Ball valve

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For the "ball valves" found in UK toilet cisterns and attic tanks, see float valve and ballcock.

Cut-away of a ball-valve mechanism

A ball valve is a valve with a spherical disc, the part of the valve which controls the flow
through it. The sphere has a hole, or port, through the middle so that when the port is in line with
both ends of the valve, flow will occur. When the valve is closed, the hole is perpendicular to the
ends of the valve, and flow is blocked. The handle or lever will be inline with the port position
letting you "see" the valve's position. The ball valve, along with the butterfly valve and plug
valve, are part of the family of quarter turn valves.

Ball valves are durable and usually work to achieve perfect shutoff even after years of disuse.
They are therefore an excellent choice for shutoff applications (and are often preferred to globe
valves and gate valves for this purpose). They do not offer the fine control that may be necessary
in throttling applications but are sometimes used for this purpose.

Ball valves are used extensively in industry because they are very versatile, supporting pressures
up to 700 bars and temperatures up to 200°C. Sizes typically range from 0.5 cm to 30 cm. They
are easy to repair and operate.

The body of ball valves may be made of metal, plastic or metal with a ceramic center. The ball is
often chrome plated to make it more durable.

The genericized trademark ball-o-fix is occasionally used after the original UK market leader.
[citation needed]

Contents
[hide]

 1 Types of ball valve

 2 Three-way and four-way ball valves
 3 Images
 4 References
 5 See also

[edit] Types of ball valve

There are five general body styles of ball valves: single body, three piece body, split body, top
entry, and welded. The difference is based on how the pieces of the valve—especially the casing
that contains the ball itself—are manufactured and assembled. The valve operation is the same in
each case.

Duplex ball valve

In addition, there are different styles related to the bore of the ball mechanism itself:

 A full port or more commonly known full bore ball valve has an over-sized ball so that
the hole in the ball is the same size as the pipeline resulting in lower friction loss. Flow is
unrestricted but the valve is larger and more expensive so this is only used where free
flow is required, for example in pipelines which require pigging.

 In reduced port or more commonly known reduced bore ball valves, flow through the
valve is one pipe size smaller than the valve's pipe size resulting in flow area being
smaller than pipe. As the flow discharge remains constant and is equal to area of flow (A)
times velocity (V), A1V1 = A2V2 the velocity increases with reduced area of flow.

 A V port ball valve has either a 'v' shaped ball or a 'v' shaped seat. This allows the orifice
to be opened and closed in a more controlled manner with a closer to linear flow
characteristic. When the valve is in the closed position and opening is commenced the
small end of the 'v' is opened first allowing stable flow control during this stage. This
type of design requires a generally more robust construction due to higher velocities of
the fluids, which might damage a standard valve.
  A trunnion ball valve has additional mechanical anchoring of the ball at the top and the
bottom, suitable for larger and higher pressure valves (say, above 10 cm and 40 bars).

 Cavity filler Ball Valve. Many industries encounter problem with residues in the ball
valve. Where the fluid is meant for human consumption, residues may also be health
hazard, and when where the fluid changes from time to time contamination of one fluid
with another may occur. Residues arise because in the half open position of the ball valve
a gap is created between the ball bore and the body in which fluid can be trapped. To
avoid the fluid getting into this cavity, the cavity has to be plugged, which can be done by
extending the seats in such a manner that it is always in contact with the ball. This type of
ball valve is known as Cavity Filler Ball Valve.

Manually operated ball valves can be closed quickly and thus there is a danger of water hammer.
Some ball valves are equipped with an actuator that may be pneumatically or motor operated.
These valves can be used either for on/off or flow control. A pneumatic flow control valve is also
equipped with a positioner which transforms the control signal into actuator position and valve
opening accordingly.

[edit] Three-way and four-way ball valves

Schematic 3 way ball valve: L-shaped ball right, T-shaped left

Three-way ball valves have an L- or T-shaped hole through the middle. The different
combinations of flow are shown in the figure. It is easy to see that a T valve can connect any pair
of ports, or all three, together, but the 45 degree position which might disconnect all three leaves
no margin for error. The L valve can connect the center port to either side port, or disconnect all
three, but it cannot connect the side ports together.

Multi-port ball valves with 4 ways, or more, are also commercially available, the inlet way often
being orthogonal to the plane of the outlets. For special applications, such as driving air-powered
motors from forward to reverse, the operation is performed by rotating a single lever 4-way ball
valve. The 4-way valve has two L-shaped ports in the ball that do not interconnect, sometimes
referred to as an "×" port.
Ball valves in sizes up to 2 inch generally come in single piece, two or three piece designs. One
piece ball valves are almost always reduced bore, are relatively inexpensive and generally are
throw-away. Two piece ball valves are generally slightly reduced (or standard) bore, they can be
either throw-away or repairable. The 3 piece design allows for the center part of the valve
containing the ball, stem & seats to be easily removed from the pipeline. This facilitates efficient
cleaning of deposited sediments, replacement of seats and gland packings, polishing out of small
scratches on the ball, all this without removing the pipes from the valve body. The design
concept of a three piece valve is for it to be repairable.

Images

Nuts and bolts for incoloy

Super duplex ball Balls for alloy ball valves
valves valves Ball for a titanium
ball valve

Double block and purple: disc, pink: seat,

bleed ball valve Lengthwise section of green: stem, blue: bonnet,
a ball valve red: lever

really

[edit] References
ow Your A/C Works
    Air conditioning includes both the cooling and heating of air. It also cleans the air and controls the
moisture level. 
    An air conditioner is able to cool a building because it removes heat from the indoor air and transfers
it outdoors. A chemical refrigerant in the system absorbs the unwanted heat and pumps it through a
system of piping to the outside coil. The fan, located in the outside unit, blows outside air over the hot
coil, transferring heat from the refrigerant to the outdoor air.

Basic Operations

Most air conditioning systems have five mechanical components:

  a compressor
 an expansion valve or metering device
 an evaporator coil and blower
 a chemical refrigerant

Most central air conditioning units operate by means of a split system. That is, they consist of a "hot"
side, or the condensing unit—including the condensing coil, the compressor and the fan—which is
situated outside your home, and a "cold" side that is located inside your home. The cold side consists of
an expansion valve and a cold coil, and it is usually part of your furnace or some type of air handler. The
furnace blows air through an evaporator coil, which cools the air. Then this cool air is routed throughout
your home by means of a series of air ducts. A window unit operates on the same principal, the only
difference being that both the hot side and the cold side are located within the same housing unit.

The compressor (which is controlled by the thermostat) is the "heart" of the system. The compressor acts
as the pump, causing the refrigerant to flow through the system. Its job is to draw in a low-pressure,
low-temperature, refrigerant in a gaseous state and by compressing this gas, raise the pressure and
temperature of the refrigerant. This high-pressure, high-temperature gas then flows to the condenser
coil.

The condenser coil is a series of piping with a fan that draws outside air across the coil. As the refrigerant
passes through the condenser coil and the cooler outside air passes across the coil, the air absorbs heat
from the refrigerant which causes the refrigerant to condense from a gas to a liquid state. The high-
pressure, high-temperature liquid then reaches the expansion valve.

The expansion valve is the "brain" of the system. By sensing the temperature of the evaporator, or
cooling coil, it allows liquid to pass through a very small orifice, which causes the refrigerant to expand to
a low-pressure, low-temperature gas. This "cold" refrigerant flows to the evaporator coil.

The evaporator coil is a series of piping connected to a furnace or air handler that blows indoor air across
it, causing the coil to absorb heat from the air. The cooled air is then delivered to the house through
ducting. The refrigerant then flows back to the compressor where the cycle starts over again.

The principle of air conditioning always comes down to the same:

absorb energy in one place and release it in another place

The process requires an indoor unit, an outdoor unit and copper piping to connect both. Through
the piping the refrigerant flows from one unit to another. It is the refrigerant that absorbs the
energy in one unit and releases it in the other. 

Cooling mode
 
1 Indoor unit
A fan blows the hot indoor air over a heat exchanging coil
through which cold refrigerant flows. The cold refrigerant
absorbs the heat from the air and cooled air is blown into the
room.
2 Copper piping
The refrigerant circulates through the units and the piping and takes the heat from the indoor unit
to the outdoor unit.

3 Outdoor unit
Through compression, the refrigerant gas is heated and its boiling point increases. In the outdoor
unit the obtained heat throught compression is released to the outdoor air by means of a fan
which blows the outdoor air over a heat exchanging coil.

4 Refrigerant
The liquid refrigerant flows back to the indoor unit.

5 Indoor unit
Back in the indoor unit, the refrigerant is decompressed and thus enabled to extract heat form the
indoor air. 

An air conditioner works similar to a refrigerator. The refrigerant flows through the system, and
changes in state or condition. There are four processes in the 'refrigeration cycle'.

1 The compressor which pumps the refrigerant

around the system, is the heart of the air
conditioner. Before the compressor, the
refrigerant is a gas at low pressure. Because of the
compressor, the gas becomes high pressure, gets
heated and flows towards the condenser. 

2 At the condenser, the high temperature, high

pressure gas releases its heat to the outdoor air
and becomes subcooled high pressure liquid. 

3 The high pressure liquid goes through the expansion valve, which reduces the pressure, and
thus temperature goes below the temperature of the refrigerated space. This results in cold, low
pressure refrigerant liquid. 

4 The low pressure refrigerant flows to the evaporator where it absorbs heat from the indoor air
throught evaporation and becomes low pressure gas. The gas flows back to the compressor
where the cycle starts all over again. 

Chilled-water and Cooling-tower AC Units

In a chilled-water system, the entire air conditioner lives on the roof or behind the building. It
cools water to between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 and 7.2 degrees Celsius). This chilled
water is then piped throughout the building and connected to air handlers as needed. There's no
practical limit to the length of a chilled-water pipe if it's well-insulated.
You can see in this diagram that the air conditioner (on the left) is completely standard. The heat
exchanger lets the cold Freon chill the water that runs throughout the building.

In all of the systems described earlier, air is used to dissipate the heat from the outside coil. In
large systems, the efficiency can be improved significantly by using a cooling tower. The cooling
tower creates a stream of lower-temperature water. This water runs through a heat exchanger and
cools the hot coils of the air conditioner unit. It costs more to buy the system initially, but the
energy savings can be significant over time (especially in areas with low humidity), so the
system pays for itself fairly quickly.

1. Cooling towers come in all shapes and sizes. They all work on the same principle:
2. A cooling tower blows air through a stream of water so that some of the water evaporates.
3. Generally, the water trickles through a thick sheet of open plastic mesh.
4. Air blows through the mesh at right angles to the water flow.
5. The evaporation cools the stream of water.
6. Because some of the water is lost to evaporation, the cooling tower constantly adds water to
the system to make up the difference.

Cooling Towers

The amount of cooling that you get from a cooling tower depends on the relative humidity of the
air and the barometric pressure.
For example, assuming a 95-degree Fahrenheit (35-degree Celsius) day, barometric pressure of
29.92 inches (sea-level normal pressure) and 80-percent humidity, the temperature of the water
in the cooling tower will drop about 6 degrees to 89 degrees Fahrenheit (3.36 degrees to 31.7
degrees Celsius). If the humidity is 50 percent, then the water temperature will drop perhaps 15
degrees to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (8.4 degrees to 26.7 degrees Celsius). And, if the humidity is 20
percent, then the water temperature will drop about 28 degrees to 67 degrees Fahrenheit (15.7
degrees to 19.4 degrees Celsius). Even small temperature drops can have a significant effect on
energy consumption.

Whenever you walk behind a building and find a unit that has large quantities of water running
through a thick sheet of plastic mesh, you will know you have found a cooling tower!

In many office complexes and college campuses, cooling towers and air conditioning equipment
are centralized, and chilled water is routed to all of the buildings through miles of underground
pipes.

In the next section, we'll look at how much all this cooling power costs.

BTU and EER

Most air conditioners have their capacity rated in British thermal units (BTU). Generally
speaking, a BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound (0.45 kg)
of water 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.56 degrees Celsius). Specifically, 1 BTU equals 1,055 joules. In
heating and cooling terms, 1 "ton" equals 12,000 BTU.

A typical window air conditioner might be rated at 10,000 BTU. For comparison, a typical
2,000-square-foot (185.8 m2) house might have a 5-ton (60,000-BTU) air conditioning system,
implying that you might need perhaps 30 BTU per square foot. (Keep in mind that these are
rough estimates. To size an air conditioner for your specific needs, contact an HVAC contractor.)

The energy efficiency rating (EER) of an air conditioner is its BTU rating over its wattage. For
example, if a 10,000-BTU air conditioner consumes 1,200 watts, its EER is 8.3 (10,000
BTU/1,200 watts). Obviously, you would like the EER to be as high as possible, but normally a
higher EER is accompanied by a higher price.

Let's say that you have a choice between two 10,000-BTU units. One has an EER of 8.3 and
consumes 1,200 watts, and the other has an EER of 10 and consumes 1,000 watts. Let's also say
that the price difference is $100. To understand what the payback period is on the more
expensive unit, you need to know approximately how many hours per year you will be operating
the unit and How much a kilowatt-hour (kWh) costs in your area

Let's say that you plan to use the air conditioner in the summer (four months a year) and it will
be operating about six hours a day. Let's also imagine that the cost in your area is $0.10/kWh.
The difference in energy consumption between the two units is 200 watts, which means that
every five hours the less expensive unit will consume 1 additional kWh (and therefore $0.10
more) than the more expensive unit.

Assuming that there are 30 days in a month, you find that during the summer you're operating
the air conditioner:

4 mo. x 30 days/mo. x 6 hr/day = 720 hours

[(720 hrs x 200 watts) / (1000 watts/kW)] x $0.10/kWh = $14.40

The more expensive unit costs $100 more, which means that it will take about seven years for the
more expensive unit to break even.

See Climate Magic for a great explanation of seasonal energy efficiency rating (SEER).

In the next section, we'll look at cutting these costs with some new, energy-efficient cooling
systems.

Energy Efficient Cooling Systems

Passive Cooling

Some people go to the extreme and get rid of their AC units entirely. Passive cooling is the greenest of
trends and a great way to save money. Passive cooling revolves around the concept of removing warm
air from your home using the interaction between the house and its surroundings. There are several
ways to block and remove heat, including shading through landscaping, using a dark exterior paint,
installing a radiant barrier in the roof rafters and good old- fashioned insulation. Another way is through
thermal siphoning, the process of removing heat through controlled airflow. Opening the lower windows
on the breezy side of your house and the upper windows on the opposite side creates a vacuum that
draws out the hot air. Ceiling fans and roof vents are other ways to direct heat out at low cost [source:
Earth Easy].

Because of the rising costs of electricity and a growing trend to "go green," more people are
turning to alternative cooling methods to spare their pocketbooks and the environment. Big
businesses are even jumping on board in an effort to improve their public image and lower their
overhead.

Ice cooling systems are one way that businesses are combating high electricity costs during the
summer. Ice cooling is as simple as it sounds. Large tanks of water freeze into ice at night, when
energy demands are lower. The next day, a system much like a conventional air conditioner
pumps the cool air from the ice into the building. Ice cooling saves money, cuts pollution, eases
the strain on the power grid and can be used alongside traditional systems. The downside of ice
cooling is that the systems are expensive to install and require a lot of space. Even with the high
startup costs, more than 3,000 systems are in use worldwide [source: CNN]. You can read more
about ice cooling in Are Ice Blocks Better than Air Conditioning?

An ice cooling system is a great way to save money and conserve energy, but its price tag and
space requirements limit it to large buildings. One way that homeowners can save on energy
costs is by installing geo-thermal heating and cooling systems, also known as ground source heat
pumps (GSHP). The Environmental Protection Agency recently named geo-thermal units "the
most energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive of all space conditioning systems" [source:
EPA].

Although it varies, at six feet underground the Earth's temperatures range from 45 to 75 degrees
Fahrenheit. The basic principle behind geo-thermal cooling is to use this constant temperature as
a heat source instead of generating heat with electricity.

The most common type of geo-thermal unit for homes is the closed-loop system. Polyethylene
pipes are buried under the ground, either vertically like a well or horizontally in three- to six-foot
trenches. They can also be buried under ponds. Water or an anti-freeze/water mixture is pumped
through the pipes. During the winter, the fluid collects heat from the earth and carries it through
the system and into the building. During the summer, the system reverses itself to cool the
building by pulling heat from the building, carrying it through the system and placing it in the
ground [source: Geo Heating].

Homeowners can save 30 to 50 percent on their cooling bills by replacing their traditional
HVAC systems with ground source heat pumps. The initial costs can be up to 30 percent more,
but that money can be recouped in three to five years, and most states offer financial purchase
incentives. Another benefit is that the system lasts longer than traditional units because it's
protected from the elements and immune to theft [source: Geo Exchange].

You can learn more about air conditioners and related topics on the next page.

Window and Split-system AC Units

A window air conditioner unit implements a complete air conditioner in a small space. The units
are made small enough to fit into a standard window frame. You close the window down on the
unit, plug it in and turn it on to get cool air. If you take the cover off of an unplugged window
unit, you'll find that it contains:

 A compressor
 An expansion valve
 A hot coil (on the outside)
 A chilled coil (on the inside)
 Two fans
 A control unit

The fans blow air over the coils to improve their ability to dissipate heat (to the outside air) and
cold (to the room being cooled).

When you get into larger air-conditioning applications, its time to start looking at split-system
units. A split-system air conditioner splits the hot side from the cold side of the system, as in the
diagram below.
The cold side, consisting of the expansion valve and the cold coil, is generally placed into a
furnace or some other air handler. The air handler blows air through the coil and routes the air
throughout the building using a series of ducts. The hot side, known as the condensing unit, lives
outside the building.

The unit consists of a long, spiral coil shaped like a cylinder. Inside the coil is a fan, to blow air
through the coil, along with a weather-resistant compressor and some control logic. This
approach has evolved over the years because it's low-cost, and also because it normally results in
reduced noise inside the house (at the expense of increased noise outside the house). Other than
the fact that the hot and cold sides are split apart and the capacity is higher (making the coils and
compressor larger), there's no difference between a split-system and a window air conditioner.

In warehouses, large business offices, malls, big department stores and other sizeable buildings,
the condensing unit normally lives on the roof and can be quite massive. Alternatively, there may
be many smaller units on the roof, each attached inside to a small air handler that cools a specific
zone in the building.

In larger buildings and particularly in multi-story buildings, the split-system approach begins to
run into problems. Either running the pipe between the condenser and the air handler exceeds
distance limitations (runs that are too long start to cause lubrication difficulties in the
compressor), or the amount of duct work and the length of ducts becomes unmanageable. At this
point, it's time to think about a chilled-water system.

//www.ishrae.in/journals/listing_authors.html#r
Precision Air Conditioning for Server Rooms

By Suresh Balakrishnan
Director Product Sales Comfort HVAC Systems Pvt. Ltd.
Mumbai

Suresh Balakrishnan is a graduate in production engineering with an MBA. He has ten years
HVAC experience and is a member of ASHRAE as well as ISHRAE.

Precision airconditioners were originally developed prior to the advent of PC’s when large main
frame computers were used by corporations to cater to their business operational requirements.
These large computers required reliable air conditining systems capable of running round the
clock, maintain very close control on environmental conditions i.e. temperature and humidity
and have high sensible cooling capacity (equipment cooling / equipment heat removal) since the
equipment loads were dominant in these applications.

These computers were housed in buildings which had their own central air conditioning plants
not designed for these requirements. The industry developed packaged units that could perform
reliably and meet the expectations of computer manufacturers. These specially developed
packaged units were called precision air conditioners mainly based on the applications and to
differentiate them from the normal comfort packaged air conditioners.

Today, precision air conditioning systems are used in a wide range of applications such as Server
rooms, Computer rooms, Data centres, Switch centres, Telecom shelters, Quality Control labs,
Precision Manufacturing CNC Machine, Pharmaceutical industry, Medical equipment, Clean
rooms and many more.

[top]
What is a Server Room?

A basic PC comprises of a monitor, key board, mouse and a CPU which houses the motherboard,
hard disk etc. These CPUs based on the application vary in capacity. For large applications the
CPU is replaced by Servers which have larger capacities of storage space, memory, operating
speed, operating options, possibility of networking etc. Also, Servers give flexibility for several
workstations to share and access data simultaneously with suitable networking.

along with precision air conditioners To cater to a larger requirement, several Servers have to be
grouped together in a common housing called a rack. Depending on the number of work stations
and types of application, the Server capacity and rack capacity is estimated. We can define a
Server room as a room in which the main frame Server is located (with or without racks) which
is the nucleus of a computer integrated work place having many operational terminals which are
connected with suitable networking arrangements.

A Server room is normally operational for 24 hours and 365 days, hence design criteria includes
redundancy and standby provisions.

In the past, Server rooms were built for internal use i.e. to cater to the computerisation needs of
the company’s internal staff. In today’s scenario, to meet changing business needs, the
application for Server room infrastructure is more wide spread. Data centers are a current trend,
and are basically “infrastructure” provided by companies for outside clients to house their
Servers in a readymade location i.e. the data center owner provides all infrastructure like power,
airconditioning, UPS, Generator backups etc. and the client merely puts up his Server and pays a
rent for the services rendered.

This kind of an option is very suitable for companies from outside India setting up Call centers in
India or Internet portals where their Server room needs and growth requirement can be increase
or decrease in a small span of time or they need Servers to be located at various places for
business operations or need a back up facility for e.g. banks and stock exchanges.

In todays scenario where almost all industries are catered to by the IT hardware and software
products in most applications like banking, travel, hospital, software development, consultancy,
designing, e–commerce, e–business and data centers, downtime in operations means huge losses
(both monetary and goodwill) for the company and hence not affordable at any cost.

Any shut down in the Server due to internal faults or malfunctioning as a result of external
factors such as power supply or environmental control will result in stoppage or delay in the
activities of the end user.

All this emphasises the importance of designing and developing the Server room infrastructure
of which precision air conditioning systems form an important part.

[top]
Why Precision Air Conditioners Fit the Bill

Server rooms can be ideally air conditioned using precision air conditioning systems originally
developed to meet the cooling requirements of large main frame computers. Precision air
conditioners are different from standard air conditioners in the following ways :

 High cfm per ton

 High sensible heat ratio
 Suitable for continuous 24 hour and 365 day operation
 Inbuilt options of heater, humidifier, dehumidificaiton to control temperature and humidity
simultaneously.
 Microprocessor controls for close control on temperature and humidity with a user friendly
interface.
 Better air filtration

Selecting the Right Capacity ACs for the Server Room

The basis of design for estimating a heat load is similar for precision air conditioning and
comfort air conditioning. However the following points must be carefully considered and taken
into account while making the equipment selection :

1. Inside conditions of temperature and humidity : The recommended inside condition by most
Server manufacturers is 22°C±1°C db and 50% ±5%RH.
2. Outside conditions : Suitable derating of equipment capacity must be considered based on a
condensing temperature which is normally 11°C higher than ambient temperature and varies
with the ambient temperature.
3. Equipment selection must satisfy the heat load and air quantity requirements. Precision air
conditioners have airflow in excess of 550 cfm per ton. Heat loads should account for the
following internal loads in the Server room :
• equipment loads are normally assumed on the basis of density per sq.ft.
– scarcely populated 20-40 watts per sq.ft.
– moderately populated 50-60 watts per sq.ft
– densely populated 70-100 watts per sq.ft.
– heavily populated 100-150 watts per sq.ft.
• occupancy levels are minimum, normally 2 or 3 persons
• lighting loads are normally considered at 1.5 watts per sq.ft.
• diversity factor for equipment load is approximately 60-80%.
4. Standby requirement : having calculated the heat load, the next step is to decide the capacity
and number of air conditioning units to be selected from the standard models available from
most manufacturers and accordingly determine the capacity of the standby unit. As an example,
if the heat load works out to 45 tons, one can select three units of 15 ton as operational plus
one unit to work as a standby (commonly referred to as n = 3 + 1) or select two units of 22.5 ton
as operational plus one unit as a standby (referred to as n = 2 + 1). The total price of each
selection and the physical constraints at the installation site will finally determine the best
choice.

[top]
The Difference Between Nominal and Actual Capacity Ratings

The cooling capacity of any air conditioner is determined by the room temperature being
maintained by the AC and the outdoor air temperature which cools the condenser, other factors
remaining unchanged (such as refrigerant used, fan speed and compressor design). The lower the
room temperature, the lower the actual cooling capacity. The higher the outdoor air temperature,
the lower the actual cooling capacity.

To avoid confusion in the marketplace all AC manufacturers in the USA gathered together and
decided that they would all rate the capacity of their product at a fixed room temperature and
outdoor temperature for the sake of uniformity. This capacity rating is called a nominal rating
and is the same as the ARI (Air conditioning and Refrigerating Institute) rating conditions.
Similar standard rating conditions were enforced by European and Japanese manufacturers. In
India ISI or BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) has laid down similar conditions for rating room
ACs and comfort packaged ACs.

Since precision ACs are not used for comfort conditions at which they are nominally rated but
for lower temperatures required by Servers, their actual capacity will be much lower than the
nominal capacity. Similarly for the high outdoor temperatures prevailing in India, compared to
Europe and USA, the actual capacity will also be far lower than the nominal capacity. The
consultant or the user of precision ACs should therefore avoid ambiguities and clearly specify
evaporating/condensing temperatures at which compressor capacity is required, with a minimum
of 4°C difference between coil ADP/evaporating and 10 °C between ambient/condensing
temperatures.

Selecting the Right Type of Precision AC for the Server Room

Having calculated the heat load and selecting the right capacity and number of units including a
standby, one must now decide the type of unit from the wide range available keeping in mind the
reliability factor for a 24 hour and 365 days a year operation.

1. Direct Expansion Air Cooled (Figure 1)

These are available with an external or internal air cooled condenser. The condensers are
independent, one per air conditioning module thus reducing dependence on common
 components. Since air supply is free available these are the most popular type.

[top]

2. Direct Expansion Water Cooled (Figure 2)

The condenser is of stainless steel plate type with water circulated through the condenser and
heat rejected into the atmosphere via a drycooler (equivalent to an automobile radiator). A
glycol solution can be substituted for water if outdoor temperatures are expected to go down
below freezing point during the winter. The drycooler eliminates the need for a cooling tower
with all its usual problems of scale formation and large quanity of makeup water required.
However with two heat exchangers in the water circuit, the head pressure will be at a higher
level than with a normal condenser / cooling tower combination. Reliability of operation with
minimum maintenance is however more important in such applications than the higher cost of
 operation with a higher discharge pressure. of operation with a higher discharge pressure.

3. Chilled Water Air Handling Units

When a central chiller system is available for the building air conditioning and provided it is
reliable enough for the intended application, chilled water AHUs can be installed complete with
microprocessor controls, heaters, humidifiers and inbuilt 2 way or 3 way modulating valve for
control of water flow rates from the unit’s microprocessor. The chilled water flow rate through
the coils for precision AHUs is approximately 20 percent higher than comfort AHUs and the
piping should be sized accordingly.
4. Dual Fluid Units (Figure 3)
A combination of two different fluids, DX refrigerant and chilled water each with its independent
cooling circuit gives the unit the advantage of power saving and redundancy. During normal
daytime operation when the building’s main chiller plant if functioning, the precision unit works
with its own chilled water coil and control valve saving energy since the builtin compressor with
DX coil and air cooled condenser is switched off. During night time and on holidays, when the
 buildings chiller plant is not functioning, the precision units works on the DX mode.

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Choice of Air Distribution Pattern

For greaer design flexibility precision units are available either with a top discharge (upflow) for
connection to a duct distribution system and a blower with external static pressure of 20 to 25
mm or a bottom discharge, (downflow) for underfloor air distribution using a raised floor. The
later ype is more commonly used in Server rooms and has several advantags such as :

1. No ducting required
The gap between the raised or false floor and the true floor acts as a supply air plenum
eliminating ducts and shrinking the project completion time. Incidentally the false floor is
installed in any case to simplify electric wiring which is simply laid on the floor and hence the
additional cost should not be offset against the saving in ductwork.
2. Natural convection
As the conditioned air is supplied through floor grilles with volume control, the cold air cools the
electronic equipment much faster and more efficiently as it moves up, after extracting heat from
the equipment. The follows the natural convection path of the air. The warm air is then sucked
back from the top of the precision unit, cooled and fed back to the room from the bottom.
3. Even Air Distribution
Air distribution is even and uniform through floor grilles with VCDs (Volume Control Dampers)
installed on the false floor tiles.
4. Greater Flexibility
If equipment layout is changed in the future, air distribution can be changed very easily by
relocating the floor grilles wherever required.
 5. Eliminates Pests
Since the air temperature below the raised floor is between 11-16°C, rats and cockroaches don’t
feel welcome and tend to keep away.
6. Lower Fan Static Pressure
Underfloor air distribution requires only 7-10mm E.S.P. against 20-25 in a ducted system, which
keeps power consumption down and reduces noise level.

An important precaution is the need for insulating the true floor to avoid condensation on the
ceiling of the floor below, keeping in mind the low supply air temperature in the floor plenum.

Standard Options and Customisation

Many users find it difficult to obtain financial approval from their ‘project-approving-authority’
for precision air conditioning systems which are more expensive than standard comfort systems.
A correctly designed system can strike a balance between initial cost and performance criteria.

A standard precision air conditioner is equipped with many features to make it suitable for
extreme applications which may not be necessary in all cases. Examples of possible savings are :

 in locations like Mumbai and Chennai where humidity is always high, units can be obtained
without a humidifier or a smaller capacity humidifier.
 if room loads are correctly ascertained, heaters of minimum capacity or units without heaters
can be provided.
 in an installation with multiple precision units, each unit need not have an independent
microprocessor control as one such controller can handle several units giving better unit
response due to the internal communication system.

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Vav Systems

How to improve indoor air quality with VAV systems by utilising a separate AHU for treating fresh air
or ventilation air, referred to as a VAC unit in this article

By William J. Coad, PE
Chairman of the Board
McClure Engineering Associates
St. Louis, Mo., USA

William J. Coad, PE, 2001-2002 ASHRAE President travelled to India in February 2002 to
inaugurate ACREX 2002 in Bangalore. This paper was presented by him at the symposium held
during the event.

In designing systems for new buildings, the design of the air system cannot be separated from the
selection of the psychrometric control system. Generic systems can be categorized as:

 Heat-Cool-Off
  Reheat
 Dual Stream
 Variable Air Volume (VAV)

Since the vast majority of systems at this time are some form of VAV systems, this paper will
include a detailed discussion on VAV system configurations.

The basic air handling system configuration for a VAV system is shown in Figure 1. Referring
to the figure, air to be conditioned enters the left side, is filtered, cooled and supplied at the
desired supply air temperature (usually about 55°F) to the supply air duct system. Wherever it is
desired to have a control zone, the duct is tapped, and the air is supplied to the zone through a
VAV terminal. The terminal, as shown in Figure 2, is simply a damper and sometimes an
acoustically lined chamber to which the zone ductwork is connected. The damper is controlled
by a room thermostat. This simple VAV terminal is called a pressure dependent terminal because
at any given damper position, the airflow quantity (CFM) will change if the upstream pressure
changes.

This dependence of the CFM upon upstream pressure makes the control of these systems quite
unstable. So, to prevent this problem, most VAV terminals now used are designed to be pressure
independent. Referring to Figure 3, the damper position is controlled by a constant volume
controller which has a sensor which senses the velocity pressure in a duct of known area. The
controller then calculates the CFM and positions the damper to maintain a constant CFM. In this
regard, the controller is actually a constant volume controller, and if the upstream pressure
changes, the damper will continually readjust to hold the flow constant. The thermostat then
simply resets the setpoint of the controller up or down as more or less air is desired.

Another feature of the constant volume controller is that the maximum flow quantity and the
minimum flow quantity can be set – the maximum to the design flow for the zone and the
minimum to the minimum amount required for effective air distribution or the ventilation
requirement – whichever is greater.

If the minimum flow quantity exceeds the air flow that would be necessary to maintain the space
dry bulb setpoint at any time the building is occupied, the space will overcool. A typical example
of this would be an interior office or conference room. Under conditions of partial occupancy
and low loads, the room temperature can approach the supply air temperature. (This has been
referred to as the "ice box effect").
To prevent this type of overcooling, several techniques have been employed. One is the variable
air volume reheat terminal. A variable air volume reheat terminal is shown diagrammatically in
Figure 4. The reheat coil has been added to the terminal, and the control sequence is that with a
drop in room temperature below setpoint, the volume damper will modulate to its minimum
value, and a further drop in temperature will cause the reheat coil valve to start modulating open.

An additional feature of this terminal is that it can heat the airstream to a temperature above the
room temperature and thus provide heat for systems with a heating load. A system employing
VAV-reheat terminals is called a VAV-reheat system.

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Another combination system that can be used is basically a dual stream system but the more
commonly used name for it is a fan-powered terminal. The fanpowered terminal mixes
recirculated air from the ceiling plenum with the primary conditioned air stream when the
quantity of air from the primary conditioned air duct drops below that necessary to maintain
effective ambient air velocity or mixing.

There are two types of fan-powered terminals – series and parallel. A simple series terminal is
shown in Figure 5. The primary conditioned air at design supply air temperature is directed
through the fan and into the supply air duct to the space. A spring loaded (or motorized) damper
prevents the air from going backward into the ceiling return air plenum. With the motor off, air
blows through a fan wheel and the wheel will rotate in the reverse of its operating rotation; and if
it is then turned on, a single phase motor will continue to turn in that direction.
So with the series powered terminal, it is necessary to interlock all of the terminals with the main
fan to assure that they are all operating before the air handling unit fan is allowed to run.

The sequence of operation is that the fan output (CFM) is usually matched to the design supply
air quantity. Then, as the thermostat requires less cooling, the primary air is reduced by the reset
of the volume controller, and the fan draws its additional air from the ceiling plenum, thus
mixing ceiling plenum recirculated air with primary supply air. Note that as the space sees it, this
system is a constant volume system with constant space circulation rate but as the air handling
unit sees it, it is a variable volume system.

If the ventilation air is being supplied as a component of the primary supply air, then the
minimum supply quantity is set by the required ventilation rate. If this quantity of primary supply
air will tend to overcool the space, one solution is to add reheat to the terminal as shown in
Figure 6. This is called a series fan-powered terminal with reheat. The control sequence is that
(1) the fan runs continuously and the primary supply for full cooling is at its design CFM value;
(2) as less cooling is required, the control volume damper throttles to reduce air flow and the fan
causes some recirculated air from the plenum to mix with the primary air, essentially increasing
the temperature of the air supplied to the room; (3) after the volume controller reaches its
minimum flow required for ventilation, on a call for a further reduction in capacity the reheat
coil starts modulating open.

Parallel fan powered terminals, like series terminals, are available with or without reheat.

A parallel fan-powered terminal with reheat is shown diagrammatically in Figure 7. Note with
this configuration the primary supply air bypasses the fan, and the fan circulates only the
recirculated air stream. The sequence of operation for these devices is that: (1) At design cooling
load, the design quantity of primary air flows through the device and into the space air
distribution system, the reheat coil is closed and the fan is off. (2) As the space load reduces, the
volume controller reduces the quantity of primary air. (3) When the CFM of primary air reduces
below that quantity required for effective ambient air velocity and/ or effective mixing, the fan
turns on, mixing recirculated plenum air with primary air, thus raising the supply air temperature.
(4) On a further drop in space load, the reheat coil starts modulating open.
Generically, both the series and parallel fan-powered terminals are VAV-dual stream and those
which include a reheat coil are VAV-dual stream-reheat systems.

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Ventilation

For the purposes of this discussion, “ventilation air” is air introduced into the space from the
outdoors and removed from the space to the outdoors for the purpose of removing contaminants
from the space. The contaminants are those which are generated within the space, and the
'removal' is generally achieved by dilution of the contaminated space air through mixing it with
the non-contaminated air from the outdoors. Thus, for effective ventilation to occur requires:

1. The amount of ventilation air must be sufficient to dilute the contaminants to an acceptable
level, and
2. The dilution only occurs through mixing, thus
1. if the ventilation air is supplied with the space conditioning air, the air distribution
system which performs well for temperature mixing and ambient air velocity generation
will perform adequately for ventilation dilution.
2. If the ventilation air is supplied to the space separately from the conditioning air, it must
be supplied so as to mix effectively with the room air.

Contaminants generated in occupied spaces are many and varied. They include such things as
biological effluents and odors; carbon dioxide; cooking odors; cleaning solvents; washing
compounds; offgassing of volatile organic compounds from finishing materials and furniture;
environmental tobacco smoke; combustion products from open flames; microbes, molds and
mildews, etc. ASHRAE has conducted extensive research over the past 100 years and attempted
to correlate ventilation rates with different types of spaces and space occupants.

The latest published data for ventilation rates is available in ASHRAE Standard 62-1989.
Although the research leading to this data reported these rates as being adequate for spaces with
moderate smoking, because of the carcinogenic nature of tobacco smoke, it is generally
recommended that if there is to be smoking indoors, significantly more ventilation air should be
provided. Many building codes have been adopted which require the ventilation rates published
in Standard 62-89.

Most constant volume systems have historically been configured to mix the outdoor ventilation
air with the return air prior to the conditioning apparatus as shown in Figure 8. When this is
done, the amount of ventilation air is determined by first establishing the amount of ventilation
air required by each space served by the air handling unit, second establishing the amount of
conditioning supply air required for each space, and third, applying the multiple space equation
from ASHRAE Standard 62-89.

The outdoor air quantity so determined is normally expressed as a percentage of the total air
supplied. In studying the multiple space equation, it becomes evident that if different rooms have
different percentages of ventilation air required, the amount of ventilation air required in the
supply air stream will always exceed the sum of the amount required in the individual rooms.

Referring to Figure 8, the mixing chamber shown at the inlet to the conditioning unit is a static
device, and when properly designed, installed and balanced it will always provide the same
percentage of outdoor air to total air – thus if the total air flow is constant and at design flow, the
ventilation air will also be constant and at design flow.

So, used with constant volume systems, the static mixing chamber provides ample quantities of
outdoor air whenever the fan is running. (The use of the mixing chamber does result in poor
indoor humidity control with heat-cool-off and dual stream systems in warm, humid climates at
reduced space sensible loads because when the cooling coil is off or is being bypassed, moist
outdoor air is being delivered directly to the space.)

However, when used with variable air volume systems, since the static mixing chamber is a
constant percentage device, as the total supply volume decreases, the amount of ventilation air
decreases. If the contaminant source does not reduce linearly with the sensible space load (which
it seldom does), the static mixing chamber will not work acceptably with variable air volume
systems.

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This leaves the system designer with two options for ventilating with variable air volume
systems:

1. Replace the static mixing chamber with a dynamic mixing system, or

2. Separate the ventilation of the space from the control of the space sensible load.

Dynamic mixing simply means that the absolute amount (CFM) of outdoor air is "controlled" in
some way to be constant and/or independent of the quantity of supply air.

Numerous methods of system design and control have been used to achieve required ventilation
with VAV systems, some of which are:

 Modulate the speed of the return air fan to hold a fixed negative pressure in a static mixing
chamber.
 Modulate the return air fan speed to maintain a fixed air flow (CFM) differential between the
supply and return air fans.
 Provide a ventilating stream fan of fixed air flow quantity and a companion relief fan with a
control logic to continually rebalance the building ventilation systems.
 Utilize a ventilation air system separate and independent from the supply air system.

The first three options, although commonly used, become extremely complex and costly and
exacerbate the problem of poor humidity control in warm humid climates because of the
continually increasing percentage of outdoor air in the mix. The last option provides the simplest
and least costly of the four and, properly applied, provides the best performance in warm humid
climates.

With the last option, the building is provided with two different types of air handling units, the
Space Temperature Control (STC) unit and the Ventilation Air Conditioning (VAC) unit. With
this option all space humidity control is usually handled by the VAC unit. Then the STC unit,
shown diagrammatically in Figure 9, is a relatively simple unit which includes filters, cooling
coil and fan. Recirculated air from the space is circulated through the return air system to the unit
where it is filtered, sensibly cooled and recirculated to the space. The cooling coil can be chilled
water or direct expansion, but for air quality control, to prevent the likelihood of microbial
growth, the coil should be dry, providing sensible cooling only. The drain pan is included as an
emergency device to remove moisture on the cooling coil during startup or resulting from a
malfunction of the VAC unit. The only two controlled devices on this unit are the chilled water
valve and the fan speed.
Another control feature is offered by this option. Since the cooling coil is not used for humidity
control, the discharge air temperature control can be reset upward by the zone requiring the most
cooling. In most VAV system applications, this will result in the optimum available air flow at
all times, negating the need for reheat or fan-powered terminals in all zones except those where
space heating is needed at some times of the year.

The VAC unit is usually considerably smaller than the STC unit, since it is only sized for the
ventilation air flow rate. Fundamentally, this unit is typically configured as shown in Figure 10.
The unit is a 100% outdoor air unit with the following basic components for a unit in a temperate
climate (cold winters and warm-humid summers).

 Intake louver and screen.

 Intake damper. Two-position, motor-operated damper – open when unit is on, closed when unit
is off.
 Filters: These can be particulate filters designed to remove any undesirable particulate known to
be in the outdoor air, including such undesirable substances as spores and pollens. They need
not filter dust and indoor generated particulates. If there are undesirable chemical elements or
odors in the outdoor air, a chemical and/or charcoal filter can be included. Note, that the cost of
exotic or extraordinary filtration is minimized because it is only the ventilation air quantity that
is being filtered.

 Preheat coil: The preheat coil operates in sequence with the cooling coil so that the treated
ventilation air is either heated or cooled and dehumidified as needed.
 Cooling coil: In a temperate climate, this coil is generally designed for high latent and sensible
loads. It is generally a relatively deep coil (8 to 10 rows) and should have wide fin spacing (8 fins
per inch) so fouling can be visibly identified and removed and to minimize bridging of
condensate. Face velocity should never exceed 500 ft/min.
 Drain pan: The drain pan should be well sloped, insulated, of a corrosion resisting material
(stainless steel) and properly trapped for effective and continuous removal of condensate.
 Eliminators: These are recommended to minimize any carryover of water off of the coil.
  The reheat coil is optional. It can be utilized if the designer, for some reason, wants to supply the
ventilation air at some temperature above the controlled dewpoint during the dehumidifying
cycle.
 The fan, in the drawthrough position will always provide a little reheat to assure no
upersaturated air in the discharge air stream.

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Other refinements to the VAC unit are numerous. Refinements such as heat recovery from the
exhaust air, desiccant dehumidification, precooling/reheat cycles, etc.

Depending upon the geometry of the building, occupancy schedules, etc., there could be one
VAC unit per recirculating STC unit or a single VAC unit with multiple STC units serving
multiple spaces.

The conditioned air leaving the VAC unit can either be supplied through a separate ducting
system to the spaces or supplied to the inlet return air stream entering the recirculating STC
units. In the first configuration, the air is supplied to the spaces through a usually small diffuser
or diffusers designed to provide the mixing required for effective dilution of the contaminants. A
flow diagram for a system with 5 spaces is shown in Figure 11.

In the second configuration, the air is supplied to the recirculating air stream entering the STC
unit as shown in Figure 12. With this option, shutoff dampers can be provided at the point of
connection to shut off the supply of conditioned outdoor air when the STC unit is turned off. To
assure design ventilation rates at all times, the damper assembly can be provided with a constant
volume controller which could also be reset if controlled ventilation rates are desired.

The system described, when properly designed, offers the best indoor air quality control
available, with maximum simplicity and usually at a lower cost than the options, while providing
the following two additional benefits:
 1. In warm humid climates, the age-old problem of poor part-load humidity control in the space is
solved, and
2. The major sources of indoor air quality problems are eliminated. These are:
1. Uncontrolled microbial growth
2. Poor air circulation and mixing
3. Inadequate ventilation air quantities.

For assured good indoor air quality, some other design aspects to keep in mind are:

1. The building envelope should be tight, in that it should minimize mass transfer of both air and
water vapor – particularly in warm humid climates.
2. The thermal barrier and the vapor barrier should be well defined and integral with one another
with the vapor barrier designed to prevent the accumulation of moisture inside the composite.
3. All openings in the building envelope must be known and regardless of their purpose must be
closed tightly when not in use.
4. The flows of air into and out of the building and each space should be balanced at all times to
prevent any unwanted negative pressures within the buildings.
5. All dehumidification in hot humid climates should be provided by the VAC unit.

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Condensate TRAPS for Cooling Coils

Ensuring easy inspection and maintenance of these often-overlooked and commonly misunderstood
devices

By Ronald F. Brusha
Mechanical Engineer
Glendale, Calif.

Ronald F. Brusha obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from California State University
at Los Angeles in 1962. Most of his professional experience has been as a civilian employee of
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1992, he retired as chief of the Construction Technical
Support Section of the Los Angeles District Office of the Corps.

The condensate trap perhaps is the most overlooked item in the design and installation of fan
coils and air handlers with cooling coils. Often, condensate traps are inadequately described in
contract documents and, sometimes, are not described at all, which leaves important details to be
determined by the installing contractor. It is the designer, however, who is in the best position to
make these decisions because of his or her knowledge of the pressures in the air-distribution
system.

There are widespread misconceptions about how condensate traps work and how to properly size
them, and often, little or no thought is devoted to simple, inexpensive details that can make them
much easier to inspect and maintain.
Review

The purpose of one of these traps is to allow accumulating condensate to drain off while
preventing air from entering a draw-thru unit or escaping a blow-thru unit. A cooling coil’s
drainpan opening is located at the point in an airflow system where the air pressure–either
positive or negative – is the greatest. It makes sense to prevent an air “leak” at this location,
especially in view of the effort we typically expend to seal and pressure-test system ductwork.
However, even if we were not concerned about leaking air, draw-thru units would allow little or
no condensate drainage if not equipped with a properly designed trap.

In short, the fundamental purpose of one of these traps is to use a column of condensate in such a
way as to prevent air movement into or out of the equipment casing, while still allowing the
condensate to drain away.

Potential Problems

An improperly constructed or missing trap can cause the following problems.

No trap or trap outlet too low. For draw-thru units in either of these situations, condensate
accumulating in the pan will be subjected to a “jet” of incoming air, which often results in spray
being carried over into the fan-inlet area. This sometimes is referred to as “geysering.” For
blowthru units, escaping air may be the most serious consequence, but in the presence of copious
condensation, a turbulent air/water mix in the pan also may cause some spillage or spraying of
water downstream of the coil.

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Trap outlet too high. In drawthru units with this problem, an air seal will be maintained;
however, if the condensate’s net “column” height in the trap (“H” in the accompanying figures)
is less than the equipment’s negative air pressure in inches of water column, the condensate will
be unable to drain away. This will cause the accumulating condensate to overflow the pan into
the surrounding parts of the equipment casing (sometimes referred to as “flood back”). In a
blow-thru unit, an outlet as high as the inlet will work during fan operation as long as the rest of
the trap is properly dimensioned. However, one school of thought holds that it is best to specify
the outlet a little lower (at least ½ in.) than the inlet. Providing this little extra “head” at the trap
inlet will assist in draining the pan of residual condensate after the fan is stopped. To discourage
microbial growth, it is best to keep the pan as dry as possible during fan-off periods.

One trap shared by two or more fan-coil units. If one of the fan-coil units sharing a trap is
shut down, the other(s) will blow air into or draw air from the inactive system, depending on
whether the units are of the draw-thru or blow-thru variety. For this reason, each fan-coil unit
should have its own trap.

Dry trap. A common problem in very arid climates and during periods when cooling coils are
inactive, such as winter, is evaporation of the water in traps. A liquid seal can be maintained by
either continuous drip or intermittent trap “priming”. Designers uncertain whether or not
evaporation occurs or who anticipate that it does, should specify either a means of priming or
trap features that will allow priming to be easily added later. A dry trap on a drawthru unit can be
the source of objectionable odors and noxious fumes in a building. (At a military air base in the
desert, a draw-thru air handler was located near a flight line. While the unit’s fresh-air intake was
located well away from any source of contaminated air, the floor drain for the trap was not, and
building occupants were sickened by the fumes of burned jet fuel inducted through the dry trap.
Priming the trap solved the problem.) Priming water should be applied to the downstream side of
the trap, and care should be taken to assure adherence to plumbing codes regarding air gaps for
protecting potable-water sources.

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Draw-thru traps

Figure 1 shows the necessary dimensions of a trap on a draw-thru unit and the maximum level
of condensate that can exist in such a trap with the fan off. The recommended safety factor of 1
in. added to the casing pressure is a reasonable balance between the need to account for
unanticipated increases in that (negative) pressure and the practical need to keep the total trap
depth (L) to a minimum, especially on pad-mounted equipment. Many traps are improperly
installed because dimension “L” was not taken into account in mounting the air handler high
enough to accommodate the trap.

Figure 2 shows the position of the condensate columns when the fan starts, while Figure 3
shows the water levels when enough condensate has accumulated in the trap to begin draining
away.
Blow-thru traps

Figure 4 shows the required dimensions of traps on blow-thru units and the maximum level of
condensate that can exist in such traps with the fan off. Here again, the 1-in. safety factor is a
practical recommendation for accounting for an increase in casing pressure caused by a situation
beyond the designer’s control (e.g., filter loading, higher installed duct losses, etc.). In most
systems, 1 in. of water gauge is a significant percentage of the casing air pressure. Of course, the
designer can increase the calculated equipment pressure as necessary.

Figure 5 shows the condensate column levels when the fan starts. After the fan starts, additional
condensate coming from the pan drains away. Again, it is important to take into account the total
trap depth - dimension “L” - to ensure an adequate mounting height for the air handler.
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Recommendation

A trap with two tees and plugs, as shown in Figure 6, allows easy access for inspection,
cleaning, and, if necessary, priming. Although the plugs can be wrenchtight, a handtight
condition usually prevents air leakage on the inlet side, and one does not have to have a wrench
to inspect the trap. The purpose of the plug on the outlet side is to keep dirt, small animals, and
insects out of the trap. Traps commonly are constructed of either copper or plastic pipe.
Although Figure 6 shows a draw thru trap, tees and plugs can, of course, also be used for traps
on blow-thru units.

Under the pressure of design deadlines, it often is difficult to pay attention to detail that all
projects deserve. In the matter of condensate traps, however, a couple of simple, standard
drawings in a designer’s CADD repertoire, with fill-in-theblank dimensions, will go a long way
toward demonstrating completenessof design and preventing problems.

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