Frazer-Nash can help you understand and improve the performance, operation and safety of complex and high-assurance ventilation systems, and support the safety justifications for these systems.
Ventilation System Design: Our approach to ventilation system design is similar to our approach for process systems (see {link to Process Engineering -> Fluid System Design and Analysis}), with due consideration for the specificities of HVAC systems.
System Performance Analysis: We can predict the performance of HVAC systems using a range of tools, from hand calculations and whole-system modelling tools to detailed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis if required. Examples of common scenarios include:
- Performing overall aeraulic performance analysis of ventilation systems, either in support of design of new plant or modification or fault finding for existing plant, to understand pressures and flows throughout the system,
- Predicting the dilution of tracer gases or particulates throughout a ventilation systems,
- Understanding fault or accident scenarios (such as depressurisation, see below).
Depressurisation Analysis: Ventilation systems may be dual purpose, acting to maintain an environment during normal operation, but also support depressurisation of facilities following a failure. We can help understand the performance of ventilation systems in these scenarios, including:
- Characterising the overall system performance across a range of system configurations, considering aeraulic performance and the impact of control functions,
- Evaluating the impact of changes in pressure, temperature and velocity throughout the ventilation network.
Spatial Ventilation Performance: It may be necessary to understand in detail how ventilation flows behave within rooms or plant areas. We have extensive experience of using proportionate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis in these situations to:
- Understand how effectively ventilation systems disperse and remove dangerous or explosive substances from a plant area, and whether concentrations at sensor locations support detection,
- Predict the detailed heat transfer in areas of plant or control rooms to assess temperatures of critical equipment,
- Visualise the flow through complex components and determine associated pressure losses.