Air Conditioning Systems 51

sible Heat). There is a 20 TD difference between the air leaving the

coil at 55°F and room design temperature set at 75°F.

Using:
Btuh = cfm × 1.08 × TD

Then:
cfm = Btuh ÷ (1.08 × TD)
cfm = 113,400 ÷ (1.08 × 20)

Answer:
cfm = 5250

Now calculate total heat removed by the cooling coil using

this equation:
Btuht = cfm × 4.5 × ∆h

Where:
Btuht = Btu per hour total heat (wet cooling coil)
cfm = volume of airflow
4.5 = constant, 60 min/hr × 0.075 lb/cf
∆h = Btu/lb change in total heat content of the supply air
(from wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures and a psychrometric
chart)

The enthalpies (in Btu/lb from the psychrometric chart) are:

78°Fdb/64°Fwb = 29.156 Btu/lb

55°Fdb/54°Fwb = 22.627 Btu/lb
∆h = 6.529 Btu/lb

Then:
Btuht = cfm × 4.5 × ∆h
Btuht = 5250 × 4.5 × 6.529

Answer:
Btuht = 154,248 (Coil Load)
52 HVAC Fundamentals

And since:
12,000 Btuh equals 1 ton of refrigeration (TR)
154,248 Btuh ÷ 12,000 Btuh per ton is 12.854 TR (≈13 TR)

Now calculate the water flow through the coil using:

Btuh = gpm × 500 × TD

Then:
gpm = Btuh ÷ (500 × TD)
gpm = 154,248 ÷ (500 × 10) (TD = 55°F - 45°F)

Answer:
gpm = 30.8 (water flow through the cooling coil)

THE AC REFRIGERATION CYCLE

Let’s go through the air conditioning system when it is in the

cooling mode. Let’s say that it is a summer day and the outside
air is 90 degrees. The outside air damper is open to allow 200 cfm
of outside air to mix with 1000 cfm of return air. The return air
temperature is 75°F. The temperature of the mixed air is 78°F. The
mixed air comes through the filter section where it is cleaned and
enters the coil to be cooled. The coil in this example is a refriger-
ant evaporator coil (Figure 4-2). The other type of coil used in
HVAC systems uses cooled water to bring the temperature of the
mixed air down. This coil is called a chilled water coil. Both types
of coils are also termed “heat exchangers” and they can be located
on either side of the fan. Let’s take a look at a simple mechanical
refrigeration cycle and see what happens to enable the mixed air
to be cooled down to 55°F. This 55°F air leaving the evaporator
coil is now called the supply air. The volume of supply air is 1200
cfm.
The purpose of the refrigeration cycle is to remove unwanted
heat from one place and discharge it into another place. In our
HVAC system the unwanted heat is in the conditioned space. This