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the variability or average state of the atmosphere over a very long period. The
factors which cause the climate change to occur are the effects of human activity, the
variations in solar radiation, greenhouse effect and the earth’s orbit. The main factor
which contributes to climate change is human activity. The human activity is beyond
reasonable doubt lead to current rapid change in the world’s climate. The biggest
factor of the recently concern is the increasing of CO2 level due to emissions from
fuel combustion in automotive field, aerosols which exert a cooling effect, and
cement manufacture. The rapid development of generation, also cause a lot of forests
are destroyed for new development purpose. Consequently, the unbalance ecosystem
will lead to climate change rapidly. One of the significant effects is greenhouse
effect. Greenhouse effect means the change in the concentration of the gases such as
water, vapor, CO2, CH4, N2O, and CFCs which trap infrared radiation from the
Earth’s surface. The average temperature of the world indirectly also will increase
Library is also called collection of books in more traditional sense. In university, the
library becomes the important place for students to search for information and
studying. Therefore, the indoor environment quality (IEQ) plays an important role
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for health and comfort of library. The IEQ includes temperature, relative humidity,
velocity, noise from outside, vibrations, visual or lighting quality and etc. In fact,
indoor air is often a greater health hazard than the corresponding outdoor condition.
This is because indoor is a close surface system, the unhealthy conditions will trap in
the close surface system and lead to health problem. From the occupant point of
view, the idea situation of the indoor environment should satisfy all occupants and
does not unnecessarily increase the risk or severity of illness or injury. (Hazim B.
Awbi, 2008)
HVAC system installed is to create or maintain the cooling and comfort in the
libraries. However, due to the climate change recently, the increasing of outdoor
temperature causing more heat to be transfer into the indoor of the building. Hence,
the HVAC system needs to provide more cooling capacity to absorb the heat from
outdoor. The buildings normally have to survive for at least 50 years, the HVAC
system normally will design base on the climate during that time, so, sustainability of
the HVAC system to provide the acceptable cooling and comfort level becomes a
Two libraries had been chosen in the tropical climate for my research work.
They are Law faculty library and Engineering faculty library in University of
Malaya. Both libraries are chosen for my research work is because they are built at
different period of year. The air conditioner system of Law faculty library was
installed during year 1997 while the air conditioner system of Engineering faculty
library was installed during year 1985. This indicates that the air conditioner systems
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installed in both of the libraries were in different of time based on the climate at that
moment. Therefore, a comparison of the both of the air conditioner systems can be
implemented to monitor the effect of the climate change to the design of the air
humidity inside both of the libraries in future, the actual current indoor environment
quality was carried out. Few parameters were measured such as temperature, relative
predict the trend of temperature and relative humidity in both of the libraries based
on the climate change in the tropical climate. Before that, the new weather profile
need to generate based on the latest climate profile. By using TRNSYS program,
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1.2 Research Objective
• To investigate the effect on the HVAC system taken into account of climate
change implication for the building and their technical services in tropical
climates.
• To analyze the current situation of HVAC systems of Law faculty library and
HVAC systems using the weather profile created base on climate change
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Chapter 2: Background and Literature Review
To more understand about the how the climate change influence the
performance of HVAC system and indoor environment quality, the effect of heat
transfer, conduction, radiation, sensible heat and latent heat need to take in
the heat will transfer from outdoor to indoor. There are two ways of heat transfer can
be occur, conduction and radiation through the wall and window of the buildings.
The heat can transfer from outdoor into indoor through the wall by conduction.
However, the major heat will transfer from outdoor into indoor through the window
by conduction and also radiation. If the unshaded windows are exposed to the solar
radiation, about 8 percent of the radiant energy is typically reflected back outdoors,
from 5 to 50 percent is absorbed within the glass, the percentage of heat absorbed is
depend on the composition and the thickness of the glass. The remainder is
transmitted directly into indoor; it will become part of the cooling load.
Reflect radiation
--8% Transmitted solar radiation
--80%
Outward flow of absorbed
radiation –8%
The solar heat gain is the sum of the transmitted radiation and the portion of the
absorbed radiation that flows inward. Moreover, heat also transfer through the glass
Total heat admission through glass = Radiation transmitted through glass + Inward
flow of absorbed solar radiation + Conduction heat gain
Besides, the indoor environment quality not only depends on the conduction
and radiation from the outdoor, the sensible heat and latent heat also contribute to the
cooling load. All matter typically exists in one of the three states: it is a solid, a liquid
or a gas. Sensible heat means heat that changes the temperature of a substance
thermometer. The unit of the sensible heat is Btus per hour (Btu/hr).
Latent heat or hidden heat is the heat required to change the state of a
substance at the temperature. Latent heat needs to add to change the material from
solid phase to liquid phase or from liquid phase to gas phase. On the other hands, the
latent need to remove for changing phase of material from gas phase to liquid phase
or from liquid phase to solid phase. The changing of water between its three phases
requires the addition or removal of latent and sensible heat. The heart of the HVAC
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system controls the latent and sensible heat. For example, 144 Btu of latent heat is
taken to convert one pound of ice at 32˚F to one pound of water at 32˚F or vice versa.
This type of heat is called latent heat of fusion. Another example, 180 Btu of sensible
heat is taken to raise the temperature from 32˚F to 212˚F of one pound of the water.
The exchange heat, either sensible heat or latent heat, is the basis for most
removed from a medium such as water or air at a central point and then distribute
this heated or cooled medium to all parts of the structure where it will be used to
Moreover, the ventilation system also plays an important role to maintain the
enclosed space’. The main purpose of the ventilation system is to provide the
untainted air for occupants in indoor environment. The volume of air necessary to
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• Removal of unwanted moisture and contaminants.
At the rest condition, the normal adult inhales between 0.20 and 0.12 liter/s of
air and of this only about some 5% is absorbed as oxygen by the lungs. After that, the
exhaled breath contains about 3% to 4% of CO2 which equal to about 0.004 liter/s.
A good ventilation system can remove the odors arising from human occupation
which the problem normally becomes serious only in crowded places. The unwanted heat
means the sensible heat. The unwanted heat needs to remove so that the comfort temperature
can be maintained. Ventilation system also used to remove the unwanted moisture in indoor
environment. For example, if the moisture is high in libraries, it will give the impact to the
books in libraries. The contaminants in indoor environment arising from tobacco smoke.
However, the libraries do not face this type of problem because libraries are non smoking
The concept of a design cooling load derives from the need to determine an
HVAC system size that, under extreme conditions, with provide some specified
referred to as a thermal zone or just a zone. Usually, the indoor boundary condition
for an office it would be assumed to be a clear sunlit day with high outdoor wet-bulb
and dry-bulb temperature, high office occupancy and a correspondingly high use of
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equipmet and light. It is apparent that the boundary conditions for a cooling load
determination are subjective. But, after the design boundary conditions are agreed
upon, and then the design cooling load represents the maximum or peak heat
Convection
to outside air
Absorbeb
incident Radiation
solar Outside face
heat balance
Through the
wall
conduction
Radiation
Radiation from internal
from light Inside face sources
heat balance
Transmitted Radiation
solar Convection exchange with
to zone air other surfaces
Infiltration Convection
Air heat
Ventilation from internal
Exhaust air balance
source
HVAC
system
9
even today. However, there is fairly good agreement among building physics
researchers and practitioners that certain modeling simplifications are reasonable and
appropriate under a broad range of situations. Therefore, the simple model becomes
the basis for most discussions of the heat transfer. The resulting formulation is called
Heat Balance (HB) method. The processes that make up the heat balance model can
be visualized using the schematic shown in figure 2-2. It consists of four distinct
The radiant time series (RTS) method is a new method for performing design
cooling load calculations. It is derived directly from the heat balance method, and
load/cooling load factor method, and the total equivalent temperature difference/time
method that was rigorous, yet did not require iterative calculations of the previous
method. In addition, for pedagogical reasons, it is desirable for the user to be able to
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inspect and compare the coefficients for different zone types. (Curtis O. Pedersen et
al, 1998).
coil and fan. It is part of an HVAC system found in residential, commercial, and
industrial buildings. Since it does not have any duck work, a fan coil unit is used to
control the temperature only in the space where it is installed. It is controlled either
by a manual on/off switch or by thermostat. Due to their simplicity, fan coil units are
more economic to install than ducted or central heating systems. However, they can
The coil receives hot or cold water from a central plant, and removes or adds
heat from the air through heat transfer. Fan coil units can contain their own internal
Fan coil units circulate hot or cold water through a coil in order to condition a
space. The unit gets its hot or cold water from a central plant, or mechanical room
containing equipment for removing heat from the central building's closed-loop. The
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equipment used can consist of machines used to remove heat such as a chiller or a
cooling tower and equipment for adding heat to the building's water such as a boiler
Fan coil units are divided into two types: two pipe fan coil units or four pipes
fan coil units. Two pipe fan coil units have one supply and one return pipe. The
supply pipe supplies either cold or hot water to the unit depending on the time of
year. Four pipe fan coil units have two supply pipes and two return pipes. This allows
either hot or cold water to enter the unit at any given time.
there are either 3 or 5 copper pipes that go through the floor. The pipes are usually
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2.7 Air Handling Unit
2.7.1 Definition
Air Handling Units are often called AHU. The air-handling unit is box-like
equipment with a fan and a cooling coil inside. Some units also contain air filters.
The whole fan and motor assembly, comprising shaft, bearings, pulley, and belting
The basic function of the AHU is to suck air from the rooms, let it pass
through chilled water cooling coils and then discharging the cooled air back to the
rooms. Normally, letting it pass through panel or bag filters also filters the air. A
certain amount of fresh air may be introduced at the suction duct so that air in the
rooms may be gradually replaced. AHU's come in many sizes and shapes. Usually,
the air conditioning designer will choose a particular AHU based on the air flow
requirements and the cooling capacity. If humidity of the air has to be controlled,
steam coils, or other heating coils may be installed. If the air has to be very cleaned,
special HEPA filters have to be installed at the ducting outlets or at the AHU filter
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box. Moisture in the air is condensed out when it comes into contact with the chilled
water coils. At the bottom of the AHU, a pipe is installed so that water that is
The fan and motor assembly is usually mounted on vibration dampers that
absorb any vibrations generated. Removable panels are installed so that personnel
can enter into the AHU for maintenance. Maintenance is mostly changing or washing
of air filters, greasing of bearings, changing of belts, and general inspection and
cleaning work.
Controlling the flow of chilled water through the cooling coils alters the
temperature of the discharged air into the rooms. Control valves are used to throttle
chilled water through the chilled water coils. A simple temperature control system
uses thermostats to control on-off solenoid valves. A better control system uses
Some critical processes may require that the humidity of the air-conditioned
space be controlled. During the normal cooling process, as the air becomes cooler,
the relative humidity of the air tends to increase. If the relative humidity have to be
brought down, the air have to be heated by steam coils or other means. Steam coils, if
installed will have their own controls. A typical control system has a temperature
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sensor, controller, and control valve. Usually, humans monitor the relative humidity,
and the steam controller settings are adjusted accordingly. (Internet Reference,
2/12/2008).
The weather data of Kuala Lumpur for 20 years periods were provided by
generate TMY2 weather profile file which can used to predict the future trends of the
weather profile. The generation and assessment of building simulation weather files
was did by (Mark F. Jentsch et al.) in United Kingdom. In their research, they stated
that current industry standard weather files for building simulation are not suited to
describes the integration of future UK climate scenarios into the widely used Typical
Meteorological Year (TMY2) and EnergyPlus/ESP-r Weather (EPW) file formats and
Besides, from Lisa Guan research study, she also stated that in order to study
the impact of climate change on the building environment, the provision of suitable
weather data become critical. She presented an effective framework and procedure to
generate future hourly weather data. It is shown that this method is not only able to
deal with different levels of available information regarding the climate change, but
also can retain the key characters of a ‘‘typical’’ year weather data for a desired
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Chapter 3: Methodology
• The related books, journal papers, thesis about my thesis topic are searched
and objectives.
• Before carry out the effective fieldwork study at Law faculty library and
• The existing HVAC systems and floor areas were studied from mechanical
and electrical (M&E) drawing; related data and suitable instruments were
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3.3 Fieldwork study
• Firstly, divide the floor plan of the libraries into smaller zone to increase the
• The indoor environment qualities (IEQ) were measured such as dry bulb
concentration, air velocity and air volume flow rate at each single zones.
• The IAQ monitor was used to measure dry bulb temperature, wet bulb
• The probe of IAQ monitor was placed around 1.2 meter from the ground.
• The same procedures were applied to air velocity meter for air velocity
measurement.
• Balometer was used to measure the air volume flow rate at each diffuser in
• The outdoor conditions such as dry bulb temperature, relative humidity also
were measured.
simulating purpose.
• Data Logger was installed to record the continuous changing in dry bulb
temperature and relative humidity of both of the libraries for one week.
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3.4 Data analyzing
• From the data recorded, the data are key in into proper tables in the computer
• Heat load of each library was calculated by using heat load calculation form
3.5 Simulation
libraries and to predict the sustainability of the HVAC system for 20 years
3.6 Comparison
• After analyze the data, the results obtain need to compare with the standard
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3.7 Instrumentation Description
This meter is used to measure on the air velocity, temperature and also
flow rate. To measure for air velocity, the sensor needs to hold
perpendicular to the air flow direction.
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3.7.3 Balometer (Models EBT720/EBT721)
It is used to log the temperature and relative humidity for certain area
for a long period.
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Figure 3-4: Data Logger
Faculty Library
4.1.1 Introduction
The Law faculty library is currently using water cooled air conditioning
system (WCP). The WCP consists of Air Handling Unit (AHU), pumps and cooling
tower. There are total 4 floors in Law faculty library. Each floor consists of 2 units of
Air Handling Units (AHU) at 2 end of the Floor. All of the AHU are connected to a
cooling tower. There are also 3 pumps to pump and circulate the cooling water
Basically, the system has 3 loops of circles, such as air loop, refrigerant loop
and cooling water loop. Firstly, for the air loop, the air is drawn back from the indoor
of the library to AHU room, then the air is mixed with the fresh air which drawn in
form outdoor. After air mixing, the mixing air will pass through the filter and cooling
coils in the AHU. The cooling and dehumidification process will take place here.
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After cooling and dehumidification process, the air will blow into indoor of the
building by a fan.
absorb the heat in the air which passes through the cooling coil. There are 4 units of
Thirdly, the air conditioning system needs another loop called cooling water
loop to transfer the heat from the refrigerant to ambient. Cooling water loop needs
pumps to circulate the water from AHU to Cooling tower and heat is transferred to
Space
Cooling AHU
Tower Air Loop
Refrigerant Loop
AHU 1 AHU 2
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Ground Floor Dunham-Bush 510000 Dunham-Bush 510000
WCP510 WCP510
Table 4-1: The models and cooling capacities of AHUs for each floor.
Figure 4-2: Top view of cooling tower Figure 4-3: Side view of cooling tower
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4.1.2.2 Discussion
From the results obtained, the temperature average temperature at the ground
floor of the Law faculty library is 22.2˚C. Beside the range of the temperature at this
floor is lower than the comfort temperature. The range of temperature is between
21.1˚C and 23.8˚C. The occupants who stay at this floor will feel cool.
25
Next, the average of the relative humidity at the ground floor is 68% RH. The
maximum relative humidity and minimum relative humidity at this floor are 58% RH
the relative humidity of this floor already exits the maximum range of relative
humidity.
The average concentration of CO2 at the ground floor of the Law faculty
library is 464 parts per million (ppm). The range of the CO2 concentration at the
From WHO ISO 7730, the limit of the air movement is 0.25m/s. From the
measurement conducted, the maximum air flow and minimum air flow are 0.24m/s
and 0.04m/s respectively. The average of the air flow is 0.15m/s. The air flows at this
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4.1.2.4 Discussion
From the results measured, the average temperature, 22.2˚C, which is lower
than comfort temperature, 24˚C. Besides, the maximum temperature and the
minimum temperature are 24.1˚C and 20.9 respectively. Therefore, the condition in
The relative humidity range at this floor is between 56.3% RH to 62.9% RH.
The average of relative humidity is 60.4% RH. The relative humidity at this floor is
considered acceptable.
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The concentration of CO2 is at acceptable level because the average of CO2
concentration is 423 ppm and lower than maximum limit of CO 2 concentration level.
The range of CO2 concentration at this floor also below the maximum limit of CO2
The range of the air flow is between 0.01m/s to 0.15m/s and its fall into an
acceptable range.
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4.1.2.6 Discussion
At Second floor of the Law faculty library, the average temperature is 22.1˚C
which is lower than the comfort temperature. From the graph 4-12, it shows from
zone 52 to zone 59 have the temperature which higher than comfort temperature.
This is because the zone 52 to zone 59 are near the window and the wall of the
building, more heat is transfer into these areas and cause the temperature of these
zones are higher than comfort temperature. However, these zones still lower the
maximum limit of the temperature which will cause heat stress inside the building..
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The range of the relative humidity in this floor is between 55.1% RH to
65.3% RH. From the calculation, 63% of zones are higher than the maximum
For concentration of the CO2, the maximum CO2 concentration and minimum
CO2 concentration are 495 ppm and 360 ppm. All the CO 2 concentrations at every
zones are lower than maximum limit of CO2 level inside a building.
The average air flow at this floor is 0.08 m/s. the range of the air flow is
between 0.01 m/s to 0.17 m/s. Therefore, it is fall into satisfaction range according to
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4.1.2.8 Discussion
The graph 4-14 shows that the maximum temperature and minimum
temperature at 3rd floor of the Law faculty library are 21.5˚C and 26.2˚C respectively.
It also shows that almost 85% of the zones temperatures are higher than the comfort
are higher than comfort temperature because one of the AHU was under technical
maintenance at the moment which the measurement was conducted. Besides, 3 rd floor
is the highest floor in the building; the additional heat is transfer into the areas
through the roof compare to other floors. Hence, 3rd floor of the Law faculty library
environment.
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The average relative humidity of this floor is 71.2% RH. The range of the
relative humidity is between 60.8% RH and 75.8% RH. The relative humidity of this
floor is all out of the maximum recommendation relative humidity. The most
There are a lot of valuable books and collections inside the library, the growth of the
fungal will damage the valuable book and collection because fungal are growth faster
The level of CO2 at this floor is acceptable due to the range of CO2
concentration obtained is between 304 ppm and 471 ppm. The average of the
The air flow also satisfies the standard condition with the range of air flow
obtained was between 0.01 m/s and 0.22 m/s. The average of air flow of this floor is
0.08 m/s.
Volume flow rate of air is the total volume of air blow into the indoor
environment by the air handling unit (AHU) of air conditional system per unit time.
In the Law faculty library, there are total 8 units of AHU provide the air flow into the
4.1.3.1 Methodology
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• First, all the location of diffusers at each area in the Law faculty library were
• Then, volume flow rate of diffuser were measured by using balometer and the
• Finally, data obtained were organized into a proper form and analyzing is
• All the AHUs in the Law faculty library were identified and the cooling
• Then, the air velocity of the inlet were measured and saved in the meter
logger.
• Next, the areas of the air inlet of AHUs were measured with the measuring
tapes.
• Finally, data were extracted into the computer and analyzing was made
4.1.3.2 Results
GF 1F 2F 3F
Total Air Flow Rate Measured (CFM) 17841 16436 12728 17479
AHU cooling capacity (RT) 85 72.9 72.5 90.8
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Rated Volume Flow Rate (CFM) 34000 29160 29000 36320
Maximum Temp of Air Flow ( °C) 22.1 20.9 22.3 24.2
Minimum Temp of Air Flow ( °C) 16.4 19.9 20.1 20.3
Average Temp of Air Flow ( °C) 18.7 20.5 21.4 21.3
Table 4-5: Volume flow rate of diffusers.
.
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3F 90.8 36320 26253.06 17479 33.42
Table 4-7: Percentage loss of volume flow rate.
4.1.3.3 Discussion
From the table 4-7, it had shown percentage of losses of the volume flow rate.
The percentage of the losses of ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor
were 35.40%, 26.91%, 40.90% and 33.42% respectively. From the measurement, the
second floor had the highest losses of the volume flow rate compare to other floors.
There are few factors causes the losses of the volume flow rate. Firstly, the losses of
volume flow rate are due to the friction inside the ducting system. The higher the
friction inside the ducting system, the higher the losses of volume flow rate.
Secondly, the losses of volume flow rate are due to the leakage of the system. The
leakage of the system causes the air flow can not deliver to the off-grill in the
building. Finally, the pressure inside the building also will give impact to the losses
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4.1.4.1 Results
Figure 4-17: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of ground floor. (2)
Figure 4-18: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of first floor. (1)
Figure 4-16: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of ground floor. (1)
Figure 4-19: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of first floor. (2)
Figure 4-20: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of second floor. (1)
Figure 4-21: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of second floor. (2)
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Figure 4-22: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of third floor. (1)
Figure 4-23: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of third floor. (2)
4.1.4.3 Discussion
The data loggers were put in the Law faculty library to monitor the change of
temperature and relative humidity for 7 days. Each floor was installed 2 data loggers
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to collect the continuously change of temperature and relative humidity of indoor
environment.
From table 4-8, the highest temperature that achieved for library was 28.05
˚C at the third floor on Sunday evening. According to library operating time, Sunday
evening was the closing time, so, the air conditioning system will shut down for that
moment and cause the raising of the temperature of the library. Based on the
maximum temperatures were obtained of each floor, the air conditioning system able
However, the average temperatures of the Law faculty library were lower
than comfort temperature. Especially for ground floor, first floor and second floor,
they were 2 ˚C to 4 ˚C lower than the comfort temperature. Therefore, the current
situations of the library for these floors were considered cool. Mean that the cooling
capacities which provide by air conditioning system were higher than the heat load
needed.
For relative humidity obtained for Law faculty library, the highest relative
humidity can be achieved was 88.70% RH. The range of the maximum relative
humidity was also very high, which were between 76% RH and 88.70% RH at
library. According to the graphs above showed that the maximum relative normally
humidity was highest during that period. From the measurements, it clearly showed
that the indoor relative humidity was strongly depend on the outdoor relative
humidity.
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Besides, the average relative humidity and the minimum relative humidity
measured for library were considered high compare to the recommended relative
Malaysia is a hot and humid country, so, the relative humidity of the outdoor
environment is always high. It will cause the high relative humidity at indoor
environment when the fresh air is drawn in to the indoor space. Normally, the air
conditioning system designs in tropical climate were based on the seasonal country
weather data which is cool and dry. These were because no existing weather data in
tropical climate for air conditioning system design purpose used in current
commercial software.
conditioning system design and cause high relative humidity at indoor environment.
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4.2 Overview of the Existing Air-Conditioning System in
4.2.1 Introduction
Laboratory Wing at the Faculty of Engineering. In 1985, the Library was absorbed
into the University of Malaya Library system. The library is opened from Monday to
Friday and the operation hours are from 8.30 am until 5.30 pm.
Engineering Library is using Fan Coil Unit (FCU) air conditioning system.
There are seven units of condensers placing on top of the roof which are air cooled
type. Above the ceiling of the library, there are three units of fan coil units which
located above the Thesis Room, Discussion Room and Reference Room respectively.
The system circulates the cool air from the FCU which transfers the heat through
refrigerant as the cooling agent. The refrigerant will be pumped to the condenser and
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Crankcase Heater 70 W
Control rating 220-240 v AC
Table 4-9: The specifications of condenser.
Figure 4-24: Graph of Temperature and relative humidity of engineering faculty library
compare to comfort temperature and recommended relative humidity.
Parameter Reading
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Maximum Temperature (˚C) 26.20
Minimum Temperature (˚C) 23.20
Average Temperature (˚C) 25.18
Maximum RH (%) 56.60
Minimum RH (%) 49.00
Average RH (%) 52.25
Maximum CO2 (ppm) 621
Minimum CO2 (ppm) 395
Average CO2 (ppm) 467
Maximum air flow (m/s) 0.36
Minimum air flow (m/s) 0.02
Average air flow (m/s) 0.10
Table 4-11: Results summary of engineering faculty library.
4.2.3 Discussion
Form the graph 4-11, 85% out of the zones in the Engineering faculty library
are higher than the comfort temperature. The maximum temperature in the library
can reach until 26.2˚C. The highest temperature is 26.2˚C was found at zone 43 while
the lowest is 23.2˚C was found at zone 7. Zone 43 is located at reference room. The
high temperature is caused by the solar heat gain through the window. Another factor
contributed to this is the poor ventilation in that zone. From the zone 3 to zones 9,
these areas are placed book stacks and books. The higher volume flow rates are put
in to these areas and provide an acceptable cooling at these zones which the range of
temperature is between 23.2˚C to 24˚C. For other zones such as study area, computer
room, and rest corner, the average temperature obtained was around 25.18˚C which
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The range of relative humidity of Engineering faculty library is between 49%
satisfaction range.
concentration are 395 ppm and 671 ppm. Hence, the concentration of CO2 is lower
than the maximum limit of the standard CO2 concentration, it can be considered as
Next, the air flow range is between 0.02 m/s to 0.36 m/s. the average air flow
is 0.10 m/s, compare to recommendation air flow range, the results of air flow
The same methodology which used in the Law faculty library are applied at
the Engineering faculty library. Because of some technical problem, only the off-grill
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Table 4-11: Results of the volume flow rate of the diffusers.
4.2.6 Discussion
The total volume flow rate measured of the Engineering faculty library was
6902 CFM only. If compare to the rated volume flow rate of the fan coil units (FCU)
of the library, it only provided 27.61% of the rated volume. In this content, it means a
After investigations, the main losses due to the system were due to the
leakage of the ducting system. Following were the photos shown of the leakage of
ducting system.
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Figure 4-27: Graph of temperature and relative humidity of engineering faculty library.
(1)
Figure 4-28: Graph of temperature and relative humidity of engineering faculty library.
(2)
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4.2.9 Discussion
There was two data loggers installed in Engineering faculty library to monitor
the indoor temperature and relative humidity. One of the data loggers was installed at
the study space of the occupants and the second data logger was installed near the
library were higher than comfort temperature which were 27.51 ˚C and 26.80 ˚C. It
means that the current system already can not provide the comfort temperature to the
indoor space. Maximum temperature had reached until 31.74 ˚C at Sunday evening
because the air conditioning system of library was shut down during weekend,
therefore the indoor temperature will raised up to the highest temperature. From the
compare to the first data logger. This was because higher volume flow rates were
62.46% RH and 57.09% RH which still in acceptable range. From the graph 4-27and
graph 4-28, it showed that the relative humidity were higher during night time
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From the measurement, the temperature of Law faculty library was around
22˚C and was considered cool. The relative humidity was high in library which was
around 57.4% RH to 88.7% RH. The CO2 concentration, CO concentration and air
For Engineering faculty library, the temperature was higher than comfort
temperature which was around 24.26˚C to 31.30˚C. The relative humidity, CO2
5.1 Introduction
Heat load calculation is a method to determine the cooling capacity of the air
conditioning system. It is determined by including the heat transfer into the building
through the walls, the windows and the roof of the building. Besides, it also includes
the sensible load and latent load inside the building. The sensible load includes the
sensible heat generated by the occupants, the equipments, the lighting, infiltration
and ventilation. The latent load involves the latent head generated form occupants,
47
Solar:
Where
A = Area, (
Conductive:
Where
A = Area, ( )
48
• Heat gain for solar and trans gain from wall & roof
Where
A = Area, ( )
Where
49
• Heat gain due to lighting
BF = ballast factor
Electricity equipments are the other sources of heat generated in air conditioned
space. Heat generated due to the less efficiency of the electricity equipment
especially in office, hospital, and library. Thus, the heat load due to equipments can
To control the comfort level, it is necessary to control the rate and location of
ventilation where a fan provides a predictable and constant of outdoor air intake into
the building.
50
Base on the table Outdoor Air Requirements for Ventilation (institution facilities):
The sensible and latent cooling load can be calculated by using the following
equation:
= 1.08(CFM)(∆T)
= 4800(CFM)(∆W)
Where,
= Sensible heat
= Latent heat
BF = Ballast factor
∆T = Temperature change
∆W = Humidity ratio of air change
51
5.3 Calculation and Discussion
Ventilation
Item Quantity CFM/person CFM Btu/hr
Occupant 80 18 1440 33903.36
Sensible Subtotal 266203.8
Latent heat gain
Source Quantity Btu/hr/person Btu/hr
Occupants 80 190 15200
CFM
infiltration 500 37570
ventilation 1440 108201.6
Latent Subtotal 160971.6
Total 427175.4
Table 5-2: Heat load calculations for ground floor of the Law faculty library. (continued)
53
5.3.1.2 Heat Load Calculation for First Floor
54
Ventilation
Item Quantity CFM/person CFM Btu/hr
Occupant 80 18 1440 33903.36
Sensible
Subtotal 248363.45
Table 5-3: Heat load calculations for first floor of the Law faculty library.
Total 409335.05
Table 5-3: Heat load calculations for first floor of the Law faculty library. (continued)
Ventilation
Item Quantity CFM/person CFM Btu/hr
Occupant 80 18 1440 33903.36
Sensible
Subtotal 244776.45
Latent heat gain
Source Quantity Btu/hr/person Btu/hr
Occupants 80 190 15200.00
CFM
infiltration 500 37570.00
ventilation 1440 108201.60
Latent Subtotal 160971.60
Total 405748.05
Table 5-4: Heat load calculations for second floor of the Law faculty library. (continued)
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5.3.1.4 Heat Load Calculation for Third Floor
Ventilation
Item Quantity CFM/person CFM Btu/hr
Occupant 80 18 1440 33903.36
Sensible
Subtotal 255190.93
Table 5-5: Heat load calculations for third floor of the Law faculty library.
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Latent heat gain
Source Quantity Btu/hr/person Btu/hr
Occupants 80 190 15200.00
CFM
infiltration 500 37570.00
ventilation 1440 108201.60
Latent Subtotal 160971.60
Total 416162.53
Table 5-5: Heat load calculations for third floor of the Law faculty library. (continued)
5.3.1.5 Result Summary of Heat Load calculation for Law Faculty library
Volume flow
Total Heat Gain Design Cooling
Floor rate per area
(Btu/hr) Capacity (Btu/hr)
(cfm/ft2)
GF 427175.38 1020000 58
1F 409335.05 875000 50
2F 405748.05 870000 50
3F 416162.53 1090000 62
Table 5-6: The results summary of total heat gains and design cooling capacities
for Law faculty library.
5.3.1.6 Discussion
From the table 5-6, the total heat gains of Law faculty library were 427175.38
Btu/hr, 409335.05 Btu/hr, 405748.05 Btu/hr and 416162.53 Btu/hr at ground floor,
first floor, second floor and third floor respectively. Compare the results between
each floor; the ground floor had the highest total heat gain among each floor in the
Law faculty library. The reason was ground floor was the main entrance of the
library; all the students and staffs were going in and out from library through the
door at ground floor, so, high infiltration loss at the main entrance due to high
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frequency of door opening. Therefore, this situation will increase the cooling load of
the indoor environment because cool air was transfer out from the building.
Secondly, the calculations also showed that the third floor of the library had
higher total heat gain, which was 416162.53 Btu/hr compare to first floor and second
floor of the library. This was because third floor is the top floor in Law faculty
library, the extra heat gains of this floor are come from the roof of the library.
Besides, there is management office and computer corner at this floor. Therefore,
third floor consists of higher number of computers; it also contributed heat gain to
the indoor environment. Thus, heat load of third floor was higher than first floor and
second floor.
Furthermore, the heat gain of first floor was 409335.05 Btu/hr and the heat
gain of the second floor was 405748.05Btu/hr from the calculations. The total heat
gain of first floor and second floor were lower than ground floor and third floor
because they had no cooling loss for door infiltration and heat gain from roof top.
There were also varies design cooling capacities were recorded. The cooling
capacities recorded were 1020000 Btu/hr, 875000 Btu/hr, 870000 Btu/hr and
1090000 Btu/hr for ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor respectively.
Basically, the design cooling capacities of the Law faculty library were based on rule
of thumbs calculations. Normally, the volume flow rate needed for indoor space per
square feet is 50 cfm/ft2. From table 5-6, it showed the volume flow rate per square
feet of the library were 58 cfm/ft2 , 50 cfm/ft2 , 50 cfm/ft2 , and 62 cfm/ft2 from
ground floor to third floor. There were higher design cooling capacity at ground floor
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Compare the total heat gain to the design cooling capacities, the percentage of
heat gain over the design cooling capacities of each floors were 41.88%, 46.78%,
46.63% and 38.83% for ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor
respectively. From the calculations above, it showed that the safety factor of cooling
capacities design was two. Mean that the air conditioning system at the Law faculty
library was oversize for 2 times larger. The purpose for over sizing the design
cooling capacities was to maintain the comfort indoor environment in future. Due to
the unexpected change of the climate and the additional internal and external heat
gain, over sizing the air conditioner system was to make sure the recommended
indoor quality are achieved. Besides, the decay of the performance and efficiency of
the air conditioning system, it also became a consideration factor in designing the
cooling capacities of the air conditioning system. Therefore, to have a clear picture of
the trend of indoor quality profile and the sustainability of the air conditioning
system in future, the TRNSYS simulation software was used to simulate the
temperature and relative humidity profile of the indoor environment of library based
on the latest climate weather profile. The TRNSYS simulation will discuss detail in
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Sensible heat gain
Conduction
Surface- CLTD
2
facing Area/Ft U corrected Btu/hr
Roof 11998 0.2 56.2 134857.52
Wall(N) 348.00 0.415 18.5 2671.77
Wall(E) 250.00 0.415 28.25 2930.94
Wall(S) 303.00 0.415 18.5 2326.28
Wall(W) 194.00 0.415 23.05 1855.76
Glass(N) 723.00 1.04 21.1 15865.51
Glass(E) 379.00 1.04 22.4 8829.18
Glass(S) 605.00 1.04 19.15 12049.18
Glass(W) 416.00 1.04 22.4 9691.14
Subtotal 56219.76
Solar
Glass-Facing Area/Ft2 SHGF SC CLF Btu/hr
Glass(N) 723.00 39 0.45 0.72 9135.83
Glass(E) 379.00 231 0.45 0.29 11425.14
Glass(S) 605.00 44 0.45 0.55 6588.45
Glass(W) 416.00 231 0.45 0.3 12972.96
Subtotal 40122.38
Internal sensible heat
Item Quantity Btu/hr/person Btu/hr
Occupants 100 230 23000.00
Electrical
Appliances Quantity Watt Factor 1 W=3.4Btu/hr Btu/hr
Lights 294 36 1.25 3.4 44982.00
Computer 15 350 1.25 3.4 22312.50
Photocopier 1 1553 1.25 3.4 6600.25
subtotal 90294.50
Infiltration
Item Delta T Constant CFM Btu/hr
Door 21.6 1.09 500 11772.00
Ventilation
Item Quantity CFM/person CFM Btu/hr
Occupant 100 18 1800 42379.20
Sensible
Subtotal 240787.84
Table 5-7: Heat load calculations for the Engineering faculty library.
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Occupants 100 190 19000.00
CFM
infiltration 1000 75140.00
ventilation 1800 135252.00
Latent Subtotal 229392.00
Total 470179.84
Table 5-7: Heat load calculations for the Engineering faculty library. (continued)
5.3.2.1 Result Summary of Heat Load calculation for Law Faculty library
Volume flow
Total Heat Gain Design Cooling
Location rate per area
(Btu/hr) Capacity (Btu/hr)
(cfm/ft2)
Engineerin
g faculty 470179.84 750,000 62
library
Table 5-8: The result summary for the Engineering faculty library.
5.3.2.2 Discussion
From the table 5-8, the total heat gain of the Engineering faculty library was
470179.84 Btu/hr. There were 3 FCU provided cooling capacities to the library. The
design cooling capacities of the each FCU were 300000 Btu/hr, 250000 Btu/hr and
200000 Btu/hr respectively. Hence, total design cooling capacity was 750000 Btu/hr.
Compare between the total heat gain of single floor at Law faculty library and
the total heat gain of Engineering faculty library, it shown that the total heat gain of
the Engineering faculty library is higher than the total heat gain of single floor at
Law faculty library. This was because the fraction of window to the wall of
Engineering faculty library is higher than the fraction of window to the wall of Law
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faculty library. By this ways, more solar heat was transfer in the indoor environment
of the Engineering faculty library. Therefore, the total heat gain of the Engineering
faculty library is higher than the total heat gain of the Law faculty library.
The percentage of the total heat gain over the design cooling capacity is
62.69%. For this study purpose, some assumptions need to make. First, performance
of the air conditioning system was assumed to be constantly decayed through out the
years. The efficiency of the air conditioning system also assumed as 100% efficiency.
Hence, based on the calculations, the cooling load need was 62.69% of the
total design cooling capacity, mean that as long as the decreasing of the performance
of the air conditioning system do not more than 40% of the total design cooling
capacity, the system still can provide the comfort indoor environment for the
However, the climate change of the outdoor environment gives a big impact
to the indoor total heat gain. Besides, the change of the indoor environment also will
affect the total heat gain. The following simulation chapter will discuss about the
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From the heat load calculations for Law faculty library, the percentage of
heat gain over the design cooling capacities of each floors were 41.88%, 46.78%,
46.63% and 38.83% for ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor
respectively. For Engineering faculty library, the percentage of heat gain over the
Heat load calculation can not use to estimate and predict the future conditions
of the libraries, it only used to compare between the heat load and the design cooling
capacities.
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6.1 Introduction to TRNSYS Simulation Studio
buildings. Engineers and researchers around the world are using this program to
validate new energy concepts, from simple domestic hot water systems to the design
and simulation of buildings and their equipment, such as control strategies, occupant
etc. The modular structure and DLL-based architecture of TRNSYS allows users and
third-party developers to easily add custom component models, using all common
mathematical model in the TRNSYS simulation engine and has a set of matching
which processes the inputs to produce outputs and passes the output to another
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6.2.1 Introduction
Before looking into the indoor environment quality, the main concern is the
trend of the ambient conditions. In this research, how the impact of the ambient
conditions to the indoor environment quality become a very important aspect here.
TRNSYS Simulation and the profile of the ambient temperature and the ambient
relative humidity were shown in the figure below. The forecast of the weather were
based on the weather data of Kuala Lumpur. Following graph are the ambient
temperature and ambient relative humidity simulation for year 2000, year 2020 and
year 2050.
Figure 6-1: Graph of ambient temperature and relative humidity at year 2000.
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Figure 6-2: Graph of ambient temperature and relative humidity at year 2020.
Figure 6-3: Graph of ambient temperature and relative humidity at year 2050.
6.2.2 Discussion
67
Max Min Max Min Aver
Aver
Year Temp, Temp, RH RH, RH,
Temp, (˚C)
(˚C) (˚C) (%) (%) (%)
2000 35.30 20.85 27.16 100.00 40.50 81.87
2020 36.10 21.81 28.13 99.00 37.50 80.71
2050 37.42 22.69 29.22 99.00 22.69 78.72
Table 6-1: Summary of outdoor conditions.
From the table 6-1, it showed that the average temperature and average
relative humidity were 27.16˚C and 81.87˚C during year 2000. Mean that the tropical
climate is hot and humid. Besides, from the weather forecasting, the temperature will
increase around 1˚C for next 20 years and the relative humidity will decrease around
humidity in future from the weather forecasting will affect the current installed air
conditioning system. The increasing temperature will be concern because it affect the
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6.3.1 Layout of TRNSYS model for Law faculty library
Sky temp
Psychrometrics
Sky temp
Psychrometrics
Air Mixer TurnPsychrometrics-4 Cooling Coil Psychrometrics-5 Fan Heat Gain Controller
Sky temp
Air Mixer controller
Psychrometrics
Cooling Tower Pump WCP Energy Transfer Plotter
Sky temp
Psychrometrics
Note: The AHU does not found in TRNSYS studio, the combining of cooling coil
70
Air Change Controller; Inputs: Air flow rate.
control the fresh air intake. Outputs: Air change of the
Air Change Controller
building.
Cooling Coil; cool the mixing Input: Mixing air dry bulb
air to the desire off-coil temperature, wet bulb
Cooling Coil temperature. temperature and air flow rate.
Output: Mixing air dry bulb
temperature, wet bulb
temperature and air flow rate.
71
latent cooling rate, total cooling
rate and chiller heat rejection
profile on screen.
Fan; blow the air into the Input: Air dry bulb
thermal zones of building. temperature, relative humidity
Fan and air flow rate.
Output: Air dry bulb
temperature, relative humidity
and air flow rate.
Psychrometrics
Table 6-2: Modules type calculator;
description. (continued) Inputs: Off-coil dry bulb
calculates the rest of the temperature and wet bulb
Psychrometrics-5
moist air properties with two temperature.
properties given. Outputs: The rest of the moist
air properties.
72
Pump; circulate the cooling Input: Cooling water
water from air conditioner temperature and flow rate.
Pump system to cooling tower. Output: Cooling water
temperature and flow rate.
73
m air
ACH = (1/hr)
ρ s tan dard air x V
where
= 1.34 m x 2.20 m
= 2.95 m
Number of rows =4
Number of circuits = 44
6.3.5 Assumption
The assumption were made was to simplify the simulation. There is a lot of
uncertainty for the actual situation; however, reasonable assumption will be made to
make sure the simulation results are as close as the actual situations. Following are
1. Air volume flow of inlet AHU is 100% blow into the indoor of building.
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2. The performance of the air conditioning system is ideal through out the
years.
4. The air volume flow rates are equally distributed to each zone in the building.
5. The pumps, fans and cooling tower are performing 100% efficiency.
6.3.6 Results
Figure 6-7: Minimum part load to achieve comfort temperature simulation of law
faculty library for year 2000.
Figure 6-7: Minimum part load to achieve comfort temperature simulation of law
faculty library for year 2020.
Figure 6-7: Minimum part load to achieve comfort temperature simulation of law
faculty library for year 2050.
75
6.3.7 Results summary
Design
Minimum load Minimum load Minimum load
Cooling
Floor needed, RT needed, RT needed, RT
capacity.
(Year 2000) (Year 2020) (Year 2050)
RT
GF 85 47 53 60
1F 72.9 38 41 45
2F 72.5 33 35 38
3F 90.8 43 46 49
Table 6-3: Minimum cooling load to achieve comfort temperature of law faculty
library at year 2000, year 2020 and year 2050.
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6.3.8 Discussion
To study the sustainabilty of the air conditioning system and how the climate
change impact on it, the worst indoor conditions were taken into considerations.
temperature was identified. Then, minimum part load for worst case to achieve
comfort temperature at year 2000, year 2020 and year 2050 were identified. With the
part load identified, the percentage increasing of cooling load due to the impact of
climate change on the indoor environment of Law faculty library can be calculated.
Table 6-4 showed the part load to acheieve the comfort temperature were
55.25%, 52.13%, 45.52% and 47.36% for ground floor, first floor, second floor and
third floor respectively at year 2000. From the simulation, the current situations only
From table 6-5, the percentage increasing of part loads were 7.06%, 4.12%,
2.76% and 3.30% for ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor
respectively from year 2000 to year 2020. Besides, the percentage increasing of part
loads were 15.29%%, 9.60%, 6.90% and 6.61% for ground floor, first floor, second
floor and third floor respectively from year 2000 to year 2050. It showed that the
climate change will affect the part load around 2% to 4% ecept for ground floor for
next 20 years. Ground floor had the hihgest increasing of part load which was 7.06%
for next 20 years because the fraction of glass window to wall of ground floor is high
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compare to other floor. Therefore, higher solar heat gain and radiation heat gain
Air Mixer Psychrometrics-4 Cooling Coil Psychrometrics-5 Fan Air Change Controller
Note: The FCU of Engineering faculty library does not found in TRNSYS studio, so,
the combining of cooling coil and FCU is assumed to represent the FCU and
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Fan Coli Unit air Input: Temperature and flow
conditioning system; rate.
FCU provides the cooling Output: temperature and flow
capacity to cool the air in the rate.
cooling coil.
6.4.3 Assumption
For study purpose, some assumptions need to make to simplify the complex
actual situation.
1. 100% of air volume flow of inlet FCU is blowing into the indoor of building.
2. The performance of the air conditioning system is ideal through out the
years.
4. The air volume flow rates are equally distributed to each zone in the building.
6.4.4 Results
79
80
Design
Minimum load Minimum load Minimum load
Cooling
Location needed, RT needed, RT needed, RT
capacity.
(Year 2000) (Year 2020) (Year 2050)
RT
Engineerin
62.5 46 50 55
g library
Table 6-7: Minimum cooling load to achieve comfort temperature of engineering
faculty library at year 2000, year 2020 and year 2050.
81
load increasing load increasing
from year 2000 to from year 2000 to
year 2020 year 2050
(%) (%)
Engineerin
6.40 14.40
g library
Table 6-9: Percentage of part load increasing of engineering
faculty library.
6.4.6 Discussion
and 88.00% at year 2000, year 2020 and year 2050 respectively.
From table 6-9, the percentage increasing of part load form year 2000 to year
2020 was 6.40% and the percentage increasing of part load was 14.40% from year
Compare the percentage increasing of part load between Law faculty library
and Engineering faculty library for next 20 years, the results showed the percentage
increasing of part load of Engineering faculty library which around 6.40% was
higher than percentage increasing of part load of Law faculty library which around
2% to 4%. This is because the glass window to wall fraction of Engineering faculty
library is high compare to the glass window to wall fraction of Law faculty library.
The glass window to wall fraction of Engineering faculty library is around 75% and
the glass window to wall faction of Law faculty library is just around 25%.
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6.5 Chapter summary
capacities for next 20 years provide that the air conditioning system is in ideal
condition. However, the ground floor had higher impact by climate change which is
around 7% increasing of part load for next 20 years because the high glass window to
wall fraction.
Due to higher fraction of glass window to wall, the increasing of part load at
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Chapter 7: Conclusion and Future Work
7.1 Conclusion
First of all, the field work was carried out at Law faculty library and
humidity, CO2 concentration, CO concentration, air flow, and volume flow rate.
Found that the temperature was lower than comfort temperature and the relative
humidity was high in the library. Other parameters such as CO2 concentration, CO
concentration, air flow were fulfilled the ASHRAE Standard. On the other hand,
acceptable condition.
capacities and can not use to estimate and predict the future conditions of the
libraries. From the heat load calculation at chapter 5, it showed the total heat gain
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needed for Law faculty library only around 50% of the design cooling capacities.
Mean that, the safety factor used in cooling capacities design was two. On the other
hand, the percentage of total heat gain over the design cooling capacities of the
future, the TRNSYS simulation is needed. Due to the complexity of the actual
situations, some assumptions were made to simplify the situations for the study
purpose. By TRYSYS simulation, the results showed only 2% to 4% part load had
increased due to the impact of climate change to the indoor environment at Law
faculty library for next 20 years. However, the ground floor had higher impact by
climate change which is around 7% increasing of part load for next 20 years because
the high glass window to wall fraction. Besides, part load of Engineering faculty
library will increase around 7% for next 20 years due to higher fraction of glass
window to wall.
As a conclusion, the climate change will be one of the factors to affect the
indoor environment. It will gives impact and increases part load of the buildings
around 2% to 7% in hot and humid tropical climate country for next 20 years.
such as the system design, system maintenance, location and also climate change.
There are no monitoring systems for air conditioning system in both of libraries. For
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more accuracy of research, the monitoring devices need to put at the field work site
Due to lack of WCP and FCU air conditioning system in TRNSYS studio,
create the new modules for this two systems are needed. The comparison of
TRNSYS simulation results with the performance curve of actual situations needed
86