HVAC Equipment

MAE 406
Energy Conservation in Industry
Stephen Terry

HVAC Fundamentals
HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air
Conditioning.
Sometimes see written as HVAC-R, which
includes Refrigeration
HVAC important in residential, commercial, and
industrial plants

Focus in this Course

Weve already looked at using boilers to provide
steam which is used by many large facilities,
including NCSU, for heating.
This lecture and the next will focus mostly on
space air conditioning and refrigeration.

Method of Providing Cooling

Heat naturally moves from hot to cold,
Refrigeration systems must move heat from a cold
space to a hot space
This is accomplished using a refrigeration cycle
manipulating the pressure and temperature of a
refrigerant
This process also requires energy heat pump

Refrigeration Cycle

From Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Analysis and

Design, McQuiston and Parker, 3rd edition

Cycle Efficiency MAE302

Depends on condenser and evaporator
temperatures & compressor isentropic efficiency
Usually discuss efficiency as COP or in kW/ton
Efficiency (COP) = Desired Output / Required Input
= Qevaporator / Wcompressor
= Qevaporator / (Qcondenser Qevaporator)

Note:

1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr

1 kWh = 3,413 BTU

Typical Operating Temperatures

Evaporator Temperature: between 35-45F
Operating colder than this can cause freezing /
frost on coils defrost cycle
Condenser Temperature:

80-90F for water cooled applications

110-140F for air cooled applications Why?

Compressor isentropic efficiency, ~70%

Types of Refrigeration Units

Air cooled DX unit

Uses air-cooled condenser
Usually cools air directly
by venting return / outside
air through ductwork
Packaged and split system
varieties.
Efficiency 1.2-1.4 kW/ton

Advantages / Disadvantages of DX Unit

Advantages
Flexible system, can grow
with plant or building
Self-contained system
Relatively low first cost

Disadvantages
Efficiency is poor
Maintenance can be
expensive with many units

Types of Refrigeration Units

Central Water Chiller

Refrigeration cycle cools
water that circulates
around building to AHUs
Chiller can be water or
air-cooled
Requires piping and
pumps
Efficiency 0.6 kW/ton to
1.0 kW/ton

Advantages / Disadvantages of Chiller

Advantages
Great energy efficiency
Central unit reduces
maintenance costs
Can provide space
conditioning and process
cooling

Disadvantages
Requires cooling tower
and pumps / pipes
Must operate at lowest
temperature required for
entire system
Must maintain chilled
water system and cooling
tower water system with
chemicals

Refrigerants
R-134a and R-22 are commonly used today
Older chillers use R-11/R-12 Ozone depleters
Since R-11 not made any more, older chillers must
be retrofitted if plants supply of refrigerant runs
out.
Food manufacturers will often use NH3 in a
double stage system.

Double Stage System

Useful for large
systems with two
zones
Ammonia is
cheap&efficient,
but is toxic!
Condenser good
for heat recovery
to cleaning water.

Cooling Towers
Most often used to provide condenser for chillers.
Can also be used to cool process equipment,
especially air compressors.
Water is sprayed / falls through a media while air
is drawn through.
Evaporation of water represents most of
refrigeration effect
Outlet temperature depends on wet-bulb temp.

Cooling Towers
Efficiency: 0.05 kW/ton
Typical temperatures:

90 F in / 70-80 F out

Fans usually are 2-50 hp

Can use multiple cells
Two speed motors /
VSDs

Absorption Chillers
Uses low pressure steam to generate chilled water!
Chilled water temps: 40-50 F
Refrigerant is a Li-Br salt. Steam is used to
concentrate salt like a compressor is used to
compress vapor
Efficiencies: 1-2 Btu cooling / Btu of steam
Requires a large cooling tower
Systems are 2x the cost of regular chiller, so it is
not economical unless steam is free

Air Distribution System Single Zone

Rooftop Unit
Most common type of system seen in smaller
industrial plants
Utilizes an air cooled direct expansion unit to
provide cold refrigerant to the cooling coil
System may have multiple compressors to stage
cooling
May have a gas pack or steam coil for heating
Often utilizes an economizer with relief venting

Single Zone Roof-top Unit Schematic

filters
Heating Coil or
Gas Pack

Economizer
damper

Condenser

fan
Compressors

Return air from

room

Cooling
Coil

Supply air to
room

Economizers
Compares outdoor air temperature / enthalpy to
indoor conditions. Three modes of operation:

Free cooling outside air temperature less than supply

air temperature use mixture of outdoor air and return
air, deactivate compressors
Economizer cooling outdoor air cooler than indoor,
but above supply air temperature. Use all outdoor air
and cool it to supply temperature
No savings outdoor air hot and system uses all
return air (except minimum outside air)

Outdoor Air Requirements

Must supply minimum outside air to space to
remove CO2 and contaminants, especially in
newer buildings.
Can utilize some air-to-air heat recovery in cold
climates
ASHRAE standard is 15 cfm per person
Can be varied for classrooms or auditoriums if a
CO2 sensor is used to determine fresh air required.

Multiple Zones
Dual Deck System

Utilizes ductwork with hot air and ductwork with cold

air, which is mixed in proportion to maintain conditions
Energy inefficient since hot and cold air are mixed.

Multiple Zones
Variable air volume (VAV)

Utilizes sensors to vary flow of air and therefore

cooling through unit. Can use electric strip heater for
heating purposes

Psychrometrics
Used to determine actual cooling / heating
requirements, considering both temperature and
humidity.
Refer to psychrometric chart in thermodynamics
book or ASHRAE handbook

Definitions Sensible Heat

Sensible heating heating or cooling that is done
to change temperature only, no change in
moisture. Example:
Determine sensible heat to raise the temperature of 1,000 lb/hr of air from
70 to 110 F.
Sensible Heat

=
=

1,000 lb/hr x 0.24 BTU/lb- F x (110-70 F)

9,600 BTU/hr

Latent Heat
Latent heat is heat added in the form of moisture.
Evaporative cooling is an example water
sprayed into dry air causes liquid to evaporate to
vapor, removing heat in the process.
Moisture content of air specified by dew-point
temperature or by specific humidity. Lines of
constant dew-point are horizontal on chart
Note that relative humidity is not horizontal

Enthalpy
A measure of sensible and latent heat
Is a true measure of energy required to change
state.
Can be used to determine actual cooling loads,
including latent heat removal.

Example
Find the heat removed from 10,000 lb/hr (2,222
cfm) of air starting at 95F and 75F dew-point to
55F and saturated.
Solution:
h 95/75
h 55/55
Q removed

=
=

44 BTU/lb
23 BTU/lb

=
=
=

10,000 lb/hr x (44 23 BTU/lb)

210,000 BTU/hr
17.5 tons of cooling

Air Washer Systems

Uses a water spray to spray cold chilled water into
an air stream.

Air is first saturated along wet-bulb line (constant h)

Once saturation is reached, saturated air is cooled by
conduction to exit temperature
Air is usually dehumidified in process
Direct contact heat exchanger infinite surface area
Must make provision for cleaning out dirt and grime
from chilled water