on a scaled occupied office setting
• Design and fabricate a raised plenum ceiling for multiple configurations
• Simulate airflow and pressure drop ratings of ceiling panel models

Accomplishments

• Fabricated an airtight panel for the traverse to perform its measurements
• Designed and fabricated two versions of plenum ceilings
• Ran infiltration analysis on the fully constructed chamber
• Applied the simulated designs for airflow trajectory and pressure effects for a fan, diffuser and plenum inlet
• Rewrote the LabVIEW code to enable three-axis movement by the traverse as well as the data acquisition program
• Simulations and models for surface roughness to assess the effects on airflow
• Performed temperature and relative humidity testing on the effect of heating elements