Chiller, Ahu and Fcu

Systems Design - Air-Side

Systems ME115-1P
AIR CONDITIONING AND
VENTILATION SYSTEMS

WEEKS 9-10
2018-2019/1T

Prepared by:
Engr. Manuel B. Rustria
September 2019
 Explain the basic design concepts for chiller, AHU and FCU
systems; and
 Calculate chiller, AHU, and FCU capacity and select standard
equipment size from available catalogs.
 Five subsystems or loops of HVAC
 Air-side
 Chilled water
 Refrigeration equipment
 Heat rejection
 Controls
 TERMINAL UNIT OR DEVICE
 fan coil units
 VAV boxes
 AIR HANDLING UNIT (AHU)
 Primary equipment of the air system
 Handle & condition the air, control it to a required state, and
transport it
 Basic components:
• Supply fan, water cooling coil, filters, mixing box, dampers,
controls & outer casing
• A return or relief fan is optional, so as a humidifier
 TYPES OF AHU’s
 Horizontal or vertical
 Draw-through or blow through
 Factory-fabricated and field built-up
 Rooftop and indoor
 Make-up (primary) air
 Recirculating
 PACKAGE UNITS
 A self-contained air conditioner
 Equipped with a DX (direct expansion) coil
 “Air handler”: the portion inside that handles air
 ROOFTOP PACKAGE UNITS
 Gas heating / electric cooling
 Electric heating / electric cooling
 Heat pump system
 INDOOR PACKAGE UNITS
 Factory-assembly unit installed in a fan room or machinery
room
 Floor-mounted or ceiling-mounted
 Cooling, cooling/heating, heat pump
 Heat rejection:
• Connected to an air-cooled condenser, OR
• Water-cooled condenser
 SPLIT PACKAGE UNITS
 Indoor air handler + outdoor condensing unit
 RATING CONDITIONS & MINIMUM PERFORMANCE
 ARI and ASHRAE standards
 Rating indices:
• Energy efficiency ratio (EER)
• Seasonal EER
• Integrated part-load value (IPLV)
• Heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF)
 COILS
 Indirect contact heat exchangers
 Heat transfer between air flowing over the coil and water,
refrigerant, steam or brine insider the coil
 Fins: extended (secondary) surfaces
• Fin spacing and density
 Water circuits
• Number of water flow passages
 DIRECT EXPANSION (DX) COIL
 Refrigerant is fed (e.g. R-22 and R-134a)
 Air and refrigerant flow:
• Usually counterflow and cross flow
 Typical evaporating temperature = 3-10 oC
 Condensate drain pan (to collect condensation)
 Performance factors:
• Face velocity, heat transfer coefficients, air-side pressure
drop, physical size
 WATER COOLING COILS - DRY-WET COIL
 Chilled water flowing at 4-10 oC
 Brine or glycol-water at 1-4 oC
 Temperature rise (typical) = 7-14 oC
 WATER COOLING COILS - DRY COIL
 Sensible cooling (dry); no condensation
 Poorer heat transfer coefficient
 STEAM HEATING COIL
 AIR FILTERS
 Air cleaning and filtration
 Operating performance:
• Efficiency or effectiveness of dust removal
• Dust holding capacity
• Initial & final pressure drop
• Service life
 Types: low-, medium-, and high-efficiency filters + carbon
activated filters
 TEST METHODS OF AIR FILTERS
 Weight arrestance test
• For low-efficiency air filters
 Atmospheric dust spot efficiency
• For medium-efficiency air filters
 DOP (dioctyl phthalate) penetration and efficiency test
• For high-efficiency air filters
o HEPA (high-efficiency particle air)
o ULPA (ultra-low penetration air)
 HUMIDIFIERS
 Steam humidifiers
 Air washers
 SELECTION OF AHUs
 Face velocity < 3 m/s to prevent entrained droplets
 Proper size of the equipment (energy efficiency)
 Medium-efficiency filter >50% dust spot eff.:
• improve IAQ,
• prevent smudging &
• discoloring
 Air economizer: save energy
 FAN-DUCT SYSTEMS
 Flow resistance 𝑅, pressure drop Δ𝑝 and volume flow rate 𝑉

 Duct sections in series:

 Duct sections in parallel:

 FAN-DUCT SYSTEMS
 Terminology
• Primary air (conditioned air or makeup air)
• Secondary air (induced space air, plenum air, or
recirculating air)
• Transfer air (indoor air that moves from an adjacent area)
 System curve: volume flow vs pressure loss
 System operating point
 FAN LAWS
 Speed (n)
 Volume flow (V)
 Total pressure loss (Δp )
 Air density (ρ)
 For air systems that are
geometrically &
dynamically similar:
(D = impeller diameter)
 SYSTEM EFFECT 𝚫𝒑𝒕𝒔
 Its additional total pressure loss caused by uneven or non-
uniform velocity profile at the fan inlet, or at duct fittings after
fan outlet
 Due to the actual inlet and outlet connections as compared
with the total pressure loss of the fan test unit during
laboratory ratings
 MODULATION OF AIR SYSTEMS
 Constant volume system
• Volume flow rate remains constant; supply temperature is
raised during part load
 Variable-air-volume (VAV) system
• Volume flow rate is reduced to match part load operation
• Modulation curve
 Fan modulation methods
 Damper (vary the opening of the air flow passage)
• Waste energy
 Inlet vanes (opening & angle of inlet vanes)
• Low cost; less efficient than following types
 Inlet cone (peripheral area of fan impeller)
• Inexpensive; for backward curved centrifugal fan
 Blade pitch (blade angle of axial fan)
 Fan speed (using adjustable frequency drives)
 Most energy-efficient; but more expensive
 Damper, inlet vanes & fan speed modulation
 FAN COMBINATIONS IN AHUs
 Constant volume system
• Volume flow rate remains constant; supply temperature is
raised during part load
 Variable-air-volume (VAV) system
• Volume flow rate is reduced to match part load operation
• Modulation curve
 FAN COMBINATIONS IN AHUs
 Supply and exhaust fan/barometric damper
• Used when no return duct or low return pressure loss
• Barometric relief damper: to prevent excessive high space
pressure
• Suitable for systems w/ no air economizer mode & a low
pressure drop in return system
 FAN COMBINATIONS IN AHUs
 Supply and relief fan
• Relief fan to prevent excessive high space pressure
• Usually operated in air economizer mode
• Outdoor air damper is fully opened; recirculating damper
closed
• Suitable when pressure drop of return system < 75 Pa, or
there is a considerable pressure drop in relief or exhaust
flow passage
 FAN COMBINATIONS IN AHUs
 Supply and return fan
• Return fan at the upstream of the junction of return,
recirculating and exhaust flow passage (ru)
• Has similar characteristics as supply+relief fan, but a higher
total pressure at junction “ru”
• Careful selection of return fan is needed to avoid excessive
pressure in the duct system
• Suitable when pressure drop of return system > 150 Pa, or
those requiring a negative space pressure
 Year-round operation of a VAV system
 Region I: Refrigeration/evaporative cooling
• Enthalpy of outdoor > that of recirculating air
 Region II: Free cooling & refrigeration
• Enthalpy of outdoor ≤ that of recirculating air
 Region III: Free cooling, evaporative cooling & refrigeration
• Enthalpy of outdoor ≤ that of recirculating air
 Region VI: Winter heating
 ECONOMIZER
 A device consisting of dampers and control that uses free
cooling capacity of either outdoor air or evaporatively cooled
water from cooling tower instead of mechanical refrigeration
 Air economizer:
• Enthalpy-based
• Temperature-based
 Water economizer
 FAN ENERGY USE
 For each l/s air supplied:

 For system using separate outdoor ventilation:

 OUTDOOR VENTILATION AIR SUPPLY
 Aims
• Provide acceptable indoor air quality
• Achieve energy efficiency in the system
 ASHRAE Standard 62-2001 (IAQ standard)
 Demand-based outdoor ventilation air control using CO2 as an
indicator
• CO2 concentration < 800-1,000 ppm
 A specific indoor air contaminant can also be used
 OUTDOOR VENTILATION AIR SUPPLY
 Minimum outdoor air control
• Type I: uses a CO2 or mixed gas sensor + DDC controller to
control the volume flow rate of outdoor air
o The best one but can be expensive
• Type II: uses a CO2 or mixed gas sensor + DDC controller to
control the ratio of the openings between outdoor and
recirculating dampers
o Suitable for VAV system
 OUTDOOR VENTILATION AIR SUPPLY
 Minimum outdoor air control
• Type III: uses a flow sensor or a pressure sensor + DDC
controller to control the dampers to provide nearly
constant volume outdoor air intake
o More complicated & may cause energy waste
• Type IV: adjust the opening of outdoor damper manually to
provide constant volume outdoor air
o Mainly used for constant-volume systems