Introduction to HVAC

Psychrometry
Types of AC System

Prepared by
Mohammad Faisal Khan
JM MEP Academy, Lucknow
 Psychrometric Terms
 Dry Air :- The pure dry air is a mixture of number of gases such as
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, neon, helium etc.
 Moist Air :- It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour.
 Saturated Air :- It is the mixture of dry air and water vapour, when air
has diffused the maximum amount of water vapour in it.
 Humidity :- It is the mass of water vapour present in 1 kg of dry air.
 Absolute Humidity :- It is the mass of water vapour present in 1 m3 of
dry air and is expressed in terms of grms/m3.of dry air.
 Relative Humidity :- It is the ratio of actual mass of water vapour in a
given volume of moist air to the mass of water vapour in the same
volume of saturated air at the same temperature and pressure.
 Dew Point Temperature :- It is the temperature of air, when the
moisture present in it begins to condensate.
Psychrometric Chart
Psychrometric Chart
Psychrometric Processes in Air Conditioning
 Sensible Cooling :- The cooling of air without any change in
its specific humidity.
Psychrometric Processes in Air Conditioning
 Sensible Heating :- The heating of air without any change in
its specific humidity.
Psychrometric Processes in Air Conditioning
 Humidification :- The addition of moisture to the air, without any
change in its dry bulb temperature is called Humidification.
 Dehumidification :- Removal of moisture from air without any
change in its dry bulb temperature is called Dehumidification.
Psychrometric Processes in Air Conditioning
 Cooling and Dehumidification :- This process is generally used
in summer air conditioning to cool and dehumidify the air.
Psychrometric Processes in Air Conditioning
 Heating and Humidification :- This process is generally used in
winter air conditioning to warm and humidify the air.
 Some more important terms
 Sensible Heat Factor :- The ratio of sensible heat to the
total heat is called sensible heat factor.
𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑆𝐻
SHF = =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑆𝐻+𝐿𝐻

 Bypass Air :-The air passing over the cooling coil can not
come in contact with tube surface of the coil due to
gaps between the tubes. It comes out of the cooling coil
at the same condition at which it entered and so it is
termed as bypass air.
 Apparatus Dew Point :- It is the effective surface
temperature of the cooling coil which determines the
condition of supply air coming out of the coil.
Classification of Air Conditioning System
 Based on Application:-
Comfort Air Conditioning System
Industrial Air Conditioning System
 Based on Season of the Year :-
Winter Air Conditioning System
Summer Air Conditioning System
Year Round Air Conditioning System
 Based on Equipment :-
Central Air Conditioning System
Unitary Air Conditioning System
 Human Comfort Air Conditioning

Today, modern air-conditioning systems can heat, cool, humidify, dehumidify,

clean, and even deodorize the air–in other words, condition the air to
peoples’ desires.
The rate of heat generation by human body depends on the level of the
activity. For an average adult male, it is about 87 W when sleeping, 115 W
when resting or doing office work, and 440 W when doing heavy physical
work.
When doing light work or walking slowly, about half of the rejected body heat
is dissipated through perspiration as latent heat while the other half is
dissipated through convection and radiation as sensible heat.

We cannot change the weather, but we

can change the climate in a confined
space by air-conditioning.

A body feels comfortable

when it can freely dissipate its
waste heat, and no more.
 In an environment at 10°C with 48
km/h winds feels as cold as an
environment at -7°C with 3 km/h
winds as a result of the body-chilling
effect of the air motion (the wind-
chill factor).
A humidity of 40 to 60%.
comfortable
environment.
The comfort of the human body depends
primarily on three factors: the (dry-bulb)
temperature, relative humidity, and air
motion.
The relative humidity affects the amount of
heat a body can dissipate through
evaporation. Most people prefer a relative
Air motion removes the warm, moist air that
builds up around the body and replaces it
with fresh air. Air motion should be strong
enough to remove heat and moisture from
the vicinity of the body, but gentle enough to
be unnoticed.
An important factor that affects human
comfort is heat transfer by radiation between
the body and the surrounding surfaces such
as walls and windows.
Other factors that affect comfort are air
cleanliness, odor, and noise.
Ideal Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle

This is the most widely used

cycle for refrigerators, AC
systems, and heat pumps.
The vapor-compression
refrigeration cycle is the
ideal model for refrigeration
systems. Unlike the reversed
Carnot cycle, the refrigerant
is vaporized completely
before it is compressed and
the turbine is replaced with
a throttling device.
 Air Conditioning Principles

Heat always moves from a warmer

area to a cooler area.
When liquids are heated and
evaporate to a vapor state, heat is
absorbed.
When a gas condenses from a vapor
to a liquid state, heat is released.
Room Air Conditioner
Dehumidifier
Window Air Conditioner
Refrigerant Pipes to Condenser
Package Air Conditioner
 Split Air
Conditioner
Central Air Conditioning System
Circulate cool air through a system
of supply and return ducts. Supply
ducts and registers (i.e., openings in
the walls, floors, or ceilings covered
by grills) carry cooled air from the air
conditioner to the home.
This cooled air becomes warmer as
it circulates through the home; then
it flows back to the central air
conditioner through return ducts
and registers
Central Air Conditioning System
Central Air Conditioning System
Heat Load Calculations
• Basic Concepts
• Outdoor Design Conditions
• Indoor Design Criteria
• Cooling Load Principles
• Cooling Load Components
• Heating Load
 Basic Concept

• Thermal load
• The amount of heat that must be added
or removed from the space to maintain
the proper temperature in the space
• When thermal loads push conditions
outsider of the comfort range, HVAC
systems are used to bring the thermal
conditions back to comfort conditions
 Basic Concept

• Purpose of HVAC load estimation

• Calculate peak design loads
(cooling/heating)
• Estimate likely plant/equipment capacity or
size
• Provide info for HVAC design e.g. load
profiles
• Form the basis for building energy analysis
• Cooling load is our main target
• Important for warm climates & summer
design
• Affect building performance & its first cost
 Basic Concept

• Heat transfer mechanism

• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
• Thermal properties of building materials
• Overall thermal transmittance (U-value)
• Thermal conductivity
• Thermal capacity (specific heat)
 Basic Concept
• A building survey will help us achieve a
realistic estimate of thermal loads
• Orientation of the building
• Use of spaces
• Physical dimensions of spaces
• Ceiling height
• Columns and beams
• Construction materials
• Surrounding conditions
• Windows, doors, stairways
 Basic Concept

• Building survey (cont’d)

• People (number or density, duration of
occupancy, nature of activity)
• Lighting (W/m2, type)
• Appliances (wattage, location, usage)
• Ventilation (criteria, requirements)
• Thermal storage (if any)
• Continuous or intermittent operation
 Outdoor Design Conditions

• They are used to calculate design space

loads
• Climatic design information
• General info: e.g. latitude, longitude, altitude,
atm. pressure
• Outdoor design conditions
• Derived from statistical analysis of weather data
• Typical data can be found in handbooks/databooks,
such as ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbooks
 Outdoor Design Conditions

• Climatic design conditions (ASHRAE 2001):

• Heating and wind design conditions
• Heating dry-bulb (DB) temp.
• Extreme wind speed
• Coldest month wind speed (WS) & mean coincident
dry-bulb temp. (MDB)
• Mean wind speed (MWS) & prevailing wind direction
(PWD) to DB
• Average of annual extreme max. & min. DB temp. &
standard deviations
 Indoor Design Criteria

• Basic design parameters: (for thermal

comfort)
• Air temp. & air movement
• Typical: summer 24-26 oC; winter 21-23 oC
• Air velocity: summer < 0.25 m/s; winter < 0.15 m/s
• Relative humidity
• Summer: 40-50% (preferred), 30-65 (tolerable)
• Winter: 25-30% (with humidifier); not specified (w/o
humidifier)
• See also ASHRAE Standard 55-2004
• ASHRAE comfort zone
 Indoor Design Criteria

• Indoor air quality:

• Air contaminants
• e.g. particulates, VOC, radon, bioeffluents
• Outdoor ventilation rate provided
• ASHRAE Standard 62-2001
• Air cleanliness (e.g. for processing)
• Other design parameters:
• Sound level
• Pressure differential between the space & surroundings (e.g.
+ve to prevent infiltration)
 Cooling Load Principles

• Terminology:
• Space – a volume w/o a partition, or a
partitioned room, or group of rooms
• Room – an enclosed space (a single load)
• Zone – a space, or several rooms, or units of
space having some sort of coincident loads or
similar operating characteristics
• Thermal zoning
 Cooling Load Principles

• Space and equipment loads

• Space heat gain (sensible, latent, total)
• Space cooling load / space heating load
• Space heat extraction rate
• Cooling coil load / heating coil load
• Refrigeration load
• Instantaneous heat gain
• Convective heat
• Radiative heat (heat absorption)
Convective and radiative heat in a conditioned space
 Cooling Load Principles

• Load profile
• Shows the variation of space load
• Such as 24-hr cycle
• What factors will affect load profile?
• Useful for operation & energy analysis
• Peak load and block load
• Peak load = max. cooling load
• Block load = sum of zone loads at a specific time
 Cooling Load Principles

• Moisture transfer
• Two paths:
• Moisture migrates in building envelope
• Air leakage (infiltration or exfiltration)
• If slight RH variation is acceptable, then storage
effect of moisture can be ignored
• Latent heat gain = latent cooling load
(instantaneously)
• What if both temp. & RH need to be
controlled?
 Cooling Load Components

• Cooling load calculations

• To determine volume flow rate of air
system
• To size the coil and HVAC&R equipment
• To provide info for energy
calculations/analysis
• Two categories:
• External loads
• Internal loads
Cooling Load Components

• External loads
• Heat gain through exterior walls and roofs
• Solar heat gain through fenestrations (windows)
• Conductive heat gain through fenestrations
• Heat gain through partitions & interior doors
• Infiltration of outdoor air
 Cooling Load Components

• Internal loads
• People
• Electric lights
• Equipment and appliances
• Sensible & latent cooling loads
• Convert instantaneous heat gain into
cooling load
• Which components have only sensible
loads?
[Source: ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook 2001]
 Cooling Load Components

• Cooling coil load consists of:

• Space cooling load (sensible & latent)
• Supply system heat gain (fan + air duct)
• Return system heat gain (plenum + fan + air duct)
• Load due to outdoor ventilation rates (or
ventilation load)
• How to construct a summer air conditioning
cycle on a psychrometric chart?
Schematic diagram of typical return air plenum
 Cooling Load Components

• Space cooling load

• To determine supply air flow rate & size of air
system, ducts, terminals, diffusers
• It is a component of cooling coil load
• Infiltration heat gain is an instant. cooling load
• Cooling coil load
• To determine the size of cooling coil &
refrigeration system
• Ventilation load is a coil load
 Heat Load
• Design heating load
• Max. heat energy required to maintain winter
indoor design temp.
•Usually occurs before sunrise on the coldest days
•Include transmission losses & infiltration/ventilation
• Assumptions:
•All heating losses are instantaneous heating loads
•Solar heat gains & internal loads usually not
considered