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Dehumidify with Constant-Volume Systems
from the editor with a constant volume of air, usually a
ASHRAE Standard 62, Ventilation The Difficulty with mixture of outdoor air and recirculated
for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, CV Dehumidification return air, at a variable temperature.
recommends that the relative humidity Contrary to popular belief, indoor
not exceed 60 percent at any load moisture control is an issue in almost A thermostat senses the zone dry-bulb
condition. This can be problematic all geographic locations, not just in temperature and compares it to the set
because the Standard increases the areas where hot, humid conditions point. The thermostat then modulates
minimum outdoor-air requirement. prevail. Whenever a high relative the capacity of the cooling coil,
Many HVAC designers prefer a low-cost humidity exists at or near a cold, porous adjusting the supply-air temperature
constant-volume solution, believing surface, moisture absorption increases until the sensible capacity of the
that it also simplifies ventilation and cooling coil matches the sensible load
inherently provides sufficient and the zone temperature matches the
dehumidification. Ironically, the widely set point.

This newsletter reveals the flaw in used single-zone CV Designers typically (and appropriately)
that belief. Dennis Stanke, Trane staff system is particularly size cooling coils based on the peak
engineer and member of ASHRAE sensible load, that is, when it is hottest
SSPC 62.1, uses psychrometric
problematic for outdoors. In many climates, however,
analyses to demonstrate the difficulty dehumidification. the latent load on the cooling coiland
of providing proper dehumidification often the total load (sensible plus
particularly at part load, when dry-bulb latent)peaks when outdoor dew
temperature determines system and moisture-related problems point, not dry bulb, is highest.
capacity. He also discusses several (increased maintenance, premature
design options that improve the latent replacement of equipment and Consequently, in some air-handler
capacity of a constant-volume system furnishings, and increased health risks) arrangements, coils selected for the
and compares their effectiveness. become likely. highest sensible load may not provide
sufficient cooling capacity when the
If properly designed and controlled, highest latent load occurs. More
the HVAC system can significantly importantly, however, coils controlled to
reduce the moisture content of indoor maintain the dry-bulb temperature in
air. Ironically, the most widely used the space often operate without
means of ventilationthe single-zone, adequate latent capacity at part-load
constant-volume (CV) systemis also conditions. Heres why
the most problematic when it comes to
dehumidification.

A basic CV system consists of an air

handler that serves a single thermal
zone. The air handler supplies the zone

2000 American Standard Inc. All rights reserved Volume 29, No. 4
At peak sensible load, the cooling coil An Example. Lets consider a 10,000- 0.4 percent (35 hours) of an average
removes both sensible and latent heat, cubic-foot classroom in Jacksonville, year; the coincident wet bulb averages
directly controlling zone temperature Florida, that accommodates 30 people. 76F.
and indirectly affecting the relative The thermal comfort target is 74F DB
humidity. (A colder coil increases the and 50%RH, with nine air changes per At this design condition, the sensible
rate at which moisture condenses hour (9 ACH). To provide adequate and latent loads calculated for the
from the air.) At partial sensible load, ventilation, 450 cfm (15 cfm per space29,750 Btu/h and 5,250 Btu/h,
however, the control system reduces person) of the 1,500 cfm of supply air respectivelyyield a sensible heat
the capacity of the cooling coil by must be introduced from outdoors. ratio of 0.85. Given the supply airflow
allowing the coil temperature to rise. of 1,500 cfm, a supply-air temperature
Although this action successfully Note: Some codes require a specific of 55.7F is required to meet the
maintains the zone dry bulb, it also air-change rate for classrooms, so we sensible load and cool the space to
slows the rate of condensation: relative assumed an airflow and calculated the 74F.
humidity in the zone rises. supply-air temperature for this example.
Alternatively (and perhaps more But does this supply-air condition
Sizing the cooling coil for the highest commonly), we could assume a supply- achieve the target relative humidity of
total load will not prevent this shortfall air temperature and calculate the 50 percent? The psychrometric analysis
in latent capacity if system control is supply airflow. summarized in Figure 1 illustrates the
based solely on sensible conditions. answer. Simply controlling the zone
Whenever a part-load condition exists, Basic system at sensible design and temperature to 74F results in a
the thermostat throttles the coil, latent full load. Chapter 26 in the 1997 comfortable 52.4%RH and requires
capacity drops, and zone relative ASHRAE HandbookFundamentals 4.78 tons of cooling to satisfy both the
humidity increases. indicates that Jacksonvilles outdoor dry sensible and latent loads on the coil.
bulb equals or exceeds 96F during

Sensible versus Latent Design

Chapter 26 of the 1997 ASHRAE to the 1997 edition of the handbook to aid conditions, based on the moisture control
HandbookFundamentals is a popular the design of dehumidification systems. needs of the application.
source for tabular, climatic data that
represents the outdoor design conditions Because the peak sensible load rarely As the table below illustrates, latent
for many locations. Sensible design occurs at the same time as the peak latent design conditions can be similar in many
conditions for cooling systems appear load, cooling equipment that is selected locations. Ignoring system operation at
under the heading Cooling DB/MWB and controlled to deliver full capacity at latent design can lead to poor
(cooling dry bulb/mean coincident wet sensible design is likely to deliver less- dehumidification in buildings across the
bulb). The tables also indicate the than-required capacity at latent design. country, not just in the South and
frequency of occurrence for each condition. Therefore, system performance must be Southeast.
For example, weather conditions exceed analyzed at sensible and latent design
the values listed in the 0.4% column for
just 35 hours in an average year.
U.S. Cooling and Dehumidification Design Conditions, 0.4% Frequency of Occurrence a
Latent design conditions, labeled DP/ Cooling DB/MWB DP/MDB and HR
MDB and HR (dew point/mean coincident Station DB MWB DP HR MDB
dry bulb and humidity ratio), were added
Chicago, Illinois 91F 74F 74F 130 84F
Dayton, Ohio 90F 74F 73F 129 82F
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 92F 74F 74F 130 82F
Jacksonville, Florida 96F 76F 76F 138 84F
a Excerpt from Table 1B in Chapter 26 of the 1997 ASHRAE HandbookFundamentals.

2 Trane Engineers Newsletter Vol. 29, No. 4

Figure 1. Basic CV System (Classroom Example) 4.78 tons of cooling at 1,500 cfm, a
flow-to-capacity ratio of 314 cfm per
latent OA ton. Most packaged air conditioners,
EA RA
76F DP, 84F DB however, must operate within a narrow
range of flow-to-capacity ratios, usually
OA MA SA between 350 and 450 cfm per ton.
MA
77F DB (30% OA)
sensible OA The classroom in our example requires
96F DB, 76F WB
a five-ton unit that delivers no less than
R RA
SA 0.77 SH 66.9%RH 1,750 cfm (350 cfm per ton). To assure
63F DB
MA adequate cooling capacity, the designer
SA 0.85 SHR 80.6F DB (30% OA) must accept an air-change rate of
55.7F DB RA
74F DB, 52.4%RH 10.5 ACH instead of the desired 9 ACH.

The higher-than-required supply airflow

(1,750 cfm) increases the supply-air
temperature to 58.3F; see Figure 2.
Basic system at latent design As Figure 1 illustrates, the warmer, As the total coil load drops from 4.78 to
and part load. The 1997 ASHRAE moister supply air raises the relative 4.66 tons, the humidity in the
handbook also shows that, for humidity in the classroom from classroom increases from 52.4%RH to
0.4 percent of the time, the outdoor 52.4%RH to 66.9%RHwell above 56.2%RH at sensible load.
dew point equals or exceeds 76F while the 60%RH maximum that ASHRAE
the coincident dry bulb averages 84F. recommends. Although the coil could Not surprisingly, the classroom
Lets see what happens in the zone if provide additional cooling (up to becomes even more humid when the
the sensible load drops to 60 percent of 4.78 tons, if sized for the sensible sensible load drops to 60 percent (the
sensible design (17,850 Btu/h) as a design load), the thermostat reduces latent design condition). With the
result of a lower outdoor-air coil capacity to 3.68 tons.This action thermostat throttling the coil capacity
temperature and the correspondingly maintains the dry-bulb temperature in to 3.62 tons, the 64.6F supply air
lower solar and conducted heat gains. the classroom at set point, but at the removes even less of the latent load
expense of the systems ability to and the relative humidity climbs to
If we also assume that the latent load dehumidify. 68.7%RH.
due to occupants remains unchanged
(5,250 Btu/h), the sensible heat ratio Packaged Air Conditioning Note: An overly conservative estimate
drops to 0.77. Now 1,500 cfm of supply Compounds the Problem. A chilled of the sensible load in the zone also
air at 63F satisfies the sensible load. water coil can be selected to deliver results in too much supply airflow,
along with the attendant increase in
relative humidity.
Figure 2. Packaged Air Conditioner (Classroom Example)

latent OA
EA RA
76F DP, 84F DB

OA MA SA

MA
76.6F DB (26% OA)
sensible OA
96F DB, 76F WB
SA R RA
0.77 SH 68.7%RH
64.6F DB
MA
0.85 SHR 79.7F DB (26% OA)
SA RA
58.3F DB 74F DB, 56.2%RH
(1,750 cfm)

providing insights for todays HVAC system designer 3

 Total Energy Recovery. Some This reduction of supply airflow permits
Enhancing Indirect designers find that passive energy- colder supply air (55.7F rather than
Dehumidification recovery systems provide adequate 58.3F), increasing the latent capacity
A typical, constant-volume, mixed-air dehumidification. A passive, total- of the coil at all loads. As a result, the
system uses a single cooling coil to energy-recovery wheel (ERW), for relative humidity in the classroom
cool and dehumidify a mixture of instance, preconditions the outdoor air drops from 56.2%RH (Figure 2) to
recirculated air and outdoor air. A and reduces the cooling capacity 50.4%RH.
thermostat modulates the cooling needed to maintain the zone
capacity of the coil to directly control temperature. It removes both latent Notice, however, that the latent-design,
zone temperature in response to and sensible heat from the outdoor-air part-load condition still requires a
changes in the sensible load. Coil stream entering the building, which supply-air temperature of 63F.
capacity indirectly controls space indirectly reduces zone relative Although it reduces the coil load from
humidity: less cooling capacity means humidity while saving significant 3.62 tons to 2.47 tons, the energy-
less dehumidification and vice versa. operating energy. recovery wheel does little to improve
indirect dehumidification. The resulting
Various options are used to improve the Adding an ERW also helps the designer relative humidity (now 65%RH rather
indirect dehumidification of a typical CV select a packaged system based on than 68.7%RH) still exceeds the
system (Figure 1). Lets examine the less airflow. That is, the designer can 60%RH maximum recommended by
effectiveness of three of them: use an airflow that more closely ASHRAE.
matches the zone requirement (within
Total energy recovery the constraints of the flow-to-capacity Further dehumidification cannot occur
ratio) by raising the unit airflow per ton. without making the mixed-air humidity
Mixed-air (MA) bypass ratio less than that of the return air. A
Return-air (RA) bypass Figure 3 illustrates the psychrometric total-energy-recovery device such as
effect of adding an energy-recovery the ERW cannot perform this task
wheel to the packaged air conditioner without the help of a cooling coil.
Note: One of the best enhancements
represented in Figure 2. When the
for indirect dehumidification controls
sensible design condition exists, Mixed-Air Bypass. Face-and-bypass
zone temperature by varying the flow
preconditioning the outdoor air reduces dampers arranged to bypass mixed air
of supply air rather than its temperature
the coil load from 4.66 tons to 3.5 tons are often used to extend the indirect
(see What About VAV Systems? on
and permits an equipment selection dehumidification range of a constant-
page 6). This article, however,
based on 1,500 cfm rather than volume air handler. Simple and
purposely limits the discussion to
1,750 cfm. inexpensive, this option blends cold,
constant-volume systems.
dry air leaving the cooling coil with
warm, moist, mixed air (return air and

Figure 3. Basic CV System with Total Energy Recovery (Classroom Example)

latent OA
EA RA
76F DP, 84F DB

OA MA SA

preconditioned OA
77F DB sensible OA
96F DB, 76F WB
MA
R
SA 0.77 SH 75F DB
63F DB RA
65%RH preconditioned OA
81F DB
SA 0.85 SH R MA
55.7F DB RA 76F DB
74F DB, 50.4%RH

4 Trane Engineers Newsletter Vol. 29, No. 4

Figure 4. Basic CV System with Mixed-Air Bypass (Classroom Example) relative humidity better than any other
indirect dehumidification enhancement
latent OA at both sensible and latent (part-load)
EA RA
76F DP, 84F DB design conditions.

OA SA Like the mixed-air version, the return-

air bypass modulates coil capacity by
adjusting airflow rather than water flow.
MA
77F DB This means that the coil surface can be
R very cold, enhancing the ability of the
0.77 SH RA
74F DB, 64.5%RH system to dehumidify the zone without
leaving-coil SA blended SA
52.7F DB 63F DB directly controlling humidity.

See Figure 1 for performance What makes the return-air bypass more
at sensible design load effective, however, is that it directs all
of the moist outdoor air through the
cooling coil. Relatively dry return air
(rather than moist mixed air) reheats
outdoor air) to achieve the proper Using a coil performance program, we the cold air stream leaving the coil.
supply-air temperature. The zone determined that the leaving-coil When a sensible design load exists, the
thermostat controls capacity by temperature falls to 52.7F. Moisture in entire mixed-air stream passes through
adjusting the face-and-bypass dampers, the bypassed air prevents more than a the cooling coil. Psychrometric
regulating airflow through and around slight decrease in relative humidity performance matches Figure 1.
the coil. Chilled water flow through the (from 66.9%RH to 64.5%RH) and
coil is constant, not modulated. increases the total coil load from 3.68 Figure 5 summarizes the effect of
to 3.74 tons. adding less moisture at latent design.
All mixed air passes through the cooling Again, we used a coil performance
coil when a sensible design load exists, Return-Air Bypass. In many climates, program to determine the leaving-coil
making dehumidification performance face-and-bypass dampers arranged to temperature of 52.9F. Relative
identical to that shown in Figure 1. bypass return air provide a cost- humidity in the classroom falls below
effective way to extend the indirect the ASHRAE-recommended high limit,
Figure 4 illustrates the classroom dehumidification range of a CV air dropping from 66.9%RH to 55.2%RH.
condition that results at the part-load handler. Although ducting may increase Maintaining this level of
latent-design condition when the its cost slightly compared with mixed- dehumidification requires a total
blended supply-air temperature is 63F. air bypass, return-air bypass limits cooling capacity of 3.92 tons.

Figure 5. Basic CV System with Return-Air Bypass (Classroom Example)

latent OA
EA RA
76F DP, 84F DB

OA SA

MA
80F DB (58% OA)

leaving-coil SA
0.77 SHR RA
52.9F DB
74F DB, 55.2%RH
blended SA
63F DB

See Figure 1 for performance

at sensible design load

providing insights for todays HVAC system designer 5

 maintain the target condition in the
What About VAV Systems? Direct Dehumidification zone. That is:
Variable-air-volume (VAV) systems Indirect dehumidification
provide effective, indirect enhancements may work well for some The humidistat directly controls the
dehumidification over a very wide range indoor environments in some climates, latent capacity of the outdoor-air coil
of indoor load conditions (that is, sensible
even though latent and sensible load to maintain the desired relative
heat ratios). As long as any zone needs
cooling, the VAV air handler supplies dry peaks occur independently. But when humidity limit. It provides sufficiently
(low-dew-point) air to all terminal units. latent and sensible loads vary dry air to remove the latent load,
The dry supply airflow, modulated to significantly, or when it is necessary to both outdoor and zone.
control the sensible indoor load directly, maintain a low relative humidity, both
removes the latent indoor load indirectly
sensible and latent capacity must be The thermostat directly controls the
by absorbing space-generated moisture
and removing it with the return air. controlled directly from both zone sensible capacity of the return-air
temperature and zone relative humidity. coil, providing the balance of cooling
If the sensible indoor load drops below the needed to assure that the supply-air
minimum cooling capacity provided by the temperature satisfies the sensible
minimum flow of supply air, sensible heat Separate Paths. One way to
directly control dehumidification is to load. In effect, heat in the return air
must be added either at the terminal unit
(to temper the supply air) or within the individually treat the return air and tempers the preconditioned outdoor
zone. Failing to temper the supply air (or outdoor air streams before mixing air.
to increase the sensible load) overcools the
them. This can be accomplished with
zone without dehumidifying it, making it
feel clammy. two entirely separate air handlers, or Figure 6 summarizes the psychrometric
with a single, dual-path air handler effect of the separate air-treatment
Typically, some VAV zones require (usually in a stacked configuration for a paths in our classroom example. With
tempering heat even when high sensible smaller footprint) that accommodates both coils delivering blended 55.7F
loads exist in the others. Always consider
both airflow paths. Air treatment may supply air at the sensible design load,
on-site recovered energy as the source for
supply-air tempering, whether the system include various degrees of cooling, humidity drops to 51.6%RH, slightly
is VAV or constant volume. dehumidifying, heating, and filtering. drier than the zone condition resulting
from the simple, single-coil system
Together, individual cooling coils in (Figure 1). Total coil load, which rises
the return air and outdoor air streams from 4.78 to 4.81 tons, is split between
the outdoor coil (2.15 tons) and the
return coil (2.66 tons).

Figure 6. CV System with Separate Paths for Air Treatment (Classroom Example)

EA RA

latent OA economizer
76F DP, 84F DB OA SA

ventilation
OA

sensible OA
96F DB, 76F WB
RA
74F DB, 52.4%RH
HR
0.77 S
0.85 SHR RA
leaving 74F DB, 51.6%RH
leaving coil blended SA
coil 55.7F DB 63F DB
48F DB

6 Trane Engineers Newsletter Vol. 29, No. 4

As the latent load rises, the humidistat Figure 7. CV System with Supply-Air Tempering (Classroom Example)
increases the capacity of the outdoor
coil by reducing the leaving-coil
temperature and maintaining the indoor
humidity at the 52.4%RH limit. As the latent OA EA RA
indoor sensible load drops, the zone 76F DP, 84F DB
thermostat reduces the capacity of the OA SA
return coil accordingly to maintain the
room temperature at set point, 74F.
Total coil load rises from 3.68 tons sensible OA
(Figure 1) to 4.16 tons, again split 96F DB, 76F WB
between the outdoor coil (3.72 tons)
and the return coil (0.44 tons). lvg coil
55.3F DB 0.85 SHR
0.77 SHR RA [RA]
In this arrangement, the cooling lvg coil blended SA 74F DB, 52.4%RH
55.7F DB 63F DB
system/chiller plant can be sized for See Figure 1 for performance
at sensible design load
block load (4.81 tons) rather than
peak load (6.38 tons) because the
sensible and latent loads do not peak
simultaneously. Each coil, however,
must be sized for its individual peak tempering because the heating When designing a CV system that
loadthe return-air coil for 2.66 tons at device simply moderates the cooling includes supply-air tempering, size the
sensible design and the outdoor-air coil effect of the dry supply air. cooling system and coil to handle both
for 3.72 tons at latent design. outdoor and zone loads at the sensible
To understand how supply-air or latent design condition. (In our
Supply-Air Tempering. tempering works, lets turn again to example, the peak cooling load of
Dehumidification can also be directly our classroom example. A coil load of 5.21 tons occurs at latent-design
controlled by applying a single cooling 4.78 tons maintains the desired conditions.) Remember, too, that on-
coil in series with a heating device classroom conditionwithout site energy-recovery enhancements
(Figure 7). This approach assures that temperingat the sensible design can provide the minimal heat required
the supply air is always dry enough to load; air conditions are identical to for tempering. In some cases, building
neutralize both the outdoor and indoor those shown in Figure 1. codes or energy standards require the
latent loads and cool enough to use of on-site recovered energy for
maintain the desired zone temperature. As the latent load rises, however, the tempering.
zone humidistat increases the capacity
Note: More commonly known as of the cooling coil, which reduces the Because the chilled water system or
supply-air reheat, we choose to supply-air temperature and maintains the packaged-unit refrigeration system
describe this configuration as supply-air the relative humidity at the 52.4% RH removes the latent load when the
limit. As the sensible load in the sensible load is low, always consider
classroom falls, the zone thermostat waterside or condenser heat-recovery
increases the tempering capacity of the options when using supply-air
heating device to maintain the zone tempering to control relative humidity.
temperature at set point, 74F; see
Figure 7. Total coil load rises from
3.68 tons to 5.21 tons.

providing insights for todays HVAC system designer 7

 Analyze system performance at both
To Recap sensible and latent design
Simple, constant-volume HVAC conditions when sizing the cooling
systems inevitably cause high zone coil. The maximum coil load may
humidity at sensible part-load occur at the wettest, not the hottest,
conditions. Any of several design outdoor condition.
By Dennis Stanke, applications
options can improve part-load
Determine the need for engineer, and Brenda Bradley,
dehumidification. Table 1 ranks the
dehumidification during unoccupied information designer, The Trane
dehumidification enhancements
periods. Moisture from infiltration, Company.
considered for our example classroom
wet-process cleaning, or vapor
from best (separate paths) to
pressure diffusion can significantly You can find this and other issues of the
poorest (basic cooling only) based on
increase the relative humidity Engineers Newsletter in the commercial
how well they control humidity.
indoors. section of www.trane.com. To
comment, send a note to The Trane
Ultimately, however, the best system Consider the advantages and
Company, Engineers Newsletter Editor,
choice must also consider first cost and disadvantages of each
3600 Pammel Creek Road, La Crosse
operating cost as well as climate and dehumidification enhancement.
WI 54601, or e-mail us from the Trane
zone loads.
Remember that indirect Web site.
dehumidification, which depends on
To design a constant-volume system
a sensible load, is often ineffective For more information about humidity
for effective dehumidification:
during unoccupied periods. management, refer to Managing
Building Moisture (SYS-AM-15).
Limit zone relative humidity at all Pick the dehumidification
To review the fundamentals of
load conditions. enhancement that works best for
psychrometric analysis, see Air
the application, given the budget.
Conditioning Clinic: Psychrometry
(TRG-TRC001-EN). You can order either
publication from www.trane.com/
bookstore.
Table 1. Comparison of Dehumidification Enhancements a
Sensible Design Latent Design
Enhancement Effectiveness b Zone RH Cooling Reqd Zone RH Cooling Reqd
Basic CV system 6 (poorest) 52.4% 4.78 tons 66.9% 3.68 tons
Indirect: total energy recovery 4 50.4% 3.50 tons 65.0% 2.47 tons
mixed-air bypass 5 52.4% 4.78 tons 64.5% 3.74 tons
return-air bypass 3 52.4% 4.78 tons 55.2% 3.92 tons
Direct: separate paths 1 (best) 51.6% 4.81 tons 52.4% 4.16 tons
supply-air tempering 2 52.4% 4.78 tons 52.4% 5.21 tons
a Comparison is based on a 30-person, 10,000-cu-ft classroom in Jacksonville, Florida. Supply airflow is 1,500 cfm of which
450 cfm is outdoor air for ventilation.
b Effectiveness ranks the dehumidification enhancements based on the lowest relative humidity (RH) in the zone and
fewest cooling tons.

The Trane Company

An American Standard Company
www.trane.com
Trane believes the facts and suggestions presented here to be accurate. However,
For more information, contact your
local district office or e-mail us at final design and application decisions are your responsibility. Trane disclaims
comfort@trane.com any responsibility for actions taken on the material presented.

8 ENEWS-29/4