Selection of Round Ceiling Diffuser:

A round ceiling diffuser is to be used for a space (which has plan dimensions of 26 × 28 ft and a 12 ft
ceiling) with an air supply rate of 600 cfm. The space has a cooling load of 40 Btu/(hr-ft 2).
(a) Select a round ceiling diffuser for this application.
(b) Determine the total pressure loss and NC for the diffuser.

Assumptions:
1. The round ceiling diffuser will be placed at the centre of the ceiling.
2. The ADPI > 80% is met for thermal comfort within the occupied space.
3. The diffuser should be quiet, i.e. NC = 30 or lower, for most applications (reference to Week 11
Handout).

(a) According to Table 11-1, the room characteristic length for circular ceiling diffuser is the distance to
closest wall or intersecting air jet. Since there is no other air jet around, the room characteristic

m
length is the distance to closest wall. Therefore, according to Assumption #1, it is L = 26 ft/2 = 13 ft.

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Note: We should check the longer dimension (28 ft) later to make sure the ADPI is satisfactory.

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Referring to Table 11-2, the air-distribution performance index (ADPI) selection guide suggests a
throw-to-length ratio of 0.8 (i.e. x50 L  0.8 ), which will achieve a maximum ADPI of 88%, for
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circular ceiling diffuser with room load of 40 Btu/(hr-ft 2). Therefore, the required maximum throw
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from the diffuser for a terminal air velocity of 50 ft/min is

x50  0.813 ft   10.4 ft
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However, from Table 11-4, there is no round ceiling diffuser with x50  10.4 ft when Q  600 cfm .
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In this case, let’s us get the possible range of x50 L from Table 11-2 for circular ceiling diffuser
with ADPI > 80% (Assumption #2) for room load of 40 Btu/(hr-ft 2): 0.5  x50 L  1.5 .

Therefore, an acceptable maximum throw for a terminal air velocity of 50 ft/min ranges from
x50  0.513 ft   6.5 ft to x50  1.513 ft   19.5 ft .

Now, the best choice would be a 12-in. size with 600 cfm which has the maximum throw for a
600 cfm  550 cfm
terminal air velocity of 50 ft/min at about x50   15 ft  13 ft   13 ft  14.3 ft
630 cfm  550 cfm
(by linear interpolation), which is within the acceptable range of 6.5 ft  x50  19.5 ft .
Note: A 10-in. size may used and its NC will be about 36, but it is higher than 30 (not satisfy
Assumption #3).
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 (b) From Table 11-4, for a 12-in. size round ceiling diffuser, the total pressure loss for the diffuser with
600 cfm, using Eq. (4-10), is
2 2
 Q   600 cfm 
P0  P0,r    0.105 in. wg    0.0952 in. wg
  630 cfm 
 Qr 

600 cfm  550 cfm

The NC would be NC   26  22   22  24.5 (by linear interpolation). Since
630 cfm  550 cfm
NC < 30, it satisfies Assumption #3.

Check:
It is a good practice to check the other dimension to see whether Assumption #2 is also applied to it:
x50 14.3 ft

m
  1.02 (Since it is within 0.5  x50 L  1.5 , the Assumption #2 is applied to the longer
L 28 ft 2 

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dimension too.)

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