Career Episode 3: Design HVAC System for an Office Building

3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 During the 8th Semester (4th year) of my Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering
course from Global Institute of Engineering & Technology as affiliated with JNTU, Hyderabad,
India university I selected Refrigeration and Air Conditioning as one of my elective. As a part
of that subject, the faculty provided each of us with an architectural design of a sample
project (in and around Hyderabad). AS part of this assignment, we had to come up with an
HVAC design for the building and then we could compare our work with the actual design
configuration. This exercise would help us in understanding how our theoretical
understanding of concepts transpires to actual design in projects. This was an individual
assignment and my faculty guide was Prof. Tejaswi Ghanta. I worked on this project for 3
months from XXXX to XXXX.
3.2 Background
Nature of the project
3.2.1 This academic deliverable was primarily focussing on exposing the students to real life
projects. Help them understand how actual projects are executed, the factors incorporated
and also exposed us to some design software which are being used by the market place. My
guide had tie ups with some Civil Engineering consulting firms, which allowed accessing
these software for academic purpose. With this knowledge, we’ll be able to see the bigger
picture of what kind of detailed analysis goes in for every aspect of a Civil Engineering
project.
3.2.2 My project focussed on analysis of an office building (name of the project redacted) based
on actual architectural design. Based on the initial instructions from the guide, he advised us
to create a report on basic concepts involved, different types of loads that need to be
incorporated, design of distribution systems and equipment selection. For the design
purpose of this project, he gave us access to software like Beta software, McQuay Aircon
design and HAP software. He also advised us to compare our designs with the ASHRAE
standards.
Scope of the project
3.2.3 My intention was to get a better understanding of the below mentioned concepts through
this project:
 Apply concepts of thermodynamics and heat transfer to understand different type of
air-conditioning systems
 Understand different key metrics and factors required to be controlled
 How to incorporate internal and external factors while designing a HVAC system
 Understand how distribution system would work to cool the whole system in focus
 How different design software could used for this
3.2.4 If I treated this as the functional requirement for the project, I came up with the below set of
activities which would act as a roadmap for my project execution:
 Outline different Air conditioning system from a thermodynamics point of view
 Based on the functionalities required, understand the equipment being used
 Psychometric analysis to identify key variables to be controlled
 Identify the load factors
o Outdoor loads
o Indoor loads
o Heating estimation
 Explore different type of ducts for air distribution and technique for designing
  Understand different types of air distribution systems
 Identify different devices used, valves, fittings and more.
 Based on the above analysis, explore the AHU, FCU and FAHU
 Use software to design all the aforementioned aspects of the project
 Compare with ASHRAE standards

Organization Structure

3.2.5 Below was the structure of the project team:

Prof. XXXX (HOD

Mechanical Engineering
Dept)

Prof. XXXX (Academic

Guide)

Mr. Mirza Humaid Baig

3.3 Personal Engineering Activity

Application of Engineering Knowledge
3.3.1 Now as a first step, I needed to understand different types of air conditioning systems that
could be used. I started out by studying the ASHRAE definition of air conditioning and then
moved on to the literature review of different type of systems. I studied the vapour
compression system and vapor absorption system. I studied their PV diagrams and then
understood each stage of their cycle. As a part of ASHRAE definitions, I was able to
understand and identify different measures I need to control to ensure optimal human
comfort inside an enclosure. I learnt the concept of dry bulb temperature, wet bulb
temperature, dew point temperature, relative humidity, specific humidity, concept of
sensible heat and latent heat.
3.3.2 Next step, I studied window air conditioning, split type air conditioning, package air
conditioning, central air conditioning plant and dry expansion systems. I analysed these
systems from their usability, constraints and aesthetic point of view. This would help me pick
the best suitable HVAC system for the building.
3.3.3 Now based on my understanding of the different cycles, I knew I wanted to manipulate the
pressure of the coolant inside the cycle. For this, I learnt that a compressor would be used.
The compression requirement of the cycle would dictate the type of compressor I’d need. I
studied different types of compressors to understand its working and applicability. Then I
wanted a condenser, so that the coolant could release heat at the required point in the
cycle. I studied different types of air condensers. Similarly, I’d need evaporator so that the
 heat could be absorbed by the coolant in vapor form. I also studied different types of
refrigerant/coolant used in a cycle. I studied the use of Ammonia and Freon as coolant.
3.3.4 I wanted to understand the load calculations for the structure. For this, I started out by
conducting a survey of the building plans. This would help me understand the load
components contributing to the latent heat generated inside the structure. I first analysed
the orientation of the building, then tried to understand the use category of the building.
This would dictate the type of equipment placed inside the structure. Then I analysed the
physical dimensions of the buildings and rooms, column and beam dimensions, window
sizes, doors, stairways, number of people inhabiting the structure and lighting arrangement.
All these would be fed into the design software while designing the final system. I
understood that the software being used will also incorporate the obstructions, spaces,
partitions, power services.
3.3.5 With all this data, I started calculating the load data. I used the concepts of design day so as
to design my system for prescribed DBT & WBT, haze in the air and internal load condition.
Then I started calculating the outdoor loads by taking into account the sunrays entering the
windows, striking the walls and roof top, ceiling, vapour pressure and wind velocity. Then I
calculated the internal loads by incorporating the number of people inhabiting the building,
lighting required, appliances, motors used pipes and tanks. Both these factors would help
me calculate the exact heat load conditions. My design condition had to capture the
seasonality of the location as well.
3.3.6 Next I wanted to understand how this cooling system could distribute the air across all the
spaces. A duct remains the most elegant and effective way of doing this. I studied different
type of ducts like supply air ducts, return air ducts, fresh air ducts, low -high pressure ducts
and low to high velocity ducts. I also studied different types of duct material and profile that
is used. I also studied the effect of aspect ratio on air conditioning. I studied the standard
process of designing ducts. The first step was to incorporate the regulations load out by the
government, followed by ASHRAE standards. Then the duct layout had to be broken down
into different sections for nodular connectivity. Then came the duct sizing and pressure loss
calculations. This will be followed by supply volume calculation, duct resizing from pressure
loss point of view. For duct sizing, I studied the equal friction method with max velocity,
velocity reduction method and lastly the static regain method.
3.3.7 After ducts, I studied different terminal devices which would be connected at various
junctions of the duct layout. These devices included ceiling diffusers, grills and registers,
linear slot diffusers, disc valves, jet diffusers and louvers. I also studied different types of
valves and pipe fittings before going on to understanding different components of HVAC
system. I studied different types of Air Handling Units (AHU) for supply and return of air, fan
coil unit to cool and heat the air as required, Fresh Air Handling Unit (FAHU) for air
circulation and expansion tank.
Tasks undertaken
3.3.8 I started out by using the HAP software which was primarily used for load calculations. The
input for this step was around the weather conditions, internal factors like lighting, people,
structure orientation, window location and equipment expected inside the structure. Once
all these factors would be input, the Hourly Analysis Program (HAP) would give me the
cooling requirement within an enclosure. Adding all the cooling requirements would give me
the overall capacity requirement of the HVAC system. I could import the AutoCAD file of the
structure inside the software and most of these factors would get entered automatically.
3.3.9 Next I used the Beta software to design the air terminal devices. The inputs required for this
software are mainly around the internal load factors like ceiling diffusers, grills and linear
registers, dimensions of the structure and more.
3.3.10 I used the McQuay duct sizer software to design the duct layout. Inputs used here were
around the air flow requirements, psychometric requirements for DBT, WBT and humidity
requirements.
3.3.11 Given that most of the design parameters of the HVAC system would be automatically
calculated by the software, I decided to validate that output with the ASHRAE standard. This
way, I will also get to compare my work and get to understand the ASHRAE standards a lot
better. I picker a room output and calculated the heating requirement based on the data in
the handbook. I incorporated the windows, ceiling heat generated, people inhabiting the
room, building category, lighting, solar heat radiation and other factors as in the ASHRAE
handbook. I calculated the quantity of heat exchanged by using flow rate and temperature
delta. My output of calculations zeroed down on using a RTAA 400 model water cooler. I
went through the configuration of that water chiller and compared it with the output from
the software. The output was within that given range (after 13% increase of the calculated
values). Once the chiller was finalised, I referred the water pipe sizing table in the handbook
to design the chiller piping on the condenser side.

Difficulties faced

3.3.12 While using HAP, the only problem was that I had an academic access of the software, so it
did not have the most up to date library. I spoke with the industry expert and he advise me
to add 12-14% to the final output of the software to counter this issue. Some key
functionalities missing in that version was around incorporating the different levels of ceiling
and subsequent decrease of heat across all the floors.
3.4 Summary
3.4.1 Overall, the output I got form the software was found to be a relatively accurate match with
the actual design as implemented in the project. I understood different factors that I’d need
to incorporate while designing a typical HVAC system. I was able to validate my
understanding of the design with the standard values in the ASHRAE handbook. I was able to
present my findings and research in my project report to my guide. I was also able to
understand how to use different software used in such projects effectively.