Heating, Ventilation and Air

Conditioning
Building Design 2
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
(HVAC)
• The necessity of HVAC, control of environmental conditions w/in
buildings has been well established over the years as being highly
desirable for various types of occupancy and comfort conditions as
well as for many industrial manufacturing processes.
Heat and Humidity
• People have always struggled with the problem of being comfortable
in their environment.
• Control of humidity in buildings is a very important part of heating,
ventilation and air conditioning.
• It is possible to alter the atmosphere or environment in buildings in
any manner to suit any particular need with great precision and
control.
Heat and Humidity
• Thermometers and Scales
• Energy in the form of heat is transferred from one material or substance to
another because of temperature difference that exists b/w them.
• A thermometer is used to measure the degree of heat in a substance or
material
• Scales
• Celsius – metric system (uses water freezing and boiling temperatures as basis for
graduations or intervals)
• Farenheit – 32F is used for water freezing and 212F for boiling
• F = 1.8 x C + 32
• C = 5(F-32)/9
Heat and Humidity
• Thermal Capacity and Specific Heat
• Thermal capacity is indicated by the quantity of heat required to raise the
temperature of 1 lb of the substance by 1F. Usually expressed in Btu for HVAC
• One Btu is the amount of heat required to increased the temperature of 1 lb
of water by 1F
• Specific heat is the ratio of the heat content or thermal capacity of a
substance to that of water. Specific heat of water is 1.
Heat and Humidity
Substance Specific Heat,
Btu / (lb)(F)

• Thermal Capacity and Specific Heat Air at 80 F 0.24

Water Vapor 0.49
• Specific Heats – Common Materials Water 1.0
Aluminum 0.23
Brick 0.20
Brass 0.09
Bronze 0.10
Gypsum 0.26
Ice 0.48
Limestone 0.22
Marble 0.21
Sand 0.19
Steel 0.12
Wood 0.45-0.65
Heat and Humidity
• Sensible Heat
• When heat energy is added to or taken away from a substance, the resulting
changes in temperature can be detected by the sense of touch or sensibly.
Since sensible heat is associated with a change in temperature, the quantity
of sensible heat energy transferred in a heat exchange is usually calculated
from
• 𝑄 = 𝑀𝑐𝑝 (𝑡2 − 𝑡1 )
• Where
• Q = sensible heat, Btu, absorbed or removed
• M = mass, lb, of the substance undergoing the temperature change
• cp = specific heat of the substance
• 𝑡2 − 𝑡1 = temp difference of the substance
Heat and Humidity
• Sensible Heat
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• 1st law – when work performed produces heat, the quantity of heat produced is
proportional to the work performed. And conversely, when heat energy performs work,
the quantity of heat dissipated is proportional to the work performed.
• 𝑊 = 𝐽𝑄
• Where
• W = work, ft-lb
• J = Joule’s constant = mechanical equivalent of heat (778 ft-lb/Btu)
• Q = heat, Btu, generated by the work
Heat and Humidity
• Sensible Heat
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• 2nd law – it is impossible for any machine to transfer heat from a substance to another
substance at a higher temperature (if the machine is unaided by an external agency).
This law implies that available supply of energy for doing work in our universe is
constantly decreasing. Also implies that any effort to devise a machine to convert a
specific quantity of heat into an equivalent amount of work is futile.
• Entropy is the ratio of heat added to a substance to the absolute temperature at which
the heat is added
𝑑𝑄
• 𝑆=
𝑇𝑎
• Where
• S = entropy
• dQ = differential of heat (very small change)
• 𝑇𝑎 = absolute temperature
Heat and Humidity
• Sensible Heat
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• Suppose an engine, which will convert heat into useful mechanical work, receives heat
Q1 from a heat source at temperature T1 and delivers heat Q2 at a temperature T2 to a
heat sink after performing work. By the 1st law of thermodynamics, the law of
conservation of energy, Q2 is less than Q1 by the amount of work performed. And by the
2nd law of thermodynamics, T2 is less than T1. The universe at the start of the process
loses entropy ΔS1 = Q1/T1 and at the end of the process gains entropy ΔS2 = Q2/T2.
Hence the net change in the entropy of the universe because of this process will be ΔS2 -
ΔS1.
Heat and Humidity
• Sensible Heat
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• Furthermore, this law requires that this net change must always be greater than zero and
that the entropy increase is and must always be an irreversible thermodynamic process.
• ∆𝑆2 − ∆𝑆1 > 0
• Because of the irreversibility of the process, the energy that has become available for
performing work is
• 𝑄𝑢 = 𝑇2 (∆𝑆2 − ∆𝑆1 )
Heat and Humidity
• Absolute temperature
• The preceding discussion involved the concept of absolute temperature measured on
a ratio scale. The unit of absolute temperature is measure in degrees Kelvin (K) in the
Celsius system and in degrees Rankine (R) in the Farenheit system. Absolute zero or
zero degrees in either system is determined by considering the theoretical behavior
of an ideal gas, and for such a gas,
• 𝑃𝑎 𝑉 = 𝑚𝑅𝑇𝑎
• Where
• 𝑃𝑎 = absolute pressure on the gas, psf
• V = volume of the gas, ft3
• m = mass of the gas, lb
• 𝑇𝑎 = absolute temperature
• R = universal gas constant
Heat and Humidity
• Absolute temperature
• Conversion
• 𝐾𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝 °𝐾 = 𝐶𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝 + 273°
• 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝 °𝐾 = 𝐹𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝 + 460°
Heat and Humidity
• Latent heat
• Involved with a change in state of substance, such as from ice to water and
from water to steam or water vapor.
• Important in HVAC calculation and design because the total heat content of
air almost always contains some water in the form of vapor
• When heat is added to ice, the temperature rises until the ice reaches its
melting point. Then, the ice continues to absorb heat without a change in
temperature until a required amount of heat is absorbed per pound of ice, at
which point it begins melting to form liquid water. The reverse is also true: if
the liquid is cooled to the freezing point, this same quantity of heat must be
removed to cause the liquid water to change to the solid (ice) state. This heat
is called the latent heat of fusion for water. It is equal to 144 Btu and will
convert 1 lb of ice at 32F to 1 lb of water at 32F.
Heat and Humidity
• Latent heat
• If the pound of water is heated further, say to 212F, then an additional 180
Btu of heat must be added to effect the 180F(212-32) sensible change in
temperature, any further addition of heat will not increase the temperature
of the water beyond 212F. With the continued application of heat, the water
experiences violent agitation, called boiling. The boiling temperature of water
is 212F at atmospheric pressure.
• With continued heating, the boiling water absorbs 970 Btu for each pound of
water without a change in temperature and completely changes it state from
liquid at 212F to water vapor, or steam, at 212F.
• Conversely, when steam at 212F is cooled or condensed to a liquid at 212F,
970 Btu per pound of steam must be removed. This heat removal and change
of state is called condensation
Heat and Humidity
• Enthalpy
• A measure of the total heat (sensible and latent) in a substance and is
equivalent to the sum of its internal energy plus its ability or capacity to
perform work.
• Cooling by Evaporation
• Evaporation of water requires a supply of heat. If there is no external source
of heat, and evaporation occurs, then the water itself must provide the
necessary heat of vaporization. In other words, a portion of the sensible heat
in the liquid will be converted into the latent heat of vaporization. As a result,
the temperature of the liquid remaining will drop. Since no external heat is
added or removed by this process of evaporation, it is called adiabatic
cooling.
Heat and Humidity
• Psychrometry
• The measurement and determination of atmospheric conditions, particularly
relating to the water vapor or moisture content in dry air
• Relative Humidity and Specific Humidity
• Relative humidity – may be closely determined by the ratio of the partial
pressure of the water vapor in the air to the saturation pressure of water
vapor at the same temperature, usually expressed as a percentage.
• Dry air – 0% relative humidity
• Fully saturated air – 100% relative humidity
Heat and Humidity
• Relative Humidity and Specific Humidity
• Computation of relative humidity: humidity ratios, or specific humidity 𝑊𝑎 at
a specific temperature is the weight, lb, of water vapor in air per pound of dry
air. 𝑊𝑠 represents the humidity ratio of saturated air at the same temperature
𝑊𝑎
• 𝑅𝐻 = 𝑥100
𝑊𝑠
Heat and Humidity
• Refrigeration Ton
• A common term used in air conditioning to designate the cooling rate of air-
conditioning equipment. A ton of refrigeration indicates the ability of an
evaporator to remove 200 Btu/min or 12,000 Btu/hr. The concept is a carry-
over from the days of icemaking and was based on the concept that
200Btu/min had to be removed from 32F water to produce 1 ton of ice at 32F
in 24 hr. Hence,
𝑙𝑏 𝐵𝑡𝑢
200 ×144
𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑏
• 1 𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = ℎ𝑟
24
𝑑𝑎𝑦