
However, the more time a small volume of air spends in a room, the more it
will be contaminated by pollutants.
Since there is a large number of air particles all taking different paths, we
define a probability density f(
r
) that the age of particles arriving at a given
location is between and þ d and, a probability F(
r
) that this age is
larger than . These two functions are, by definition, related by:
fð
r
Þ¼
dFð
r
Þ
d
and Fð
r
Þ¼1
ð
0
fðt
r
Þdt ð3:1Þ
The local mean age of air at a point r is defined by the average age of all the
air particles arriving at that point:
r
¼
ð
1
0
tf
r
ðtÞdt ¼
ð
1
0
F
r
ðtÞdt ð3:2Þ
The room mean age of air hi is defined by the average of the ages of all the
air particles in the room.
Nominal time constant
The nominal time constant,
n
, of a ventilated zone, is the ratio of its volume,
V, to the supplied fresh volume airflow rate, q, (including infiltration), or
the ratio of the mass of air contained in the space, M, to the mass airflow
rate, Q:
n
¼
V
q
¼
M
Q
ð3:3Þ
Its inverse is the specific airflow rate or air change rate, n.
If the room or ventilated zone has a defined air exhaust, Sandberg (198 4)
has shown that the nominal time constant is equal to the mean age of air at
this exhaust:
n
¼
e
ð3:4Þ
Air exchange efficiency
This efficiency expresses how the fresh air is distributed in the room. The
time,
a
, required on average to replace the air present in the space is twice
the room mean age of air (Sandberg and Sjo
¨
berg, 1983):
a
¼ 2hið3:5Þ
At a given flow rate and zone volume, the shortest time required to replace
the air within the space is given by the nominal time constant. Therefore, the
air exchange efficiency,
a
, is calculated by:
a
¼
n
2hi
ð3:6Þ
The air exchange efficiency is equal to one for piston-type ventilation, where
the exhaust is reached at a time correspon ding exactly to the nominal time
40 Ventilation and Airflow in Buildings
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