DESIGN GOAL TOWARDS COST EFFECTIVE, SAFE AND HYGENIC HVAC SYSTEM A CASE STUDY FOR NEW BSNL

L HQ BUILDING, NEW DELHI

V.P.GUPTA and PRAVEEN VARSHNEY Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited New Delhi - 110019 E-mail:vpg_2000@hotmail.com and pvarshney@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is a Government of India Enterprise. BSNL provides Telecommunication services on All India basis. Electrical Engineers of BSNL constitute a professional group having a back ground of more than 25 years of experience in the field of HVAC. All HVAC system of BSNL buildings whether related to complex telecommunication application or large comfort oriented jobs are handled by BSNL Engineers right from the inception to the implementation stage. Present topic, a case study of a typical comfort application for the prestigious corporate Head quarters building is a reflection on contemporary HVAC design approach by BSNL Engineers. Key words :Predominantly Human comfort cost and energy effective concepts, Innovative Techniques, Fire safety, IAQ.

1. INTRODUCTION A new Head Quarters building of BSNL Corporate Office is under construction at H C Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. The present case study of HVAC scheme is a predominantly comfort oriented job dealing with this BSNL project. The building premises has a plot area of 9,215 sq. mts.(99,153 sq. ft.) . Estimated carpet area of corporate office is about 11,950 sq. mts. (1,28,582 sq. ft.) distributed in Basement, Ground and upper nine floors of the building. Total coverage of space for Air conditioning is 9922 sq. mts. (1,06,761 sq. ft). Building related data and cooling load estimation details are given in Table I. 2. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY AND CONCEPTS Primary objective of HVAC system design is to realize the end objectives of (a) cost effectiveness (b) energy conservation and energy auditing (c) Fire safety, (d) Indoor air quality (IAQ), (e) design flexibility providing ample scope for expansion / modifications (f) Induction of new concepts / new technologies and (g) ease of maintenance. To accomplish the above end objectives, a variety of design concepts are considered in the HVAC scheme which are briefly explained in the following discussion.

Concept 1 : Phased expansion of Main plant Cooling load estimation is about 500 TR. Tentatively 5 nos. chilled water package units (air cooled condenser versions) are proposed for the ultimate HVAC needs of the building. Four units are meant for peak load operation with one additional unit for redundancy. Module size fixed is 100 TR. Details given under Concept 5. Out of 5 units envisaged in HVAC scheme, only 3 units will be installed in Stage I programme. Chilled water scheme is conceived for future expansion. Two more units will be added in future without disturbing the working system. Advantages : (i) (ii) (iii) Less investment on first cost to start with; Avoidance of idle A C capacities for unoccupied floors of building during initial few years; Design flexibility leaving scope for expansion.

Concept 2 : Dedicated chilled water circuits (secondary) for diverse loads : In the case under study, there are 3 distinct categories of loads, viz., (i) AHUS of certain areas require Air conditioning on 24 hours basis round the year (ii) AHUS of normal office space require Air conditioning during working days for the office hours and (iii) Certain AHU, for e.g. AHU for committee room warrant operation as and when required ( i.e. occasional use). We have encountered such situations in the past in some of our large HVAC installations. Our standardised design approach is to provide a chilled water balancing tank (with hot and cold chambers) integrating the primary and secondary chilled water circuits. Three different categories of load are treated separately by a dedicated chilled water circuit. During holiday operation or night operation, only the particular circuit will work thereby avoiding the need of operating the entire distribution system. Further the chilled water tank is designed to have a storage capacity to meet the night operation of the circuit which requires 24 hours operation without running the plant utilizing the residual (stored) cooling effect. Advantages : Energy saving during operation. Concept 3 : Introduction of innovative techniques for energy conservation : In the present case, we are considering the introduction of viable alternatives for mechanical refrigeration as a pilot scheme on a smaller scale to start with as a supplementary feature. The outdoor air for ventilation is identified as an ideal choice for the pilot project. The cooling load figure for the fresh air component is 104 TR and a separate plant based on absorption / DEC technology using solar or waste heat or heat by direct burning of fuel. The fresh air weather makers ( 2 nos.) for the total HVAC system will be located on terrace sited vertically above the AHUS ( 2 nos per floor) beneath. The estimated requirement of fresh air will be about 30,000 cfm. combined for two groups of AHUS. Two separate ducts are contemplated to distribute treated fresh air to respective AHUS. As a part of energy saving measure, variable speed drive are proposed for governing the speed of all fans to match the daily load.

Advantages : The pilot scheme is intended as energy saving alternative for the high power consuming mechanical refrigeration plant. The cost benefits that may accrue are manifold , viz., (i) energy saving during operation; (ii) saving on infra structural cost for Main power and (iii) stand by DG set power. Concept 4 : Chilled water storage to take care of Mains failure / Night load operation : Storage in the chilled water balancing tank to build up adequate storage capacity to meet specific needs for optimising on operational costs. The following design criteria is being considered for sizing the chilled water tank storage capacity : 1. First criteria is to permit uninterrupted operation of HVAC atleast for a period of 30 minutes to take care of the situations of Mains failure and change over to stand by power mode. 2. Second criteria is to make design provision for Running AHU for conference Room (on 9th floor - 45 TR load) for 2 hours during holidays / evening hours after the shut down of the plant. 3. Third criteria is to meet the night load of groups of AHUS which are to work on nights uninterrupted. Advantage : Operational economy. Concept 5 : Pruning of design cooling load (corresponding to peak summer) for optimising the plant capacity : Three inbuilt design features of HVAC system, viz., (i) treatment of fresh air separately by alternative technique (ii) chilled water storage capacity and (iii) Intermittent and occasional loads permit a reduced plant capacity. Probably a factor of 0.8 may not be unrealistic especially when we consider that the future expansion provision exists in the scope of HVAC design. Thus pruning of capacity may be possible to derive the cost advantage for the First stage execution of the HVAC system. By considering this aspect, the module size of 100 TR is fixed in lieu of 125 TR (vide Concept 1) Concept 6 : Fabricated ducts for air distribution of both supply and return air : Normal practice is to use the void space above false ceiling to serve as Return air passage. The HQ building constructions is such floor to floor heights are considerable. If return air is permitted to sweep across the void space of high volume, losses/ heat gain may be more and possibility of duct influencing the IAQ may be more pronounced. Hence the decision of separate provision of fabricated return air ducts. Incidentally this arrangement has also salutary effect from Fire safety angle. Concept 7 : IAQ Measures : Separate treatment of fresh air for cooling, and filtration, provision of fabricated R A Ducts are some important concepts to improve IAQ.

3. SALIENT FEATURES OF HVAC Total Estimated load (Based on peak AC Load for summer) Plant capacity proposed (A diversity factor of 0.80 assumed) Type of AC System Refrigeration Plant proposed No. of modules of main refrigeration plant Chilled water system broad features Condensing system Fresh air system : 507 TR : 405 TR or say 400 TR : Chilled water : Reciprocating/Screw/Centrifugal compressor with air cooled condensers : 4 machines + one additional unit for redundancy : As per diagram no.1. : Air cooled condensers : It is proposed to have centralized fresh air system located on terrace. -As a pilot project it is proposed to consider conditioning of fresh air by absorption/ DEC technology using solar/waste heat/direct burning of fuel Air Filtration Air Distribution System : By providing filters Type EU-2, Filtration efficiency 90 % down to 20 microns : By means of factory fabricated G. I. Ducts both for supply and return. Supply air duct internally insulated with thermal insulation. Return air duct without insulation. : By hot water generator with heating coil for each AHU separately : Fire dampers in supply and return air duct. Heat/smoke detectors in return air. Dampers & detectors integrated with BIMS. : NDMC Mains supply as well as standby supply by DG Sets. : Hook up with Building Integrated Management System (BIMS)

Winter Heating Fire safety provision

Electric supply for HVAC Monitoring & control of HVAC 4. CONCLUSION :

Cost and energy effective measures such as Main plant capacity provision in stages, pilot project for supplementary A C system for Fresh air, a number of measures for improved IAQ, hook up with BIMS for operational economy, fire safety, design flexibility are the highlights of the HVAC system for the proposed BSNL HQ, New Delhi. Although it is too early to predict, our aim is to achieve cost effectiveness and energy saving to the extent of 25 to 30 % as compared to conventional A.C systems. ***

TABLE I DESIGN DATA & HVAC DETAILS FOR BSNL HQ, BUILDING, JANPATH, NEW DELHI Conditions Outside (Summer) Outside (Monsoon) Inside
Sl. No. Floor Area to be conditio ned (Sq. Ft.) 10179 15075 14365 11132 10239 10239 8451 9032 8451 8016 1582 106761 Floor to floor Ht. I/c beam (Ft.) 14.75 14.75 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 21.00 9.84 151.34 False Ceiling Ht. (Ft.) 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 9.84 13.00 101.56 Carpet Area ( Sq. Ft.) 8317 7958 9109 9546 8170 8170 6665 7224 6643 8016 79,818 Persons @ 60 Sq. ft./ Person of Carpet area except 6 & 9 floor 139 133 152 159 136 136 300 120 111 100 1486 Fresh Air CFM @ 20CFM /Person 2780 2660 3040 3180 2720 2720 6000 2400 2220 2000 29,720

DBT(F) 110 95 76+4

Eqpt. Load (K W) 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 14.0 14.0 6.0 20.0 153

WBT(F) 75 80 63.5

RH (%) 20 52 50+10
Summer

Moistute (GR/LB) 76 131 68

Monsoon Heat Load (TR) at DB76F, RH50%) 55.32 61.48 55.70 51.56 41.90 44.15 68.06 39.26 35.40 38.13 11.68 502.64 Summer Heat Load (TR) at DB80F, RH50% 58.04 64.13 55.37 50.53 37.47 41.81 54.43 36.01 32.08 41.88 14.27 486.02

Electric al Load (KW) @15W/ Sqm 14.0 21.0 20.0 16.0 14.0 14.0 12.0 13.0 12.0 11.0 2.0 149

Heat Load (TR) at DB76F, RH50% 64.14 69.94 59.89 55.96 41.11 45.44 60.55 39.23 34.96 45.06 14.72 531.00

Heat Load (TR) at DB78F, RH50% 61.09 67.04 57.34 53.25 39.29 43.46 57.49 37.62 33.52 42.89 14.35 507.34

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Note :

Ground First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth M/C Rm TOTAL

(1) 6th Floor will be used as Canteen, while 9th Floor will serve as a Conference Room. No of persons for these floor are taken accordingly.
(2) Sun film coated, Double glazed sealed air gap type glass used, for which, Solar heat gain factor =0.56, Transmission Heat Gain factor = 0.61.