The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineering (ASHRAE), based in the USA, and with delegations in most countries around the world, has awarded funding to the University of the Algarve to design and build an aerodynamic tunnel with air recirculation.
This tunnel will provide better conditions for research in the area of industrial aerodynamics and the development and calibration of sensors for measuring air velocity, and will increase the quality of teaching in these areas.
The originality of the project and the methods applied in the construction of the equipment has already given rise to the development of a new patent, informs the website of the University of Algarve.
According to Eusébio Conceição, professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology and project coordinator, “this originality is related to the use of more accessible materials and a longer lifespan in the expansion chamber, concentration chamber and recirculation area ”.
In turn, explains the professor, “in the expansion chamber, deflectors were used, strategically placed, in order to ensure a more uniform expansion, with less pressure loss. In the contraction, a ratio (of 1:6) was used that allows for lower pressure losses (since, in the network, placed in the largest dimension, the velocity value is six times lower than in the test zone) and a more uniform flow , with lower levels of turbulence intensity, in the testing area”.
Finally, the coordinator adds, "the recirculation zone takes advantage of the entire flow of the test zone, which guarantees not only lower air currents inside the laboratory, but also a better use of energy by the system, featuring a design and dimensions that allow lower pressure losses, with a more uniform flow.
“The construction of this tunnel was carried out using a computer program, which simulates the dynamic flow inside it, taking into account equations for the conservation of mass, energy and momentum. All the details were analyzed in detail before its construction”, concludes Eusébio Conceição.
This funding was awarded to the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Algarve and the regional delegation of ASHRAE Students in Faro, also installed in this Faculty.
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