The University of Texas at Austin

Fall 2014
CAEE Department, Architectural Engineering Program

Course:

HVAC Design
ARE 346P/CE 389H

Instructor: Dr. Novoselac, Atila

ECJ, 5.422
Office (512) 475-8175
e-mail: atila@mail.utexas.edu
http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/Novoselac
Office Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 12:00 p.m.

Objectives
Introduce course syllabus and establish
ground rules
Describe class content
Address any of your concerns

Introduce yourself

Name?

Department?

Your professional interest?

HVAC systems
Systems that:

Cost very much (residential 10-20% , commercial 20-50% of total cost)

Uses the most energy
Most strongly influences our comfort
Has great potential to improve/degrade our health

No longer taught in ME (at UT)

Very high demand for graduates

Motivation for studying

HVAC systems
Responsible for ~40% of energy consumption
~90% of our time is spent indoors
HVAC systems are a central part of every
building

Prerequisites

Building Environmental Systems

Familiarity with HVAC

Thermodynamics
Psychrometrics, phase change, properties

Fluid Mechanics
Flow in pipes and ducts, non-dimensional numbers

Useful but not necessary

Heat Transfer
Conduction, convection, radiation

Course Objectives
1. Apply fundamental physical principles to HVAC
design
2. Describe and size each component in an HVAC system
3. Design HVAC systems based on manufacturers
datasheets
4. Contrast residential systems with commercial systems
and use appropriate design techniques for each type of
system
5. Solve HVAC design problems with high-quality
references

Course Topics

Background, Introduction and Review

Heating and Cooling Loads
Psychrometrics and mass transfer
Air conditioning and refrigerant cycles
Chillers and Boilers
Coils and heat exchangers
Ducts, air, and water systems
Large HVAC Systems
HVAC Control
Final Project, field trip

2 wks
1 wk
1 wk
2 wks
1 wk
2 wks
2 wks
2 wk
2 wk
1 wk
15 wks

What am I NOT covering?

Detail calculation of Cooling/Heating loads

Human comfort/Indoor air quality
Furnaces and boilers
Absorption cycle refrigeration
Energy generation (heat and power, cogeneration)
District heating and cooling (campus or city scale)

This is a skills class

I expect you to come away from this class and
be able to understand everything that you see
in an HVAC system or know where to go to
learn about it.
You will be able to size most HVAC
components, design smaller and medium size
systems and understand larger systems

Textbook
Kuehn, T.H.; Ramsey, J.W.; Threlkeld, J.L. 1998.
Thermal Environmental Engineering (3rd Edition)
Prentice Hall ISBN: 0139172203

First edition was 1962

Excellent graduate/undergraduate textbook
Thorough, fundamental, many examples
Look forward to your opinion
Other books are optional

Grading

Mid-Term Exam
Project
Homework Assignments
Participation

Homework is a large part of your grade

30%
35%
30%
5%
100%

~ Weekly assignments, reducing in intensity by the end of semester

10% penalty per day for late assignments

You are allowed to work together, but each student must

prepare their own solution

HWs (30%)
Four homeworks
- Combination of
- book problems
- design problems I made

You can work to together but each student should

submit individual assignment
NOT a copy of summons work

HW deadline is at the end of the day

Project (35%)
Final Project
- Undergraduates - group assignment
- Graduates individual assignment

Design HVAC component and systems

Assigned in late October

Final project will have written (report) and oral

(presentation) components

Exam (30%)
One open-book midterm exam:
November 13 tentative
1 or 2 longer problem(s)
Few short answer questions

Participation
My assessment of your participation in the
class
5% of total grade

How to get participation points

Come to class and be on time
Submit all assignments/project on time
Participate in class

My Issues
Please dont come to my office between 8:30
and 9:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday
Class preparation

Please dont use e-mail to ask me content

questions
Call me or come see me

Suggestion are welcome

Course Website
All class information online
http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/Novoselac/class
es/ARE389H/
PLEASE LET ME KNOW ABOUT ERRORS

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Your questions ?

The Big Picture

HVAC systems need to provide conditioned
and acceptable air quality in buildings
Heating, Cooling, Ventilation
Heating, cooling, ventilation loads

Systems: Heating
Make heat (furnace, boiler, solar, etc.)
Distribute heat within building (pipes, ducts,
fans, pumps)
Exchange heat with air (coils, strip heat,
radiators, convectors, diffusers)
Controls (thermostat, valves, dampers)

Systems: Cooling
Absorb heat from building (evaporator or chilled
water coil)
Reject heat to outside (condenser)
Refrigeration cycle components (expansion valve,
compressor, concentrator, absorber, refrigerant)
Distribute cooling within building (pipes, ducts, fans,
pumps)
Exchange cooling with air (coils, radiant panels,
convectors, diffusers)
Controls (thermostat, valves, dampers, reheat)

Systems: Ventilation
Fresh air intake (dampers, economizer, heat
exchangers, primary treatment)
Air exhaust (dampers, heat exchangers)
Distribute fresh air within building (ducts,
fans)
Air treatment (filters, etc.)
Controls (thermostat, CO2 and other occupancy
sensors, humidistats, valves, dampers)

Systems: Other
Auxiliary systems (i.e. venting of combustion
gasses)
Condensate drainage/return
Dehumidification (desiccant, cooling coil)
Humidification (steam, ultrasonic humidifier)
Energy management systems

Drain Pain
Removes
moisture
condensed
from air
stream

Cooling coil
Heat transfer
from air to
refrigerant
Extended
surface coil

Condenser
Expansion valve
Controls
Compressor

Heating coil
Heat transfer
from fluid to
air

Heat pump
Furnace
Boiler
Electric resistance
Controls

Blower
Overcome
pressure drop
of system

Adds heat to air

stream
Makes noise
Potential hazard
Performs
differently at
different
conditions (air
flow and
pressure drop)

Duct system
(piping for
hydronic
systems)
Distribute
conditioned
air
Remove air
from space
Provides
ventilation
Makes noise
Affects comfort
Affects indoor air
quality

Diffusers
Distribute
conditioned
air within
room

Provides
ventilation
Makes noise
Affects comfort
Affects indoor air
quality

Dampers
Change
airflow
amounts

Controls outside
air fraction
Affects building
security

Filter
Removes
pollutants
Protects
equipment

Imposes
substantial
pressure drop
Requires
Maintenance

Controls
Makes
everything
work
Temperature
Pressure (drop)
Air velocity
Volumetric flow
Relative humidity
Enthalpy
Electrical Current
Electrical cost
Fault detection

Goals of this class

Use thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat
transfer, control theory, physics, critical
analysis to design HVAC systems that work