MET 465 Supplement #4: Heating and Cooling Supply Airflow Determination

After the heating and cooling loads are calculated (refer to course supplements #2 and #3), the heating and cooling
system supply airflow quantities must be calculated. Data from previous heating and cooling load calculation
examples will be utilized to illustrate this process for a multi-zone variable air volume (VAV) system with terminal
reheat.
Room Sizes and Occupancy Levels

Room
Office 1
Office 2
Office 3
Office 4
Conference
Room
Halls

22 x 22
22 x 25
22 x 25
22 x 25
22 x 50

Design
Occupancy
#
2
2
2
2
20

6 x 97

Dimensions

Zone
1
2
3
4

Conference

Rooms
1
2, 3
4
Conf, hall

Figure 1: Example Building Floor Plan

Table 1: Cooling Load for Example Building:

Note: The zone peak loads are shown in

the table above. The overall building
peak cooling load occurred at 2:00 pm,
and that total will be utilized for system
capacity sizing.

Table 2: Heating Load for Example Building:

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Cooling Load Parameters:

Outdoor Air Temp. = 87 F
Outdoor Relative Humidity = 26%
Return Air Temp. = 76 F, 30%RH (space conditions)

Heating Load Parameters:

Outdoor Air Temp. = -12 F
Outdoor Relative Humidity = 0%
Return Air = 70 F, 30%RH (space conditions)

Air Flow Calculations for a VAV system with Terminal Reheat:

To maintain comfort and healthy air conditions with the HVAC system, the cooling coils must supply cooling at a
rate able to offset the heat gain to the space/zone being conditioned. Schematically, the conditioning process for
cooling can be represented as shown in the figure below. Additionally, a pre-heat coil is included in the system with
the capability of heating 100% of the building air (at outdoor air conditions) to supply air conditions. This will
guard against system shock when the temperature of outdoor air is very low.
EA
RA
OA

Mixing Box
MA

Space / Zone to
be Conditioned

Pre-heat
Coil
VAV
Terminal
Unit with
Reheat

Cooling
Coil

SA at 90 F

Outdoor air enters the mixing box and

mixes with return air. If necessary, the
mixed air will be heated sensibly to the
supply air temperature of 55 F.
Generally, with a VAV system, the
mixed air will require cooling (supplied
by the cooling coil) to bring the supply
air to 55 F. The supply air temperature
of 55 F is a designer choice and is very
common in HVAC applications.

SA
at 55 F

Figure 1: Schematic of a VAV System with Terminal Reheat

Solution Method: (Air Flow requirements based upon cooling requirements)
To determine the amount of flow required in the VAV system, the following process is utilized:
1.

Plot known conditions on the psychrometric chart.

See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

2.

Compute the SHR for the cooling and dehumidification process.

SHR = Qsensible / Qtotal = 76912 BTU/hr / 85788 BTU/hr = 0.90

SHR Sensible Heat

Total Heat

Refer to the psychrometric chart (page 7) for specifics.

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3.

Draw a line on the psychrometric chart protractor representing the calculated SHR.
See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

4.

Transfer a parallel line from the protractor to the room air conditions. This represents the condition
line for the space being conditioned. Conditioned air must be supplied to the space at conditions
somewhere on this line in order to offset the heat gain to the space.
See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

5.

Draw a vertical line representing the chosen supply air dry bulb temperature. The intersection of these
two lines represents the required supply air conditions needed to maintain the space at the desired
conditions.
See the psychrometric chart (page 7).

6.
Condition

List known psychrometric conditions of outdoor air, return air, mixed air, and supply air.
mass
(lb/hr)

DBT
( F)

WBT
( F)

RH
%

TH
AH
(BTU/lbda) (lbm/lbda)

SV
(ft3/lbda)

Outside Air

87

62

26.2

30.4

0.0086

16.8

Return Air

76

56

30

25.8

0.0069

16.43

55

46.5

57

20

0.0048

15.7

cfm

Mixed Air
Supply Air

7.

Calculate the amount of supply air required to offset the load of the space (Energy Balance).

Qload= mSA(THRA-THSA)
mSA=( Qload / (THRA-THSA) ) = 85788 BTU/hr / (25.8-20) BTU/lb = 14,791 lb/hr
V = m * SV = 14,791 lb/hr * 15.7 ft3/lb * hr / 60 min = 3870 cfm
8.

Calculate the supply air requirements (SAmax) for each zone and room at peak load

Example - For Zone 1:

Qload,z1 = mSA(THRA-THSA)
mSA=( Qload,z1/ (THRA-THSA) ) = 13778 BTU/hr / (25.8-20) BTU/lb = 2375 lb/hr
V = m * SV = 2375 lb/hr * 15.7 ft3/lb * hr / 60 min = 622 cfm
See attached summary sheet (page 7) for zone capacity requirements (SA max cfm column)

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9.

Evaluate the required amount of outside ventilation air in each room and zone and calculate the outside
air fraction for that room and zone.
OA fraction = OA/SAmax

Example For Zone 1:

Zone

Room

OA
(cfm)
40

SAmax
(cfm)
621

The amount of outside air

required to maintain health in
zone 1 is 6.4%.

OA
Fraction
40/621 = 0.064

See attached summary sheet (page 7) for room OA fractions (OA fraction)
Note: The maximum OA fraction occurs in the conference room. Therefore, since all mixing happens at the mixing
box, the minimum outdoor air for the system must be set to accommodate the zone with the highest outdoor air
quantity required. This is the case unless a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) is installed in the conference room
or the conference room air is filtered effectively. For this particular example the minimum outdoor air requirement
is 24% of the total air. We will utilize that value.
10. Calculate the mixed air conditions.

mOA m RA

m MA

m SA

(for a constant mass system)

and mass of OA = .24 * mass of supply air = .24(14,791 lb/hr) = 3550 lb/hr
so:

mass of RA = mass of SA mass of OA = 14,791 3550 = 11,241 lb/hr

3550 lb/hr
87 F

14,791 lb/hr

OA

78.64 F

MA

14,791 lb/hr
3870 cfm
55 F

SA

RA
11,241 lb/hr
76 F
DBMA = (3550/14,791) * (87 F) + (11,241/14,791) * (76 F)
= 78.64 F
THMA = (3550/14,791) * (30.4 BTU/lb) + (11,241/14,791) * (25.8 BTU/lb)
= 26.90 BTU/lb
11. Complete the psychrometric table values.
Condition

m
(lb/hr)

DBT
( F)

WBT
( F)

RH
%

TH
AH
SV
(BTU/lbda) (lbm/lbda) (ft3/lbda)

Outside Air

3550

87

62

26.2

30.4

0.0086

16.8

Return Air

11,241

76

56

30

25.8

0.0069

16.43

Mixed Air

14,791

78.64

26.90

0.0073

16.49

Supply Air

14,791

55

0.0048

15.7

46.5

57

20

cfm

994

3870

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12. Calculate required Cooling Capacity.

QMA-SA = mSA(THMA-THSA) = 14,791 lb/hr * (26.90 20) BTU/hr = 102,058 BTU/hr
Tonnage of Cooling = 102,058 BTU/hr / 12,000 BTU/hr/ton = 8.5 Tons
Select cooling coils with 8.5 ton capacity capable of delivering 3870 cfm at 55 F.
13. Size the Reheat Coils in the terminal units.

Remember, the air temperature leaving the AHU is at 55 F and 56% RH (see psychrometric chart). Each reheat coil
(RHC) supplies only sensible heat to this supply air in order to heat the zone. Humidity is not controlled in this
case. Thus, the reheat process follows a SHF = 1.0 line on the psychrometric chart and only the sensible heat loss
will be utilized to size the reheat coil.
Step 1: Draw a line with SHF = 1.0 from current supply air conditions on the psychrometric chart.
See the psychrometric chart (page 7).
Step 2: Plot room air temperature on that line (desired temperature is 70 F)
See the psychrometric chart (page 7).
Step 3: Make assumption about reheat air specific volume and temperature (DB between 90'F and 110'F)
Assume SVrhc = 17.4 ft3/lb @ DB = 109'F (See the psychrometric chart - page 7)
Step 4: Convert design volumetric flow rate (622 cfm) for the zone to a mass flow rate
mrhc = V/SVrhc = 622 ft3/min / 17.4 ft3/lb * 60 min/hr = 2144.8 lb/hr
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Step 5: Solve for the reheated air total heat required to maintain 70'F in zone 1.
Energy Balance Equation: Qload = mrhc(THrhc - THRA)
THrhc = (Qload / mrhc) + THRA = (21,213 BTU/hr / 2144.8 lb/hr) + 23.6 BTU/lb = 33.5 BTU/lb
Step 6: Intersect reheated air total heat with the SHF = 1.0 line to determine reheated air temperature.
DBrhc = 114'F (See the psychrometric chart - page 7)
Step 7: Solve for reheat coil capacity (reheat coil #1).
Qrhc1 = .91 * cfm * (DBrhc - DBSA)
= .91 * 622 * (114 55) = 33,373 BTU/hr
QRHC1 = 33,373 BTU/hr
See attached summary sheet (page 7) for zone reheat coil sizes.
14. Size the Pre-heat Coil (phc)
Qphc = System total air * .91 * (DBSA DBOA)
= 3870 cfm * .91 * (55 - -12) F
Qphc = 151,433 BTU/hr

Pre-heating capacity required at AHU (air-handling unit)

NOTE: The pre-heat coil is generally sized to heat 100% OA to SA conditions.

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