AIR DISTRIBUTION
Abdullah Nuhait, PhD
King Saud University
Air Distribution –cont.
• Questions:
• What is Air Distribution in HVAC?
• Why Does One Need to Study it?
Air Distribution –cont.
Air Distribution in HVAC:
• Distribution of Conditioned Air in Buildings and Rooms in
Order to Hold Temperatures, Humidities and Air
Velocities within Occupied Space at Acceptable
Conditions
Air Distribution –cont.
With Some Knowledge of Air Distribution in HVAC, One:
• Can select optimum air outlets
ROOM AIR DISTRIBUTION
• Distribution and Movement of Air within Conditioned
Space
• Selection and Location of Optimum Air Outlets Delivering
Proper Amount of Air:
• To Provide Comfort within Occupied Zone
• To Provide Suitable Indoor Quality within Occupied Zone • To Meet Required Total Pressure
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
• Requirements Necessary for Good Air Distribution:
• Temperature: to be Hold within Tolerable Limits
• Air Velocity: Table Illustrates Occupant Reaction to Various Air Velocities in Occupied Space
Room Air Distribution –Cont.: Occupied Zone Air Velocities
Recommended Application Reaction Air Velocity (FPM) None Complaints About Stagnant Air0-16
All Commercial Application Complaints About Stagnant Air
25
All Commercial Application Probably Favorable but 50 FPM is Approaching
Maximum Tolerable Velocity for Seated People 25-50
Probably Favorable but 50 FPM is Approaching Maximum Tolerable Velocity for Seated People 65
Retail and Department Store Upper Limit For People Moving About
Slowly-Favorable 75
Factory Air Conditioning
Higher Velocities for Spot Cooling Some Factory Air Conditioning Installations-Favorable
Room Air Distribution –Cont.: Air Direction
• Air Direction: Sketches Give Guide to Most Desirable Air Direction for Seated People
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
• Air outlets can be classified into five groups:
• Group A: air outlets are mounted in or near ceiling that discharge air horizontally
• Group B: air outlets are mounted in or near floor that discharge air vertically in non-spreading jet
• Group C: air outlets are mounted in or near floor that discharge air vertically in spreading jet
• Group D: air outlets are mounted in or near floor that discharge air horizontally
• Group E: air outlets are mounted in or near ceiling that project air vertically downward
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Group A:
• High sidewall type register
• Used in mild climates
• Used on second and succeeding floors of multistory floors • Not recommended for cold climate
• Diffuser
• Ceiling diffuser very popular in commercial applications
• Linear or T-bar diffusers favored in VAV applications due to their better flow characteristics at reduced flow
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Group B:
• Perimeter-type outlets with Non-Spreading:
• Satisfactory for Cooling
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Group C:
• Perimeter-type outlets with Spreading:
• Considered as superior for heating applications
• Diffusers with wide spread are best for heating because buoyancy tends to increase flow
• Diffusers with wide spread are not good for cooling because buoyancy tends to decrease flow
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Group D:
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Group E:
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Air outlets can be located on:
• Walls • Floors • Ceilings
Room Air Distribution –Cont.
Terminologies: • Primary Air • Induced Air • Entrained Air • Terminal Velocity • Throw • Radius of Diffusion • Drop • Temperature Differential • Diffuser • Linear • Square • Round • T-Bar • Perforated • Grille • Register • Damper • Spreading Jet • Non-Spreading JetRoom Air Distribution –Cont
Sound in HVAC
Sound becomes noise when:
• Too load • Unexpected • Uncontrolled
• Happens at wrong time • Contains pure tones
• Contains unwanted information • Unpleasant
Sound in HVAC
• Audible frequency range for humans extends from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz • Sound power and sound pressure
• Sound measured in decibel (dB):
• 10 Log10( W/10-12) dB relative to 1 pW
• 10 Log10( P/2X10-5) dB relative to 1 µPa
• Frequency range called octave used in sound
• frequency bandwidth having upper band limit twice frequency of its lower band limit
• All air outlets generate noise
• Noise can be annoying to occupants
• Noise level can be related to velocity of air through outlet:
• Lower air velocity produces low level of noise • Higher air velocity makes air outlet noisy
• Noise criterion (NC) curves widely used to describe noise level of air outlets
• Level below NC of 30 considered quiet • Level above NC of 50 considered noisy
Variable-Volume System (VAV)
• VAV air distribution systems use of:
• Linear or T-bar diffusers
• Thermostat-controlled metering device (called VAV terminal box)
Steps for Selecting Air Outlet
• Determine air flow requirement and room size
• Select type of diffuser to be used
• Determine room characteristic length
• Find throw
• Using performance data catalog, select appropriate diffuser
• Make sure any other specifications are met (noise, pressure drop … etc.)
Table: Characteristic Room Lengths for Several Diffusers
Characteristic Length L Diffuser Type
Distance to wall perpendicular to jet High sidewall grille (wall)
Distance to closest wall or intersecting air jet Circular ceiling diffuser (ceiling)
Length of room in direction of jet flow Sill grille (floor)
Distance to wall or mid-plane between outlets
Example
• Room part of single-story office Building
• Building located in Riyadh
• Dimensions of room shown in sketch
• Ceiling height =10 ft
• Air quantity = 250 cfm
• Select Ceiling Diffuser
Solution
• Noise level from above table, for office, NC < 35
• Flow rate, Q = 250 cfm
• Room almost square
• From above table, Characteristic length, L = 14/2 = 7 ft • Throw = L = 7 ft
• Using Q = 250 cfm, throw = 7 ft and NC < 35
• From above performance table for round diffuser, size 10” will be right size
• Q ok between 220 cfm and 275 cfm • Throw = 7.5 ft ok
• NC < 20 ok
Fans and Building Air Distribution
• Second part of air distribution is distributing air in
buildings through duct work
• Will cover followings:
• Fans and fan performance • Methods of design of duct
• Examples showing how to design duct work
• Shown, in next slide, components of air conditioning
system
Fans Used In HVAC
One essential component of HVAC - FANS
• Fan used to move air through ducts and air outlets
• Two type of fans used in HVAC:
• Centrifugal fan (Blower)
» Forward-tip fan » Backward-tip fan
• Axial fan
» Vane-axial fan » Tube-axial fan
Typical performance Curves:
Fans laws
Relationships between fan capacity, pressure, speed, and power: • First three fan laws (most useful)
» Capacity proportional to fan speed (rpm) » Pressure proportional to square of fan speed » Power proportional to cube of fan speed
• Other three fan laws
» Pressure and power proportional to density of air at constant speed and capacity
» Speed, capacity, and power inversely proportional to square root of density of air at constant pressure
» Capacity, Speed, and pressure inversely proportional to density and power inversely proportional to of square of air at constant mass flow of air
Performance of fans
Manufacturers present their fan performance data in form of:
• Graphs of pressure, efficiency, and power as functions of flow rate
• Example: Centrifugal fan operating at point 1, estimate capacity, pressure, and power at speed 1050 rpm, initial bhp = 2 hp » Q2/Q1= rpm2/rpm1 Q2=5000 (1050/900)=5830CFM » P2/P1= (rpm2/rpm1)2 P 2=1.5(1050/900)2 =2.04 IWG » W2/W1= (rpm2/rpm1)3 W 2=2 (1050/900)3 = 3.2 hp
• Tables showing pressure, flow rate, rpm, and bhp
Selection of Fans
• System and fan characteristics
combined on one plot
• Intersecting of system and fan
characteristics is point of operation
• Range of Optimum matching of system
and fan shown
• Slope of system and fan characteristics
must be of opposite sign for stable operation
Fan Installation
Performance of fan can be reduced due to:
• System effect factors • Fan outlet connection • Inlet conditions
Fan and System Characteristics Showing Deficient Operation
• Point B is specific operation point
• Test may show point A as actual
Fans and Variable-Air-Volume Systems (VAV)
Inlet Vanes of Centrifugal Fan for VAV
Air Flow in
Ducts
• Pressure changes in duct
• Three constant area horizontal sections
• Two fittings
• Smooth converging transition • Abrupt diverging transition
Duct Design
General considerations • Low-velocity duct system
• Pressure loss per 100 ft of duct range between 0.08 to 0.15 • Pressure loss of 0.1 per 100 ft of duct is ok
• Pressure loss of 0.05 per 100 ft of duct used in most projects in KSA
• High-velocity duct system
• Pressure loss per 100 ft of duct range between 0.4 to 0.7
• Chart prepared to help designers to design duct cross section
• For flowing air in galvanized steel ducts • Forty (40) joints per 100 ft
• Based on standard air and fully developed flow (constant area horizontal duct) • Chart gives round cross section
• Table gives equivalent rectangular cross section
Simple Duct Systems with Outdoor Air Intake and Relief
Shown Pressure Gradient Diagrams
Total Pressure Profile for Typical Unitary System
Shown Pressure Gradient Diagram
Air Flow in Fittings
Losses in fitting called dynamic (minor) losses
• Computed using ∆P = C
o( v
2)
• Tables give coefficients C
ofor different fittings
• Equivalent-length method used for fitting losses in
low-velocity duct (table gives equivalent length)
Design of Low-Velocity Duct Systems
Several methods can be used for design of low-velocity duct work:
• Equal-friction method
• Balanced-capacity method • Constant-velocity method • Reduced-velocity method • Static-regain method
• T-method (optimization procedure)
Equal-friction method
• Principle of equal-friction method to make pressure loss per foot of duct length same for entire system
• Produce good balanced design for symmetrical duct layout
• Most duct systems have variety of duct runs ranging from long to short
• Dampers may be used for short runs (may cause considerable noise) in order to balance system
Equal-friction method –Cont.
300 CFM 25 ft 20 ft 300 CFM 80 ft 60 ft 60 ft 300 CFM 15 ft 300 CFM 30 ft 1 a 3 4 5 7 6 2Equal-friction method –Cont.
• One way of starting design of duct work
• To select maximum air velocity in main after fan outlet (based on some criterion)
• Using this velocity with flow rate, one can establish duct size of that section and pressure loss per 100 ft
• Using this pressure loss per 100 ft for all sections, one continue to find their diameters
Balanced-capacity method
• Principle of Balanced-capacity method, one makes loss in total pressure equal for all duct runs from fan to outlets
• Each run may have different equivalent length
• Pressure loss per 100 ft may be different for each run • This may result in high air velocity (noisy duct)
• Limit air velocity and use damper for balancing
300 CFM 25 ft 20 ft 300 CFM 80 ft 60 ft 60 ft 300 CFM 15 ft 300 CFM 30 ft 1 a 3 4 5 7 6 2
Balanced-capacity method –Cont.
• Longest run form fan to outlets must be determine
• Pressure drop (loss) per 100 ft will be same for sections
of longest run (same as equal-friction method)
• Establish pressure loss for branch by equating its
pressure loss to pressure loss of branch of longest run
• Find pressure loss per 100 ft by divide pressure
Constant- and Reduced-Velocity method
• From name of constant-velocity method, velocity selected and kept fixed for all duct runs
• Used for exhaust (kitchen exhaust, grease, industrial ventilation)
• In velocity-reduction method, velocities of air set from fan to outlet
Static-Regain method
• Static-regain method reduces air velocity in direction of flow in such a way that increase (regain) in static pressure in transition just
balances pressure loss in following section
• Used in high-velocity systems