HEAT VENTILATION AND

AIR CONDITIONING
(HVAC)

CONTENT
1.

DEFINITION

2.

BASIC OPERATING CYCLE

3.

CLASSIFICATION OF AC SYSTEM

4.

COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS OF AHU

5.

DEHUMIDIFIER AND HUMIDIFICATION

6.

CHARACTERSTICS OF AIR HANDLING SYSTEM

7.

PRESSEURE CASCADES

8.

DUCTING

9.

HVAC VALIDATION

10.

MAINTAINENCE SPARES AND ITS APPR. COSTS

DEFINITION

An Air Handling Unit (AHU), or Air Handler, is a central air conditioner station that
handles the air that, usually, will be supplied into the buildings by the ventilation
ductwork.
Handling the air means that the air will be delivered into the building spaces with
thermo-hygrometric and IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) treatment. The accuracy of the
treatment will depend from the specificity of each project (offices, schools, swimmingpools, laboratories, factories with industrial processes, etc). This means, the Air Handling
Unit treat the air by filtering, cooling and/or heating, humidifying and/or dehumidifying.

There are several types of Air Handling Units: Compact, Modular, Residential, DX
integrated, Low Profile (ceiling), Packaged, Rooftop mounted (typically on the roofs of
buildings, with special weather protection), etc.

1 TR is amount of heat to be extracted from the atmosphere for melting 1 metric ton of
ice in 24 hrs.
1 TR = 12000 BTU/Hr. or 3025 kcal/Hr.

BASIC OPERATING CYCLE

WORKING PRINCIPLE

CLASSIFICATION OF AC SYSTEM

TYPES OF AIR HANDLING UNITS (AHU)

a) SINGLE SKINNED AHU
b) DOUBLE SKINNED AHU

II) DEPENDING ON SPACE AVAILABILITY FOR AHU , THE AHUs ARE CLASSIFIED
AS UNDER:a) HORIZONTAL TYPE FLOOR MOUNTED UNIT
b) VERTICAL TYPE FLOOR MOUNTED UNIT
c) CEILING SUSPENDED UNIT.

III) TYPE OF AHU DEPENDING UPON LOCATION OF FAN:a) DRAW THROUGH TYPE:- FAN IS LOCATED AFTER COOLING COIL
b) BLOW THROUGH TYPE:- FAN IS LOCATED BEFORE COOLING COIL

MOST COMMON CONFIGURATIONS

Inline - Supply 100% Outdoor

Inline - Supply Mixed Air

>Double-Deck - Mixed Air

>Side by Side - 100% Outdoor Air

Inline - Double Flux (with Mixing Air)

Double-Deck - 100% Outdoor Air

>Side by Side - Mixed Air

COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS OF AHU

Overview components
Silencer Flow rate controller

Weather louvre or Filter

Fan

Filter

Control damper

+
Prefilter

Humidifier

Cooling coil
with droplet
separator
Heating
coil

Terminal filter

Production Room

COMPONENTS OF AHU

Fans (Plug Fans, Double Inlet, Single Inlet, Axial, Centrifugal flows etc)

Filters (Plate Filters, Bag Filters, Compact Filters, HEPA Filters, ULPA Filters,
Carbon Filters)

Cooling/Heating Coils (water/steam/Direct Expansion DX/electric/gas fired)

Heat recovery systems (cross flow plate heat exchangers, heat wheel/rotating
heat exchangers, run around coils and heat pipes, etc)

Humidifiers (Adiabatic/Evaporative Pad,

non-pressurized Steam, pressurized steam)

Dehumidifiers (DX coil, desiccant rotor)

AHU Chilled water Manifold

Sound attenuators

Mist/Droplet eliminators

Dampers & Plenum

FUNCTIONS OF AHU
Cooling unit /dehumidifier : To cool the air to the required temperature or
to remove

moisture from the air

Heating unit To heat the air to the proper temperature

Humidifier :To bring the air to the proper humidity, if too low
Filters : To eliminate particles of pre-determined dimensions and/or microorganisms
Ducts : To transport the air
Silencer : To reduce noise caused by air circulation
Weather louvre or Filter : To prevent insects, leaves, dirt and rain from
entering
Flow rate controller : Automated adjustment of volume of air (night and
day, pressure

control)

Control damper : Fixed adjustment of volume of air

FILTER CLASSES
Dust filters
Standard

Aerosol

Coarse

Fine

Dp > 10 m

10 m > Dp > 1 m

G1 - G4

F5 - F9
EN 779 Standard

HEPA

ULPA
Dp < 1 m

H 11 - 13

U 14- 17
EN 1822 Standard

FILTERS

HEPA or tertiaary filter

Primary panel filter

Secondary filter

DEHUMIDIFIER AND
HUMIDIFICATION
Adsorber wheel

Humid room air

Regeneration air

Humid room air

Air heater

Dehumidification is the removal of water vapor from air, definition, and

sorption dehumidification equipment
Dehumidifiers remove excess humidity by drawing moist room air over
cold refrigerated coils. The moisture in the air condenses into droplets
as it passes over the cold surfaces in the dehumidifier and into a

CHARACTERSTICS OF AIR HANDLING

SYSTEM
Turbulent
dilution of dirty air

Air flow
patterns

Uni-directional / laminar
displacement of dirty air

0,30 m/s

CHARACTERSTICS OF AIR HANDLING

SYSTEM
Prefilter

Air flow patterns

AHU

Main filter

Turbulent

Uni-directional

Turbulent

CHARACTERSTICS OF AIR HANDLING

SYSTEM
Positioning
of filters
AHU mounted final filter

Filter in terminal position

HEPA Filter

Production Room
HEPA Filter

Production Room

PRESSEURE CASCADES
Regulation of Room Pressure Pressure Differentials Concept

Room pressure
gauges

Room pressure indication

panel

PRESSEURE CASCADES
Pressure cascade injectable
Protection from microorganisms and particles

Room 1

Room 2

30 Pa

60 Pa

Pressure cascade solids

Protection from cross-contamination

Room 3

Room 1

45 Pa

Room 2

Room 3

15 Pa

15 Pa

15 Pa

LF
D
A ir L o c k
45 Pa

A ir L o c k
B

C
A ir L o c k

A ir L o c k

15 Pa
30 Pa

Passage

N o te : D i r e c ti o n o f d o o r o p e n i n g r e l a ti v e to r o o m p r e s s u r e

A ir
Lock

A ir
0 Pa

30 Pa

Passage

N o te : D i r e c ti o n o f d o o r o p e n i n g r e l a ti v e to r o o m p r e s s u r e

Lock
15 Pa

0 Pa

DUCTING
A Duct can be described as a device used to provide an isolation path to carry a
medium from one place to other place without bringing the product in contact with
the atmosphere before the delivery point.

DUCTING

Dont
No Bracing and width of the duct is more than
750mm.

Dos
Bracing should be done all around the duct from
outside when width of the duct is more than 750mm
to provide strength to the duct.
MS Bracing

8 Feet

4 Feet
T
B

W id t h o f t h e D u c t ( m m )

4 Feet
A (m m )

B (m m )

T (m m )

F ro m 7 0 0 to 1 2 0 0

25

25

A b ove 1 20 0

40

40

Breathing of the Duct - Results in Noise

No Breathing Noise

DUCTING

TYPES OF PRESSURES IN A DUCT

Total Pressure
Static Pressure
Velocity Pressure
TOTAL PRESSURE = STATIC PRESSURE + VELOCITY PRESSURE.

ASPECT RATIO OF DUCTING

Aspect Ratio = Long Side/Short Side = Width of the duct /

Height of the duct

Best Aspect Ratio is 1 : 1

Maximum permissible aspect ratio is 4 : 1

Effects of Aspect Ratio

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VARIOUS

DUCTS

COMPONENTS OF DUCTING

HVAC VALIDATION

DOP/PAO (Poly Alpha Oli film)/Filter integrity test

Air balancing

Pressure balancing

Particle count

Air flow pattern

Recovery test

Fumigation

Documents handover
Instrument used for air balancing : Supply diffusers.
Instrument used velocity measurement: Digital anemometer
Instrument used for pressure balancing: magnehulic gauge.
Instrument used for particle count: particle counter
Instrument used for Air flow pattern: Fogger m/c , Video
Instrument used for PAO test : Aerosol photometer.

AHUS ANUALLY SPARES APPR. COST

SLNOCOMPONENTS

REQD. QTY.

UOM

UNIT COST

TOTAL COST
COST/ YEAR
(LAKHS)

TUBULER HEATERS

20

Set

10000.00

2.00

2.00

THERMOSTAT

10

NO.

2000.00

0.20

0.10

COOLING COIL

NO.

30000.00

1.20

HOT WATER COIL

NO.

15000.00

0.30

PRESSURE GUAGES

NO.

1500.00

0.09

MAGNELIC GUAGES

NO.

6000.00

0.24

TEMP. GUAGES

NO.

1500.00

0.09

AHU HARDWARE

Set

20000.00

0.20

CONTACTORS

NO.

1500.00

0.09

10 OVER LOAD RELAY

NO.

1000.00

0.06

15

NO.

50.00

0.01

12 MOTOR

NO.

25000.00

1.00

13 MPCB

NO.

3500.00

0.21

200

Ltr.

150.00

0.30

NO.

25000.00

0.50

11 PUSH BOTTONS

14 COIL CLEANING CHEMICAL

15 3 WAY VALVE WITH ACTUATOR

0.20

0.30