Duct design King Abdulaziz University

Air flow in ducts College of Engineering Major and Minor Losses in Ducts Loss coefficient for some fittings Mechanical Engineering
MEP 451 Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

Equivalent length for a fittings Duct accessories Pressure diagram

Duct Design

Duct design Equal friction method

June 2009
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Balanced Capacity method

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Air Flow in Ducts

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Modified Bernoulli equation

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Velocity air pressure, Pv

1 V12 1 V22 gl f = p2 + p1 + + 2 gc 2 gc gc

Major and minor losses

g c p1 1 V12 p2 1 V22 + + lf g + 2 g = g 2 g

V2 V Pv = 1097 = 4005

Pv in in water and V in ft/min

Ps1 + Pv1 = Ps 2 + Pv 2 + Pf
P01 = P02 + Pf

V2 V Pv = = 1.29 1.414

Pv in Pa and V in m/s

Pf =

gl f
gc

Pressure loss between 1 and 2

3 4

Major losses in duct

Pf = f L V2 D 2g

Moody Diagram

f friction factor = f(Re, e/D)

12e 1 2.51 = 2 log10 + f 3.7 D Re D f

F = friction factor=f(Re, roughness) e is the pipe roughness

Duct Design

Uses of pressure loss charts

1-In English unit chart (Fig. 12.21), the y-axis is the pressure drop per 100 ft length of the duct 2-The chart has 4 parameters: pressure drop, air flow rate, air velocity, and duct diameter 3-Knowing two of these parameters, one can get the other two parameters 4-The given duct size is for circular pipe. Use the equivalent table or equation to find the size of the rectangular duct

Equivalent of a circular duct

De = 1.3

(ab )5 / 8 (a + b )1/ 4

De equivalent diameter a and b are the dimension of a rectangular duct

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Figs. 12.21 and 12.22 correction factors

A) Correction factor for density and viscosity when T >100F (38 C)

a C = s

0.9

a s

0.1

subscript a refers to actual and s refers to standard condition

P0 a = CP0 s

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Duct Design

B-Correction due to duct liners

Non-circular duct

f for typical galvanized duct is 0.02 f for liners is between 0.03 and 0.06

Dh =

4(Cross sec tion area ) Wetted Perimeter

Re D =

VD VD =

Re Dh =
Roughness correction factor for commercial duct liners 13

VDh VDh =
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Notes on using pressure loss chart

You can enter the chart knowing the CFM and pressure loss to get duct size in diameters and air velocity If you know the flow rate and rectangular cross section velocity, then calculate V and enter the chart using V and Dh

Minor losses (losses in fittings)

P = C0

V 2
2g

= C0 Pv

Tables to finds Co for different fittings

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Table 12.8 C

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Duct Design

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Duct Design

Example 12.8
Compute the pressure loss due to a round 90 diverging section. The common section is 12, and the straight through section is 10 . The flow rate in the common section is 1100 cfm, the flow rate in the branch is 250 cfm. c

Equivalent of a minor loss in terms of straight pipe length Major loss

Straight section
Vs = Qs = 1558 ft/min As
Qs 850 = = 0.77 Qc 1100

Branch section
Vb =
Qb 250 = = 0.23 Qc 1100 Ab = 0.25 Ac
Cb =1.55

Qb = 1273 ft/min Ab

PL = f

L V2 D 2g

As = 0.69 Ac
Cs=0.14

Minor losses (losses in fittings)

From fig. 12.11B

P0 = C

V2 2g

V P0 s = Cs s = 0.021 in H 2O 4005

V P0b = Cb b = 0.16" H 2O 4005

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L C = D f
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Example 12.9
Compute Le for duct system shown in figure

Duct accessories
1- Dampers (Parallel blades and opposed blades) 2-Fire dampers 3-Turnning vanes (linear and aerofoil)

Fittings
Entrance

Description
Conical =0 Table 12.10A f=0.022 for D=10 Cb=0.6, Table 12.11A, D=6 Cs=0.13, Table 12.11A, f=0.0225 for D=9 C=0.43, Table 12.8A, f=0.028, D=9

Loss coefficient Co
0.5

Le (ft)
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Le (m)
5.8

45 Diverging branch Straight 45 diverging 90 elbow

0.6

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3.4

0.13

1.22

0.43

7.7

2.35
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Duct Design

Pressure diagram

Pressure diagrams
Energy grade line EGL=Total pressure=Po Hydraulic grade line EGL=static pressure, Ps

-0.04

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Pressure diagrams Duct design methods

1-Equal friction method 2-Balanced capacity method 3-Static regain method

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Equal friction method

1-Select the run with the anticipated max. flow resistance 2-Calculate the duct equivalent length (Le) 3-From the known pressure available for the supply duct, calculate the pressure loss in inches of water per 100 feet (P/L) 4-Size each duct section using the pressure drop and the flow rate in that section 5-Calculate the total pressure drop for each run. Use dampers when necessary

Example 12.11 Size the duct system shown using equal friction method. Total pressure available fro duct is 0.12 water. The pressure drop for each diffuser is 0.02 water

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Duct Design

Example 12.11
Section

Summary of results for Example 12.11

Q (cfm) 500 350 150 200 150

D (in) 12 10 8 8 8

V (ft/min) 650 650 440 590 440

Available pressure is 0.12 in H2O (30 Pa). Loss in diffuser is 0.02 in H2O (5 Pa).

P0 / L
0.058 0.07 0.045 0.075 0.045

Le 50 23 87 73 80

P 0.029 0.016 0.039 0.055 0.036

1 2 3

L123 = ( L1 + Lent ) + ( L2 + Lst ) + ( L3 + Lwye + L45 + L90 + Lboot )

L123 = (20 + 30) + (15 + 8) + (25 + 13 + 6 + 10 + 33) = 160 ft

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Pressure losses in each run Run P0 ( inches water) 123 124

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P0 / L = 0.1* (100 / 160) = 0.063 in H 2 O per 100 ft

0.029+0.016+0.039=0.084 0.029+0.016+.055=0.010 0.029+0.036=0.065

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Balanced Capacity method

Example 12. 12

Example 12.12
For section 4

P04 = P03 = 0.039 inches of water

P04 / L = 0.039(100 / 74) = 0.053

From Fig. 12.21 D4=8.7 or 9 inches V4=469 ft/min For section 5

P05 = 0.084 0.029 = 0.055

From Fig. 12.21 D5=7.4 or 8 inches V5 =440 ft/min The difference between the two solution is minor section Equal friction method Balanced Capacity method 4 5
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D4=8 D5=8

D4=9 D5=8
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Recommended air velocities (f/m)

Recommended velocity Residence Outside air inlet Fan outlet Main ducts Branch duct 500 700 700-900 500-600 Schools, public areas 500 800 1000-1300 500-600 Industrial areas 500 1000 1200-1800 800-1000
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Recommended velocities regions

1 m/s 200 ft/min
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Duct Design