Jazan 

University 
College of Engineering 
Department of Mechanical Engineering

C
Course ME‐
ME 523 
523

Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

Refrigeration & Air Conditioning 
Chapter 7
Design Of Air 
g
Conditioning systems

Objectives

 Presents the types of air conditioning systems
Presents the types of central air conditioning plants
Design air conditioning ducts using velocity method.
Chapter 7 Introduction
The choice of which air conditioner system to use depends upon a number of factors
including how large the area is to be cooled, the total heat generated inside the
enclosed area, etc.

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Chapter 7 Typical Capacity Ranges of Air Conditioning Systems

Air conditioners fall into one of three major groups; they are:

1‐ Monoblock, i.e units consisting of one block (window, portable, etc.) 
2‐ Split‐systems which have an element for inside and a separate but linked element for 
outside the building.
3‐Multi‐split where for a single outdoor element there are 2 or more linked internal 
elements.
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Chapter 7 Air Conditioning Types 
Monoblock Air Conditioners
Air Conditioners

PORTABLE OR MOBILE AIR CONDITIONERS

PORTABLE OR MOBILE AIR CONDITIONERS FLOOR MOUNTED AIR CONDITIONERS
FLOOR MOUNTED AIR CONDITIONERS

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Chapter 7 Air Conditioning Types 
Monoblock Air Conditioners
Air Conditioners

WALL MOUNTED AIR CONDITIONERS

WALL MOUNTED AIR CONDITIONERS WINDOW AIR CONDITIONERS
WINDOW AIR CONDITIONERS

SPOT COOLERS (INDUSTRIAL MOBILES)
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Chapter 7 Air Conditioning Types 
Split Air Conditioning
Split Air Conditioning
Ceiling cassette air conditioner

Wall mounted split air conditioner

Ceiling suspended air conditioner
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Chapter 7 Air Conditioning Types 
Split Air Conditioning
Split Air Conditioning

Floor mounted  Duct mounted air conditioner
Column air conditioner cabinet air 
conditioner

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Chapter 7 Air Conditioning Types 
Multi Split Air Conditioning
Multi Split Air Conditioning

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Chapter 7 Central Air Conditioning Plants
There are two types of central
air conditioning plants:

p
1‐ Direct Expansion ((DX)) type
yp :
In the DX system the air used
for cooling the room or space is
directly passed over the cooling
coil of the refrigeration plant.

2‐ Chilled Water type :

In this case the refrigeration
system is used to first chill the
water, which is then used to
chill the air used for cooling the
rooms or spaces.

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Chapter 7 Central Air Conditioning Plants

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Chapter 7 Central Air Conditioning Plants

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Chapter 7 Design Of Air Conditioning Ducts
Recommended air velocities depend mainly on the application and the noise criteria. 
Recommended air velocities depend mainly on the application and the noise criteria
Typical recommended velocities are:
Residences: 3 m/s to 5 m/s
Theatres: 4 to 6.5 m/s
Restaurants: 7.5 m/s to 10 m/s

If nothing is specified, then a velocity of 5 to 8 m/s is used for main ducts and a velocity of 4
to 6 m/s is used for the branches.

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Chapter 7 Design Of Air Conditioning Ducts
Due to the several issues involved, the design of an air conditioning duct system in large
buildings could be a sophisticated operation requiring the use of Computer Aided Design
(CAD) software. However, the following methods are most commonly used for simpler lay‐
g
outs such as the one shown in Fig.1.

1. Velocity method
2. Equal Friction Method
3. Static Regain method
h d

Fig.1: Typical air conditioning duct lay‐out
Velocity method:
The various steps involved in this method are:
i. Select suitable velocities in the main and branch ducts
ii. Find the diameters of main and branch ducts from airflow rates and velocities for circular ducts. For
rectangularl ducts,
d fi d the
find h cross‐sectional
i l area from
f fl
flow rate and
d velocity,
l i and d then
h by b fixing
fi i theh
aspect ratio, find the two sides of the rectangular duct.
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Chapter 7 Design Of Air Conditioning Ducts
Example
The following figure shows a typical duct layout. Design the duct system using the Velocity
method. Take the velocity of air in the main duct (A) as 8 m/s.

Select a velocityy of 5 m/s

/ for the downstream and branches.

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Chapter 7 Design Of Air Conditioning Ducts
Solution
The dimensions of various duct runs are obtained as shown below:

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