AR 302 Air handling unit system and its types in building CH.GOWTHAM 101117006Air Handling Units An air handling unit (AHU) is a machine that conditions i.e., heats, cools, cleans or humidifies and circulates air in a house or building. AHUs are components of complete HVAC systems. + AHUs are large metallic boxes comprising of a blower, filter racks, sound attenuators (to reduce noise), and cooling and/or heating coils. Connected to the HVAC’s ductwork, AHUs are installed inside and outside of buildings, with the rooftop being common for the latter. + While commonly known as large machines, it should be noted that AHUs come in different sizes and with a range of configurations. In terms of size, you can get internal AHUs for houses too — these are known as terminal units. + However, those with multi-unit buildings will look at large air handlers, such as makeup air units (MAU)Components Of An AHU + Filters * Heating and/or cooling elements + Humidifier * Mixing chamber * Blower/fan * Balancing * Heat recovery device * Controls * Vibration isolators * Sound Attenuators uct humidity sensor RH (accessory) heat exchanger extract filter supply filter INTAKE AIR EXTRACT AIR EXHAUST AIR SUPPLY AIR condensate duct temperature ‘drain pips sensor TES exhaust fan control unit celactric heater froaze protection temperature sensorFunction of Blower An important component of every air handling unit is the blower which performs the function of recycling the air present in the building. The air collected by the blower is conditioned (heated or cooled) and then released into the building. Air handling units at commercial buildings may have multiple blowers or fans for better functionality rect) Function of Conditioning Elements The second important components of an air handling unit are the elements that help in heating or cooling the air. For heating systems, there are heating coils used for this purpose. Cooling coils are used to cool the oil in the air- conditioning systems. Hot water, steam and cold water are among other conditioning elements used for this purpose. Function of Humi r Humidifiers present in the air handling units perform the function of maintaining the quality of air in cold climate areas. In the absence of these components, the air may become extremely dry due to constant heating. Different types of humidifiers, including vaporizers and ultrasonic humidifiers are present in different unitsFunction of Dampers and Mixing Chambers Dampers are installed inside the mixing chamber of an air handling unit and they perform another important function. This whole arrangement is used to mix air from the outside of the building and exhaust air from the inside of the building in order to condition the air more easily and quickly. eee Function of Filters One of the most important components of AHUs is the filter. Apart from conditioning the air, it is extremely important to clean the air present in a building. Air handling units are fitted with filters that perform the function of removing dust and other undesirable components of air to make it clean and fresh. Remember that filters function to increase the overall life of an air handling unitTypes Of AHU Draw-Through The fan is placed after the burner. The AHU’s fan pulls in the air and the air is then put through the AHU’s internal system (mixing box, filters and, its cooling coil) before reaching the air-conditioned room or area Blow-Through The fan is put before the burner. The AHU fan pushes the air through its internal system before entering the air-conditioned area or room. Ei tl foo J 1 2 3 1 2 3 Draw through configuration Blow through configuration 1: AHU inlet = On-coil condition 1: AHU inlet = Fan upstream 2: Off-coil condition = Fan upstream 2°: Fan downstream = On-coil condition 3: Fan downstream = Supply condition _3: Off-coil condition = Supply conditionEnergy recovery Run around coil - Air handling unit LOU e er kel] If the supply and extract AHU’s are located in different areas then a common way to recover some of the thermal energy is to use a run around coil. This uses a coil within both supply and return AHU’s which are connected via pipework. A pump circulates water between the two. This will pickup waste heat from the extract AHU and add this to the supply AHU. As the pump will consume electricity, it is only cost effective to turn on if the energy saved is more than the pump would consume AHU air economizer Another very common version we'll come across is to have a duct sit in between the exhaust and the fresh air intake. This allows some of the exhaust air to be recirculated back into the fresh air intake, to offset the heating or cooling demand. This is safe and healthy to do but you will need to ensure the exhaust air has a low Co2 count so we need some Co2 sensors to monitor that. If the Co2 level is too high then the air can’t be re-used, the mixing damper will close and the all the return air will be rejected from the building.AHU heat wheel, thermal wheel Bia atasYel a1 Marea aC) Rion + Another variation we might come across, is the heat wheel. This is very common in newer compact AHU’s. This uses a large rotating wheel, half of it sits within the exhaust air stream and half of it sits within the fresh air intake. + The wheel will rotate, driven by a small induction motor, as it rotates it picks up unwanted heat from the exhaust stream and absorbs this into the wheels material. The wheel then rotates into the fresh air intake stream, this air is at a lower temperature than the exhaust stream so the heat will transfer from the wheel and into the fresh air stream which obviously heats this incoming air stream up and thus reduces the demand on the heating coil. + This is very effective but some air will leak from the exhaust into the fresh air stream so this can not be used in all buildings. AHU plate heat exchange ary + Another version we might come across is the air plate heat exchanger. This uses thin sheets of metal to separate the two streams of air so they do not come into contact or mix at all, the temperature difference between the two air streams will cause heat! to transfer over from the hot exhaust stream through the metal walls of the heat exchanger and into the cold intake stream.Location of AHU’s in buildings Roof Basement Floors Air handling units, which usually have the acronym of A.H.U are found in medium to large commercial and industrial buildings. They are usually located in the basement, on the roof or on the floors of a building. AHU’s will serve a specified area or zone within a building such as the east side, or floors 1 - 10 or perhaps a single purpose such as just the buildings toilets. Therefore, it’s very common to find multiple AHU’s around a building. Some buildings, particularly old high rise building, will have just one large AHU, usually located on the roof. These will supply the entire building. They might not have a return duct, some older designs rely on the air just leaking out of the building. This design isn’t so common anymore in new buildings because it’s very inefficient, now its most common to have multiple smaller AHU’s supplying different zones. The buildings are also more air tight so we need to have a return duct to regulate the pressure inside the building.