Chapter8.

fm Page 174 Thursday, October 5, 2017 4:42 PM

Figure 8.18
To Obtain a
Pressure
Differential,
Air Has to Leak
Between
Rooms by an
Offset Flow to
Allow Air
Surplus in
One Room
and Deficit in
Another

equations that describe the relationships among leakage opening size, leakage flow rate,
and pressure differential across the opening.

8.5.3 EQUATIONS TO CALCULATE LEAKAGE AIRFLOW

THROUGH AIR LOCK DOORS
To study air lock performance quantitatively, one has to analyze the airflow leakage
through doors in both closed and open conditions. Commonly the “power equation” is
used:

Q = C   P  n (8.7)

where
Q = volumetric flow rate, cfm (L/s)
C = flow coefficient, cfm/(in. of water)n (L/s per Pan)
P
 = pressure drop across opening, in. of water (Pa)
n = flow exponent, dimensionless

This equation is used to describe air leakage through irregular cracks, such as an air
gap between a door and its frame or through joints between floor and walls, walls and
ceiling, ceiling tiles and ceiling grids, and wall penetrations for ductwork, conduits and
piping, etc.
Another single parameter to quantify the leakage opening is the effective leakage area
(ELA). The definition of ELA and its data tables for building components can be found in
ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals (ASHRAE 2017). Once a Q-  P data set is obtained,
C and n can be calculated as follows (Sun 2005):

 m m
 m


 ln Q k   ln P k – m 

  ln Q k  ln P k 
k=1 k=1 k=1
n = -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- (8.8)
m 2 m
 


 ln P k – m 

  ln P k  2
k=1 k=1

174 ASHRAE Design Guide for Cleanrooms