PRINCIPLES OF VENTILATION DESIGN

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Calculate heat or cooling load, including sensible and latent heat

Calculate necessary air shifts according the number of occupants and
their activity or any other special process in the rooms
Calculate air supply temperature
Calculate circulated mass of air
Calculate temperature loss in ducts
Calculate the outputs of components - heaters, coolers, washers,
humidifiers
Calculate boiler or heater size
Design and calculate the duct system

1. Calculate Heat and Cooling Loads

Calculate heat and cooling loads by

Calculating indoor heat or cooling loads

Calculating surrounding heat or cooling loads

2. Calculate Air Shifts according the Occupants or any Processes

Calculate the pollution created by persons and their activity and processes.
3. Calculate Air Supply Temperature
Calculate air supply temperature. Common guidelines:

For heating, 38 - 50oC may be suitable

For cooling where the inlets are near occupied zones - 6 - 8oC
below room temperature

4. Calculate Air Quantity

Air Heating
If air is used for heating, the needed air flow rate may be expressed as
qh = Hh / cp (ts - tr)
(1)
where
qh = volume of air for heating (m3/s)
Hh =heat load (W)
cp = specific heat capacity of air (J/kg K)
ts = supply temperature (oC)
tr = room temperature (oC)
= density of air (kg/m3)

Air Cooling
If air is used for cooling, the needed air flow rate may be expressed as
qc = Hc / cp (to - tr)
(2)
where:
qc = volume of air for cooling (m3/s)
Hc =cooling load (W)
to = outlet temperature (oC) where to = tr if the air in the room is mixed
Example - heating load:
If the heat load is Hh = 400 W, supply temperature ts = 30 oC and the room
temperature tr = 22 oC, the air flow rate can be calculated as:
qh = (400 W) / (1.2 kg/m3) (1005 J/kg K) ((30 oC) - (22 oC))
= 0.041 m3/s
= 149 m3/h
Moisture
If it is necessary to humidify the indoor air, the amount of supply air needed may
be calculated as:
qmh = Qh / (x2 - x1)
(3)
where
qm = volume of air for humidifying (m3/s)
Qh = moisture to be supplied (kg/s)
= density of air (kg/m3)
x2 = humidity of room air (kg/kg)
x1 = humidity of supply air (kg/kg)
Dehumidifying
If it is necessary to dehumidify the indoor air, the amount of supply air needed
may be calculated as:
qmd = Qd / (x1 - x2)
(4)
where
qmd = volume of air for dehumidifying (m3/s)
Qd = moisture to be dehumified (kg/s)
Example - humidifying
If added moisture Qh = 0.003 kg/s, room humidity x1 = 0.001 kg/kg and
supply air humidity x2 = 0.008 kg/kg, the amount of air can expressed as:
qmh = (0.003 kg/s) / (1.2 kg/m3) ((0.008 kg/kg)- (0.001 kg/kg))
= 0.36 m3/s
Alternatively the air quantity is determined by the requirements of
occupants or processes.
5. Temperature loss in ducts
The heat loss from a duct can be expressed as:
H = A k ( (t1 + t2) / (2 - tr) )
(5)

where
H = heat loss (W)
A = area of duct walls(m2)
t1 = initial temperature in duct (oC)
t2 = final temperature in duct (oC)
k = heat loss coefficient of duct walls (W/m2 K) (5.68 W/m2 K for sheet metal
ducts, 2.3 W/m2 K for insulated ducts)
tr = surrounding room temperature (oC)
The heat loss in the air flow can be expressed as:
H = q cp (t1 - t2)
(5b)
where
q = mass of air flowing (kg/s)
cp = specific heat capacity of air (kJ/kg K)
(5) and (5b) can be combined to
H = A k ((t1 + t2) / 2 - tr)) = q cp (t1 - t2)
(5c)
For large temperature drops should logarithmic mean temperatures be used.
6. Selecting Heaters, Washers, Humidifiers and Coolers
Units as heaters, filters etc. must on basis of of air quantity and capacity be
selected from manufactures catalogues.
7. Boiler
The boiler rating can be expressed as:
B = H (1 + x)
(6)
where
B = boiler rating (kW)
H = total heat load of all heater units in system (kW)
x = margin for heating up the system, it is common to use values 0.1 to 0.2
Boiler with correct rating must be selected from manufacturer catalogues.
8. Sizing Ducts
Air speed in a duct can be expressed as:
v=Q/A
(7)
where
v = air velocity (m/s)
Q = air volume (m3/s)
A = cross section of duct (m2)
Overall pressure loss in ducts can be expressed as:
dpt = dpf + dps + dpc
(8)
where
dpt = total pressure loss in system (Pa, N/m2)
dpf = major pressure loss in ducts due to friction (Pa, N/m 2)
dps = minor pressure loss in fittings, bends etc. (Pa, N/m 2)
dpc = minor pressure loss in components as filters, heaters etc. (Pa, N/m 2)
Major pressure loss in ducts due to friction can be expressed as
dpf = R l
(9)
where
R = duct friction resistance per unit length (Pa, N/m2 per m duct)

l = length of duct (m)

Duct friction resistance per unit length can be expressed as
R = / dh ( v2 / 2)
(10)
where
R = pressure loss (Pa, N/m2)
= friction coefficient
dh = hydraulic diameter (m)
Summer Conditions
For summer the values below may be used as an indication of acceptable conditions.

Optimum temperature

20oC to 22oC

Optimum relative humidity

40% to 65%

Preferred indoor conditions for exposures less than 3 hours:

Outside dry
bulb
temperature
o

Inside air conditions with

dew point constant at 14oC
o

C max

C min

35

27

18.5

44

32

26

18.0

46

29

25

17.8

52

27

24

17.5

51

24

23

17.2

57

21

22

17.0

57

Some common used thermal properties for water:

Maximum density at 4 oC - 1,000 kg/m3, 1.940 slugs/ft3

Specific Weight at 4 oC - 9.807 kN/m3
Freezing temperature - 0 oC (Official Ice at 0 oC)
Boiling temperature - 100 oC
Latent heat of melting - 334 kJ/kg
Latent heat of evaporation - 2,270 kJ/kg
Critical temperature - 380 oC - 386 oC
Critical pressure - 221.2 bar, 22.1 MPa (MN/m2)
Specific heat capacity water - 4.187 kJ/kgK
Specific heat capacity ice - 2.108 kJ/kgK
Specific heat capacity water vapor - 1.996 kJ/kgK
Thermal expansion from 4 oC to 100 oC - 4.2x10-2
Bulk modulus elasticity - 2.15 x 109 (Pa, N/m2)

Thermal properties of water:

Temperature
-t-

Absolute
pressure
-p-

Density
--

Specific
volume
-v-

Specific
Heat
- cp -

Specific
entropy
-e-

(oC)

(kN/m2)

(kg/m3)

10-3
(m3/kg)

(kJ/kgK)

(kJ/kgK)

1.00

4.210

0 (Ice)

916.8

0.01

0.6

999.8

4
(max.density)

0.9

1000.0

0.9

1000.0

1.00

4.204

0.075

10

1.2

999.8

1.00

4.193

0.150

15

1.7

999.2

1.00

4.186

0.223

20

2.3

998.3

1.00

4.183

0.296

25

3.2

997.1

1.00

4.181

0.367

30

4.3

995.7

1.00

4.179

0.438

35

5.6

994.1

1.01

4.178

0.505

Relative humidity < 40 - 60%

Air shifts (recommended) =

5 10 airshifts/hour for electrical rooms and warehouses

10 15 airshifts/hour factory buildings, fumes & moisture
2 4 airshifts/hour generally industrial areas

Reccomended temperature 15-27 deg.C (with dew point constant at 14 deg.C)

To avoid damage of products, or to achieve proper process conditions, it is often important to

keep the environment and the indoor climate within certain temperature and humidity limits.
Low relative humidity may dry up the product, or high relative humidity may increase the water
activity growing mould in the production process lines.
The table below can be used as a guidance to recommended Relative Humidity - RH - in some
common production and process environments.

Production and Process

Environment

Recommended Relative
Humidity
- RH (%)

Breweries

35 - 45%

Transformer Winding

15 - 30%

Semiconductors

30 - 50%

Paper Storage

35 - 45%

Preventing Rust and

Corrosion

below 55%,
< 40% for no rust
generation

Spray Paint

30 - 50%

Laboratory electronics

45 - 60%

Plastic Pallets

5 - 30%

Computer Peripherals

50 - 60%

Rust Resistance

Below 40%

Powder Storage

30 - 45%

Wood Drying

25 - 35%

Normal Storage

50 - 55%

Chemical Laboratory

30 - 45%

Ventilation systems - air intakes and outlets and rules of thumbs

Intakes

Intakes should be at least 0.15 m above the terrain. In areas with traffic the
intake should be at least 5 m above the terrain.
The distance between intake, firewalls and surrounding buildings must be
according the rules of the local authorities.
Short cutting intake air with used outlet air must be avoided.
An air intake should be located in a position where the wind influence on the
pressure conditions within the system is limited.
Air velocities in the intake openings should not exceed 2.5 m/s

Outlets

Outlets should go direct out in unrestricted area.

Short cuts with intake air, window openings and residence areas must be
avoided.
The distance between outlet, firewalls and surrounding buildings must be
according the rules of the local authorities.
An air outlet should be located in a position where the wind influence on the
pressure conditions within the system is limited.
The air velocity through the outlet should not exceed 3 - 15 m/s