ME536

Air Handling Units

Dr Ahmed F
Dr.
F. Elsafty

Definition

Air treatment (conditioning)

The p
purpose
p
is to keep
p -within well defined
limits- acceptable (comfortable) inside air
dryy bulb temperature,
p
, relative humidity,
y, air
cleanliness, odor level, noise level and air
movement.
This is to be done keeping in mind that the
cost and the control are of premium
importance.

Central Air Conditioning System

Alternative hot water system

Chilling unit

Alternative Chilling unit

Air Handling Unit (AHU)

AIR HANDLING UNIT

The air handling unit is an integrated piece of
equipment consisting of fans, heating and
cooling coils, air-control dampers, filters and
silencers.
Air Handling Units are often called AHU.
Supply volume flow rates of AHUs vary from
2000 to 63,000 cfm (945 to 29,730 L/ s).

AIR HANDLING UNIT

The purpose of this equipment is to collect and

mix outdoor air with that returning from the
building space.
The air mixture is then cooled or heated, after
which it is discharged into the building space
through a duct system made up of five-feet
diameter pipes.

AIR HANDLING UNIT

Air Handler is normally associated with

heating/cooling (HVAC) systems in commercial
buildings. These are normally very large
systems moving 2000 CFM to 10,000 CFM and
higher.
They may be mounted on the top of the roof or
in large mechanical rooms located in the
building. They often have an economizer or inlet
damper that allows for a small amount of
outside air or make-up air to be pulled in
through the air handler.

Classifications of AirHandling Units

Draw-Through Unit or Blow-Through Unit.

O td
Outdoor
Air
Ai (or
( Makeup
M k
Ai
Air)) AHU or Mixing
Mi i AHU
AHU.
Single-Zone AHU or Multizone AHU.
Factory-Fabricated AHU or Field-Built AHU,
Custom-Built or Standard Fabrication.
Rooftop AHU or Indoor AHU.

horizontal, draw-through unit;

vertical
ti l d
draw-through
th
h unit;
it

blow-through unit, multizone AHU

makeup air AHU, custom-built, rooftop unit

AHU MAIN COMPONENTS

1. Return
1
R
or relief
li f ffan, exhaust
h
air
i passage and
dd
damper ((optional)
i
l)
2. Mixing box with outdoor air and recirculating air dampers
3 Filters: (prefilter
3.
(prefilter, optional) medium-efficiency
medium efficiency filters
4. Preheating coil (optional)
5. Precooling coil (optional)
6. Cooling coil
7. Heating coil (optional)
8 Supply
8.
S
l ffan
9. Humidifier (optional)
10 High
10.
High- or ultrahigh
ultrahigh-efficiency
efficiency filters (optional)

AHU MAIN COMPONENTS

Primar Air Unit

Primary

Roof Top Air Handling Unit

Ai H
Air
Handling
dli Unit(AHU)/
U it(AHU)/ P
Primary
i
Ai Unit(PAU)
Air
U it(PAU)
Casings
(1) Double-wall sheet-metal casing in which the
insulation material is sandwiched between two
sheet-metal panels
(2) Single sheet
sheet-metal
metal panel with
ith inner ins
insulation
lation la
layer
er
and perforated metal liners

Problem of exposing insulating materials (e

(e.g.
g
glass fibers): wet and collect dirt, microbial
growth and erosion over time.

Advantage of exposing insulating materials:

attenuate the fan noise

AHU/PAU Fan
A double-inlet
d bl i l t airfoil,
i f il b
backward-inclined
k
d i li d
centrifugal fan
Centrifugal fan has higher fan total
pressure for its higher efficiency and lower
noise.
AHU/PAU Coils
Coils : water cooling coils, water heating coils,
electric heating coils, and etc

AHU/PAU Filters
AHU/PAU-Filters
Air filtration is an important component to achieve
an acceptable indoor air quality
quality.
Low-efficiency filters of the panel type as pre-filter
Medium- and high-efficiency bag type for filtering
the air
Carbon-activated gaseous absorption filters for
removal of objectionable odors
AHU- Outdoor Air and Mixing Plenum
An outdoor air intake and mixing plenum includes an
g plenum
p
and connection
outdoor air intake,, a mixing
with return air duct.

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

AHU Basic unit

R.A.D
D. 80 %

F.A.D. 20 %

AHU Basic unit

710
0

61
10

R.A.D
D. 80 %

F.A.D. 20 %

100

250

850

900
2350

7
720

350

30

AHU Basic unit

710
0

61
10

R.A.D
D. 80 %

F.A.D. 20 %

100
DRAIN M.P.T. ? 1"
250

850

900
2350

7
720

350

30

AHU Arrangement

AHU Arrangement

AHU

AHU Sections
S ti

FRESH AIR INTAKE

MIXING BOX

DOUBLE MIXING BOX

PRE FILTER

BAG FILTER

COIL

HEATER

HUMIDIFIER (WASHER)

FAN

HEPA FILTER

MULTI-ZONE

SOUND ATTENUATOR

SUPPLY PLENUM

AHU Selection

Required
R
i d Air
Ai handling
h dli
unitit with
ith a
capacity of 3200 c.f.m.
3200 c.f.m. = 5440 m3/Hr
CS 49: lower cost but high velocity
CS-49:
(2.78m/s)
CS-60: lower velocity but with higher
cost (2.32
(2 32 m/s)

AHU Fan selection

Given:

Flow rate
Static pressure

Find

Dynamic pressure

Using flow rate and total pressure:

Get

RPM
Brake horse power
Sound level

SILENCERS

Silencer reduces the sound p

power level of a fan to a required
q
level.

Inside the rectangular casing are a number of flat splitters, depending on the width
of the silencer.

These splitters direct the airflow into small sound-attenuating passages.

The splitter is made from an envelope containing sound-attenuating material,

such as fiberglass or mineral wool, with protected non eroding facing.

S litt
Splitters
often
ft h
have around
d iinstead
t d off a flat
fl t nose, to
t reduce
d
their
th i airflow
i fl
resistance.
i t

Split Dampers.
A split damper is also a single-blade damper
damper.
It is a piece of movable sheet metal
It is usually installed at the Y connection of a
rectangular duct system

Opposed-Blade Damper
It is a type of multi-blades damper
that is often rectangular.
The damper blades may be made of
galvanized steel
steel, aluminum alloy
alloy, or
stainless-steel sheets.
Rubber or spring seals can be provided at the fully
f
closed position to
control the air leakage rating
The bearing used for supporting the blade axle should be made of a
corrosion-resistant material such as copper alloy.
Lever linkages are used to open and close the damper blades.

Grilles and Registers

A grille or grill is an outlet for supply air or an

inlet for return air or exhaust air.

A register is a grille with a volume control

damper (to adjust the volume flow).

A single-deflection grille consists of a frame

and one set of adjustable vanes (either vertical
or horizontal vanes)) to deflect the airstream.

A double-deflection register is able to deflect

the airstream both horizontally and vertically.

Extruded aluminum vanes, steel frames, steel

dampers with a baked enamel finish.

Equipments:

Air Washers
Heating and Cooling Coils
Fans
Filters
Pumps
AHU and FCU modules
Controls