Rooftop Turbine Ventilator: A Review and Update

Abstract

As an alternative to air-conditioning systems, the rooftop turbine ventilator now is not only widely accepted as industrial ventilation, but also has become a common ventilation feature used in other types of buildings including institutional, commercial and residential. Although it is often thought to be very effective even in the lightest wind conditions, but many scientific studies found that its actual performance in the real building is not very promising due to some outdoor climatic constraints and the weaknesses of the device’s configuration itself. Therefore, in order to describe its full characteristics, reliability, limitations and possible improvement of the device, this paper discusses the current development and future prospects of the turbine ventilator by elaborating the results of some experimental and analytical work that have been done in various aspects of its application and performance. The analysis and summarized findings presented in this paper also recommend some criteria that should be considered in designing future turbine ventilator which is not only ventilate well in high-wind speed region, but also could be an effective multifunction device even in low wind velocity region.