Ventilation Tutorial

Question 1
AHU only system with direct outdoor air intake is considered for the air-
conditioning system design of an open plan office floor in a building. The AHU
system can take 100% of air from outdoor, which controllable at the full range (0-
100%). The design air flow rate of the AHU is 5 m3/s. The average moisture and heat
generation rates of a person are about 5x10-5 kg/second/person and 0.1
kW/second/person respectively. Only the temperature control is adopted in the
system in both cases. The indoor temperature control set-point is reset between
20°C and 24°C. The AHU air flow rate can be controlled at the range between 2 and
5 m3/s. The AHU supply air temperature set-point is set at 15°C, but it is reset to
fully use free cooling when possible and to maintain the minimum total air flow.
Calculate the established steady-state indoor relative humidity (RH) and dry-bulb
temperature as well as the needed AHU supply air temperature at the following
situations when the number of occupants is 100. Assume simply that the outlet RH
of wet coil is 100%. (Air density: 1.2 kg/m3, air specific heat: 1.0 kJ/kg.K)

Outdoor Outdoor Non-occupant AHU AHU-only AHU

No. Temp RH heat gain airflow Outdoor Temp
(°C) (%) (kW) (m3/s) airflow setting
control (°C)
1 32 80 35 - min 15
2 18 75 25 5 max -
3 18 95 25 5 max -
4 18 95 5 5 max -
5 18 95 5 2.5 max -
Question 2
An air-handling unit (AHU) is designed to serve five zones (total 2000 m2) including four open
plan offices and one conference room of identical floor area in Hong Kong. The design supply air
flow of each zone is identical as 1 m3/s. The design occupancy number is 60 for each of the offices
and 120 for the conference room. The occupancy numbers of the offices are rather stable and close
to their design values in the office hours. The occupancy number of the conference room can be
assumed to have 3 levels: high occupancy (120 persons), medium occupancy (60 persons), low
occupancy (20 persons). A dedicated primary air-handling unit is proposed to provide the outdoor
air to the AHU.

A. Determine the minimum design air flow rate of the PAU.

B. A simple outdoor flow rate control is to be used to control the outdoor air flow rate provided
by the PAU according to the use of the conference room and the climate condition. Determine
the proper PAU air flow rates in the three conference room occupancy conditions and in
Summer (e.g. ambient temperature around 30°C) and Autumn (e.g. ambient temperature
around 16~18°C) conditions respectively. (State the total supply air flow rates of all zone are
at their design values)

C. Comment on the current design configuration and the appropriate improvement.

Table Selection of ventilation standards