Preventing the entry of outdoor particles with the indoor positive pressure control method: Analysis of influencing factors and cost

Maintaining positive pressure indoors with a mechanical ventilation system is a popular control method for preventing the entry of outdoor airborne particles. This paper analyzes the factors which affect the satisfied superfluous airflow rates of positive pressure control. Through modeling a large amount of cases with a validated model, the factors, e.g. temperature difference, outdoor wind velocity, effective air leakage gaps in the envelopes, the area of the air leakage and the room, were analyzed. Based on the theoretical model, a correlating equation to calculate the satisfied superfluous airflow rate was established by multiple full quadratic regressions. The correlating equation is simple for engineers or designers to use to determine the satisfied superfluous airflow rate. This paper also aims to find which method, pressure control or indoor air cleaning, costs less to prevent the same amount of outdoor-originated particles from entering indoor environments. Generally speaking, indoor air cleaning control method requires less supply airflow rate than positive pressure control method for reducing the concentration of indoor particles with outdoor origin. An exception for this is a situation with a very low indoor/outdoor particle concentration (I/O ratio) requirement.