Enquiries

Dr Paul Hayden

paul.hayden@ncas.ac.uk

01483 689545

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Measurement Type

Instruments:

Instrument Support Level


Daily Facility Charge

£70

Calendar

Calendar 2:
Environmental Flow (EnFlo) Wind Tunnel

Environmental Flow (EnFlo) Wind Tunnel

The EnFlo Wind Tunnel is situated in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Surrey.

The EnFlo laboratory was established so that a wide range of atmospheric boundary layer conditions could be simulated at a laboratory scale applied to the study of flow and dispersion processes. The EnFlo wind tunnel is the only wind tunnel in the UK, and one of a few worldwide, designed specifically for this purpose. It has a working section that is 20 m long, 1.5 m high and 3.5 m wide.

The inlet contains a heating section that can raise the temperature of the incoming airflow and the working section is built from a roof, floor and wall surfaces that can be either heated or cooled. In this way, stable or unstable conditions can be imposed on the flow through the working section. The airflow itself is driven by twin fans in the outlet section, and between the working and outlet sections is a heat exchanger that removes the heat added to the flow and returns the temperature to that of the laboratory, through which the flow recirculates to the inlet.

Atmospheric boundary layer simulation is based on Monin-Obhukov similarity and this implies that the tunnel must operate at low speeds, with the range being from 0.5 to 5 ms-1. Associated with low flow speeds are large temperature gradients and surface heat transfer rates, necessary to impose stability effects, stable and unstable. the chilled water system provides the cooling capability, whereas heating is electrical and can be profiled both at the inlet and over the working section surfaces. Temperature differences between the surface and flow can exceed 100 K, limited by the total power consumption.

The working section is fitted with two, three – dimensional traverse gears capable of accessing most of the section. A turntable is centred 14 m from the working section inlet. Associated instrumentation enables velocity, pressure, temperature, and tracer concentration fields to be measured, which includes the capability of measuring the correlations between these fields. Operation of the tunnel and all associated instrumentation is fully automated, allowing unmanned operation over extended periods. All data, along with comprehensive meta-data, are automatically archived.

Arriving
  • If you have any problems please contact Dr Paul Hayden on 01483 689545
Location on Campus
  • The EnFlo Laboratory is located on the ground floor of the AB building on the Stage hill campus of the University of Surrey in Guildford.
Getting to Campus
  • Travel and accommodation information can be obtained from the University of Surrey web site
  • Parking at the university is very limited. There are several pay-and-display car parks available. If you need to park, it’s probably best to contact your host.

The instrument scientist must be made aware of all visits to the ENFLO Laboratory.

The user must attend an introduction to the ENFLO Laboratory briefing, given by instrument scientist.

The user must prepare their own risk assessment and work plan. A template is provided for this.

Emergency Provision
  • There should be at least one first aider on-site at all times
  • First aid supplies are available on site.

Any large models owned by the user would need to be shipped to the following address

Environmental Flow Research Laboratory (EnFlo)
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (J5)
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7XH
UK

Location 05AB02

Mark all items for the attention of Dr Paul Hayden

Consumables
  • If bringing in additional instrumentation then all consumables and tools for that instrumentation should be provided. Gases could be provided at a cost.
Costs
  • Access charge
    • NERC grants: £70.00 per day (09:00 – 17:00, Mon – Fri).
    • All other circumstances please contact Dr Paul Hayden.
  • Instrument Insurance
    • The user must have comprehensive insurance for any kit they bring.
  • Public Liability Insurance
    • The AMOF is not liable for any damage or injury arising from the deployment or operation of this instrument when unattended by the instrument scientists.
  • Power
    • For equipment that uses more than 3kW/hr a rate of 20p kWhr will be charged. Please contact Instrument scientist for more details.
  • Gas Consumption
    • If EnFlo Laboratory supplied gases are to be used they will be charged for. Please contact Instrument scientist for more details.
  • Use of AMOF Personnel
    • There will be a cost for this. Please contact Instrument scientist for more details.
Shipping
  • The user is liable for all costs arising from the shipping of any instruments both to and from the EnFlo Laboratory.