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MET 465 – Supplement #4: Heating and Cooling Supply Airflow Determination

After the heating and cooling loads are calculated (refer to course supplements #2 and #3), the heating and cooling
system supply airflow quantities must be calculated. Data from previous heating and cooling load calculation
examples will be utilized to illustrate this process for a multi-zone variable air volume (VAV) system with terminal
reheat.

Room Sizes and Occupancy Levels


Conference 1
Design
Room Dimensions Occupancy
#
Office 1 22’ x 22’ 2
Office 2 22’ x 25’ 2
Office 3 22’ x 25’ 2
Office 4 22’ x 25’ 2
Conference 22’ x 50’ 20 4 3 2
Room
Halls 6’ x 97’ 0

Zone Rooms
1 1
2 2, 3
3 4
4 Conf, hall

Figure 1: Example Building Floor Plan


Table 1: Cooling Load for Example Building:

Note: The zone peak loads are shown in


the table above. The overall building
peak cooling load occurred at 2:00 pm,
and that total will be utilized for system
capacity sizing.

Table 2: Heating Load for Example Building:

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Cooling Load Parameters: Heating Load Parameters:
Outdoor Air Temp. = 87 F Outdoor Air Temp. = -12 F
Outdoor Relative Humidity = 26% Outdoor Relative Humidity = 0%
Return Air Temp. = 76 F, 30%RH (space conditions) Return Air = 70 F, 30%RH (space conditions)

Air Flow Calculations for a VAV system with Terminal Reheat:

To maintain comfort and healthy air conditions with the HVAC system, the cooling coils must supply cooling at a
rate able to offset the heat gain to the space/zone being conditioned. Schematically, the conditioning process for
cooling can be represented as shown in the figure below. Additionally, a pre-heat coil is included in the system with
the capability of heating 100% of the building air (at outdoor air conditions) to supply air conditions. This will
guard against system shock when the temperature of outdoor air is very low.

EA

RA Outdoor air enters the mixing box and


OA Mixing Box mixes with return air. If necessary, the
mixed air will be heated sensibly to the
MA Space / Zone to supply air temperature of 55 F.
Pre-heat be Conditioned Generally, with a VAV system, the
Coil mixed air will require cooling (supplied
by the cooling coil) to bring the supply
VAV SA at 90 F air to 55 F. The supply air temperature
Cooling
Terminal of 55 F is a designer choice and is very
Coil
Unit with common in HVAC applications.
Reheat

SA
at 55 F
Figure 1: Schematic of a VAV System with Terminal Reheat

Solution Method: (Air Flow requirements based upon cooling requirements)

To determine the amount of flow required in the VAV system, the following process is utilized:

1. Plot known conditions on the psychrometric chart.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

2. Compute the SHR for the cooling and dehumidification process.

SHR = Qsensible / Qtotal = 76912 BTU/hr / 85788 BTU/hr = 0.90

SHR Sensible Heat


Total Heat

Refer to the psychrometric chart (page 7) for specifics.


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3. Draw a line on the psychrometric chart protractor representing the calculated SHR.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

4. Transfer a parallel line from the protractor to the room air conditions. This represents the “condition
line” for the space being conditioned. Conditioned air must be supplied to the space at conditions
somewhere on this line in order to offset the heat gain to the space.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

5. Draw a vertical line representing the chosen supply air dry bulb temperature. The intersection of these
two lines represents the required supply air conditions needed to maintain the space at the desired
conditions.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

6. List known psychrometric conditions of outdoor air, return air, mixed air, and supply air.

Condition mass DBT WBT RH TH AH SV cfm


(lb/hr) ( F) ( F) % (BTU/lbda) (lbm/lbda) (ft3/lbda)

Outside Air 87 62 26.2 30.4 0.0086 16.8

Return Air 76 56 30 25.8 0.0069 16.43

Mixed Air

Supply Air 55 46.5 57 20 0.0048 15.7

7. Calculate the amount of supply air required to offset the load of the space (Energy Balance).

Qload= mSA(THRA-THSA)

mSA=( Qload / (THRA-THSA) ) = 85788 BTU/hr / (25.8-20) BTU/lb = 14,791 lb/hr

V = m * SV = 14,791 lb/hr * 15.7 ft3/lb * hr / 60 min = 3870 cfm

8. Calculate the supply air requirements (SAmax) for each zone and room at peak load

Example - For Zone 1:

Qload,z1 = mSA(THRA-THSA)

mSA=( Qload,z1/ (THRA-THSA) ) = 13778 BTU/hr / (25.8-20) BTU/lb = 2375 lb/hr

V = m * SV = 2375 lb/hr * 15.7 ft3/lb * hr / 60 min = 622 cfm

See attached summary sheet (page 7) for zone capacity requirements (SA max cfm column)

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9. Evaluate the required amount of outside ventilation air in each room and zone and calculate the outside
air fraction for that room and zone.

OA fraction = OA/SAmax

Example – For Zone 1:

Zone Room OA SAmax OA The amount of outside air


(cfm) (cfm) Fraction required to maintain health in
1 1 40 621 40/621 = 0.064 zone 1 is 6.4%.

See attached summary sheet (page 7) for room OA fractions (OA fraction)

Note: The maximum OA fraction occurs in the conference room. Therefore, since all mixing happens at the mixing
box, the minimum outdoor air for the system must be set to accommodate the zone with the highest outdoor air
quantity required. This is the case unless a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) is installed in the conference room
or the conference room air is filtered effectively. For this particular example the minimum outdoor air requirement
is 24% of the total air. We will utilize that value.

10. Calculate the mixed air conditions.

mOA m RA m MA m SA (for a constant mass system)

and mass of OA = .24 * mass of supply air = .24(14,791 lb/hr) = 3550 lb/hr

so: mass of RA = mass of SA – mass of OA = 14,791 – 3550 = 11,241 lb/hr

3550 lb/hr
87 F

OA 14,791 lb/hr 14,791 lb/hr


3870 cfm
MA SA
78.64 F 55 F
RA
11,241 lb/hr
76 F
DBMA = (3550/14,791) * (87 F) + (11,241/14,791) * (76 F)
= 78.64 F

THMA = (3550/14,791) * (30.4 BTU/lb) + (11,241/14,791) * (25.8 BTU/lb)


= 26.90 BTU/lb

11. Complete the psychrometric table values.

Condition m DBT WBT RH TH AH SV cfm


(lb/hr) ( F) ( F) % (BTU/lbda) (lbm/lbda) (ft3/lbda)

Outside Air 3550 87 62 26.2 30.4 0.0086 16.8 994

Return Air 11,241 76 56 30 25.8 0.0069 16.43

Mixed Air 14,791 78.64 26.90 0.0073 16.49

Supply Air 14,791 55 46.5 57 20 0.0048 15.7 3870

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12. Calculate required Cooling Capacity.

QMA-SA = mSA(THMA-THSA) = 14,791 lb/hr * (26.90 – 20) BTU/hr = 102,058 BTU/hr

Tonnage of Cooling = 102,058 BTU/hr / 12,000 BTU/hr/ton = 8.5 Tons

Select cooling coils with 8.5 ton capacity capable of delivering 3870 cfm at 55 F.

13. Size the Reheat Coils in the terminal units.

Remember, the air temperature leaving the AHU is at 55 F and 56% RH (see psychrometric chart). Each reheat coil
(RHC) supplies only sensible heat to this supply air in order to heat the zone. Humidity is not controlled in this
case. Thus, the reheat process follows a SHF = 1.0 line on the psychrometric chart and only the sensible heat loss
will be utilized to size the reheat coil.

Step 1: Draw a line with SHF = 1.0 from current supply air conditions on the psychrometric chart.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

Step 2: Plot room air temperature on that line (desired temperature is 70 F)

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

Step 3: Make assumption about reheat air specific volume and temperature (DB between 90'F and 110'F)

Assume SVrhc = 17.4 ft3/lb @ DB = 109'F (See the psychrometric chart - page 7)

Step 4: Convert design volumetric flow rate (622 cfm) for the zone to a mass flow rate

mrhc = V/SVrhc = 622 ft3/min / 17.4 ft3/lb * 60 min/hr = 2144.8 lb/hr


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Step 5: Solve for the reheated air total heat required to maintain 70'F in zone 1.

Energy Balance Equation: Qload = mrhc(THrhc - THRA)

THrhc = (Qload / mrhc) + THRA = (21,213 BTU/hr / 2144.8 lb/hr) + 23.6 BTU/lb = 33.5 BTU/lb

Step 6: Intersect reheated air total heat with the SHF = 1.0 line to determine reheated air temperature.

DBrhc = 114'F (See the psychrometric chart - page 7)

Step 7: Solve for reheat coil capacity (reheat coil #1).

Qrhc1 = .91 * cfm * (DBrhc - DBSA)

= .91 * 622 * (114 – 55) = 33,373 BTU/hr

QRHC1 = 33,373 BTU/hr

See attached summary sheet (page 7) for zone reheat coil sizes.

14. Size the Pre-heat Coil (phc)

Qphc = System total air * .91 * (DBSA – DBOA)

= 3870 cfm * .91 * (55 - -12) F

Qphc = 151,433 BTU/hr Pre-heating capacity required at AHU (air-handling unit)

NOTE: The pre-heat coil is generally sized to heat 100% OA to SA conditions.

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