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Learning Outcome
When you complete this module you will be able to:
Describe the operation of various air conditioning systems.
Learning Objectives
Here is what you will be able to do when you complete each objective:
1. List the functional components and categories of air conditioning systems.
2. Describe the operation of air handling units.
3. Describe the general layout and operation of unitary air conditioning systems.
4. Describe the general layout and operation of central air conditioning systems.
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Air Circulation
Air movement is required in each space to assist in dissipation of latent heat from
occupants and to prevent a buildup of odors which may develop in stagnant areas.
Filtration
Air filters are required to remove contaminants such as dust, dirt, smoke, pollen,
and lint from recirculated air and from outside air before it is introduced into the
building.
It may not be necessary for a system to meet all of these requirements to achieve
satisfactory performance. Each application is unique and its requirements vary in
accordance with geographical location, local weather conditions, type of
occupancy, building layout, and construction. For example, a small residence
located in a moderate climate may only require a source of heating and ventilation
for odor control to maintain acceptable conditions for the occupants. Therefore,
installation of electric baseboard heaters along exterior walls in each room and a
washroom exhaust fan may be adequate for this application.
For a larger residence, located in an area with colder winters and hotter summers,
a more complex system would be required to maintain satisfactory conditions on a
year-round basis. Installation of a forced air system would provide heating, air
filtration, air circulation, and ventilation. A humidifier could be installed for
humidification during winters and cooling coils could be added for summer
cooling and dehumidification.
Therefore, in the analysis of the best system for a building, it is very important to
first determine which of the basic requirements must be provided to achieve
satisfactory conditions in the building, and which requirements would be
desirable, but not essential. Once this is established, then the system which best
matches these needs can be selected.
CATEGORIES OF SYSTEMS
Many types and variations of systems have been developed over the years for use
in buildings of various sizes and locations. However, these systems can generally
be divided into three main categories.
Unitary Systems
Each individual room or zone is provided with a self-contained air conditioning
unit to maintain desired environmental conditions.
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Central Systems
Air is filtered, heated, cooled, and/or humidified in an air handling unit located in
a central mechanical room in the building. The conditioned air is then distributed
through supply ductwork to all rooms and zones in the building. The system is
mainly controlled in the mechanical room, but supplementary thermostats in each
zone may also be provided for improved individual room temperature control.
Combined Systems
Air is conditioned in an air handling unit located in a central mechanical room and
is ducted to all areas of the building. However, this system normally provides
only ventilation and cooling while supplementary equipment located in each zone
provides heating and additional cooling if required. Combined systems are
usually more complex and costly than central systems, but provide superior zone
temperature control.
Figure 1
Typical Air Handling Unit
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A simple cooling only unit would consist of a fan, filter, and cooling coil; whereas
a large air handling unit for a central system would include all of the basic
components, and various others might be added. Filters are usually of the
replaceable media type, but electronic air filters are used for some applications.
Heating may be provided by hot water, steam or electric coils, or by fossil fuel
fired furnaces. Chilled water or direct expansion refrigerant coils can be used for
cooling. Humidification may be by water or steam type humidifiers. Supply fans
range from small propeller fans to centrifugal fans in large central systems. To
simplify this analysis, the most commonly used type of components will be
discussed for each system.
The arrangement of the intake section of air handling units is of particular interest.
These units may be installed in four different arrangements as illustrated in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2(a)shows a unit operating on full recirculation, simply drawing in room air,
conditioning it, and then returning it to the room. In Fig. 2(b) the unit is operating
on approximately 90% recirculation and a fixed 10% of outside air which is
drawn through a connection from the return air duct to outdoors. This minimum
outdoor air arrangement is typically utilized with a forced air furnace to provide
ventilation for a house. In Fig. 2(c) the unit is operating on 100% outside air with
no recirculation, so special attention must be given to the design of the heating
components to prevent freezing problems during winters. These "makeup air
systems" are used for kitchens, parking garages, and laboratories to ensure that
negative pressure does not develop in buildings where large quantities of outside
air are required to balance air removed by exhaust systems.
Figure 2
Intake Arrangements for Air Handling Units
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The mixed air system, Fig. 2(d), is the most commonly used arrangement in
central and combined systems for larger buildings. In these units the motorized
dampers are both sized for maximum air flow; therefore, the unit can operate on
full outdoor air, full recirculation, or any mixture of outdoor air and return air. In
addition, motorized relief air dampers must be provided to allow return air to be
exhausted from the building when it is not required for mixing. For example,
when the unit is operating on full outdoor air, all of the return air must be released
from the building. The mixing dampers are usually automatically controlled to
provide a mixed air temperature of approximately 12.5C (54.5F), which is the
desired supply air temperature to the building for cooling purposes. Therefore, the
amount of outdoor air required will vary in accordance with the outdoor air
temperature, as indicated in Fig. 3.
Figure 3
Air Mixing Systems Variation of
Amount of Outdoor Air With Temperature
Note that the amount of outdoor air for a 12.5C (54.5F) mixed air temperature is
reduced to approximately 15% during the coldest winter days, but increases as the
outdoor temperature rises, and is 100% at 12.5C . In this temperature range, the
desired 12.5C supply air temperature for building cooling can be achieved by
the operation of the mixed air dampers, so mechanical cooling is not required.
This is called free cooling and results in a significant saving in energy
consumption compared to systems which do not have this feature. As the outdoor
temperature increases above 12.5C, the unit continues to operate on full outdoor
air, but mechanical cooling is required to reduce the air temperature. When the
outdoor temperature exceeds the 24C (75F) return air temperature it is more
energy efficient to operate on recirculation, so the dampers adjust to a 10% or
15% minimum outside air position. In some climatic locations, the dry bulb and
wet bulb temperatures of the outdoor and return air are measured, and this
"changeover" occurs when the outdoor air enthalpy exceeds the return air
enthalpy, thus resulting in further energy savings.
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Room air is drawn into the bottom of the unit, mixed with a fixed amount of
outdoor air, filtered, and blown by a fan through the coils to the room. The coils
are connected to a piping system which provides chilled water from refrigeration
machines for summer cooling and/or hot water from boilers for winter heating.
Figure 4
Unit Ventilator System
Rooftop Unit
These self-contained air handling units are used for larger applications from 2.7 to
68 tonnes (3 to 75 tons) or more of cooling. The units are manufactured in
sections on a modular basis, and are designed with a weatherproof casing
enclosure for exposed installations on roofs. A unit may consist of a plenum
section with motorized dampers for mixing of outdoor and return air, filter
section, supply fan, heating section, cooling coils, and humidifier.
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Figure 5
Forced Air System with Natural Gas Heating
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Figure 6
Terminal Reheat System Low Velocity
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The system is very effective in providing all of the basic environmental control
requirements, and was used extensively for all types of buildings prior to the
escalation of energy costs in the 1970s. However, it is very high in energy
consumption. Supply air which is mechanically cooled to 12.5C (54.5F) during
summers may be reheated to maintain zone space conditions. Also, the system is
designed to satisfy the maximum annual cooling load in each zone and cannot
take advantage of the diversity in these loads.
For example, the air quantities supplied to exterior zones in the building are
selected to satisfy the maximum cooling load during times of peak solar radiation.
However, at 9:00 a.m. only the east zone receives solar radiation, so that
substantial supply air reheat is required in south and west zones to prevent
overcooling. This terminal reheat system has been replaced in many buildings by
more energy efficient systems, but still has specific applications such as
laboratories and hospitals where a constant room air circulation rate and fine
temperature control are required.
Also, a terminal reheat box is required in the branch duct to each zone to reduce
the air flow to low velocity, and to maintain a constant supply air volume in spite
of air pressure fluctuations in the high velocity ducts. The boxes consist of a
volume regulator, reheat coil, and acoustic insulation. Each box is rated for a
maximum capacity, but actual air flow can be set by manually adjusting a volume
controller on the exterior of the box.
The system provides effective control of room conditions, and is used in large
buildings where the added cost of the high velocity components and terminal
boxes is offset by savings due to reduced building space requirements. Also, it is
well suited to retrofit projects where an air conditioning system must be provided
in a building that has limited available existing space for ductwork. This system
may be more difficult to maintain than the low velocity system, due to the
increased possibility of noise and vibration associated with the high velocity
operation and the additional pressure regulating controls in the boxes. Note that
the boxes are best located above corridors adjacent to the conditioned space, so
that occupants are not disturbed when access to the boxes is required.
Multizone System
This is a constant volume system in which the discharge of the air handling unit
has been modified to provide multizone control capability, as illustrated in
Fig. 7. The unit includes the typical arrangement of mixed air dampers, filters,
humidifier, and fan. The cooling coils and heating coils are located downstream
from the fan and are offset rather than installed in-line. Therefore, supply air may
flow into two separate discharge compartments, called a "hot deck" and a "cold
deck".
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Figure 7
Multizone Unit (Courtesy of Trane)
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From two to twelve or more pairs of zone mixing dampers are located at the
discharge of the unit, and each pair is connected by a separate duct to each zone.
A space thermostat in the zone acts through an operator to modulate the dampers
and adjust the mixture of hot and cold air, thus satisfying space conditions by
varying supply air temperature. The dampers are linked together, but are 90 out
of phase so that full opening of the cold deck results in full closing of the hot
deck. This ensures that a constant volume of air is supplied to each zone and that
a constant total volume of air is handled by the supply fan.
The cold deck normally supplies air at 12.5C (54.5F) on a year round basis and
utilizes free cooling whenever possible. The output of the hot deck varies in
accordance with heating requirements. When hot water coils are used, water
temperature is normally reset on an outdoor air temperature schedule as an energy
saving measure. A preheat coil may be included in colder climates for heating of
mixed air to 12.5C if required, and a supplementary humidifier can be installed
in the hot deck for winter humidification.
This system provides good control of room temperature conditions on a year
round basis. However, humidity control is reduced under certain operating
conditions, when large portions of air bypass the hot deck humidifier during
winter, or escape dehumidification in the cooling coils during summer. This
system is well suited for use in smaller buildings with multizone layouts, such as
schools. However, its application is limited by the number of zones available on
the air handling unit, and the space requirements and complexity of the separate
supply ducts to each zone.
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Figure 8
Dual Duct System
The cold deck air is supplied at approximately 12.5C (54.5F) on a year round
basis, utilizing free cooling with supplementary mechanical cooling when
required. Hot deck heating can be provided by steam or hot water coils, with the
latter preferred since its output can be reset in accordance with outdoor air
temperature. A separate humidifier in the hot deck may be provided for winter
humidification. Each main supply duct is sized to handle full airflow, and is
therefore of medium or high velocity design to minimize building space
requirements. This results in significant variations in duct static pressures, so the
mixing boxes are provided with pressure regulator devices to adjust for these
fluctuations and maintain a constant volume airflow to each zone. As in most
large systems, a separate return air fan is used to ensure controlled return airflow
from each area.
This system is widely used for larger office, commercial, institutional, and
medical buildings. It provides a constant air circulation rate in each zone and
good control of space conditions. It can handle many more zones than a
multizone system, and is much easier to alter if required, as additional zones can
be created by simply adding boxes. Due to the high velocity design of dual duct
systems, special attention must be given during design to minimize noise
transmission into occupied areas. Therefore, silencers may be installed in each
duct main, and acoustic insulation is a standard feature of mixing boxes.
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