For flue gas stacks and chimneys, where air is on the outside and combustion flue gases are

on the inside, the equations will only provide an approximation and h is the height of the flue gas stack or chimney.

SI units: where: P = available pressure difference, in Pa C = 0.0342 a = atmospheric pressure, in Pa h = height or distance, in m To = absolute outside temperature, in K Ti = absolute inside temperature, in K U.S. customary units: where: P = available pressure difference, in psi C = 0.0188 a = atmospheric pressure, in psi h = height or distance, in ft To = absolute outside temperature, in R Ti = absolute inside temperature, in R

The flow induced by the stack effect

The draft (draught in British English) flow rate induced by the stack effect can be calculated with the equation presented below.[2][3][4] The equation applies only to buildings where air is both inside and outside the buildings. For buildings with one or two floors, h is the height of the building and A is the flow area of the openings. For multi-floor, high-rise buildings, A is the flow area of the openings and h is the distance from the openings at the neutral pressure level (NPL) of the building to either the topmost openings or the lowest openings. Reference[2] explains how the NPL affects the stack effect in high-rise buildings. For flue gas stacks or chimneys, where air is on the outside and combustion flue gases are on the inside, the equation will only provide an approximation. Also, A is the cross-sectional flow area and h is the height of the flue gas stack or chimney.

SI units: where: Q = stack effect draft (draught in British English) flow rate, m/s

A C g h Ti To

= flow area, m = discharge coefficient (usually taken to be from 0.65 to 0.70) = gravitational acceleration, 9.81 m/s = height or distance, m = average inside temperature, K = outside air temperature, K

U.S. customary units: where: Q = stack effect draft flow rate, ft/s A = area, ft C = discharge coefficient (usually taken to be from 0.65 to 0.70) g = gravitational acceleration, 32.17 ft/s h = height or distance, ft Ti = average inside temperature, R To = outside air temperature, R This equation assumes that the resistance to the draft flow is similar to the resistance of flow through an orifice characterized by a discharge coefficient C.

The stack effect in chimneys: the gauges represent absolute air pressure and the airflow is indicated with light grey arrows. The gauge dials move clockwise with increasing pressure