Standard versus Actual Airflow -Temperature Rise

Temperature rise is an important operating parameter for heating equipment. It provides a measure of the sensible heat gain to the air flowing over the heat exchanger and allows specifying engineers to match heating equipment to the comfort level desired in the conditioned space. One of the most misunderstood and misapplied concepts to heater selection and providing desired temperature rise through the heater is standard versus actual airflow. Standard airflow is defined at 70oF air temperature and 29.92 in Hg. Barometric pressure (sea level), since this is the condition at which blowers are rated. Actual airflow is defined at the specific heater operating conditions. The widely used formula for the required heat that must be added to the air stream to produce a given temperature rise is: H = 1.08 X CFM x (Ts Ti)
Where: H = Heater output required to raise air temperature (Btu/hr)
o 1.08 = F= specific heat of air x density of inlet air @ 70 Fx 60 min/hr

CFM = volume airflow over the heat exchanger Ts = Temperature of supply air to the conditioned space (Heater outlet air temperature) Ti = Temperature return air (Heater inlet air temperature)

This formula actually determines the heat capacity based on the pounds per hour (lb/hr) of air flowing through the heater (weight or mass air flow) and not solely on the CFM (volume air flow). The term 1.08 is not constant for all operating conditions, but rather is only at standard airflow conditions. The term 1.08 in this formula is actually derived from the formula F = Specific heat of dry air (0.24 Btu/ lb/oF) x (inlet air density lb/ft3) x 60 min./hr. In order to define the actual airflow through the heater and properly size the heater for the application, the air density must be determined at the actual barometric pressure and design temperature of the air entering the heater. There are tables providing air density at elevation or temperature, or correction factors available in reference texts. For approximation purposes the following formula can be used for air density: = Bar. Press. (in. Hg) x 1.33 / Inlet Air Temp (oF) + 460 Example
A heating application using indoor return air @ 70 oF, heater elevation at 3000 ft. and actual airflow of 4000 CFM and desired temperature rise is 45 oF. In this case F = (0.24) x (.0672) x (60) = .968 and H = (.968) x 4000 x 45 = 174,240 Btuh. For a heater with an operating efficiency of 80% the required heater input 174,240 / .80 = 217,800 Btuh

Using the standard formula the calculated input would have been 243,000 Btuh. At the elevation of 3000 ft., this input would actually provide a 50 oF rise and the heater would be oversized by 11.5% for the application. On larger scale installations this could result in more frequent cycling of heater and potentially larger temperature swings in the heated space. In cases where outside air is introduced into the heater, design inlet air temperatures must be considered as this will provide a higher air density and a resulting higher mass air flow entering the heater and may require a higher Btuh input to the air stream to achieve the desired temperature rise. TCS 5/30/08