Improved design of dust test chamber for uniform distribution of dust sedimentation rate

Abstract

ABSTRACTSoiling problems are always encountered for equipment installed in outdoor environments, such as headlamps of automobiles, air conditioners, solar collectors, and so on. How to prevent soiling problems on this equipment is one of the challenges for the design of their external layouts. Thus, evaluations of the dust sedimentation quantities on the surfaces of such equipment are necessary. Outdoor testing is usually straightforward but it takes a long time to experience various environmental parameters, such as dust-laden air, wind speed, wind direction, and so on. Indoor tests, performed in a dust test chamber, are instruments for controlling various environmental parameters independently. The conventional design for a dust test chamber is aimed at providing for a test under extreme environmental conditions. The uniformity of dust sedimentation rate within the chamber is not rigorously controlled. Nevertheless, some applications such as the effect of dust sedimentation on the glazing of solar collector require uniform distribution of dustfall in the test chamber for the indoor (laboratory) test. An improved design for a conventional dust test chamber is proposed. Performance tests done with the remodeled dust test chamber based on the improved design show that the normalized standard deviation of the dustfall concentration can be controlled within 2.41% ± 1.29%.