Controlling Room Temperature: Is My Calculation Right?

[VooDoo]

I have a bit of a project to work on and wanted to find out if I am doing things correctly. A diesel engine is housed in a plant house and produces ~240kW of heat. Now I need to place a fan in here such that the temperature difference between the room and the outside is less than 5°C.

Firstly, is this possible without using some sort of vapour compression cycles.

This is what I did calculation wise.

Q= m*Cp*(T2-T1)

Q=240kW
Cp= specific heat of the moist air (calculated using psychometric chart)
T2-T1 = 5°C (difference between outside and inside temp)

From this I calculated “m”, which is what I believe the flow rate of the fan should be. Would this be reasonable?

I was speaking to someone and they told me install a fan that moves the volume of the room per second…eg. If room was 30m^3 volume fan capacity would be 30m^3/s. However, I think this is overkill.

Am I on the right track with my calculations? I know that the value of ‘m’ I calculate won't give me exactly a 5°C increase, but would it be a decent rough estimate?

 

[Valkarie]

Yes, your calculations are on the right track. The value of 'm' that you calculate should be a decent rough estimate for the flow rate of the fan needed to achieve the desired temperature difference. However, you should also consider other factors, such as air leakage, insulation, and air flow direction, which can all affect the performance of the fan. Additionally, you may need to adjust the fan speed or size if the conditions in the room change.