Duct Design chart

Fig.(1)

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Fig.(2) Pressure drop in straight, circular, sheet-metal ducts, 20°C air

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 The chart in fig.(2) prepared for flow air at temperature 20°C and standard barometric pressure,
and this chart can be used if the difference in the air temperature not exceeds ±11°C from the
dependent value in the chart or if the difference in the barometric pressure be in natural range and in
the range of required pressure to circulated air in the ducts with low pressure. Must do correction
for pressure drop when density and viscosity of air different from preparation values of chart (6. ) as
follow:
Pa  K Ps
Where
Pa Friction loss in terms of total pressure at actual conditions.
Ps Friction loss in terms of total pressure at standard conditions (from chart).
K Correction factor for density and / or viscosity, dimensionless.
For correction factor of density and / or viscosity use the following relationship:
0.9 0 .1
   
K   a   a 
 s   s 
Where the subscript a refers to actual conditions and the subscript s refers to standard
conditions.
The viscosity of air is essentially a function of temperature, while density depends on both
temperature and barometric pressure (elevation), and can give expression for correction factor as
follow:
K=KT KE
Where
KT = friction correction factor for temperature, dimensionless.
KE = friction correction factor for elevation, dimensionless.
Temperature correction factor:
0.825
 cf 
KT   
 Ta  cf1 
Where
Ta = actual temperature of air, °C.
cf = conversion factor, 293.
cf1 = conversion factor, 273.
Barometric pressure (elevation) correction factor:
0.9
B
K E   
 cf 
Where
B = actual barometric pressure, kPa.
cf = conversion factor, 101.3.
Can get the values of both correction
factors from chart shown in fig.(3)

Fig.(3)

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Conversion from circular to rectangular section
An air stream having a circular section is the most efficient way of containing the airflow because
the section of the jet then has the minimum ratio of perimeter to area, P/A. For this reason, the best
way of ducting airflow is in ducts of circular section. If rectangular sections are used the corners of
the ducts contain turbulence and represent a loss of energy. This is made worse if the ducts are of
very large aspect ratio. The CIBSE (1986a) and HVCA (1998) recommend that the aspect ratio
should not exceed 4 but engineering prudence suggests that the maximum should be 3. Similar
considerations apply to the use of flat oval
duct. Bearing in mind the above restriction on aspect ratio, it is not always good practice to regard a
rectangular duct section as the best way of using building space. It may be better to use multiple
spirally wound ducts of circular section. Ducts should be sized initially to give circular sections
with diameters read from a duct sizing chart to the best accuracy possible. After this, the sizes may
be converted to the standard sizes of circular duct commercially available using CIBSE (1986a)
data, or to
rectangular or flat oval dimensions, if necessary. The conversion from circular to rectangular
section should be done so that the rectangular duct has the same surface roughness and conveys the
same volumetric airflow rate with the same rate of pressure drop, as does the circular duct. An
alternative approach, of little value in commercial air conditioning, is to convert so that the
rectangular duct has the same surface roughness, mean velocity and pressure drop rate but carries a
different volumetric airflow rate.
Rectangular Ducts. Huebscher (1948) developed the relationship between rectangular and round
ducts that is used to determine size equivalency based on equal flow, resistance, and length. This
relationship, Equation (25), is the basis for Table 2.

where
De = circular equivalent of rectangular duct for equal length, fluid
resistance, and airflow, mm
a= length one side of duct, mm
b= length adjacent side of duct, mm

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Airflow around bends
As with other pieces of ducting, the loss incurred when air flows around a bend is expressed as a
fraction of the mean velocity pressure in the bend, provided that the section is constant. If the
section varies, precise calculations are not possible but, with a bit of common sense, a good
approximation can frequently be obtained. For a normal bend of constant cross-sectional area, the
loss depends on three structural properties:
(i) The curvature of the throat.
(ii) The shape of the section.
(iii) The angle through which the air stream is turned.
It is customary to express the curvature of the throat either in terms of the ratio of the throat radius
Rt to the dimension W, parallel to the radius, or, in terms of the ratio of the centre-line radius Rc to
the dimension W. Figure 15.13(a) illustrates these two methods. The mode using the centre-line
radius is the more common and the one adopted by the CIBSE. A very large value of Rc/W implies
that the air is only very gradually turned and that, turbulence having little opportunity to form, the
loss is small. It is evident, however, that not only will skin friction play an increasing part if the
bend is excessively gradual, but that the bend will be expensive to make and unsightly in
appearance, occupying as it does a very large amount of space. A good practical value for Rc/W is
1.0.

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