Tutorial Solutions for Lecture 5

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 Question 1: Define the air conditioning and how can it be achieved?
In addition, what are the significances of air conditioning? (Slide 4-8)
 Air conditioning is a process of providing year-round control of several air
conditions including temperature, humidity, cleanliness and motion in an
indoor space.
 Air conditioning can be achieved by
1. Preliminary conditioning of the supply air including (1) Heating or cooling;
(2) Humidifying or dehumidifying and (3) Cleaning and purifying
2. Transportation of the supply air, including the outdoor air for ventilation, to
a specified conditioned space
3. Space air diffusion and control of the environmental parameters (i.e.
temperature, humidity, cleanliness and motion of the air) in the conditioned
space

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 Importance or significance of Air Conditioning:
1. Improve living standard
– Residential: to provide a more comfortable living environment
– Commercial: to attract customers
2. Control environmental parameters
– To precisely control over the air temperature, air humidity and
air cleanliness for manufacturing processes
– To eliminate problems of producing wastage
3. Enhance workers’ productivity
– To lower the turnover rate
– To increase the hourly production rate

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 Question 2: List out some commonly adopted classification methods of air
conditioning system and have a basic understanding of the schematic of the
corresponding systems. Moreover, describe the advantages and
disadvantages of different systems. (Slide 11-31)
 Classifications of Air Conditioning Systems
 According to system characteristics, air conditioning systems can be

classified into
 Central system or packaged unitary system

 Constant air volume (CAV) system or variable air volume (VAV)

system
 All-air system, air-water system or all-water system

 Single-zone system or multi-zone system

 Single duct system or multiple duct system

 For system configurations and their advantages/disadvantage, please

refer to Slide 11-31
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 Question 3: List out some key equipment in the air conditioning system
and their functions. What are the purposes of ventilation and the types of
ventilation? (Slide 32-36)

Functions of the equipment in typical air conditioning systems

Term Meaning
Air An assembly of equipment for air treatment usually consisting of a fan to pressurize
handling the conditioned air, a cooling coil to cool and dehumidify the air, a heating coil to heat
unit (AHU) the air, and a filter to collect the dust particles present in the air
A device for producing hot water or steam, which is then delivered through pipes to
Boiler space heating equipment (Please note that a hot water boiler only heats water to a high
temperature, but does not boil it, so it would be better named as a hot water generator)
A machine for removing heat from a liquid via a vapor-compression or absorption
Chiller
refrigeration cycle
A device for controlling or improving air distributing in air supply, e.g. a splitter
Damper
damper and a control damper

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 Functions of the equipment in typical air conditioning systems
Term Meaning
A device for creating proper air velocity and flow direction at the air supply outlet
Diffuser and air distribution in the conditioned space, e.g. grilles and registers, ceiling
diffusers, slot diffusers and plenum ceilings
A device for distributing air through equipment and through ductwork to spaces that
Fan are to be conditioned, and generating sufficient pressure and velocity to deliver the
air through a system of ductwork to diffusers, e.g. a centrifugal fan and an axial fan
Filter A device for removing a portion of the objectionable air contaminants
Flexible duct An air duct made up of movable joints and is flexible in length

Term Meaning
A device for transferring heat from a warmer fluid to a colder fluid, e.g.
Heat exchanger
cooling and heating coils
Humidifier A device for increasing the humidity of the incoming outdoor air
A device for providing pressure needed to overcome the resistance to flow of
Pump
a liquid in a piping system, e.g. a centrifugal pump
A device installed directly inside or above the conditioned space to cool or
Terminal heat the air, to modulate the flow rate of the conditioned air, to induce the
air stream or to mix the two air streams, e.g. a fan coil unit
Variable-air-volume
A terminal to modulate the flow rate of air supplied to the conditioned space
(VAV) box 6
 Ventilation
• The need for ventilation
– The minimum amount of fresh air required for breathing purposes is
small about 0.2 L/s/person
– But, enough fresh air must be delivered to achieve for comfort
1. Meeting the oxygen needs of occupants and diluting CO2
2. Dilution of odours present to a socially acceptable level
3. Dilution of concentration of air contaminants to a low level
4. Minimizing the rise in air temperature in the presence of
excessive sensible heat gains
5. Pressurizing escape routes to prevent the spread of smoke
6. Dealing with condensation

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 Ventilation
• Natural ventilation
– It is the process of supplying and removing air through an indoor
space without using mechanical systems, such as a fan
– It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result
of pressure or temperature differences, i.e. wind-driven
ventilation and buoyancy-driven ventilation
• Mechanical ventilation
– It is also named as forced ventilation
– It refers to the direct injection of outdoor air into an indoor space
through an air handling unit or a fan

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 Question 4: How to control the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) ? (Slide 57)

1. Source control
 To substitute material, process or equipment for another
 e.g. Water based paint substitutes for VOC based paint
 To modify contaminant source to reduce rate of generation
 e.g. Clean ductwork, filters and drains regularly
 e.g. Use low odour or low VOC paints
 To isolate the source from the occupied zone
 e.g. Carry out chemical processes in fume cupboards
2. Ventilation control
 To dilute the source concentration by means of ventilation

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 Question 5: Formulate the decay equation and dilution equation and
explain the parameters in these two equations (Slide 53-56)
 Case 1: room initial contaminant c0, fresh air no contaminant

 Case 2: room initial contaminant c0=0, fresh air ca

Q = rate of fresh air supply (m3/s)

V = volume of the room (m3)
t = time after the beginning of ventilation (s)
n = air change rate for the room (ach)
c = concentration of the contaminant in the room at any instant (ppm)
c0 = initial concentration of the contaminant in the room (ppm) 10
 Case 3: room initial contaminant c0=0, fresh air ca, room contaminant
generation G

 Case 4: room initial contaminant c0, fresh air ca, room contaminant
generation G

 dilution equation

 At steady state,
 and , then ,

which is called the dilution equation 11

 Decay Equation and Dilution Equation
 If the initial concentration of the contaminant in the room is c0,
the contaminant is continuously generated in the room, and the
ventilating air has a concentration of the contaminant at ca, then
following Curve 4,

 At steady state,
 and , then ,

which is called the dilution equation

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Tutorial Solutions for Lecture 6

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 Question 1: Consider the fan duct made of concrete (ε = 3 mm) with a
dimension of 500×500 mm, the air flow rate is 1 m3/s at 20 oC and 101 kPa,
determine the pressure drop rate (pressure drop in per meter).

The air velocity in the fan duct is:

The equivalent diameter is:

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 m )
r (m
ete
i am
c td
Du

Ve
lo
cit
y(
m/
Air flow rate (m3/s)

s)

Friction loss (Pa·m)

Based on v = 4 m/s and D = 500 mm, △pf = 0.36 Pa/m

The corrected friction rate is:

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 Question 2: Determine the total friction loss in the air ducts shown show
below. Given that the ducts have an absolute surface roughness of 1.5 mm
and the air flow rate is 1 m3/s under the temperature and pressure of 20 oC
and 101 kPa. (Use Moody chart for f )
The air velocity in the fan duct is:

The Reynolds number in the fan duct is:

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 The relative surface roughness of the fan duct is:

Based on the Reynolds number and

relative surface roughness, the friction
factor:

The frictional losses are:

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The dynamic loss at the duct contraction (F2/F1=0.25, c = 0.4):

The dynamic loss at the 90o elbow :

The dynamic loss at duct expansion (F1/F2=0.25, c = 0.56):

The total pressure loss is:

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 Question 3: For the system shown in Question 2, a fan is installed at the air
outlet with a pressure-volume characteristic given by the following
information, obtained from a test under a certain speed. Determine the
actual flow rate of this fan under the same speed. If the total fan efficient is
0.85, determine the total fan power.
Flow rate (m3/s) 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 2.4
Total fan pressure (Pa) 740 780 800 760 710 550

The total pressure loss can be expressed as (Slide 34, 49, 51):

For the flow resistance connected in series of this question:

where Rs,t is the total resistance coefficient and is a constant under any flow rate,
V is the flow rate (m3/s) 19
 For to the equation and the total pressure drop of 459.1 Pa
at 1 m3/s, we can have the total pressure drops at different flow rates as
Rs,t = 459.1 Pa·s2/m6 ,which is shown by the below table:
Flow rate (m3/s) 0.2 0.6 1 1.4 1.8 2.2
Total pressure loss (Pa) 18.364 165.276 459.1 899.836 1487.48 2222.04

Plot the change of total fan pressure and total pressure drop in the same figure
and the intersection point is:

V = 1.30 m3/s, △Pt = 776 Pa

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The fan power is (Slide 44):

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 Question 4: A system of duct and plant has a total pressure loss of 600 Pa
when 1300 L/s of air flows. A fan with a certain speed is coupled to the
system and has the following characteristic:
(a) Determine the actual flow rate and pressure drop achieved.
(b) If two of these fans are connected in series, what will be the duty for the
system mentioned with the same fan speed?
Flow rate (m3/s) 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
Total fan pressure (Pa) 450 457 462 465 461 445 417 376 327 266 194 100

For to the equation and the total pressure drop of 600 Pa at

1300 L/s (1.3 m3/s), we can have the total pressure drops at different
flow rates as Rs,t = 355.03 Pa·s2/m6 ,which is shown by the below table:
Flow rate (m3/s) 100 300 500 700 900 1100 1300 1500
Total pressure loss (Pa) 3.5503 31.9527 88.7574 173.964 287.574 429.586 600 798.817

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Plot the change of total fan pressure and total pressure drop in the same
figure and the intersection point is:

V = 880 L/s, △Pt = 275 Pa

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For the two fans with a series connect, the fan total pressure will be twice
of that for a single fan under the same flow rate, as shown by the table
blow: Flow rate (m /s) 0
  100
3
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
Total fan pressure
single fan (Pa) 450 457 462 465 461 445 417 376 327 266 194 100
Two fans in Total fan pressure
series (Pa) 900 914 924 930 922 890 834 752 654 532 388 200

V = 1020 L/s, △Pt = 369.4 Pa

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