ASHRAE

Technology for a Better Environment

1791 Tullie Circle, NE Atlanta, GA 30329-2305 USA Tel 404.636.8400, Ext. 1211 Fax 678.539.2211
http://www.ashrae.org

Michael Vaughn, PE
Manager of Research & Technical Services

email: mvaughn@ashrae.org

TO:

Earl Rightmier, Chair, TC 6.10, earrig@yahoo.com

FROM:

Mike Vaughn, MORTS@ASHRAE.org

Manager of Research and Technical Services

CC:

Jaap Hogeling, Research Liaison 6.0, RL6@ashrae.net

Larry Markel, Outgoing Research Liaison, 6.0, lmarkel@sentech.org
Thomas Butcher, Research Subcommittee Chair TC 6.10, butcher@bnl.gov

DATE:

October 15, 2008

SUBJECT:

RTAR #1497, Develop Microsoft Windows Predictive Software for Gas & OilFired Furnace, Boiler and Water Heater Vent and Chimney Performance

At their recent tech weekend meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, the Research Administration Committee (RAC)
reviewed the subject Research Topic Acceptance Request (RTAR) and voted to accept it for further
development into a work statement. The following comments and questions need to be fully addressed in
the work statement submission:
1.

The objectives are still very vague as to the scope of the activities and how these objectives will
feed into the final product.
2. Address RAC comments #7 through # 12 from previous comments.
3. Suggest that this RTAR be revised to include the testing and validation of the developed product.
4.
5. Add information, if available, on statistics on injury or deaths caused by poor design practice as
this could increase the priority.
6. The RTAR should say more on the requirements regarding the work plan to be formulated by the
possible contractor.
7. Who will provide technical support for the end result?
Please coordinate the work statement with the help of your Research Liaison, Jaap Hogeling,
RL6@ASHRAE.net , prior to submitting it to the Manager of Research and Technical Services for further
consideration by RAC. The first draft of the work statement should be submitted to RAC no later than
December 15, 2008.

Unique Tracking Number Assigned by MORTS _________1497-RTAR___________________

RESEARCH TOPIC ACCEPTANCE REQUEST (RTAR) FORM

TC 6.10 FUELS AND COMBUSTION

August 15, 2008
Title:

Develop Microsoft Windows Predictive Software for Gas- & Oil-Fired Furnace, Boiler and Water
Heater Vent and Chimney Performance

Applicability to the ASHRAE Strategic Research Plan: This project connects with Goal
C1, develop more effective tools that will improve the productivity of the design process by 25 % by 2015,
C3. develop methods to allow a designer to accurately and confidently model a building gas- or oil-fired
appliance chimney or vent system in virtual reality in no more that one hour and
D1. Establish techniques to improve the energy efficiency and reliability of HVAC&R system components
(gas- or oil-fired appliance chimney or vent systems)

Research Category:

Design Tools

Research Classification:

Basic / Applied Research

TC/TG Priority:

1st

TC Vote:

8 yes, 0 No, 0 Abstained

Estimated Cost:

$150,000

Estimated Duration:

18 Months

RTAR Lead Author

(Bill Roy, Bill.Roy@Carrier.UTC.com)

Expected Work Statement Lead Author

(Bill Roy, Bill.Roy@Carrier.UTC.com)

Co-sponsoring TC/TG/SSPCs and votes:

None however we feel this work will be very relevant for TCs 6.1, 6.3, and 6.6 but have not asked them for a
vote.
Possible Co-Funding Organizations:
(List only those organizations (name, contact information) that have reviewed this RTAR and expressed
support)
The Air-Conditioning, heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) supports this work. National Oil Heat
Research Alliance could also provide assistance. Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is also aware of this project.

Application of Results:
Handbook Chapters To Be Affected By Results: Fundamentals Ch. 18 Combustion and Fuels, and HVAC
Systems and Equipment Ch. 34 Chimney, Vent and Fireplace Systems. The software to be produced will
become an ASHRAE product. The results will be used by designers, appliance and vent manufacturers
involved with developing vent and chimney application criteria for building codes and installation
specifications for their appliances , and those involved with how venting is affected by standards for the
minimum efficiency of heating appliances.
State of the Art (Background):
As the efficiency of oil-, natural gas-, and propane-fired heating appliances increases and flue gas temperature
decreases there is increasing potential for condensation of water vapor from the moist flue gas within the venting
system. This condensation leads to accelerated corrosion and even flooding of the vent system. The onset of
condensation requires vent system wall temperatures lower than the dew point and, in steady state, this will depend
on the details of construction of the vent system, the firing rate, the efficiency level, and the outdoor (convective)
conditions. Further, these appliances essentially always operate in a transient mode and the condensation situation

varies greatly throughout the firing cycle. Firing patterns and the chimney conditions will change with the season
and even time of day. From this situation, designers and manufacturers are excessively conservative in matching
appliances and vent systems with the result that uncertainties over vent performance, gas spillage, and condensation
becomes a serious impediment to the use of chimney vented, high efficiency equipment. There is a strong need for
design tools to allow better predictions of vent system performance, particularly with high efficiency appliances.
Software tools including the Gas Technology Institutes (formerly Gas Research Institute) Vent II (an Interactive
Personal Computer Program For Design And Analysis Of Venting Systems For One Or Two Gas-Fired Appliances
for Microsoft DOS, 1992) and OHVAP (Oil-Heat Vent Analysis Program for oil-fired appliances, 1996) were
developed in response to this need, but are no longer supported or available. The VENT-II Solution Methodology
by A. L. Rutz of GRI 1992, including equations, is available from the ASHRAE Handbook Editor. VENT-II
and its solution methodology were extensively validated with full scale performance tests and have
subsequently been further validated by sixteen years of successful field application of the ANSI Z223.1/NFPA
54 National Fuel Gas Code venting tables that were derived from VENT-II. The new software will be validated
for Category-I vents and chimneys by direct comparison of its analysis results to VENT-II analysis results.
Analysis results for Categories II, III, and IV vent applications will be validated by testing in a subsequent
research project.
Newer, commercial vent design programs provide for different vent Categories (natural- or forced-draft, and
condensing or non-condensing flue gas water vapor), but lack transient (warm-up, steady-state, cool-down, and
standby cyclic appliance operation) analysis with fuel flue gas flexibility, outdoor temperature, wind, and other
variations, such as more than two appliances per vent and appliance operation in multi-story buildings, and other
capabilities. ASHRAEs 2008 HVAC Systems and Equipment Handbook, Chapter 34 Chimney, Vent and
Fireplace Systems addresses single-appliance steady-state vent operation, but lacks analysis of:
transient operation.
more than two appliances per vent,
appliances in multi-story buildings,
vent Categories other than natural-draft,
vent and chimney material and construction variations,
vent configuration variations (barometric damper, pressure drop coefficient, etc.)
wind effects,
selectable fuel (gas and oil) constituent percentages for flue gas composition,
specifiable flue-g as time/temperature profiles,
building indoor temperature and depressurization,
climate characteristics (e.g., 99% winter design temperature, heating season length), and
other vent and chimney characteristics.
Existing building codes provide venting tables that also lack analysis most of these characteristics Research and
development of venting analysis software by an impartial, qualified research group is needed in order to gain
acceptance by manufacturers, builders, installers, and code officials for standardized analysis and solution
methodology.
Advancement to the State of the Art:
Vent operation is typically evaluated by manufactures during development testing and requires many weeks of
testing, primarily by trial-and-error until an adequate condition is reached. Development testing is mostly
directed at worst case conditions on single-appliance operation with little actual data presented for intermediate
conditions or multi-appliance configurations. A validated computer model would allow timely analysis of
many vent configurations and remove the guess work. The new software will be usable on the latest versions of
Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, and later), rather than DOS, which will be considerably easier to use than the

DOS version and interactable with Excel, Access, Word, and other file formats. The goal of this project is that
the model simplifies venting design and selection so that a specific vent application can be modeled by a
practiced user in about one hour. This capability would permit development of venting design tables such as
found in the ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54 National Fuel Gas Code in a month instead of the three-or-more year
project that was originally required. However, the improved capabilities would permit expanding these tables
to include consideration of the analyses described as lacking in State of the Art. Beyond that, the software
could be used by manufacturers, builders, installers, and code officials for standardized analysis of individual vents
on a case-by-case basis with minimal time and effort, and greatly increased capability.
Justification and Value to ASHRAE:
The venting of all appliance types (natural- and forced-draft, and condensing and non-condensing) has fallen in a
gap between product specification and building codes. No single source adequately addresses the rapidly changing
venting needs of the HVAC industry. Most new venting installations become custom designed systems requiring
additional cost and approvals. Most replacement jobs ignore the new venting requirements needed by todays
advanced technologies and may be operating without proper engineering. These conditions have lead to the misuse
of venting materials, failed venting systems that allow back-drafting at connected appliances and lost efficiency.
Installation codes such as the ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54-2006 National Fuel Gas Code and CAN-CSA B-149.1-05
National Standard of Canada Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code describe the venting requirements for
Category I operation in natural draft and fan-assisted combustion for single appliance, multi-appliance, and multistory applications. Neither of these codes provides design guidance for the remaining vent Categories, gas and oil
fuels, multiple installation outdoor ambient conditions such as barometric pressure, ambient temperature or wind.
Manufacturers listed appliance instructions typically specify using the above mentioned fuel gas codes, which is
fine for conventional, non-condensing, negative-pressure vent system operation (e.g. Category I gas appliances).
Many manufactures reference these same fuel gas codes for operation of appliances with other vent Categories also.
Not all product installation codes recognize venting Categories other than Category-I. These inconsistencies cause
confusion among installers, leading to misapplications similar to the fan-assisted combustion, vent misapplications
that were common before 1991 and 1992, when the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA, now
AHRI) and ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54-1992 National Fuel Gas Code (NFGC) venting guidelines were issued for
venting mid-efficiency fan-assisted combustion furnaces. The NFGC and other codes need to address multiCategory, multi-fuel and multi-appliance operation guidelines that are consistent for each current appliance type and
Category. The results of the project could definitely drive change by code developers and manufacturers. It would
also be useful in a special publication and for handbook updates. A well crafted solution would provide both ease of
learning by multimedia and rigorous evaluation by automated computation.
From the consumers perspective, proper venting is essential to safe efficient appliance operation. Properly sized
and operated vents also mean longer appliance and vent system life with consequent savings and better
sustainability.
Objective:
The objectives of this project are:
Evaluate prior vent models (such as Vent II and OHVAP) and determine the status and availability of
development, test, and validation documents, computer program source codes, and current relevance
and scalability to the present and future venting needs discussed above.
Provide a unified and user-friendly software solution that satisfies the above identified needs. This
software and supporting technical report represent the primary products of this work.
Identify areas where testing to confirm heat and mass transfer models and criteria for acceptable
designs under transient conditions are needed. This can be used to guide a Work Statement for a
subsequent project.
Provide recommendations for modernization of the venting requirements in codes, standards and
ASHRAE handbooks.
Key References:
CSA. 2005. Natural gas and propane installation code. Standard B149.1-2005. Canadian Standards Association
International, Mississauga, ON.

Krajewski, R.F. 1996, Oil heat vent analysis program (OHVAP) users manual and engineering report, BNL
Informal Report BNL-63668. Available from http://www.osti.gov/bridge.
NFPA/AGA. 2006. National fuel gas code. ANSI/NFPA Standard 54-2006/ANSI/AGA Standard Z223.1-2006.
National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA and American Gas Association, Washington, D.C.
Rutz, A.L. 1992. VENT-II Solution methodology. Available from American Society of Heating, Refrigerating,
and Air-Conditioning Engineers Handbook Editor.
Rutz, A.L. and D.D. Paul. 1991. Users manual for VENT-II (Version 4.1) with diskettes: An interactive
personal computer program for design and analysis of venting systems of one or two gas appliances. GRI90/0178. Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines (formerly Gas Research Institute, Chicago), IL. Available as
No. PB91-509950 from National Technical Information Services, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port
Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161.

ASHRAE
Technology for a Better Environment
1791 Tullie Circle, NE Atlanta, GA 30329-2305 USA Tel 404.636.8400, Ext. 1211 Fax 678.539.2211
http://www.ashrae.org

Michael Vaughn, PE
Manager of Research & Technical Services

email: mvaughn@ashrae.org

TO:

Raymond J Albrecht, Chair TC 6.10, rja@nyserda.org

FROM:

Mike Vaughn
Manager of Research and Technical Services

CC:

Larry Markel, Research Liaison 6.0

Thomas A Butcher, Research Subcommittee Chair TC 6.10, butcher@bnl.gov

DATE:

October 26, 2007

SUBJECT:

RTAR #1497, Vent Performance Model for all Categories, Multi-story and Multi-unit for Gas & Oil
Fired Furnaces, Boilers and Water Heaters

At their recent Technology weekend meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, the Research Administration Committee (RAC)
reviewed the subject Research Topic Acceptance Request (RTAR) and voted to return it. The following comments and
questions need to be fully addressed in the next submission for the RTAR. The comments of RAC members on this
RTAR were as follows:
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

The title is unclear. Say how this project addresses goals.

The RTAR should provide a description of the previous modeling work that has been done with references.
For $150k, we expect some validation of the computer model. Make this an additional task.
State of Art needs rewriting in English.
The objective needs to be clearer as to what the final product is intended to be, and if it is a model, how will
it be validated?
Need to add a Reference section and indicate if GAMA or CEC may be able to co-fund this work.
Under objectives, 2nd last bullet, the output should be draft WS for the follow-on project to validate the
vent design model.
Does this project involve testing to meet objective 1?
What is necessary to develop a software tool?
Don't think testing, model development, and model validation could be done within a single project at the
proposed cost. Unless there is a lot of prior work that hasn't been described.
Need to have some validation of the software.
How will the software be provided?
Will this software be a commercial product or freely available?
Will lead to updated codes, improved safety and efficiency.
Absolutely a timely topic with the advent of new building standards requiring 30% more stringency that
90.1-2004.

Please incorporate the above information into the revised RTAR with the help of your Research Liaison, Larry Markel,
lmarkel@sentech.org or RL6@ashrae.net, prior to submitting it to the Manager of Research and Technical Services for
further consideration by RAC.
If you wish this to be reconsidered at the winter meeting in New York, a revised RTAR, together with a letter describing
how each of the above items was addressed, should be sent (electronically) to Mike Vaughn, Manager of Research and
Technical Services (morts@ashrae.net ) by December 17, 2007.

RESEARCH TOPIC ACCEPTANCE REQUEST 1497-RTAR

TC 6.10 FUELS AND COMBUSTION
July, 2007
Title: Vent Performance Model for all categories, multi-story and multi-unit for Gas &
Oil Fired Furnaces, Boilers and Water Heaters
Applicability to the ASHRAE Strategic Research Plan: This project connects with Goal
C1, improve the productivity of the design process and Goal C6, establish tools to
improve the energy efficiency of HVAC&R systems and their components.
Research Category:
Research Classification:
TC/TG Priority:
TC Vote:
Estimated Cost:
Estimated Duration:

Operation and Maintenance Tools

Basic / Applied
1st
5 Approve, 0 opposed, 0 abstain
$150,000.
18 Months.

Other Interested TC/TGs: This work is very relevant for TC 6.1 and TC 6.6.
Possible Co-Funding Organizations: The Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association
supports this work. National Oilheat Research Alliance.
Handbook Chapters To Be Affected By Results: Fundamentals Ch. 18 Combustion and
Fuels and Equipment Ch. 30 Chimney, Flue Gas Vent and Fireplace Systems
State of the Art (Background):
Installation codes such as the ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54-2006 National Fuel Gas Code and
CSA B-149-00 National Standard of Canada Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code
describe the venting requirements for category I operation in natural draft and fan assisted
draft for single unit, multi-unit and multi-story applications. Neither standard provides
design guidance for the remaining vent category types. The Vent II, which was developed
for gas-fired appliances and the OHVAP code, which was developed for oil-fired appliances
are no longer supported nor available. Other private party vent design software provide
some insight to the vent operation for all category types but many lack gas constituency
flexibility, defensible documentation of methods and approximations, multi-unit and multistory operation in combination with these additional operating environments. Clarity for
high altitude operation is lacking as well. Even ASHRAEs own Chapter dedicated to
system venting lags in addressing the various vent conditions.
Advancement to the State of the Art:
Proper vent operation is typically evaluated by manufactures during development testing
and primarily addressed empirically by trial-and-error which takes many weeks.
Testing is mostly directed at worst case conditions with little actual data presented for
intermediate configurations or multi unit considerations. A validated computer model
would allow timely interpolation of many vent configurations and remove the guess work

from field retrofit. It is the goal of this project that the model simplifies the venting
design and selection enough so that a specific vent application can be modeled in about 2
hours.

Justification and Value:

Increasing efficiency comes with lower exhaust temperatures and venting challenges such as
potential for weak draft, transient spillage of gas into the building, condensing, and early
vent system failures. Efficiency mandates and product developments continue to push
beyond the present venting design information available to appliance manufactures and
system design engineers. Combine this with variations in the fuels that will be available for
future use and the gap for properly designed vent systems and methods grows. Research in
this area must be done by an impartial research group (i.e. ASHRAE); it should not be
performed by an individual manufacturer. These results are of strong interest to code
developers and manufacturers. It would also be useful in a special publication and for
handbook update. A well crafted solution would provide both the ease of learning by
multimedia and the rigorous evaluation of automated computation.
Manufacturers listed appliance instructions typically specify using the above mentioned
fuel gas codes, which is fine for conventional, non-condensing, negative vent pressure
system operation (e.g. Category I gas appliances). Many manufactures reference these
same fuel gas codes for operation of appliances in other categories also. Not all product
design codes recognize the multiple venting operation states. These inconsistencies cause
confusion among installers, leading to misapplications similar to the vent misapplications
that were common before 1991 and 1992, when the Gas Appliance Manufacturers
Association (GAMA) and ANSI Z223.1/NFPA 54-1992 National Fuel Gas Code (NFGC)
venting guidelines were issued for venting mid-efficiency fan-assisted combustion furnaces.
The NFGC and other codes need to address multi-category, multi-fuel and multi-unit
operation guidelines that are consistent for each current appliance type and category.
From the consumers perspective, proper venting is essential to safe product operation.
Properly sized and operated vents also mean longer product and system life, with
consequent appliance cost savings.
Objective:
The objectives of this project are to:
Evaluate prior vent models (such as Vent II and OHVAP) and determine their
status and availability of foundation and code and current relevance and
scalability to the present and future venting needs discussed above.
Provide a unified and user friendly software solution that deals with the identified
needs.
Prepare recommendations for any needed confirmation of the model(s) used.
Comment on the modernization of the venting requirements in codes, standards
and handbooks.