HVAC Chapter- 2 1

The following notes are based on the textbook:

“Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Analysis and Design McQuiston_6th_2004.”
Chapter 2: Air-Conditioning Systems
HVAC = Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.
ASHRAE = The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
… HVAC systems are categorized according to the manner:
ᬅ By which they distribute energy and ventilation air.
ᬆ By how they are controlled.
ᬇ By their special equipment arrangements.
… A good reference in this area is the ASHRAE Handbook, Systems and Equipment (1).
2.1. The Complete System

… Cooling towers and condensers are located outdoors, on the ground or on the roof, to reject
energy to the atmosphere.
… The fuel for the boilers may be natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuel oil, or a solid
fuel such as coal or wood.
HVAC Chapter- 2 2
2.2. System Selection and Arrangement
… A first step in central system design is determination of:
ᬅ the individual zones to be conditioned.
ᬆ the type and location of the HVAC equipment.
… HVAC equipment is located in one or more mechanical rooms (located in a basement or
roof).
… Purposes of Mechanical Room:
ᬅ energy and moisture addition or removal, the ventilation, and the removal of
pollutants.
ᬆ reduce the noise and spills.
… Equipment normally found in the mechanical room:
ᬅ Fans or air handlers for moving air with associated dampers and filters.
ᬆ Pumps for moving heated or chilled water.
ᬇ Heat exchangers for transferring energy between fluids.
ᬈ Flow measuring and control devices.
ᬉ Chillers and furnace or boiler equipment.
… Lakes and rivers are sometimes used for an energy sink to reject the energy.
… Thermostat is a control device that senses the space temperature and sends a correcting
signal if that temperature is not within some desired range.
… Thermostat is located free from local disturbances or sunlight.
… A zone: a conditioned space under the control of a single thermostat.
… Large office buildings, factories, and large department stores require multiple zones and
multiple central systems.
… In tall building, each central system serves one floor.
… Humidity may be controlled by a humidistat.
… Diversity factor = the ratio of the actual maximum demand of a facility to the sum of the
maximum demands of the individual parts of a facility.
… For large installations with a low diversity factor, central stations or plants allow designs
with much smaller total heating and cooling capacity Ÿ much lower capital (first) costs,
greater efficiency, less maintenance cost, and lower labor costs than with individual central
facilities in each building.
… For short distance Ÿ air is used to transfer energy.
… For large distance Ÿ water or steam is used to transfer energy because:
ᬅ water has high specific heat and steam has high enthalpy of vaporization. 
ᬆ pipes size is smaller than ductwork.
HVAC Chapter- 2 3
ᬇ power to move steam or liquid is much less than for air.
2.3. HVAC Components and Distribution Systems
- Air-Handling Equipment.
- Pumps and Piping.

Centrifugal Chiller.
HVAC Chapter- 2 4

Cooling Tower
HVAC Chapter- 2 5
HVAC Chapter- 2 6

2.4. Types of All-Air Systems

… In all-air system, heating, cooling, and humidification furnished to the space by air.
… The more important types are:
Single-Zone System
… The air-handling unit can be installed either within a zone or remote from the space it serves
and may operate with or without ductwork.
… A single-zone system responds to only one set of space conditions Ÿ one uniform
temperature.

… The discharge thermostat takes a signal from the zone thermostat and opens or closes the
appropriate valve on the heating or cooling coil to maintain the desired room temperature.
… Heating valve is normally open (NO), need cooling Ÿ the heating valve closed and the
cooling valve opened (NC).
HVAC Chapter- 2 7
Reheat Systems
… The reheat system is a modification of the single-zone constant-volume system.
… The heating is a secondary process.
… Its purpose is to:
ᬅ permit zone or space control for areas of unequal loading.
ᬆ provide heating or cooling of perimeter areas with different exposures.
ᬇ ˆlow humidities is needed.
… The medium for heating may be hot water, steam, or electricity.
… The conditioned air is supplied from a central unit at a fixed cold air temperature and then
reheated to the desired level.

Variable-Volume System
… The variable-volume system compensates for variations in cooling requirement by regulating
(throttling) the volume of air supplied to each zone.
… VAV = Variable-air-volume.
… A significant advantage = low initial and operating costs.
HVAC Chapter- 2 8
Dual-Duct System
… The central equipment supplies warm air through one duct run and cold air through the other.
… The temperature in an individual space is controlled by mixing the warm and cool air in
proper proportions.
… Many double-duct systems are installed in office buildings, hotels, hospitals, schools, and
large laboratories.
… Fewer are now being designed and installed.
… The mixing of hot and cold air causes energy inefficient.

Multizone System
… The multizone central units provide a single supply duct for each zone and obtain zone control
by mixing hot and cold air at the central unit in response to room or zone thermostats.
… This system:
ᬅ provides greater flexibility than the single duct.
ᬆ lower cost than the dual-duct system.
… Multizone equipment is similar in some respects to the dual-duct system, but the hot and cold
airstreams are proportioned and mixed at the air handler instead of at each zone served.
… The multizone system is best suited to applications having high sensible heat loads and limited
ventilation requirements.
… Multiple duct has high initial costs.
HVAC Chapter- 2 9

2.5. Air-and-Water Systems

… In an air-and-water system both air and water are distributed to each space to perform the
cooling function.
… The water is used because it has greater density and higher specific heat Ÿ less pipe size Ÿ
less space needed for the pipes.
… Generally the cooling water carries away most of the sensible energy from the conditioned
space.
… The air provides the ventilation and carries away the moisture resulting from the space latent
load. The air may also provide some additional sensible cooling.
… The pumping horsepower to circulate the water throughout the building is significantly less
than the fan horsepower to deliver and return the amount of air needed for both energy and
ventilation.
… This system is used in buildings, hospitals, hotels, schools, apartment houses, and research
laboratories.
… The air side of an air-and-water system is made of an air handler, with air intake, filters, fan,
heat exchanger coils, and a humidifier connected to a terminal device in the conditioned
space by a duct distribution system.
… The water side consists of a pump and piping to convey water to the heat transfer surface
within each conditioned space.
Air–Water Induction System
… In some situations a greater volume of heated or cooled air needs to be diffused into a space
to provide comfort than is required to maintain air quality in the space.
… Primary air from a central system provides for the air quality and humidity level needed, and
induced air from the space is used to provide the quantity of air needed for air circulation and
comfort.
HVAC Chapter- 2 10
Fan–Coil Conditioner System
… The fan–coil conditioner unit is a versatile (multi-purposes) room terminal that is applied to
both air–water and water-only systems.
… The basic elements of fan–coil units are a finned tube coil and a fan section.
… The fan section recirculates air continuously from within the perimeter space through the coil,
which is supplied with either hot or chilled water.

… The unit may contain an auxiliary heating coil (electric resistanc, steam or hot water).
2.6. All-Water Systems
… All-water systems are with fan–coil, unit ventilator, or valance (curtain)-type room terminals,
with unconditioned ventilation air supplied by an opening through the wall or by infiltration.
… Cooling and dehumidification are provided by circulating chilled water.
… The greatest advantage is its flexibility for adaptation to many building module requirements
and for remodeling work since there is no air ducts Ÿ more space.
… This type may not meet today’s indoor air quality (IAQ).
… The heating coil may use hot water, steam, or electricity. The cooling coil can be either a
chilled water coil or a direct expansion refrigerant coil.
HVAC Chapter- 2 11
2.7. Decentralized Cooling and Heating
… These usually involve the use of packaged systems, which are systems with an integral
refrigeration cycle. Packaged system components are factory designed and assembled into a
unit that includes fans, filters, heating coil, cooling coil, refrigerant compressor and
condenser.
… The Air Conditioning and Refrigerating Institute (ARI) defined Packaged air conditioner =
Unitary air conditioner as one or more factory-made assemblies that normally include an
evaporator or cooling coil and a compressor and condenser combination.
… The ARI classification system of unitary air conditioners depends on the location of the
compressor, evaporator, and condenser relative to each other and the presence or absence of
a fan or heating system and its location.
… Split systems = systems with both indoor and outdoor factory-made assemblies.
… Humidity and ventilation control is often not as good as central systems, especially at low
loads, and control systems tend to be on–off.
… Operating sound levels can be a problem.
2.8. Heat Pump Systems
… Any refrigeration system is a heat pump if energy is moved from a low temperature source to
a higher temperature sink.
… In HVAC the term heat pump = a system in which refrigeration equipment is used to both heat
and cool.
Closed-Loop and Ground-Coupled Systems
… In some cases a building may require cooling in interior zones while needing heat in exterior
zones. In such cases a closed-loop heat pump system may be a good choice. Individual water-
to-air heat pumps in each room or zone accept energy from or reject energy to a common
water piping loop, depending on whether there is a call for heating or for cooling.
… The earth is a near-ideal source or sink for heat pumps.
… Using a closed-loop system with piping buried in the ground, circulating water either picks up
energy for heating or loses energy for cooling.
… The use of dense polyethylene pipe has allowed systems to be constructed with high reliability
and long expected lifetime.
HVAC Chapter- 2 12

2.9. Heat Recovery Systems

Not Required.
2.10. Thermal Energy Storage
… The energy storage can be accomplished by running chillers off peak to make chilled water or
ice, storing the chilled water or ice, and utilizing its cooling capability during subsequent
peak periods. Such a method is referred to as thermal energy storage (TES).