Negative Pressure Ventilation System

Abstract

The purpose is to remove viruses and other airborne germs from public and private buildings, rooms, dwellings, and enclosures by lowering the air pressure of the entire building and directing contaminated air out of the building. By installing a negative pressure vent system, at strategic locations, this contaminated air will keep moving until captured and removed by the ductwork from rooms. This strategic location is found using smoke or laser lights. By installing fresh air ducts at strategic locations air flow speed and direction may be controlled thereby keeping contaminated air away from non-contaminated persons.

Claims

1. This is a Negative Pressure Ventilation System (NPVS) designed by the applicant using mapping techniques, to remove germs and viruses which contaminate the air inside buildings, by creating negative pressure at specific locations and expelling the contaminated air to the atmosphere. The discovery that negative pressure draws fresh air into the building and can be channeled back out of the building is a system discovered solely by the applicant.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0004] FIG. 1 is the plan view of a typical 130′×40′ building. Label 100 locates air intake vents. Unlabeled arrows show the direction of air flow, labels 101 are hatched areas and are the intake ventilation ducts. Label 102 is the exhaust fan.

[0005] FIG. 2 shows the end view of this particular building sitting on natural ground. Label 200 shows a vent that allows fresh air to enter the building from a strategic location. Label 201 points to the location of the Negative Pressure Intake vent which has been placed in a centralized location where the warmest air has a natural tendency to flow. Unlabeled arrows indicate the direction of airflow, and hatched areas are the ventilation ducts. Label 202 is the exhaust fan.

[0006] FIG. 3 is the profile view of the existing building sitting on natural ground. Label 300 shows contaminated air being drawn from the people in the room exhaling warm air which naturally rises. Label 301 shows the location of the contaminated air being drawn into the ventilation ducts due to negative pressure, which have been located at the most centralized location possible. Label 302 points to the exhaust fan which has been matched to room size according to the graph of FIG. 4-A.

[0007] FIG. 4-A is an empirical graph plotting CFM fan required vs. Cubic Feet of room volume. This is for rooms below 60,000 cubic feet

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Just a small difference of temperature is enough to cause warmer air to rise. As people breath air at room temperature air enters the lungs where oxygen is removed and replaced with CO2 which is about 98 degrees F.°. Expelled air is heated above room temperature so it begins to rise (FIG. 3—300). This exhaled air also contains viruses, germs, and other contaminates from infected persons. By placing negative pressure ventilation ducts at strategic locations, typically near the ceiling area (FIG. 3-301 & FIG. 1—101), contaminated air can be removed before recirculation by the existing Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. Exhausted air can be filtered or expelled into the atmosphere where viruses and other germs can hardly survive (FIG. 3—302, & FIG. 1—102).

[0009] Air movement is accomplished by appropriately sized negative pressure exhaust fans which will not remove air too quickly, thereby removing hot/cool air which is conditioned by the HVAC unit if there is one. Since most existing HVAC units only recirculate air, a fresh air intake may need to be added at a strategic location (FIG. 2—200).

[0010] When infected persons cough or breathe, air from the lungs rises because it is warmer than air at room temperature. By installing a negative pressure vent at strategic locations this contaminated air will keep moving until captured and removed by the ducts from the room (FIG. 2—201). This strategic location is found using smoke and/or laser lights. By installing fresh air ducts at strategic locations air flow speed and direction may be controlled thereby keeping contaminated air away from non-contaminated persons. This “system” is for existing as well as new construction. This system includes evaluation, mapping of air circuits, installation, and verification on existing structures. It should be included in HVAC system drawings in new structures.