The 4 steps to define the capacity of your elevator in 15 minutes.

Learn how to define the capacity of your lift

KEVIN SANTIAGO CARREÑO GUTIÉRREZ

When you start to build your building, many technical or engineering questions arise that you must solve, one of these questions is: What capacity of elevators to choose?

At that moment you find that all the elevator companies ask you about (stops, capacity, dimensions of the gap among others), in the end you end up overwhelmed without having a clear path to start.

Therefore, it is very important that before you have received any calls or if you have already contacted you, you know which elevator is the right one for your building.

The methodology that we are going to use is the one used by Gina Barney and Richard Peters, their analysis is based on the amount of upward traffic in the building, that is, to provide an efficient solution for the number of people who need to be transported in a time range of 5 minutes in the elevator.

Therefore, the equation that you will have to solve is: The elevator solution (s) you choose should transport without any inconvenience the population of people who would arrive at the building in a time range of 5 minutes.

Main Formula 



HC5 = %POP



* %POP: It is the demand of passengers who arrive at the building in a time of 5 minutes.

*HC5: It is the ability to handle people in a time of 5 minutes, to handle the equation in seconds we convert 5 minutes into 300 seconds.

 

Elevator solution calculation (HC5) in a time of 5 minutes (300 seconds)


HC5 = 300xP / RTT : Solution for one (1) elevator.
HC5 = 300xPxL / RTT : Solution for more than one (1) elevator or group of elevators.

* P:  It is the average number of passengers inside the cabin at the main exit.
* RTT: It is the travel time, in seconds, of an elevator starting at the main stop.

* L: Number of elevators. 

Calculation of travel time (RTT) from main stop


HC5= 300 x P X L / (2Htv + (S+1)ts + 2Ptp) 

RTT = 2Htv + (S +`1) ts + 2Ptp 


*H: It is the average return time from the highest floor.
*tv: It is the average speed of the elevator measured in (m / s).
*S: It is the probable number of stops.
*ts: It is the time consumed in stops.
*P: It is the average number of passengers in the elevator. It should be noted that P appears in the numerator and denominator of the equation.
* tp: It is the average time it takes for the elevator to transfer people.

Calculation of the waiting time from the departure of an elevator to the arrival of another elevator, only for a group of elevators.


INT= RTT / L

 


INT: Waiting time in seconds from the departure of an elevator to the arrival of another elevator.

Simplified International Standard

The following graph shows the relationship of the amount of population of a project vs the number of stops, on the horizontal axis we find the total population of the building measured in people (X) on the vertical axis we find the number of stops of the project above the main floor or floor 0 (Y).

This graph also shows us the recommended elevator speed for each type of need, taking into account the population of a building and the number of stops. For example, we see that the speed of 1 m / s and one (1) elevator solves the needs of buildings with populations between 1 - 225 people and 1 - 8 stops above the main stop (without basements).

Odoo • A picture with a caption
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:8100:-32:ed-1:v1:en
In conclusion, if you are developing a housing project with between 4 and 9 stops, the safest thing is that a 6 passenger elevator at a speed of 1 m / s is enough to satisfy the population of your building. We recommend that you first review table 001 to get an idea of the capacity of your elevator. After this, do the specific traffic study for your building, in order to complement all the information of the project.

Means:
Peters Research: https://peters-research.com/index.php/papers/the-evolution-of-lift-traffic-design-from-human-to-expert-system/
ISO Standards: https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:8100:-32:ed-1:v1:en