A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Coupled thermodynamic and biologic modelling of Legionella pneumophila proliferation in domestic hot water systems
The production of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) dominates the total energy demand. One of the main reasons for the high energy demand is that DHW is stored and distributed at temperatures above 55°C to mitigate the risk of infecting the DHW system with Legionella Pneumophila. At these temperatures, Legionella bacteria are effectively killed. For most of the applications of DHW, temperatures of only 30-40°C are required. This disparity (between 55 and 30-40°C) doubles the temperature difference between the DHW system and the environment and has a detrimental effect on the efficiency of DHW production units. A simulation model will be developed that allows to investigate the infection risk for Legionella in the design phase of a DHW system and to test the effectiveness of disinfection techniques on an infected system. In addition to the modeling work, a test rig will be built and the relevant temperature and use profiles will be measured in DHW systems of several buildings. With the thermodynamically validated model, the Legionella infection risk of 5 to 10 DHW system configurations will be assessed and new design guidelines will be proposed based on an optimization study that looks for the trade-off between infection risk and energy efficiency.
Coupled thermodynamic and biologic modelling of Legionella pneumophila proliferation in domestic hot water systems
The production of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) dominates the total energy demand. One of the main reasons for the high energy demand is that DHW is stored and distributed at temperatures above 55°C to mitigate the risk of infecting the DHW system with Legionella Pneumophila. At these temperatures, Legionella bacteria are effectively killed. For most of the applications of DHW, temperatures of only 30-40°C are required. This disparity (between 55 and 30-40°C) doubles the temperature difference between the DHW system and the environment and has a detrimental effect on the efficiency of DHW production units. A simulation model will be developed that allows to investigate the infection risk for Legionella in the design phase of a DHW system and to test the effectiveness of disinfection techniques on an infected system. In addition to the modeling work, a test rig will be built and the relevant temperature and use profiles will be measured in DHW systems of several buildings. With the thermodynamically validated model, the Legionella infection risk of 5 to 10 DHW system configurations will be assessed and new design guidelines will be proposed based on an optimization study that looks for the trade-off between infection risk and energy efficiency.
Coupled thermodynamic and biologic modelling of Legionella pneumophila proliferation in domestic hot water systems
Van Kenhove, Elisa (author) / Janssens, Arnold (author) / Laverge, Jelle (author) / De Vlieger, Peter (author)
2015-01-01
Healthy Buildings Conference
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
690
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