Air Handling Unit

(September 2019)
Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, Paula Daniela Gonzalez, Heber Andres Marin Duran, David Santiago
Alvarado Monroy

I. AIR HANDLER
Definition:

The purpose of air conditioning is to control the temperature, humidity, filtration, and air movement of
the indoor environment. The atmospheric air always contains moisture in the form of water vapor, but
the maximum amount of water vapor that may be contained in the air depends on its temperature and so
the higher the temperature, the more water vapor that can be contained in it.
In air conditioning, the humidification of air to increase the moisture content is achieved by the use of
a humidifier, and in reverse, the moisture content of the air is reduced by a dehumidification process.
[ CITATION Nar17 \l 3082 ]

Components:

Filters
Its main function is to provide a clean dust-free air to the system. The Filtration is generally located in
the first air entrance in order to protect and keep all the intern components clean
Heating and cooling elements
These elements are the responsible to change the air temperature and therefore the humidity level. It can be used
heat exchangers.
Humidifier
Humidifiers are used to maintain a specific humidity level. The humidity is essential in the AHU
because it ensures the high air quality, prevents the static electricity and preserve material properties.
Mixing Chamber
It is used to get the desired air temperature mixing the right amount of cool outside air and warm inside return
air. A mixing chamber is therefore used which has dampers controlling the ratio between the return, outside, and
exhaust air.
Blower
The blower moves the air around the air handler, and it can change the air flow rates depending of its operation
speed.
Heat Recovery Device
The main function is to recovery the residual energy resultant after the gas exhaustion, take that gases and use
them to pre-heat the fresh air before it enters to the room.
Vibration Isolators
These are the responsible to not transmit the vibrations generated by the blowers inside the air handlers. The
isolators are placed before and after de AHU and between the fan compartment.
 II. FUNCTIONING

An Air Handling Unit (AHU) is used to re-condition and circulate air as part of a heating, ventilating and air-
conditioning system.

The basic function of the AHU is taking in outside air, re-condition it and supply it as fresh air to a building. All
exhaust air is removed, which creates an acceptable indoor air quality. Depending on the required temperature of
the re-conditioned air, the fresh air is either heated by a recovery unit or heating coil or cooled by a cooling coil.

In buildings, where the hygienic requirements for air quality are lower, some of the air from the rooms can be re-
circulated via a mixing chamber and this can result in significant energy savings. A mixing chamber has
dampers for controlling the ratio between the return, outside and exhaust air.

The AHU is a large metal box containing separate ventilators for supply and exhaust, heating coil, cooling coil,
heating/cooling recovery system, air filter racks or chambers, sound attenuators, mixing chamber, and dampers.
AHUs connect to ductwork that distributes the conditioned air through the building and returns it to the AHU.

A heat/cooling recovery exchanger is normally fitted to the AHU for energy savings and increasing capacity.
An AHU designed for outdoor use, typically on roofs, is also known as a rooftop unit (RTU). [ CITATION Gru \l
9226 ]

III. TYPES OF AIR HANDLERS

AIR COOLED SYSTEMS: Air cooled computer room air conditioners are widely used in IT environments of
all sizes and have established themselves as the “staple” for small and medium rooms. This type of system is
often referred to as a DX system or split system. The “DX” designation stands for direct expansion and although
this term often refers to an air-cooled system, in fact any system that uses refrigerant and an evaporator coil can
be called a DX system. In an air-cooled system half the components of the refrigeration cycle are in the
computer room air conditioner (also known as a CRAC unit) and the rest are outdoors in the air cooled
condenser as shown in Figure 1. Refrigerant circulates between the indoor and outdoor components in pipes
called refrigerant lines. Heat from the IT environment is “pumped” to the outdoor environment using this
circulating flow of refrigerant. [ CITATION The \l 9226 ]
AIR COOLED SELF-CONTAINED SYSTEMS: Self-contained systems locate all the components of the
refrigeration cycle in one enclosure that is usually found in the IT environment. Heat exits the self-contained
system as a stream of hot (about 120°F [49°C]) air called exhaust air. This stream of hot air must be routed away
from the IT room to the outdoors or into an unconditioned space to ensure proper cooling of computer
equipment as illustrated in Figure 2. If mounted above a drop ceiling and not using condenser air inlet or outlet
ducts, the hot exhaust air from the condensing coil can be rejected directly into the drop ceiling area. [ CITATION
The \l 9226 ]

GLYCOL COOLED SYSTEMS: This type of system locates all refrigeration cycle components in one
enclosure (like a self-contained system) but replaces the bulky condensing coil with a much smaller heat
exchanger shown in Figure 3. The heat exchanger uses flowing glycol (a mixture of water and ethylene glycol,
similar to automobile anti-freeze) to collect heat from the refrigerant and transport it away from the IT
environment. Heat exchangers and glycol pipes are always smaller than condensing coils (2-piece air cooled
systems) and condenser air ducts (selfcontained air cooled systems) because the glycol mixture has the capability
to collect and transport much more heat than air does. The glycol flows via pipes to an outdoor-mounted device
called a fluid cooler.[ CITATION The \l 9226 ]

WATER COOLED SYSTEMS: Water cooled systems are like glycol cooled systems in that all refrigeration
cycle components are located inside the computer room air conditioner. However, there are two important
differences between a glycol cooled system and a water-cooled system:
• A water (also called condenser water) loop is used instead of glycol to collect and transport heat away from the
IT environment
• Heat is rejected to the outside atmosphere via a cooling tower instead of a fluid cooler.
As seen in Figure 4, a cooling tower rejects heat from the IT room to the outdoor environment by spraying
warm condenser water onto sponge-like material (called fill) at the top of the tower. [CITATION The \l 9226 ]
 IV. APPLICATIONS IN THE INDUSTRY

Cooling systems for data centers

As global demand for data exchange grows, so too does the size and load placed on data centers,
placing unprecedented constraints on space and power available to the operator.
Data centers are dedicated facilities which support business critical IT servers. Tightly packed server
racks are generating exponentially more computer power and most of this is converted into rejected
heat. Airedale provides a flexible, high efficiency range of cooling solutions which optimizes the
performance of the equipment, as well as managing the environmental impact of the data center.
[ CITATION air19 \l 9226 ]

Process cooling systems

As the number one UK chiller manufacturer and specialist in free-cooling solutions, our chiller range is
ideal for your process cooling and industrial air conditioning requirements.  Airedale are specialists in
designing equipment suitable for a variety of atmospheric conditions, with extensive experience
globally of managing extreme ambient and varying conditions in a wide range of industrial sectors
from food to petrochemicals.[ CITATION air19 \l 9226 ]

Laboratory cooling & clean room air conditioning

Precision is key to all clean room environments, laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. Control of
temperature, humidity and air quality within these applications is critical to ensure machinery remains
in optimum working condition and research and development does not become compromised.
[ CITATION air19 \l 3082 ]

Healthcare Air Conditioning

Hospitals and healthcare estates are under increasing pressure to deliver more with less, whilst also
complying with stringent regulations, health and safety measures and ever-changing technologies. 
Airedale can help you create a more efficient healthcare facility developing an environment which is
safer and more secure, with patient welfare, staff comfort and productivity at its heart.  
From operating theatres to offices, we have a range of complete solutions which will maximize your
business performance and minimize energy usage to realize your performance goals.[ CITATION air19
\l 3082 ]

V. CALCULATION OF AIR HANDLERS

In Thermal loads calculation there are some generalities that cannot be avoided like:
  Variety of materials each one with its thermophysical properties.
 Complexity of geometries.
 Heat Storage in the building components makes the heat transference more transient than stationary.
 Relations between thermal phenomena.

These calculations are specified for buildings.

Symbol Meaning Units
Q Sensitive heat load (Btu / h)
U Total heat transfer coefficient Btu /h × pie × °F
A Calculated area of architectural plans ft^2
CLTD Differential cooling load of temperature based on roofing conditions °F
Differential cooling load of corrected temperature, based on the conditions
CLTDCORR  
for roofs
LM Monthly correction of roof latitude  
K Correction factor or color adjustment  
(78 - TR) Indoor temperature correction °F
(T0 - 85) Outside temperature correction °F
f Ventilation factor  
SC Shading coefficient per combination  
SHGF Maximum heat gain per specifications  
CLF Cooling load factor for glass with or without interior shading.  
TD Temperature difference °F
3.41 Conversion factor from Btu / h to Watt  
qi Total wattage of lamps  
Fa Use fraction.  
Fs Values of the special forecast factor for lights fluorescent  
CLF Cooling load factor for lighting  
qs/Person Instant Sensitive Heat Gain by person Btu / h × Person
Cs Coefficient for devices and certain equipment laboratory  
qr Manufacture Rate Btu/h
Q1 latent heat load Btu/h
q1 Heat load Gain by device Btu/h
A,B or C Heat gain by typical electric motors Btu/h
F1 Load Factor  
CLF Sensitive heat load factor for equipment  
H Space height ft
L Space Length ft
W Space Wide ft
AC Air changes by hour  
TR People Traffic  
DT Temperature differential  
Te Outside environment temperature °F
Ti Inside design Temperature °F
Qs Sensitive Heat Load Btu/h
SCFM Heat of Ventilation and Infiltration in CFM  
∆T Temperature differential between conditioned zone and not conditioned  

∆W Relative humidity differential in lb of steam of water per lb of dry air  

1.1 Sensitive heat load  

4840 Btu / h conversion factor by SCFM  
[ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Load calculation of air conditioning

Heat gain for driving through roofs
The tool allows you to select the option corresponding by correlated drawings and for the calculation is required to select
the roof material, select the type of roof and Supply the area. To calculate the heat transfer (Q) through roofs exposed to the
sun, use the following equation [ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Heat gain for driving through walls

To calculate the heat gain through walls you must select, the number of walls, the material of the wall, type of construction,
orientation and tone. The area must also be supplied. The calculation of heat transfer (Q) through walls exposed to the sun,
is made from the following equation:[ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Heat gain by conduction and radiation solar through doors and windows.
In the calculation of heat gain through doors and windows it becomes necessary to select the type of construction, the
number of arrangements, description of the window or door, description of the type of silo glass there is, guidance,
determine if it is with shadow or without shadow and calculate the area of the door or window. The equation used in the
calculation is as follows:[ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Heat gain for driving through the partitions

For the calculation of the amount of heat transfer (Q) through partitions, we select the feature of the wall and we supply the
area. At calculation of caloric gain, the following is used equation:[ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Heat gain lighting system

In carrying out this calculation it is required to select number of lights, efficiency of lights, envelope of building, ground,
time on lights and time use lights. The instantaneous rate of heat gain by lights is Calculate as follows:[ CITATION AGU06
\l 9226 ]
Calorific gain per person
For this calculation the number of people, hours of space occupation and also the activity that is carried out. For the
calculation of the gain of Heat uses the following equations:[ CITATION AGU06 \l 9226 ]

Heat gain for devices and equipment laboratory

In the calculation of heat gain must be selected the number of equipment, the application, power-up hours and the hours of
occupation. The computational tool uses the following equation

Heat gain for equipment (engines)

For this load it is required to select the quantity, power, installation location, power on time and hours of operation. The
calculation of this caloric gain by the Equipment is done as follows:

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] R. Narayanan, «www.sciencedirect.com,» 13 Enero 2017. [En línea]. Available:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128054239000077.

[2] Grundfos, «Grundfos.com,» [En línea]. Available: https://www.grundfos.com/service-

support/encyclopedia-search/air-handling-unitahu.html.

[3] T. Evans, «The Different Types of Air Conditioning Equipment for IT enviroments,» APC, 2004.

[4] airedale, «www.airedale.com,» [En línea]. Available: http://www.airedale.com/web/About-

Airedale/Air-Conditioning-Applications.htm. [Ú ltimo acceso: 23 septiembre 2019].

[5] M. A. G. AGUSTÍN VALVERDE G, «MÉ TODO DE CÁ LCULO COMPUTARIZADO PARA LA

DETERMINACIÓ N DE LAS CARGAS TÉ RMICAS DE REFRIGERACIÓ N, AIRE ACONDICIONADO Y
SELECCIÓ N DE EQUIPOS,» Scientia et Technica, pp. 128-130, 31 agosto 2006.