The University of Texas at Austin Fall 2015

CAEE Department, Architectural Engineering Program

Course: HVAC Design

ARE 346P/CE 389H

Instructor: Dr. Novoselac, Atila

ECJ, 5.430
Office (512) 475-8175
e-mail: atila@mail.utexas.edu
http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/Novoselac

Office Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 12:00 p.m.
 Objectives

Introduce course syllabus and establish

ground rules

Describe class content

Address any of your concerns

 HVAC systems
Systems that:
Cost very much (residential 10-20% , commercial 20-50% of total cost)
Uses the most energy
Most strongly influences our comfort
Has great potential to improve/degrade our health

No longer taught in ME (at UT)

Very high demand for graduates
 Motivation for studying
HVAC systems

Responsible for ~40% of energy consumption

~90% of our time is spent indoors

HVAC systems are a central part of every

building
 Prerequisites
Building Environmental Systems
Familiarity with HVAC
Thermodynamics
Psychrometrics, phase change, properties
Fluid Mechanics
Flow in pipes and ducts, non-dimensional numbers

Useful but not necessary

Heat Transfer
Conduction, convection, radiation
 Course Objectives
1. Apply fundamental physical principles to HVAC
design
2. Describe and size each component in an HVAC
system
3. Design HVAC systems based on manufacturers
datasheets
4. Contrast residential systems with commercial
systems and use appropriate design techniques for
each type of system
5. Solve HVAC design problems with high-quality
references
 Course Topics
Background, Introduction and Review 2 wks
Heating and Cooling Loads 1 wk
Psychrometrics and mass transfer 1 wk
Air conditioning and refrigerant cycles 2 wks
Chillers and Boilers 1 wk
Coils and heat exchangers 2 wks
Ducts, air, and water systems 2 wks
Large HVAC Systems 2 wk
HVAC Control 2 wk
Final Project, field trip 1 wk
15 wks
 What am I NOT covering?
Detail calculation of Cooling/Heating loads
Human comfort/Indoor air quality
Furnaces and boilers
Absorption cycle refrigeration
Energy generation (heat and power, cogeneration)
District heating and cooling (campus or city scale)
 This is a skills class
I expect you to come away from this class and
be able to understand everything that you see
in an HVAC system or know where to go to
learn about it.

You will be able to size most HVAC

components, design smaller and medium size
systems and understand larger systems
 Textbook
Kuehn, T.H.; Ramsey, J.W.; Threlkeld, J.L. 1998.
Thermal Environmental Engineering (3rd Edition)
Prentice Hall ISBN: 0139172203

First edition was 1962

Excellent graduate/undergraduate textbook
Thorough, fundamental, many examples
Look forward to your opinion
Other books are optional
 Grading
Mid-Term Exam 30%
Project 30%
Homework Assignments 35%
Participation 5%
100%

Homework is a large part of your grade

~ Weekly assignments, reducing in intensity by the end of semester
10% penalty per day for late assignments

You are allowed to work together, but each student must

prepare their own solution
 HWs (35%)
Four homeworks
- Combination of
- book problems
- design problems I made

You can work to together but each student

should submit individual assignment
NOT a copy of summons work

HW deadline is at the end of the day

 Project (30%)

Final Project
- Undergraduates - group assignment
- Graduates individual assignment
Design HVAC component and systems
Assigned in late October

Final project will have written (report) and oral

(presentation) components
 Exam (30%)
One open-book midterm exam:
Sometime in November
1 or 2 longer problem(s)
Few short answer questions
 Participation
My assessment of your participation in the
class
5% of total grade
How to get participation points
Come to class and be on time
Submit all assignments/project on time
Participate in class
 My Issues
Please dont come to my office between 8:30
and 9:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday
Class preparation
Please dont use e-mail to ask me content
questions
Call me or come see me
Suggestion are welcome
 Course Website
All class information online

http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/Novoselac/class
es/ARE389H/

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ABOUT ERRORS

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
Your questions ?
 The Big Picture
HVAC systems need to provide conditioned
and acceptable air quality in buildings
Heating, Cooling, Ventilation
Heating, cooling, ventilation loads
 Systems: Heating
Make heat (furnace, boiler, solar, etc.)
Distribute heat within building (pipes, ducts,
fans, pumps)
Exchange heat with air (coils, strip heat,
radiators, convectors, diffusers)
Controls (thermostat, valves, dampers)
 Systems: Cooling
Absorb heat from building (evaporator or chilled
water coil)
Reject heat to outside (condenser)
Refrigeration cycle components (expansion valve,
compressor, concentrator, absorber, refrigerant)
Distribute cooling within building (pipes, ducts, fans,
pumps)
Exchange cooling with air (coils, radiant panels,
convectors, diffusers)
Controls (thermostat, valves, dampers, reheat)
 Systems: Ventilation
Fresh air intake (dampers, economizer, heat
exchangers, primary treatment)
Air exhaust (dampers, heat exchangers)
Distribute fresh air within building (ducts,
fans)
Air treatment (filters, etc.)
Controls (thermostat, CO2 and other
occupancy sensors, humidistats, valves,
dampers)
 Systems: Other
Auxiliary systems (i.e. venting of combustion
gasses)
Condensate drainage/return
Dehumidification (desiccant, cooling coil)
Humidification (steam, ultrasonic humidifier)
Energy management systems
Drain Pain Cooling coil
Removes Heat transfer
moisture from air to
condensed refrigerant
from air Extended
stream surface coil

Condenser

Expansion valve

Controls

Compressor
 Heating coil
Heat transfer
from fluid to
air

Heat pump

Furnace

Boiler

Electric resistance

Controls
 Blower
Overcome
pressure drop
of system

Adds heat to air

stream

Makes noise

Potential hazard

Performs
differently at
different
conditions (air
flow and
pressure drop)
 Duct system
(piping for
hydronic
systems)
Distribute
conditioned
air
Remove air
from space

Provides
ventilation

Makes noise

Affects comfort

Affects indoor air

quality
 Diffusers
Distribute
conditioned
air within
room

Provides
ventilation

Makes noise

Affects comfort

Affects indoor air

quality
Dampers
Change
airflow
amounts

Controls outside
air fraction

Affects building
security
Filter
Removes
pollutants
Protects
equipment

Imposes
substantial
pressure drop

Requires
Maintenance
Controls
Makes
everything
work

Temperature

Pressure (drop)

Air velocity

Volumetric flow

Relative humidity

Enthalpy

Electrical Current

Electrical cost

Fault detection
 Goals of this class
Use thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat
transfer, control theory, physics, critical
analysis to design HVAC systems that work