HVAC Timeline 293

stove, a furnace for warm air heating, is used in England. It con-

sists of a system of pipes and flues to heat a large cotton factory
by gravity. Today this system is a direct-fired heat exchanger.

1800s
The first indirect heating with steam. Fourier and Carnot
dispel the theory that heat created by friction is a form of vibra-
tion. Nicholas Carnot is the founder of the science of thermody-
namics—the movement of heat. James Joule finds that a given
amount of work always produces a given amount of heat. Heat is
now considered a form of energy. Hot water heating systems are
used for large public and commercial buildings. In Massachusetts,
the first warm air furnace, similar to today’s furnace, is manufac-
tured. It had no recirculation of indoor air and it weighed a ton,
2000 pounds! House of Parliament is steam heated, humidified
and cooled by a water spray system. A supply air and exhaust air
system uses fans driven by steam engines. Heinrich von
Helmholtz drafted the “first law of thermodynamics” which
states “energy can be converted from one form to another, but
cannot be created or destroyed.” This is the “law of conservation
of energy”: The sum total of all matter will always remain the
same. Rudolf Clausius, a German physicist, gives us the “second
law of thermodynamics,” which states that “heat tends to flow
from hot to cold bodies.” James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physi-
cist, formulates a relationship of the motion of atoms to tempera-
ture and heat. His theory shows that temperature and heat
involves only molecular movement. This theory means a change
from a concept of certainty, that heat is seen as flowing from hot
to cold, to one of statistics, that molecules at high temperature
have only a high probability of moving toward those at low tem-
perature. This new approach does not reject the earlier studies of
thermodynamics; rather, it uses a better theory of the basis of
thermodynamics to explain these observations and experiments.
Samuel Gold has a new concept of increasing sections of boilers
to increase capacity while decreasing danger of explosion. Lord
Kelvin suggests that the volume of gas will not disappear, but
294 HVAC Fundamentals

that the energy in the molecules of gas will disappear at “absolute

zero.”

1900s
B.F. Sturtevant’s catalogue includes a furnace system with
centrifugal fans. High-pressure steam heating systems are in us-
age. Massive fan systems are in common usage. High-speed cen-
trifugal fans and axial flow fans are available with small
alternating current electric motors. Buffalo Forge provides a fan-
coil dehumidifying system for the Sackett Wilhelm’s Lithograph-
ing Company in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo Forge provides the
world’s first spray type air conditioning device (later known as
the “Air Washer”). Sturtevant supplies the first industrial process
air conditioning system to the Walter Baker Company (a chocolate
factory in Milton, MA). Sturtevant patents a system for railway
car air conditioning. Buffalo Forge designs “The Cyclone Dust
Collector” to remove particulate matter from air streams.
Sturtevant introduces the first backward inclined blade centrifu-
gal fan. Scotch Maine type boilers with gas and oil burners and
forced or induced draft fans with all operating and safety controls
are widely used in the HVAC industry. A system installed in the
Kuhn and Loeb Bank of New York lowers the temperature 10°F,
but raises the relative humidity to uncomfortable levels. Willis
Carrier gets a patent for his “Apparatus for Treating Air.” Stuart
H. Cramer coins the phase “air conditioning” in a patent filed for
a device that adds water vapor to the air. Carrier presents his
basic Rational Psychrometric Formulae to the American society of
Mechanical Engineers and it becomes the basis for fundamental
calculations for the air conditioning industry. By adding a fan,
forced air systems are developed. A furnace fan is on the market.
Willis Carrier patents the centrifugal refrigeration machine. The
centrifugal chiller is the first practical method for air conditioning
large spaces. Three Carrier centrifugal chillers are installed in the
J.L. Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan. The Rivoli
Theater in New York and other movie theaters get air condition-
ing. The focus is on creature comfort rather than industry. Hy-