ECO-PANEL AIR DUCT DESIGN AND INSTALLATION MANUAL 1.0.

0 Introduction to Eco-Panels
Eco-Panel has been developed in Italy through many years of experience in the field of air distribution aiming at energy saving, reliability, functionality and ease of field installation. The philosophy behind the development of Eco-Panel is simply: a preinsulated aluminum duct with extraordinary performance, well defined installation procedures to save time and labour in site installation while ensuring the best technical performance and energy saving results at the same time. In Malaysia, Galvanized Iron ducts insulated with fiberglass and vapour sealed with aluminum foil have been used traditionally. However, with the high ambient temperature and humidity, not only substantial amount of cooling capacity has been wasted due to duct losses, the vapour seal would not normally last long enough to prevent condensation and "water leaking". Eco-Panel with Polyurethane sandwiched between two layers of aluminum not only provide much better thermal insulation, its perfectly sealed joints and duct body, render it a long lasting vapour seal against humidity. As a result, Eco-Panel grew steadily in popularity as its application has been gradually extended to every type of air distribution system for commercial, industrial and residential applications.

Eco-Panel have been designed on the basis of specific technical and economic considerations to permit the construction of air distribution systems that guarantee the highest standards of safety and performance. Some of the advantages of Eco-Panel are as follow: exceptional and uniform thermal insulation in all points of the ducts; eliminate the health risks caused by release of fiber or other contaminants, thanks to the protection provided by the insulation material with a layer of aluminium foil that also eliminates all risk of erosion caused by air flow; the possibility to prepare pre-cut ducts for assembly directly at the work site for significant savings in time and labor costs; reduction of air leaks thanks to the exceptional air seal guaranteed by the patented Eco-Panel invisible flanging system; extreme light weight with the consequent reduction of the load on the support structures, bracketing and hanging points, and the labor times and materials necessary for installation; its weather-proof feature allowing installation outdoors, replacing the expansive hyrib-plastering requirements; the attractive aesthetic finish offered by the aluminium foil that can be painted in different colours or provided with texture coating or other facing treatments.

2.0.0 Technical Features of Eco-Panels

2.1.0 Thermal Properties The insulation material used for the production of Econ-Panel is expanded polyurethane, which is currently one of the best heat insulation materials available in the market. The quantity of heat, Q transmitted thru a panel between the parallel inner and outer surfaces of a homogenous material in a steady state condition can be expressed by the equation: Q = U A (T1-T2) where, U = the overall heat transfer coefficient, for which U = K / t K = the thermal conductivity [W/(m deg.C)] t = the thickness of the material [m] A = the surface area for the heat flow

(T1-T2) = the temperature difference between the two faces [deg.C]

Note: if (T1-T2) is taken as the temperature difference of the air surrounding the two faces, then, the calculation of U should take into account of the air film resistances on the two faces.

The thermal conductivities, K of some common insulation materials are listed below:

MATERIAL TYPE

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY [W/(m deg.C)]

Corkboard Fiber glass Rock wool Cross-linked extruded polyethylene Polystyrene (styrofoam) Econ-Panel (polyurathane)

0.043 0.040 0.040 0.033 0.033 0.022

Therefore, it is shown above that Econ-Panel is the best insulation among these common duct insulation materials.

2.2.0 Frictional Loss

2.3.0 Air Leakages The effects of air leakages in the conventional G.I. ducting system are: a. Wastage of electrical energy to operate the fan and chiller b. Risk of condensation if surround environment is humid c. Compromised occupant comfort in rooms due to loss of capacity. Leaks in an air distribution system can be considered as the difference between the volume of air delivered (extracted) by the fan and the volume of air actually supplied (or removed) from room or area being served. A series of tests conducted according to careful scientific methods has demonstrated that air leaks can reach values ranging from 10 to 30% of the total quantity of air conveyed by the delivery ducts and from 20 to 40% of the air conveyed by the return ducts. The air leaks in a traditional duct system are located primarily along the longitudinal seams and transversal joints (or connections between ducts).

Ducts can be installed either inside or outside the air conditioned room or area (or separated by ceilings) and leaks can occur both going into or coming out of the room or area: Cold air leaking into the rooms create imbalances in the quantities of air supplied to the areas and sometimes alter the desired thermo-hygrometric conditions, but do not affect the system performance and operating costs. s Outgoing leaks from the rooms seriously compromise the system efficiency s and require the use of greater power that naturally increase both the system s initial investment and operating costs. At the European level, the CEN (European Regulations Board) in the draft version of prEN Regulation 1507 provides definitions for the classes of air seals against air leaks in air distribution systems (as indicated by HVAC DW/142 Standards). In US, Joint research conducted by SMACNA and ASHRAE has since developed a methodology used to relate the amount of ductwork leakage to the ductwork surface area and the design static pressure independent of the actual airflow in the ductwork SMACNA publishes a table (as shown below) that correlates the Seal Class (A, B, or C) and the Leakage Class(typically 3, 6, 12, or 48). Obviously, this assumes a superior application of sealants to the ductwork system.

A TYPICAL DUCT LEAKAGE TEST SETUP

2.3.1 Duct Leakage Test Procedures 1. Select a section of the duct to be tested. 2. Select a test pressure not in excess of the pressure class rating of the duct. Usually use the actual operating pressure. 3. Calculate the allowable leakage using ASHRAE Energy Standard 90.1 as shown above. 4. Set up the blower and orifice measuring station as shown in the above diagram and connect it to the duct section.

5. All ends of the ductwork under test shall be sealed temporary for the test. 6. Start the blower at a low airflow capacity, increasing the air flow until the test pressure is reached. 7. Adjust blower capacity until steady-state conditions at the pressure are achieved. 8. Record the airflow as measured by the orifice flowmeter at the steady state condition. This airflow rate is the cfm leakage rate of the duct system under test. 2.3.2 Low leakage performance of the Eco-Panel duct

Thanks to the use of their exclusive patented flanging system, Eco-Panel ducts guarantee remarkable air seal by eliminating the possibility of longitudinal leaks and reducing leaks in the transversal joints, thereby satisfying the requisites for the best class of air seal (C) foreseen by the Test Standards, as shown in the above illustration. 2.4.0 Weight of Air Duct

2.5.0 Anti-condensation

Condensation (or "water leaking") takes place when the surface temperature of the air duct falls below the dew point temperature of the surrounding air. Malaysia has very humid climate, the risk of condensation on a conventional Galvanized Iron duct with fiberglass insulation is apparent under the following circumstances: 1. Any weak points in the aluminum foil vapour seal such as imperfect joints, torn holes would allow humid ambient air to infiltrate into the fiberglass layer. Since the fiberglass is porous, the humid air can soon come into contact with the cold metal duct surface and cause condensation. Water formed from condensation can easily sip thru and travel along the fiberglass layer causing propagation of the condensations to larger area of the duct. 2. Any leakage of the cold supply air thru the imperfect joints of the Galvanized Iron duct will soon render the aluminum foil cold enough to attract condensation from the humid ambient air on the outer surface of the aluminum foil layer. In general, the duct flat external wall surface temperature can be s s calculated using the following formula:

Example of verification of the condensation conditions on Eco-Panel: Thanks to the vapour barrier provided by the aluminum layers of the EcoPanel and the closed cell structures of the polyurathane insulation, the condensation problems faced by the conventional Galvanised Iron ducts will not happen to the Eco-Panel ducts. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Eco-Panel duct and its various flanging component parts, let us take an example of a duct passing through an unconditioned roof space having an air temperature of 40 deg.C Considering the following project design conditions: ta = 40 C RH = 50% ti= 14 C v = 8 m/s (air speed inside) With stationary air, the following external thermal diffusivity value can be assumed:

with an air speed inside the duct of 4m/s internal thermal diffusivity

therefore, considering v = 8 m/s we obtain the following:

Using the formulae provided for thermal transmittance and the temperature of the duct external surfaces, the values provided in table 3.2 can be easily s obtained:

From the Psychrometric Chart Fig. 3.5 above, for the ambient conditions of ta = 40 deg.F and RH = 50%, the dewpoint temperature, After analysing the surface temperature ts provided in table 3.2 for the various components, we observe that only the aluminium flange at 19.3 C has a temperature that is lower than the dew point temperature of the surrounding air. Condensation will form on this flange, and in this case we recommend: either (1) using flanges in PVC or (2) insulating the aluminium flange with the appropriate polythene tape with the following specifications 8 mm,

in order to obtain the result provided in table 3.3.

2.6.0 Hygiene and Air Quality 2.7.0 Fire Reaction of Duct Insulation and Safety 2.8.0 Acoustic Properties 2.9.0 Durability and Life Span

3.0.0 Air Distribution System

3.1.0 Factors for Good Air Distribution

3.2.0 Air Diffusion Performance Index

3.3.0 Recommended Air Velocities

3.4.0 Air Distribution Design Procedures

4.0.0 Duct Sizing Procedures

4.1.0 The Equal Friction Loss Method

4.2.0 Duct Sizing Example

5.0.0 Air Duct Design Optimization

5.1.0 Economic Impacts of Aspect Ratio

5.2.0 Energy Saving by Duct Insulation

6.0.0 Installation Guidelines

6.1.0 Installation Tools

6.2.0 Installation of Straight Ducts

6.3.0 Installation of Elbows

6.4.0 Installation of Tees and Branch-off

6.5.0 Installation of Grilles and Round ducts

6.6.0 Duct Reinforcement

7.0.0 Calculation of Panel Quantities

7.1.0 Glossary.

7.2.0 Straight ducts.

7.3.0 Elbows.

7.4.0 Splitters in elbows.

7.5.0 Reducers.

7.6.0 Take-offs and tap-ins.

7.7.0 Offsets.

7.8.0 Diverging junctions.

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