Proceedings of the 6

th
International Mechanical Engineering Conference &
14
th
Annual Paper Meet (6IMEC&14APM) 28-29 September 2012, Dhaka, Bangladesh


IMEC&APM-FM-05
IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05




1. INTRODUCTION
HVAC system is one of the important components in a
modern commercial building. In modern time, with the
growth of high density metropolitan city, the need for
proper HVAC design increases rapidly. The function of a
duct system is to transmit air from the air handling
apparatus to each air outlet in the conditioned space. In a
typical case, a known volume of air is treated and
conditioned in the air handling unit and supplied to the
various rooms to maintain the specified human comfort
conditions.
Commercial, industrial and residential air duct system
design must consider, space availability, space air
diffusion, noise levels, air distribution system, duct heat
gains and losses, balancing, fire and smoke control,
initial investment cost and system operating cost [1-2].
Deficiencies in duct design can result in systems that
operate incorrectly or are expensive to own and operate.
Poor design or lack of system sealing can produce
inadequate air flow rates at the terminals, leading to
discomfort, loss of productivity, and even adverse health
effects. Lack of sound attenuation may lead to
objectionable noise levels. Proper duct insulation
eliminates excessive heat gain or loss [2].
In the present investigation, the air flow pattern inside
a HVAC duct used in a local supermarket has been
characterized. The duct chosen for this investigation are
rectangular in shape with varying hydraulic diameter.
The total length of the duct in the present investigation is
21.8m. There are 7 diffusers with an air flow rate of 140
L/s each in the duct system. The designed room
temperature is 23C and outside temperature is 35C.
There are 7 SD5-10 type and a single elbow type fittings
in the duct system. The numerical model is based on the
actual dimension of the duct to visualize the effect of
flow friction and other characteristics in the duct system.
These results are then validated using the actual pressure
drop in each inlet diffuser of the each room.
Previously, many other authors investigated different
types of HVAC system and its duct system. Bertagnolio
et al. developed a series of building energy simulation
tools to help the building energy auditor in establishing
his diagnosis and in evaluating the selected energy
conservation opportunities [7]. In their article, the
building HVAC system global model includes simplified
models of building zones and of HVAC equipment.
Wolin et al observed the characteristics of smoke
traveling in an HVAC duct along with response of
selected duct smoke detectors [5]. Their simulated
HVAC system consists of a 9m long duct, 0.45m in
diameter. They have characterized the smoke within the
duct by means of a laser light sheet and charge couple
device (CCD) camera, two white light source and
photocell ensembles, a Pitot tube and an array of eight
thermocouples placed on the vertical plane of symmetry.
A smoke detector was placed at the downstream end of
the test section. Two types of detectors were tested,
ionization and photoelectric, with a single sampling
NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF FLOW CHARACTERISTICS INSIDE
A HVAC DUCT: THE CASE STUDY IN A COMMERCIAL BUILDING

AA Rezwan, TMH Kabir, AKMH Arefin and MAR Sarkar


Department of Mechanical Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, BUET


ABSTRACT
The present investigation concentrates in characterizing the air flow pattern inside a
HVAC Duct used in a local supermarket. The duct chosen for this investigation are
rectangular in shape with varying hydraulic diameter. The total length of the duct in the
present investigation is 21.8 m. There are 7 diffusers with an air flow rate of 140 L/s each
in the duct system. The designed room temperature is 23C and outside temperature is
35C. There are 7 SD5-10 type and a single elbow type fittings in the duct system. The
numerical model is based on the actual dimension of the duct to visualize the effect of
flow friction and other characteristics in the duct system. The results obtained in the
numerical analysis are then validated using the actual pressure drop in each inlet diffuser
of the each room.

Keywords: HVAC, Air Duct, SD5-10, Elbow
IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05 2
probe geometry. The fires tested cover a wide range of
fuels. Ji and Lee was experimented many automotive
HVAC in 2009. They had visualized the air flow inside
an automotive HVAC module using a high-resolution
PIV technique with varying temperature control modes
[3-4]. Junior et al. modeled a Thermoelectric HVAC
System for Automobiles [6]

2. DUCT SYSTEM
The function of a duct system is to transmit air from
the air handling apparatus to each air outlet in the
conditioned space. The supply air requirement for each
space is first calculated based on the respective cooling
load. The sum total of the air supply requirement of all
the spaces or zones is then computed for the purpose of
calculating the duct sizes. The duct is designed to supply
the proper amount of air at a specified total pressure to
different spaces. The design process involves sizing and
routing of the ducts from the fan to each space within the
constraints of the available space and acceptable noise
level for minimum life-cycle costs.
For the air conditioning application, the supply and
return duct system may be categorized with respect to the
velocity and pressure of the air within the duct.
Conventional or low velocity systems would have main
duct velocities up to about 10 m/s (Ameen, April, 2010).
While low velocity systems are more common, in large
central air conditioning installations where a
considerable quantity of air must be circulated, the use of
low velocity flow may result in prohibitively large ducts.
The use of a high velocity flow system, in which the main
duct velocities are as high as 30 m/s, permits the use of a
smaller duct for a given air flow. However, high
velocities in ducts result not only in greater pressure
losses in systems but also in greater noise levels.
Generally, a low noise level is maintained by limiting the
air velocity, b using sound absorbing duct liners, and by
avoiding drastic restrictions in the duct such as nearly
closed dampers. A low velocity duct system will
generally have a pressure loss of less than 1.23 Pa/m,
whereas, high velocity systems may have pressure losses
up to about 5.7 Pa/m.
In the present case, the HVAC systems use a low
velocity duct systems where flow rate is about 140 L/s.
The losses occurs in different diffuser are on the scale of
2 Pa/m.

Fig. 1: Duct System
3. NUMERICAL CALCULATION
In the present investigation ANSYS CFX has been
used to solved the numerical model. The set of equation
solved by ANSYS CFX are the unsteady Navier-Stokes
equation in their conservation form.

3.1 Transport Equations
The instantaneous equations of mass, momentum and
energy conservation can be written as follows in a
stationary frame:
The Continuity Equation
(1)
The Momentum Equations
(2)
where the stress tensor, , is related to the strain rate by
(3)
The Total Energy Equation
(4)
where h
tot
is the total enthalpy, related to the static
enthalpy, h(T, p) by,
(5)
The term represents the work due to viscous
stresses and is called the viscous work term. This models
the internal heating by viscosity in the fluid, and is
negligible in most flows. The term U.S
M
represents the
work due to external momentum sources and is currently
neglected.

3.2 Turbulence Models
k- turbulence model has been used for the present
analysis. k is the turbulence kinetic energy and is defined
as the variance of the fluctuations in velocity. It has
dimensions of (L
2
T
-2
); for example, m
2
/s
2
. is the
turbulence eddy dissipation, and has dimensions of k per
unit time (L
2
T
-3
); for example, m
2
/s
3
.


IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05 3
The k- model introduces two new variables into the
system of equations. The continuity equation is then
(6)
and the momentum equation becomes
(7)
where S
M
is the sum of body forces,
eff
is the effective
viscosity accounting for turbulence, and p is the
modified pressure.
The k- model, like the zero equation model, is based
on the eddy viscosity concept, so that:
(8)
where
t
is the turbulence viscosity. The k- model
assumes that the turbulence viscosity is linked to the
turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation via the relation:
(9)
where C

is a constant.
The values of k and come directly from the
differential transport equations for the turbulence kinetic
energy and turbulence dissipation rate
(10)
where C
1,
C
2
,
k
and

are constants.
P
kb
and P
b
represent the influence of the buoyancy
forces, which are described below. P
k
is the turbulence
production due to viscous forces, which is modeled using
(11)
For incompressible flow, is small and the
second term second term on the right side of Equation
does not contribute significantly to the production. For
compressible flow, is only large in regions
with high velocity divergence, such as at shocks.

4. NUMERICAL CALCULATION PROCEDURE
4.1 Geometry & Boundary Conditions
The duct chosen for the present investigation are
rectangular in shape with varying hydraulic diameter.
The total length of the duct in the present model is 21.8m.
There are 7 diffusers with an air flow rate of 140 L/s each
in the duct system. The designed room temperature is
23C and outside temperature is 35C. There are seven
SD5-10 type and a single elbow type fittings in the duct
system.

Fig. 2: Geometry of the HVAC Duct
4.2 Boundary Conditions
There are three types of boundaries model in the
present HVAC duct. Boundary conditions are as follows:

Table 1: Boundary Physics for HVAC Duct
Boundary - Inlet
Type INLET
Location Inlet
Settings
Flow Direction Normal to Boundary Condition
Flow Regime Subsonic
Mass And
Momentum
Mass Flow Rate
Mass Flow Rate 1.66 [kg s^-1]
Turbulence
Medium Intensity and Eddy
Viscosity Ratio
Boundary - Outlet
Type OPENING
Location Outlet
Settings
Flow Direction Normal to Boundary Condition
Flow Regime Subsonic
Mass And
Momentum
Opening Pressure and Direction
Relative Pressure 1 [atm]
Turbulence
Medium Intensity and Eddy
Viscosity Ratio
IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05 4
Boundary - Wall
Type WALL
Location Wall
Settings
Mass And
Momentum
No Slip Wall
Wall Roughness Smooth Wall

Fig. 3: Different Boundaries of the System
4.3 Mesh Generation
Mesh Generation has been done using CFX-Mesh.
The following figure shows the mesh generation for the
geometry.

Table 2: Mesh Information for HVAC Duct
Domain Nodes Elements
Default Domain 187223 1012422

Fig. 4: Meshing of the System
4.4 Physics Report
The physics that model the HVAC duct has the
following particulars.
Table 3: Domain Physics for HVAC Duct
Domain - Default Domain
Type Fluid
Location B592
Materials
Air at 25 C
Fluid Definition Material Library
Morphology Continuous Fluid
Settings
Buoyancy Model Non Buoyant
Domain Motion Stationary
Reference Pressure 1 [atm]
Heat Transfer Model Isothermal
Fluid Temperature 23[C]
Turbulence Model k epsilon
Turbulent Wall Functions Scalable
4.5 Validation
The numerical result has been validated by comparing
the result of pressure drop for various outlets with a
measured value of the actual duct.





IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05 5
5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Pressure Distribution
The pressure distribution inside the duct has been
depicted in the figure 5. The pressure distribution shows
that with the increase of duct length the pressure
gradually decreased. From the fig. it can also be noted
that the pressure suddenly decreased at the diffuser
section.


Fig. 5: Pressure Distribution inside the HVAC Duct

Fig. 6: Pressure Variation
5.2 Velocity Distribution
Figure 9 shows the velocity distribution inside the
duct. Generally, the velocity inside the duct has been
decreased with the increasing duct length. But at the
diffuser, some of the air escape, decreasing the air flow
rate. This causes a sudden decrease in velocity after the
diffuser section. But this also result in a constant air
velocity through the duct.


Fig. 7: Velocity Variation

Fig. 8: Velocity Streamline

IMEC &APM 2012 FM-05 6

Fig. 9: Velocity Distribution
6. SUMMARY
A commercial building HVAC duct has been
numerically modeled and simulated for characterizing
the air flow pattern. It has been noticed that the pressure
inside the duct has been gradually decreased along the
duct length. Generally, the velocity inside the duct has
been decreased with the increase of duct length. But as
the air passes through the diffuser, some of the air has
been escape through the diffuser. As a result there have
been a loss of mass flow rate, and the velocity after the
diffuser has been decreased significantly. As a result, the
velocity at diffuser section for all 7 diffuser remains
almost constant. The result shows a consistent design for
the HVAC duct. These results can be modified for more
complex system of the HVAC duct and can be helped in
designing duct for any residential and commercial HVAC
system.

7. REFERENCES
1. Ameen, Ahmadul. April, 2010. Refrigeration and
Air Conditioning . New Delhi : PHI Learning
Private Ltd., April, 2010.
2. ASHRAE. 2009. Duct Design. ASHRAE Handbook.
s.l. : ASHRAE, 2009.
3. Experimental Study of The Flow Characteristics in
Automotive HVAC System using a PIV Technique. Ji,
S., H. and Lee, S., J. 2009. 5, s.l. : KSAE, 2009,
International Journal of Automotive Technology,
Vol. 10. DOI 10.1007/s1223900900656.
4. Investigation on the Flow Charactersitics inside an
Automotive HVAC System with Varying Ventilation
Mode. Kang, J., H. and Lee, S., J.,. 4, s.l. : The
Visualization Society of Japan, Journal of
Visualization , Vol. 12.
5. Measurements of Smoke Characteristics in HVAC
Ducts. Wolin, S., D., Ryder, N., L., Leprince, F.,
Milke, J., A., Mowrer F., W., and Torero, J., L.
2001. s.l. : Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2001, Fire
Technology, Vol. 37.
6. Modeling a Thermoelectric HVAC System for
Automobiles. Junior, C., S., Strupp, N.,C., Lemke,
N.,C., and Koehler, J. 2009. 7, s.l. : TMS, 2009,
Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 38. DOI:
10.1007/s11664-009-0749-8.
7. Simulation of a building and its HVAC system with
an Equation Solver: Application to AUDIT.
Bertagnolio, S., Andre, P. and Lemort, V. 2010.
Berlin Heidelberg : Tsinghua University Press, 2010,
Build Simulation, Vol. 3. DOI
10.1007/s12273-010-0204-z.