1.

INTRODUCTION
The Indian consumer is today more knowledgeable and demanding. With higher disposal income and relatively improved standard of living, people are ready to spend time at their chosen leisure centers for entertainment. The young generation today, believes in working hard, earning well and spending lavishly on recreation. Having all entertainment facilities such as theatres, video game parlor, food court, restaurants, supermarket and bowling alley and discotheque under one roof is become common. Occasionally, one would like to spend available time with their family out of their home and unwind themselves from their daily routines. Multiplex is a building which provides all above mentioned facilities under one roof. First fully air-conditioned multiplex in India was launched in Ahemedabad four years ago and another five or six multiplexes have sprouted in Ahemedabad alone. Throughout the country more than 100 multiplexes are under construction and 500 more at various stages of planning. One or two decades ago in India Multiplex concept is totally new. Few big theatres, auditoriums also cant do full air conditioning. They used various types of ventilations, fans, air cooler. But this system does not give efficient air conditioning and comfortable environment. Also air cooling system produce lots of noise.

2. SYSTEM DESIGN AND SELECTION

Designing the HAVC system for a Multiplex is a complex task as the design must satisfy a specific set of requirements which are unique to each area. The inside design conditions like temperature and RH noise level, ventilation or fresh air level and flexibility in operation play a vital role in selecting the high and low side equipments. The different areas in a Multiplex can be broadly classified from the design point of view into critical, semi critical and non critical areas. a) Critical Areas: (22+/- 20 C)

Theatres and projector rooms. b) Semi-Critical Areas: - (24+/- 2 0 C) Food court, Restaurants, Entertainment and Shopping Areas. c) Non Critical Areas: (26+/- 2 0 C)

Atrium, Lobbies and Passes.

3. THEATRES
The design consideration for any air conditioning system depends largely on its application. It is known fact that Theatres, Auditoriums, Concert Halls or Cinema Halls are high occupancy (persons per sq. feet) area. Consequently, the fresh air requirement is high in order to dilute the CO2 concentration. High occupancy also leads to a greater amount of latent load emitted by the human beings. Typically, the comfort band on temperature variation between 70 to 76 degree Feranheight (21.1 0 C to 24.4 0 C) with RH not exceeding 65 %( 55 to 65%). Noise level should be mentioned 25db.

3.1 AIR DISTRIBUTION

With a given set of equipment and layout and a fixed seating arrangement the air distribution system should aim at the following:Draft. There should not be any occupant areas which get greater than 25 fpm air movement-pockets of "drafty seats" will render maintenance of comfort conditions impossible. Direction of air flow. Over the anatomy of a person in the seats should ideally be on the face and neither on the nape of his neck nor his ankles. Acoustics. The SA and RA outlets should be kept as distant from the mike as possible and they should also be as far away as possible from the ears of the audience. In such detailingthe source of noise are rendered distant from one another. Duct velocities. Ideally duct velocities at starting points should not exceed 1200 fpm-but if the AHU rooms are not very close to the hall and the first SA point is 20m away from the AHU discharge, then one can go up to 1500 fpm for performance auditoriums and movie theatres.(Recording stations are totally different and will not permit velocities higher than 1000 fpm).Splitters and sharp fittings in the ducts must be avoided and only plenum fittings used. Ideally dampers in ducts and on the grilles must be omitted and TAB (Testing, Adjusting, Balancing) work effected by using perforated sheets can be fitted on the inside of the main duct (duct sizes are generally very large and permit such movement and usage). Stage cooling. It is not unusual for a stage to have around 500 kW of lighting-the high cfm for the high load is best discharged from air outlets high above the stage. Small 12" 3

diameter collars (preferably without diffusers) are the best form of discharge. The centre lines of these or even smaller diffuser must be, say, a maximum 3 m in both directions. With such a discharge pattern one may have any number of vertical backdrop screens erected but will still have cooling-behind and in front of any screen. The above requirements, when put together for implementation, can lead to very interesting solutions. Some apparent contradictions in the above requirements can be ironed out by simple acoustic treatment, as can be seen from the few examples detailed later. Requirements also vary, depending on the popularity of the movie running in the theatre, its show time and the holiday season. One has to keep in mind, not exceed air velocities in duct above 1000 FPM and location of supply air and return air outlets. Generally, it is recommended that the supply air be introduced from the top through diffuser and return air be collected from the bottom, below the seat to maintain the desired air flow pattern. This layout of air distribution would ensure uniform distribution of air without draft and noise. In a low noise requirement, it is advisable to acoustically line the supply and return air duct completely with fiberglass wool of adequate thickness. Another alternative to locate the supply air duct along the sidewalls of the hall. The duct can be concealed in boxing and the supply air grilles can be either continuous or conventional. The grilles are designed for adequate throw so that air reaches even the central portion of the seating area. However, very large hall require large throw from the side walls and such a requirement could vary between 50 to 150 feet. In such installation, selection of grille is very important, to meet the throw requirement. Generally this result in a high air discharge velocity leading to noise, as well as draft. It is therefore recommended that, supply air throw should be designed for maximum of 30 feet throw from the side and to ensure it reaches the central portion of the hall, the return air should be collected below the seat. Another alternative to take the return air in directly below the stage, and this method is guit commonly followed. Recommended design velocity for supply air in the main duct should not exceed 1200 FPM and of return air 600 FPM. The recommended velocity at the outlet of grille/diffuser is to be maintained between 150 to 200 FPM.

3.2 PROJECTOR ROOMS: - (BIO-BOX).

This is heart of any theatre and besides maintaining proper temperature, relative humidity and noise level, it is essential to design an excellent air distribution system due to the high heat generation by projection lamps. A 100 percent stand-by ventilation unit is recommended for the projection area. Capacity of the ventilation unit should be depend on the specification of the projector manufacturer and may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Automation of projector ventilation system is a must and it should be start 15-20 minutes before the projector start and stop, ensuring removal of all heat from machines. Condensation of any kind on the Xenon bulbs of a projection machine can lead to damage of bulb, which is very expensive. It is important that HAVC designer interacts with the projection machine supplier prior to finalization of system design for this area. Many projection machine require chilled water cooling in the form of plate type secondary heat exchanger. Normally they require water at 13
0

C to 15

C with cooling load not exceeding 3 ton. The side walls of the

projector room which are common to for 3 to 5 theatre is not available for running air conditioning ducts or chilled water lines as they will have roller and movie film space and therefore this area become critical . It is always recommended to plan dedicated AHUs/exhaust unit for each projector room so that transfer of sound from one theatre to another is avoided. This exhaust from the projector system can be connected to main duct through flexible duct to isolate vibrations.

It is essential to ensure that in such installation, the handling unit (AHU) is mounted on correctly selected vibration isolator and chilled pipe is provided with a flexible connection to avoid transmission of vibration to the structure. The design of AHU has to be for low rpm i.e.650 rpm with outlet velocity not exceeding 1800 fpm.

4. MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT

Location of mechanical equipment such as Chillers, Air handling unit and pumps etc. is quite critical, particularly where a low noise criterion is a key requirement. It is advisable to have the AC plant room and the air handling unit room in separate area which is structurally isolated from theatre or auditorium .The locational constraint sometimes forces us to accept air handing unit room within the same structure as that of the auditorium and sometimes very near the auditorium. It is essential to ensure that in such installation, AHU is mounted on correctly selected vibration isolators and chilled water pipe is provided with a flexible connection to avoid transmission of vibration to the structure. The design of AHU has to be for low rpm i.e. 650 rpm with outlet velocity not exceeding 180 fpm. It is preferable to have AHU fans of backward curved type and bearing of nylon pillow block. A double-skin type of AHU is always preferred for low noise application. It is important to acoustically line the walls of the AHU room. Sound attenuators should be provided both in the supply air duct as well as return air path. Wherever return air is not ducted, it is recommended to have return air attenuator on the return air opening of the Auditorium wall.

4.1 CHILLER/EQUIPMENT SELECTION:Multiplexes, due to their variable requirements, occupancies, operating time and usage, require chiller package module with multiple circuits for flexibility in operation. For example, a 5 screen Multiplex having a total cooling load of 400 ton can have a requirement of 40-50 ton minimum with 300-320 ton maximum. The ideal chiller selection can be 160 ton x 2 nos., each with two independent circuits of 80 ton, which can meet any requirement vary economically. The use of an energy storage system can be an ideal solution for such application. Up to now, in many of the Multiplexes, all the areas in the building were owned by a single owner, so it was advisable to have a single, centralized chilled plant, to enjoy the advantage of different diversities. But the scenario is changing today and all the parts of a building are not necessarily owned by the same person. The theatre and atrium may belong to one owner, while the food court and restaurants to another.

Recreation areas are usually owned by a third person and the shopping malls may be by a fourth owner. In such cases, multiple separate utilities for different areas or one centralized plant with proper BMS for billing of utilities can be planned. The location of chiller plants, cooling towers, and AHUs is very critical and must be well coordinated with the architects and structural consultants and interior designer at the planning stage, with clear understanding of the supply and return air paths. Also very careful thought should be given to isolation of vibration generated by all the mechanical equipment such as chillers, pumps, AHUs etc.by using vibration isolation mountings below the equipment and flexible connections at the inlet and outlet of equipment to avoid transmission of vibration to pipes and ducts. A Multiplex could have more than 3000 occupants on busy day and therefore the air distribution system should be well designed and separated in a modular way to avoid transfer of fire form one system to another, in case of any emergency. Integration of the fire detection and fire fighting with the HAVC system is very important in a Multiplex building. Use of fire dampers and tripping of AHUs with detection system should also be planned properly. Many theatres are provided with VESDA type fire detection system and the HAVC designer must ensure its installation with capillary tubes in the return air path for early detection of fire in auditoriums. (VESDA is the name of a company that manufactures a very sensitive fire detector installed in the return air path thus eliminating sensors normally located inside the auditorium.)

5. NOISE AND ITS CONTROL

5.1 SUPPLY AND RETURN FAN

Fans generates the maximum noise. Centrifugal fan produces noise across the entire audio frequency band having max. value between 31.5 to 250 Hz. Thus it is observed that these values are maximum in low frequency band. Lowest noise is produced when fan operates at its highest efficient region on its performance curve.

5.2 SMOOTH AIR FLOW

In case the system doesnt have a good aerodynamic design and efficient operation of various components, the noise level of sources increases in low frequency range, if fans operate at low efficiency and in an unstable region. Air flow at entrance and exit should be smooth to minimize generation of noise.

5.3 DUCTING, DAMPERS, AIR TERMINAL DEVICES:Deflectors such as vanes, fins etc are used to deflect air for even distribution of same throughout the air conditioned space leads to generation of noise. Greater the deflection, higher is the noise level produced. Sound power level (lw) generated by air flowing through diffuser increases by 16db for octave bands around 500 Hz and 16 to 24 db for octave band between 500 to 1000 Hz in case velocity of air passing through diffuser is doubled. Damper which is integral part of the grilles or diffusers used to control the volume of airflow, increase the noise frequency in the range of 1000 to 8000Hz.More restriction to air flow more will be the noise level. Thus it is recommended that damper should not used in sensitive applications. Instead damper can be installed in duct to achieve same objective.

Misaligned diffuser can create noise e.g. Misalignment of 1 diameter in 2 diameter length can increase sound level by 15 db.

5.4 NOISE CONTROL

the control of the noise in a duct air distribution system can be achieved through a attenuation of the sound in duct using sound attenuator or sound absorptive plenums. The systematic approach to the attenuation is to reduced the noise level in various components of the air distribution system. Sound attenuator has cross section equal to or grater than the duct in which it installed. Attenuator is used to control the noise level in various component of air distribution system.

6. OTHER AREAS

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6.1 RECREATION AREA

This is another popular part of any Multiplex building with high sensible loads resulting in large air quantities. The critical point here is the noise contamination which can be avoided by planning a separate air distribution system for the area. The location of supply air outlets should depend on the equipment loads and occupied areas to ensure comfortable and consistent inside conditions.

6.2 ATRIUM/PUBIC AREAS

This is a non-critical but important area of any Multiplex, where the occupancy is mainly in transit. The occupancy level will vary depending on the shoe timings. Here, the design condition can be kept slightly higher, say 26 0 C and 60% RH with less ventilation air to reduce the overall cooling load. Planning should be such that the air distribution should be in the occupied areas only and attic spaces should be ventilated properly. The HAVC designer must take care of the smoke evacuation system from the atrium areas along with pressurization of stairwells and lift shaft and integrate these requirements with the fire detection systems.

7. LOAD CALCULATION CONDITIONS

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Factors which influences the load calculations to a greater extent than, normally are:I. Occupancy The single largest factor in such applications is the heat load from people. What should be the design occupancy of an auditorium? In performance auditoriums which include halls used for live shows, conference and meetings, the seating capacity may not be the design occupancy, since the occupancy become a function of the usage pattern. In the auditoriums of educational institutions, it could range from almost daily to, a low of, just 15 to 20 days in a year. For the former usage pattern, occupancy may vary from virtually 0 to 100% whereas, for the latter pattern of usage, virtually 100% occupancy is to be expected. Maximum possible seating capacity should be used as starting point and provision then made to allow for standing(in aisles) if permitted by local fire codes. On this number a designer can then apply a diversity factor. A diversity of 0.9 is generally safe. In movie theatres in the big cities which have more than three daily shows, houseful shows during weekends are to be expected; hence full seating capacity is to be taken as the load factor. With evening shows also being full and outside relative humidity being higher in the evening, generally the peak load occurs at 8 p.m. (auditoriums for movies are many as they do not have a stage, and design occupancy is generally-the seating capacity). II. Ventilation. 5 cfm/person is an often repeated benchmark for fresh air. The figure has been valid for," no smoking auditoriums for a long time. The latest ASHRAE codes which are driven by IAQ considerations call for 15 cfm/person. If one were to consider that most auditoriums are never full all the time then one can take the liberty of saying that 5 cfm/ person based on the full seating capacity does give acceptable IAQ most of the time. This indication must not be read as suggestion that ASHRAE figures need not be implemented. For adhere prestigious auditoriums designed to international standards it is imperative to follow ASHRAE standards. If the 15 cfm/person figure is adopted and the fresh air quantity works out to a figure greater than 2 air changes / hour, then it is advisable to positively exhaust the air quantity in

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excess of 1 1/2 air changes / hour and use it for heat recovery from the fresh air intake to the air conditioning system in order to conserve energy. It is also advisable to flush the auditorium with 100% fresh air, periodically. To make these possible, fresh air intakes must be oversized. Flushing can be done at off-peak times or at times when outside ambient conditions are low. III. Solar and Transmission gain. The fabric gain in an auditorium is mostly from the sun-exposed roof since few auditoriums have windows for natural light and hence solar gain is virtually out of reckoning. Sun-exposed roofs must be insulated-a minimum of 3" thick, foil- faced fiberglass may be applied to get a value smaller than 0.1 Btu/hour/sq. ft/ 0 F. The attic space, if not used as a return air plenum, must be sealed and left" hot and stratified".(This pre-supposes that the insulation is on the main sun-exposed roof membrane) For acoustical purposes, most wall areas are insulated and panelled which help to improve the thermal value of the wall and reduce the heat flow into the structure-the total reduction due to this treatment does not appreciably alter the total heat load of the auditorium. IV. Stratification. While calculating heat loads, the whole auditorium is reckoned as a single zone. On the other hand, in applications where the auditoriums are taller than 9 m and side-wall grilles one can appreciate that a large volume of the auditorium does not participate in the air movement, and tends to become a stratified hot pocket. A designer can use this to select a smaller air conditioning system in which the plant capacity can be safely reduced by 40% to 50% of the heat load of the hot stratified pocket. (Generally the volume, 1.5m higher than the side wall grille up to the roof can be considered as the stratified zone for giving credit to the heat load-see calculations in the example) V. Storage Effect. In general, the mass of the structural elements and furnishing per person is higher than in most other applications. This is an opportunity to use storage effect to advantage-to downsize the air conditioning plant.

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Based on the above factors the pull down load is also very high. For plants which are used infrequently(less than 3 hours at a time) one can select a plant 10% smaller than design and meet the pull down needs by operating the plant for 2 hours before usage and lower the temperature to say 1.5 0C below design. During usage, the operating conditions are restored and the precooled mass absorbs some of the heat load. VI. Inside Conditions. It is Normal to aim at holding Inside conditions to 23/24 0C and RH between 40% and 60%. With good wide seats, at 900mm center lines, which keep the occupants far apart and with ceiling heights greater than 7.5m it is often surprising to note that 25 0C is also not uncomfortable. This is perhaps, because the influence of the occupants, around the subject by way of radiation temperature, gets diluted. (A person's skin temperature is closed to 35
0

C as against a brick wall which may be at 25 0C). Outside design Conditions. The outside conditions used in the heat load should be taken

at the time of the day when the peak load occurs. For movie houses featuring noon shows and matinee shows, the general outside design conditions used commonly become applicable. For performance auditoriums-with one show a day-generally the 8 p.m. load is the peak load. VII. Heat load Calculations. Some handbooks give simplified curves and procedures for estimating heat loads of the auditorium. One only needs to know outside design conditions, number of seats, cfm/ person and the inside conditions. This data is keyed into a set of curves to get the auditorium heat load. The heat load for the foyer and other spaces can not be calculated by this method. These curves are based on conditions in the US where generally the time between shows is larger than in India, due to which benefits of "fresh air flushing" and storage get lost. Example To help explains the above factor it would be interesting to see them applied on the model take a typical 1000 hall in an up market convention centre. Say, 30 m x 30 m x 8 m high

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upto the false sealing with foyers all around and RCC roof at Chennai for which out side design conditions are 1200 F db/ 830 F wb Occupancy It would be advisable to take full seating capacity as the occupancy- a diversity on this is not being taken as the convention centre will have halls of various sizes and chances are that the halls are care fully allotted / used to get full utilization (i.e. they are likely to be full always.) Ventilation By virtue of hall being up market it will be imperative to provide for FA as per the international standard (15 cfm/person) the 15 cfm/person works out to over 3 a/c per hourin such cases one can easily consider exhausting FA, in excess of 1.5 a/c per hour, positively through heat pipe exchanger or energy wheel and save up to8700 x 17.2 x 4.5 x 0.7 12000 where 1 a/c /hour = 4280 cfm FA = 15 cfm per person = 15000 cfm Exhaust air = 15000 (1.5 x 4250) = 8700 17.2 is enthalpy difference between out side air and inside air in Chennai (i.e. 47 -29.8) 4.5 is the standard heat load factor 0.7 is the assume efficiency of the energy recovery system Roof heat gain Must be controlled by standard levels of insulation (at least 3 in. fiber glass on sun exposed roof) Stratification If the hall is to have an air distribution scheme as shown in fig. then due to stratification of the hot air near the roof, one may reduce 50 % of the heat load incident, say, 1.5 m above the grille level i.e. above 6.5 m level this can be estimated as under = 40 tons

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Roof gain :- 30 x 30 x 10.76 x 0.1 x 55= 53262 wall gain :- 30 x 4 x 1.5 x 0.36 x 20 = 1296 Sub total tons. 54558 or 5 tons total load of auditorium may be reduced by 50 % of this as credit for stratification, say by 3

8. SYSTEM DETERMINATION

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With the cooling load determined one has a fix on the plant capacity. The plant capacity can be met by various types of systems: Central chilled water system Central DX system Package equipment system Storage cooling system

8.1 CENTRAL CHILLED WATER SYSTEMS.

In this case the major advantage is that the chilled water plant is remote located (with only AHUs being close to the hall). This feature reduces noise transmission into the hall, and allows one to centralize the services of the whole complex. The chilled water system may be air-cooled or water-cooled. This system is more expensive. Prime candidates for using such systems would be convention centres like the Vigyan Bhavan at Delhi or the Raffles Convention Centre at Singapore-structures which house such facilities are massive, with less external walling when compared to internal floor space. Such structures have internal service cores which tend to use only small areas-AHU rooms are also located hereabouts, by virtue of these being small, land locked, away from external walls-making them eminently suitable for a chilled water system.

8.2 CENTRAL DX SYSTEMS.

This type of system is well suited for such applications as the auditorium is basically a single zone. By locating the equipment properly and providing for the usual acoustic attenuation, the noise of the plant can be "kept" within limits. For large auditoriums, it is normal to use multiple DX systems with each system being, say, a minimum 60 tons. Each system will need to have two independent refrigeration circuits and each system may have a common AHU with two cooling coils or ideally two AHUs with a cooling coil each. Generally these systems may have to be water cooled-as that the heat rejection equipment like cooling towers, can be remote located from the plant. These systems are not as expensive as the chilled water system, as they do away with the leader of chillers, chiller pumps and chilled water piping.

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Prime candidates for using such systems are very large auditoriums, when built in exclusive buildings. This can be seen in the example of the APTDC auditorium detailed later-where 4 x 80 ton systems cool the auditorium and each 80 ton system has 2 x 40 ton independent refrigeration circuits. Large indoor auditoriums calling for, say, 1500 tons of cooling could be economically cooled with 10 x 50 ton plants each with 2 x 75 ton DX circuits.

8.3 PACKAGED EQUIPMENT SYSTEMS.

With large capacity, reliable, factory-made equipment being freely available at unmatchable costs, one can use such equipment also for this application. Multiple package units/ductable splits can be used well. Factory-made comfort equipment-with cooling coils which are only 3 rows deep-theoretically does not meet the "adp" needs of the application, but in practice such equipment has been used with the ensuring, higher relative humidity never posing any serious problem. These systems are generally the most economical, particularly, if used properly with limited ducts. Use of multiple units can be made to bring in an additional advantage of grouping them together to from "zones"-say one set of equipment for the stage, another set for the front half, yet another set for the rear half, etc. With this kind zoning one can operate the stage plant only during rehearsals, likewise the stage plant and the front half area plant may be run to cool only a partially-filled auditorium. Prime candidate for using such systems are small 30/40 ton capacity halls used by educational institutions. This, of course, gets stretched, to such systems being used even for large assembly areas like marriage halls, community centres, etc. Generally one feels comfortable using such systems for halls which do not have a continued, long-duration occupancy, such as marriage halls.

8.4 STORAGE COOLING SYSTEMS.

On specific applications, such as temple halls, churches etc. where one needs cooling only for, say, three hours a day and even that, only once a week, storage systems can be used. Thermal storage systems can be as simple as the "ice storage" ones, or as sophisticated as eutectic salt in custom containers". Costs will dictate the use of low-end 18

systems, but with ice systems using direct ice melt, one may need to have an AHU with a large-than-normal coil bypass area. (Simple ice melt systems are the ones where, as in dairy milk coolers-ice is formed on bare pipe coils, in the "a/c off" mode and in the "a/c on" mode the ice melts and ice water at 0 0C is pimped to the AHUs. Since this water is very cold, the dehumidified cfm is reduced and is nearly half of the normal design cfm. The cold air from the AHUs is discharged very carefully into the unoccupied high zones of the auditorium, though high -induction outlets and ceiling fans below the outlets mix this with room air and blow it across the occupants. These systems are very cost-effective for applications which need cooling for say 3 to 4 hours only in a week. Example 1-Using a Central Chilled Water System. A modern auditorium 18m x 18m x 10m high, for 300 people, at the Electronics Techno park needed about 35 ton of cooling-the cooling was integrated with the building's chilled water system with a 35 ton chilled water AHU. A conventional single- skin AHU with 3 x 18" diameter simple, forward curved fans on a common shaft, was installed in the basement below the projector room. A masonry shaft from the AHU room, rising up through the projector room, permitted the installation of an uninsulated duct within. This duct rises to the rooftop and just a single 4ft x 4ft square diffuser discharges the entire 35 tons of cooling that is needed for the total space. Return air is collected through openings in the pelmet all around the auditorium at the lintel level. (See Figure 4). Example 2- Using a Central DX System. The recently completed APTDC auditorium at Hyderabad uses a DX system for coolingthe auditorium is part of a complex at Shilparman with air conditioned conference rooms, exhibition halls, dining complexes and showcase areas for arts and crafts-the auditorium is circular area with the RCC roof. The planning was carried out for a 3000 seat occupancy with large foyers and ancillary spaces. A cooling load of 320 ton was estimated to be met by 4 x 80 ton plants serving separate areas as under:

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1 x 80 ton plant for the foyers, both on the ground and first floors(approx 40 ton each) These two multilevel foyars were put on a common plant as both foyers are virtually contiguous with very large connecting stair cases.

1 x 80 ton plant for the 1000 odd seats, below the balcony. 2 x 80 ton plants for the rest of the space viz. the stage, the front portion of the hall and the balcony space.

Un-insulated duct work was installed in masonry risers for air distribution. Duct insulation was confined to:-Acoustic insulation for the first 6 m duct run from the AHU and -Thermal insulation for the tail ends of the duct. Example 3-Using Packaged Units. A 1000 seating auditorium, as part of a recreation complex, in the Sri Shivsubramaniam Nadar College Of Engineering, Kalavakkam-needed 110 tons of cooling. As the collage auditorium would work only 15/20 days in a year, it was necessary to use simple, reliable equipment. 7 x 15 ton air-cooled packaged units were installed with the air-cooled condensers installed just outside the AHU room, which was virtually over the stage. The stage has an RCC roof and is part of a multy-storeyed complex which houses all the club rooms etc. The stage space fronts on to a light weight, industrial building structure, which houses the auditorium and foyer. The foyer is not air conditioned and insulated ducts from the AHU room enter the attic space over the false ceiling of the auditorium. A set of 4 diffusers in the middle-high portion of the false ceiling cool about three-fourths of the seats-the balance seats which have a lower false ceiling and are more remote from the centre have small diffusers located, copy book style, to cool these "remote" seats. Return air is collected through a 600 mm wide RA grille in the false ceiling just above the curtain. (See Figure 5). Example 4-Using Ductable Splits. A 400-seat simple auditorium is just 28m x 12m. The auditorium located at the MOP Vaishnav College of Women at Chennai, is on the 2nd floor and is covered by a light

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asbestos cement sheet insulated roof. The roof extends down over the corridor as a "lean of roof" to for the foyer along the full length. Simple 7.5 ton air cooled split a/c units are suspended in the corridor and blow air, virtually directly, into the auditorium through a single sidewall grill. An adjacent grille brings back RA to the a/c units and the foyer has a false ceiling and the triangular cross-sectioned volume over the false ceiling acts as a RA plenum. To lengthen the SA duct run from the a/c unit is made to discharge air, apparently, away from the auditorium, but a couple of bends reverse the air back into the auditorium. The grille mounting height is nearly 4m and the grille has horizontal front slats with the top one-third slats angled 30 0 upward, the middle third kept horizontal straight and the lower third angled 30 0 downward to evenly reach air for the 12m throw. None of the seats are drafty and noise has never been a problem despite the short distance between the a/c unit and the supply air grille.

CONCLUSION

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Air conditioning of multiplexes is very critical task. But knowing importance of multiplexes today, it is very essential to build multiplexes and maintain them so that people inside it feel comfortable so while doing air conditioning of multiplexes give more attention towards the most critical area of multiplexes viz. theaters and auditorium. Load calculation is very importance and it include various factor which affect the inside conditions. The air distribution system is used such that fresh air can easily reach to all places inside the theaters and also produced low noise. An installation of various mechanical equipment is also very important and give more attention towards it.

REFERENCE
1. Journal of air conditioning and refrigeration Jan- Mar 2003

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2. www.google.com 3. www.hvacindia.org.in 4. www.cinemasystems.com

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