Chapter 2

Air-Conditioning Systems

Dr. Khaled AlQudah

Different HVAC systems required to meet the requirements of:

 Different building types and uses

 Variations in heating and cooling needs
 Local building codes
 Economics

HVAC systems are categorized according to:

 Manner of distribution of energy and ventilation air

 Methods of control
 Special equipment arrangements
 All-air systems

 Air provides both energy and ventilation, carried by ductwork

 All-air system may be adapted to all types of air-conditioning systems:
 Buildings with multiple zones
 Special applications requiring close control of temperature and
humidity

 Perimeter heating system to offset heat losses at the exterior of the

building:
 Baseboard, reheat or radiant system
Equipment providing heating/cooling fluid to air handlers in typical all-air HVAC systems
A large centrifugal chiller
A mechanical-draft cooling tower
A large air-cooled condensing unit
A fire-tube boiler
 System selection and arrangement

 Appraise the needs of the occupants

 Determine individual zones to be conditioned
 Calculate heating/cooling loads and air requirements
 Determine the most suitable type of overall system
 Select the system components and their arrangement
 Suitability for the application
 Proper sizing
 Accessibility for easy maintenance
 Less complexity in arrangement and control
 Economics: tradeoff between first and operating costs
 Selection of equipment based on type of fuel or energy source required to
ensure least life cycle cost
Central system:
 Suitable for large buildings with variable needs in different zones
 Most of HVAC equipment located in mechanical rooms:
o Fans or air handlers
o Pumps and control valves
o Heat exchangers
o Flow measuring and control devices
o Chillers, furnace or boiler

 Mechanical rooms reduce noise, spills and mechanical maintenance in

occupied spaces
Central system:
 Zone: a conditioned space under the control of a single thermostat
 Thermostat: a control device sensing space temperature and sending a correcting signal if it
is not within desired range
 Thermostat must be in a location free from local disturbances or sunlight and where
temperature is nearly the average
 Spaces with large open areas and small external heat gains/losses: uniform temperatures
 Temperature variations can be reduced by:
o Adjusting the distribution of air to various parts of a zone
o Changing local supply air temperatures
 Selecting the most suitable overall system:
 Spaces with stringent requirements: separate zones and systems
 Aseptic or contamination control: all-air systems for adequate air dilution
 Large office buildings, factories, department stores: multiple zones and central systems
 Large installations (college campus, military base etc): central station/plants
All buildings not in full use at the same time: total capacity is much less than the sum
of the maximum individual requirements
Actual maximum demand of a facility
Diversity factor:
Sum of maximum demands of individual parts of the facility

Central plants for large installations with low diversity factor:

Lower capital costs, better efficiency, lower maintenance and labor costs than with
individual central facilities
Economics:
 Tradeoff between first and operating costs
 Cost of transporting the energy vs cost of operating chillers and boilers
 Smaller systems more economical if energy exchange between refrigerant and
supply air is direct (D-X system)
 For movement of energy over a greater distance: liquid or steam transport system
o Can carry greater quantities of heat per unit volume than air
o Pipe size smaller than ductwork
o Cost of power to move liquids lesser than for air
o But extra heat exchangers required
 Consideration of type of fuel for lower life-cycle cost
A single-zone constant-volume all-air system
Single zone system:
 Simplest all-air system
 For applications where uniform temperatures can be maintained throughout the
zone
 A supply unit (air handler) serving a single zone
 Air handler unit may be within or remote from a zone, with or without ductwork
A constant-volume reheat system
Reheat system:
 Purpose:
 To permit zone or space control for areas of unequal loading
 To provide heating or cooling of perimeter areas with different exposures
 Low humidity need to be maintained
 Conditioned air supplied from a central unit at a fixed cold temperature
 This should be sufficiently low to take care of the zone having maximum cooling load
 Heat application is a secondary process
 Thermostats in other zones activate their reheat units when required
 Heating medium may be hot water, steam or electricity
 Economizer should be used if outdoor air can be used for cooling
 Using ‘new’ energy for reheat is restricted by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2000
A single-duct variable-air-volume system
Variable-volume system:
 Primarily a cooling system
 Suitable for office buildings, hotels, hospitals, apartments and schools
 Variations in cooling requirement compensated by regulating the volume of air supplied to
each zone
 Each zone has its own damper controlled by the zone thermostat
 Some VAV systems have fan-powered terminal units
 Low initial cost: since only single runs of duct and simple control is required
 Low operating cost: since lower capacity central equipment is used for diverse loading
 Fan speed controlled by maintaining fixed static pressure at a location in the ductwork
 As reduced cooling demand closes dampers, increased static pressure signals the fan
speed to reduce – power savings result
 The system is self balancing: less stringent duct designing
A variable volume fan powered terminal A constant volume fan powered terminal
A dual-duct system
Dual duct system:
 Central system supplies warm air through one duct and cold air through the other
 Temperature in a zone is controlled by mixing these streams in proper proportions
 Regulation to maintain constant air flow required: since changing load patterns may
result in widely varying static pressure
 Provides flexibility where multiple, highly variable sensible heat loads are to be met
 Can provide prompt and opposite temperature response
 Energy inefficient
 For improved performance, should be combined with variable air volume system
A multizone system
Multizone system:
 Single supply duct for each zone
 Zone control by mixing hot and cold air at the central unit
 Greater flexibility than single duct, lower cost than dual duct system
 Best suited for applications having high sensible heat loads and limited ventilation
requirement
 Multiple duct runs and control systems make initial cost high
 Obtaining very close control requires larger capacity, leading to high operating cost
 Cost may be reduced by using outdoor air and controls that limit supply to either
heating or cooling
 Air and water systems
 Both air and water distributed to each space for cooling
 Cooling water carries away most of the sensible energy from the space
 Air provides ventilation and carries away the moisture (latent load)
 Air may also provide some additional sensible cooling
 In these systems, heat may also be provided electrically or by hot circulating water or steam from
a boiler/furnace
 Return air ductwork may be eliminated if air supply required is equal to that needed for
ventilation
 Less building space needs to be allocated for the distribution system
 Due to higher specific heat and density of water than air
 High velocity method of air distribution
 Due to space saving: beneficial for high rise structures
 Pumping horsepower much less than fan horsepower – operating cost reduced
Fan–Coil Conditioner System
 The fan–coil conditioner unit is a versatile room terminal that is applied to both air–water and
water-only systems.
 The basic elements of fan–coil units are a finned tube coil and a fan section.
 The fan section recirculates air continuously from within the perimeter space through the coil,
which is supplied with either hot or chilled water.
 The unit may also contain an auxiliary heating coil, which is usually of the electric resistance type
but which can be of the steam or hot water type.
 Primary air made up of outdoor air sufficient to maintain air quality is supplied by a separate
central system usually discharged at ceiling level.
 The primary air may be shut down during unoccupied periods to conserve energy.
A fan-coil unit
 All water systems
 All-water systems are those with fan-coil, unit ventilator, or valance-type room terminals, with
unconditioned ventilation air supplied by an opening through the wall or by infiltration.
 Cooling and dehumidification are provided by circulating chilled water or brine through a finned
coil in the unit. Heating is provided by supplying hot water through the same or a separate coil.
 Flexible for adaptation to many building module requirements and for remodeling work.
 A fan-coil system applied without provision for positive ventilation or one taking ventilation air
through an aperture is one of the lowest-first-cost central station–type perimeter systems.
 Requires no ventilation air ducts which results in considerable space savings.
 However, this type may not meet stringent indoor air quality standards required by building codes.
 Heating and chilling equipment is located remotely from the space, offering some advantages in
maintenance and safety.
 When fan–coil units are used, each in its own zone with a choice of heating or cooling at all times,
no seasonal changeover is required.
 Decentralized cooling and heating

 Use of packaged systems, which are systems with an integral refrigeration cycle.
 Packaged system components are factory designed and assembled into a unit that includes fans,
filters, heating coil, cooling coil, refrigerant compressor and controls, airside controls, and
condenser.
 Also known as unitary air conditioners
 Systems with both indoor and outdoor factory-made assemblies are called split systems.
 Decentralized cooling and heating
Types of unitary air conditioners available:
 Arrangement: single or split (evaporator connected in the field).
 Heat rejection: air-cooled, evaporative condenser, water-cooled.
 Unit exterior: decorative for in-space application, functional for equipment room and ducts,
weatherproofed for outdoors.
 Placement: floor-standing, wall-mounted, ceiling-suspended, roof-mounted.
 Indoor air: vertical up-flow, counter flow, horizontal, 90- and 180-degree turns, with fan, or for use
with forced-air furnace.
 Locations: indoor—exposed with plenums or furred-in ductwork, concealed in closets, attics, crawl
spaces, basements, garages, utility rooms, or equipment rooms; wall—built-in, window, transom;
outdoor—rooftop, wall-mounted, or on ground.
 Heat: intended for use with up-flow, horizontal, or counter-flow forced-air furnace, combined with
furnace, combined with electrical heat, combined with hot water or steam coil.