Comments on the test of the DET AHU supply and return fan speeds.
Figure 1 and Figure 2. Spectrograms of the microphone in DET lab (*EDB_MIC*) during the main actions carried out in the morning and afternoon, respectively.
Figure 3. The plots show the environmental parameters in the DET lab during the fan speed test and over the following period, with the selected fans configuration (supply @27.5 Hz, return @13.8 Hz) kept overnight. Temperature, relative humidity, and pressure signals do not show significant fluctuations, indicating that the chosen configuration provides stable environmental conditions.
Figure 4. Increasing the supply fan speed results in a clear increase in acoustic noise, as observed in the RMS levels across different frequency bands (less clear in the 1–16 Hz band). When varying the return fan speed, the effect on acoustic noise is generally weaker. However, an increase in the RMS level in the 16–512 Hz band can be observed at higher return fan speeds.
Figure 5, 6, 7. With the return fan fixed at 13.8 Hz, reducing the supply fan speed down to ~22.7 Hz leads to acoustic noise levels that, up to a few hundred Hz, approach those measured with the system switched off (dashed black curve). When varying the return fan speed while keeping the supply fan fixed at a lower value than the reference (red curve, supply@31.8 Hz, return @13.8 Hz), a slight reduction in acoustic noise can also be achieved.
Figure 8. Reduction factor of the acoustic noise with respect to the reference configuration (supply @31.8Hz, return @13.8 Hz) during the test.
Figure 9. The figure shows a comparison of the acoustic noise inside the DET Lab during the last site-wide HVAC system switch-off (elog 68269). Switching off the DET AHUs (blue curve) reduces the acoustic noise inside the lab. A further reduction is achieved when the supply and return AHUs of the CEB hall are also switched off (green curve).
The table reports the air velocity and airflow values measured during the test.
| Reuturn fan frequency (Hz) | Supply fan frequency (Hz) | Supply air speed (m/s) | Supply air flux (m3/h) | Return air speed (m/s) | Return air flux (m3/h) |
| 13.8 (fixed) | 12.11 | 1.03 | 1298 | 0.1 | 126 |
| " | 15.8 | 1.49 | 1877 | 0.15 | 189 |
| " | 22.7 | 2.72 | 3427 | 0.33 | 416 |
| " | 29.5 | 3.4 | 4284 | 0.99 | 1247 |
| " | 36.7 | 4.3 | 5418 | 2.1 | 2646 |
| " | 46.7 | 4.8 | 6048 | 2.27 | 2860 |
| 18.2 | 24 (fixed) | 2.8 | 3528 | 0.26 | 328 |
| 26.1 | " | 2.85 | 3591 | 1.10 | 1386 |
| 13.8** | 27.5** | 2.9 | 3654 | 0.3 | 378 |
** Configuration left overnight and during the weekend
Duct area = (100 × 35) cm² = 0.35 m²
Airflow = duct area × air velocity × 3600