VENTILATION AND AIR-CONDITIONING

A. VENTILATION

The purpose of ventilating a building is to remove high concentrations of body odours, CO2, water
vapour, dust, fumes, smoke and excess heat. Such contaminated air is replaced by fresh air from outside,
creating air movement within a building causing a freshness feeling to occupants without draughts.
In other words the absence of body odours, dust and fumes in the air is considered a better criterion of
good ventilation.
An air velocity of 0.15 & 0.5m/sec is acceptable to most people under normal circumstances and high
velocity may be required where heavy manual work is expected.

SYSTEMS OF VENTILATION
Ventilation can be achieved by either natural or mechanical means.

i. Natural ventilation

It depends on the following factors.

a) Wind pressure
b) Stack effect
c) A combination of wind pressure and stack effect

Diagrams

For effective ventilation the inlet openings in a room should be well distributed and on the windward side
near the bottom. The outlet openings should also be well distributed and on the leeward side near the top.
This kind of design necessitates cross ventilation in the room.

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 Stack effect (which is a column of warm lighter air inside a room) created by the difference in
temperature between air inside and air outside a building i.e. warmer less dense air inside is replaced by
the colder denser air from outside.
The higher the stack, the greater the air movement inside the building. If the atmosphere outside is windy
and the air inside warmer than outside then
ventilation occurs by both wind pressure and stack
effect.

Demerits of Natural ventilation

a) Can not ensure a specified air change

b) No filtering of air before it enters the building
c) If air inside is of same temperature as outside and there is no wind, ventilation will be non-existent.

ii. Mechanical ventilation

• Employs an electrically driven fan(s) to provide the necessary air movement.

• Basically 3 systems

a) Natural Inlet and Mechanical extract (exhaust system)

Most common type of system and is employed to kitchens, workshops, laboratories, garages and
assembly halls. The fan creates a negative pressure on its internal side and this causes air inside to
move towards the fan and the room air is displaced by fresh air from outside.

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 Internal Bathrooms and Water Closets (WCs)

The ventilation for these must be separate

from any ventilation plant installed for any
other purpose.
In the common duct system the inlets from
the bathrooms or WC compartments
should preferably be connected to the main
vertical duct by a shunt duct at least 1m
long.
This shunt duct offers better sound
attenuation between dwellings and also
tends to prevent the spread of smoke and
fumes in the event of fire.

b) Mechanical Inlet and Natural Extract

• It is essential with this system that the air is heated before it is forced into the building.
• The system is most suitable in cold regions.

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 c) Mechanical Inlet and Extract

- Provides the best possible

system of ventilation but is
however the most expensive.
- Suitable for many types of
buildings e.g. – cinema,
theatres, offices, lecture theatre,
dance halls, restaurants,
departmental stores and sports
centers.
- The system is very essential for
operating theatres and
sterilizing rooms
- The air is normally filtered and
provision is made for
recirculation of the healed air
(reduce fuel costs) and in order to further save fuel costs the air may be extracted thru the
electric light fittings, which also increase light efficiency by about 14%.
- Slight pressurization of air inside the building is achieved by using an extract fan smaller than
the inlet fan. This requires the windows to be sealed and swing or revolving doors to be used.
The slight internal air pressure and sealed windows prevent the entry of dust, draughts and
noise.

TYPES OF FANS

There are three types of fans used for mechanical ventilation.

Propeller Fans

Develop pressure of only about 125Pa. These have two/more blades

fixed at an angle to the hub. Not capable of forcing air through the
long lengths of ductwork. They can move large volumes of air and
their installation cost is low. One with broader curved blades will
move more air and is quicker than a fan with narrow blades and
same diameter and speed.

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Centrifugal Fans

Consists of an impeller, which

revolves inside a casing shaped
like scroll. The impeller
blades can be forward or
backward curved, or paddle
blades (straight). They can create
high pressure of up to 760pa
(Pascal’s) and are therefore used
for forcing air thru long lengths
of ductwork in both ventilation
and air conditioning systems.
The fans are generally quiet in
operation but are bulk. Output
can be varied by different motors
and speed. The inlet of the fan is
at 90 degrees to the outlet and this makes it sometimes difficult to install.

Axial Flow Fans/Bifurcated Fans

Consists of an impeller with blades of aerofoil

section rotating inside a cylindrical casing.
The airflows thru the fan in a direction parallel
to the propeller shaft and can be installed
without a fan base. Can develop pressure of
about 1500pa. Sometimes used in preference to
centrifugal fan due to installation problems
with the later.

Air Filters

The purpose of filters is to fill the air of airborne contaminants such as dust.

Main types of filters are: -

(a) Dry filters
(b) Viscous filters
(c) Electro static filters
(d) Activated carbon

Dry filters:
• These use materials such as cotton wool, glass fibre, cotton fabric, treated paper or foamed
polyurethane as the cleaning medium.

Viscous Filters:
• The contaminants adhere to a special type of oil i.e. the filter medium is coated with non-
inflammable, non-toxic and odourless oil where the contaminants adhere to as they pan thru the

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 filter. They have a large dust holding capacity and are therefore used in industrial areas. E.g. Cell
type viscous filter, Automatic revolving viscous filter, automatic spray tube viscous filter.

Electrostatic filters:

- The contaminants are positively charged with

electricity and collected on negative earthed plates.
The contaminants are given a positive electrostatic
charge by an ionizer screen, which is the first part of
the filter. It is then passed thru a metal collector,
which consists of a series of parallel plate.

Activated Carbon Filters:

• This is not a filter medium but is used to remove odours, fumes and cooking smells from either
dry or humid air. They are often fitted across the inlets of ductwork serving cookers and fish
fryers.

DUCT PROFILE

• They can be circular, rectangular or square shaped. (Cross section)

• They can also either be straight or curved.
• The size depends on the volumes of air/draught expected
• Flexible ducting normally employed either to connect the fan to ductwork or at corners mainly for
sound attenuation.
• Duct fittings include stopped ends, bends, tee junctions, diminishing pieces and change of section
pieces e.g. square to circular.
• Duct supports include brackets and hangers
• Associated fittings include grilles, diffusers, cowls etc

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Sound Attenuation

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 B) AIR CONDITIONING

• A system that gives automatic control within predetermined limits of environmental conditions,
by heating, cooling, humidification, dehumidification, cleaning and movement of air a building.

Advantages

1. In factories and offices the working efficiency of personnel is improved and work output is
known to increase. There is also reduction in illness and absenteeism.
2. Increased sales in shops and departmental stores as customers and staff enjoy greater comfort.
3. There is a reduction in cleaning and decorating
4. Hotels, restaurants, theaters and cinemas receive better patronage.
5. Many industrial premised need air conditioning to keep plant and processes working at
maximum efficiency e.g. labs and computer rooms.

Air Conditioning System

There are basically 3 categories:-

i) All air systems
ii) Air and water systems
iii) Self contained units

i) All-air system:
In this system air is treated in a central plant and ducted to the various rooms. It requires large duct
spares and plant rooms but very little are taken up inside the rooms.

The Central Plant System

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- Fresh air enters thru a louvered inlet and mixer with recirculated air
- The air passes thru a filter to remove any
suspended dust and dirt particles
- In winter the air is heated by a pre-heating coil
(steam, electricity and hot water). Preheating
allows air to absorb more moisture in the
washer and prevents freezing of water in the
spray. The spray water may also be heated.
- In summer the air is cooled by a cooling coil or
by passing the air thru cold water in the spray
(from refrigeration plant) and the air is
saturated.
- Washer also cleans the air.
- It’s then paned to scrubber plates which are
washed by a continuous stream of water so that
any suspended dust particles are washed down
to the cistern.
- Eliminator plates are designed to intercept any
droplets of water held in the air.
- The final heating of air brings the air to the required temperature with corresponding
reduction in relative humidity.
- The inlet fan forces the conditioned air into the building via the inlet ductwork and diffusers.
- Vibrated air is extracted from the building by the extract fan via ductwork and grills.
If required up to 75% of this air can be recirculated back.

Note
The temperature of the pre-heater are thermostatically controlled to give the required supply air to
and relative humidity.

Dual duct system – this was developed from the simple central system to cater for different room
requirements

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ii) Air and water system (Induction system)

- Most rooms in a building have different

requirements so that the supplied air will
have to be conditioned to meet the
comfort needs of each room.
- The induction system utilizes hot or cold
water pipes, which take up less space, but
a single duct is also required for the
primary air from a main conditioning
unit.
- Both primary air and re-circulated air
from the room gets into the induction unit
and flows over cooling or heating coil of
pipes before being discharged into the
room thru a grill at the top of the
induction unit.
- The main conditioning unit in this system
is small.

iii) Self-Contained Air Conditioners

These are factory manufactured units delivered to site for direct installation. They contain a vapor
compression cycle refrigeration system, using the evaporator for cooling and condenser for heating with
fan delivery of the processed air.
Small to medium sized buildings are best suited to these systems. The smallest units (1-3 kW) are
portable and free standing, simply plugging into wall sockets. Larger, fixed units (10 – 60kw) are best
located in a storeroom and the short ductwork extensions to adjacent rooms.

System Types

i) Single Packed units

• Suitable for relatively small rooms e.g. shops, restaurants and classrooms. Maybe free standing or
attached to structure.

ii) Split (Double) package

• Two separate units. One contains fan, filter, evaporator and expansion valve for interior location.
The other contains condenser, fan and compressor for exterior location.
• The two are linked by a refrigeration pipe work. This has the advantage that the external unit can
save several interior units.
• Have basic components of a domestic fridge
• Uses refrigerants like dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC) and monochlorodifluoromethane (HCFC)
that can boil at extremely low temperatures of –30 to –40.

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Choosing an A/C System
Generally central plant systems are used in large prestigious buildings where a high quality environment
is to be achieved.
Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages and a careful assessment is needed before
choosing the most suitable system.

Central Plant System

Advantages
• The whole building can be controlled from a central control station. This means that optimum
start and stop can be used and a weather compensator can be used.
• Most efficient where large volumes of air or large rooms / buildings are to be conditioned.
• Maintenance is centralized in the plant room.
• Noise in rooms is usually reduced if plant room is away from occupied spaces.
Disadvantages
• Expensive to install and to run a complete full comfort air-conditioning system throughout the
building.
• Space is required for plant and to run ductwork both vertically in shafts and horizontally in ceiling
spaces.
• Individual room control is difficult with central plant. Many other systems have been tried such as
the dual duct system and zone re-heaters.

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Room Air Conditioning Units
Advantages
• Cheaper to install
• Individual room control
• Works well where rooms have individual requirements.
• No long runs of ductwork.
Disadvantages
• Sometimes the indoor unit fan becomes noisy.
• Noisy compressor in outdoor units.
• Each unit or group of units has a filter, compressor and refrigeration pipe work that needs periodic
maintenance and possible re-charging.
• The installation may require long runs of refrigerant pipe work which, if it leaks into the building,
can be difficult to remedy.
• Not as robust as central plant.
• The majority of room air conditioners just recirculate air in the rooms with no fresh air supply
although some manufactures make units with fresh air supply if wall or window mounted.

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