AIR HANDLING UNIT:

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• General Description
• Operation
• Technical Specifications

General Description
The air handling unit is an integrated piece of equipment consisting of fans, heating and cooling
coils, air-control dampers, filters and silencers. The purpose of this equipment is to collect and
mix outdoor air with that returning from the building space. The air mixture is then cooled or
heated, after which it is discharged into the building space through a duct system made up of
five-feet diameter pipes.
Click for detailed diagram

1. Collection and Mixing of Outdoor Air and Air from the Building
2. Heating and Cooling System for the Air Handling Unit
1. Heating System
1. Steam Heated Coil
2. Baseboard Radiators
3. Reheat Coils
4. Solar Radiation and Heat Generated by the Equipments and the Building's
Occupants
2. Cooling System
1. Direct Evaporative Cooling
2. Indirect Cooling
3. Economiser or Free Cooling

Collection and Mixing of Outdoor Air and Air from the Building

The centrifugal return fan pulls air from

occupied building space (72
Return.Air.Temperature) through the return
air ducts. The return fan has airfoil type
blades which are the most efficient among
all centrifugal fan blades. Some of this air is
exhausted outside through the exhaust air
damper, while a small amount of it (variable)
continues through the air handling unit to
mix with air drawn in from outdoors. This mixture of outside air and return air, before additional
heating and cooling, is called mixed air (71 Mixed.Air.Temperature).

The mixed air is filtered before entering the supply fan. The airfoil type centrifugal supply fan
pushes the air through the heating and cooling stages of the AHU. The air is then distributed
through a system of ductwork to all areas of the building.

Heating and Cooling System for the Air Handling Unit

(AHU)
Heating System

The main energy source for heating the ITLL is the main power plant on campus. Burning
natural gas to boil water, the plant provides steam to the ITLL building. The heating coil in the
AHU uses steam made by a heat exchanger in the ITLL mechanical room.
The ITLL building is heated in different ways: the steam heated coil in the main AHU, the
baseboard radiators, reheat coils in the ducts, solar radiation and building equipment and
occupants.

a. Steam Heated Coil

b. Baseboard Radiators
c. Reheat Coils.
d. Solar Radiation and Heat Generated by Building Equipment and Occupants

The Steam Heated Coil in the Main Air Handling Unit (AHU)

Once the cold season is in full swing, steam is supplied to the large steam coil in the AHU. This
coil heats the building supply air leaving the AHU, sending warm air to all of the rooms, largely
eliminating the need for the reheat coils. This coil uses a tube-in-tube arrangement to prevent
freezing in case the steam valve is off and cold outside air is passing through. The coil consists
of a copper header supplying steam to a copper tube which passes through a continuous
aluminium fin for added heat transfer surface area.
Due to the high temperature of steam relative to the air it is heating (approximately 180°F or
82.22°C) steam vs. approximately 70°F or 21.11°C air), the steam coil only needs to be of the
single-pass type to accomplish the required heat transfer to the air. The coils are installed in a
staggered arrangement, allowing for easy removal and maintenance.

Baseboard Radiators

Heating coils using hot water add heat to individual rooms, as required. As outside temperatures
drop in the fall, indoor temperatures also drop, beginning with rooms having exterior walls and
windows. The thermostats in these rooms (e.g. Room 160) sense the drop in temperature and
instruct the control system to turn on the hot water to the baseboard radiators and heating coils in
the air supply ducts (reheat coils in the VAV boxes) supplying those rooms with heat. The
primary function of the baseboard radiators is to prevent cold drafts from exterior walls and
windows.

Reheat Coils

In the early fall, before the cooling system has been shut down for the season, cool air is still
being supplied to the rooms. The reheat coils re-heat the air before it enters rooms which may
require heating. This way, other rooms in the building with high heat gain from equipment and
occupants can continue to be cooled. It may seem like a waste of energy to cool the air in the
AHU and then reheat it, but outside air from outside must be continuously supplied during
occupied hours to maintain acceptable air quality.

Solar Radiation and Heat Generated by Building Occupants

Solar gain through the large, south-facing windows also provides some heating. In Colorado's
relatively sunny climate, the winter solar heat gain outweighs the heat loss, making this an
energy-saving design. The windows are shaded and specially coated to prevent unwanted heat
gain in the summer.

Rooms with more people and equipment require less additional heat to keep the room warm.
Individual thermostats (e.g. Room 160) detect this temperature rise and reduce the heating to
such rooms.

Cooling System

The ITLL building has two stages of cooling in the main AHU: direct evaporative cooling and
indirect cooling, which operate in conjunction to provide cool supply air at the lowest energy
cost. In addition, economizer, or free cooling (see below), is used when conditions allow. All
through the cold season, the AHU supplies air of a constant temperature (66
Air.Handling.Unit.Discharge.Air.Temperature) to the whole building (about 55&3186;F or
12.77°C).

Although there is no local cooling for any of the rooms except the computer rooms, the variable
air volume (VAV) system allows different amounts of cooling in each zone (rooms or areas
sharing a single thermostat).

a. Direct Evaporative Cooling

b. Indirect Cooling
c. Economizer or Free Cooling

Direct Evaporative Cooling

Because of the generally low humidity (76 Outside.Air.Humidity.1) in Colorado, direct

evaporative cooling is a very economical way to cool air. As water evaporates into the air, the air
temperature drops (heat energy from the air is used to change the water from liquid to vapor) and
the air is humidified. Depending on how much cooling is required, from one to three stages of
evaporative cooling may be used. Because evaporative cooling increases the humidity of the air,
this process requires low outside air humidity and that humidified building air (77
Return.Air.Humidity) be continuously exhausted.

Indirect Cooling

When the outside air humidity (76 Outside.Air.Humidity.1) is too high to allow direct
evaporative cooling, the indirect cooling stage is automatically activated. This stage consists of
an outdoor cooling tower (fluid cooler FC-1) which provides cold glycol solution to a cooling
coil (a tube with fins attached) in the AHU. This coil has copper headers and tubes passing
through a continuous aluminium fin for added heat transfer area. Because the water-glycol
solution passing through the cooling coil is not considerably colder than the air it is cooling
(approximately 50&3186;F or 10°C) solution vs. approximately 70°F or 21.11°C) air), the tubes
in the cooling coil must make several passes (about 6) to accomplish the required heat transfer
from the air. The coils are installed in a staggered arrangement, allowing for easy removal and
maintenance.

A drip pan piped to drain below the indirect cooling coil carries away any moisture which may
collect on the coil when the air is dehumidified. The fluid cooler also requires low outside air
humidity to function, since it cools the glycol solution through evaporation of water on the
outside of its cooling coil. Because of this, these systems are not used in climates where high
humidity conditions occur.

Economizer or Free Cooling

During certain times of the year, the interior of the building requires cooling even though the
outside air temperature (99 Outside.Air.Temperature.1) is relatively low (less than 55.4°F or
13°C).
In this case, both the outside and exhaust air dampers are fully opened (80 Exhaust.Damper) and
the building is cooled for "free." Since the fan power required (100 Supply.Fan.Watts) to move
the air is the only energy cost, this is truly an economical way to cool the building. This 100%
ventilation is equivalent to opening all the windows.

Operations
The main air handler unit serving the ITLL building is of the variable air volume (VAV) type.
This means that as the overall building airflow requirements increase or decrease, the main fans
in the air handler speed up and slow down, to provide only as much air as is required.

Due in part to special variable speed motor controllers used to control the fan speeds, the initial
costs of installing a VAV system are somewhat higher than a traditional constant volume system.
However, the money saved when these big fans are running below maximum speed quickly pays
off.

The pre-programmed Direct Digital Control (DDC) system operates the equipment differently
during occupied and unoccupied periods. This is another energy-saving strategy which allows
the air conditioning equipment to "rest" during periods when the building is unoccupied.

Many sensors installed in the air handler give the DDC system the information it needs to control
the fans, dampers, etc.

a. System Operation during Occupied Periods

b. System Operation during Unoccupied Periods
c. General System Operation during All Modes

System Operation During Occupied Periods

The (adjustable) discharge air temperature setpoint is reset based on the outside air temperature
(99 Outside.Air.Temperature.1) (OAT) according to the following schedule:

For an OAT of 55°F (12.77°C), the discharge air temperature is 55°F (12.77°C).

For an OAT of 20°F (-6.66°C), the discharge air temperature is 65°F (18.33°C).

Supply Fan

The supply fan speed is controlled to maintain 1.00 in. WG (inches of water gage) static pressure
(103 Duct.Static.Pressure) in the supply duct.

Return Fan

Whenever the supply fan is running, the return fan also operates (113 Return.Fan.Status.2) and
its speed (86 Return.Air.Flow.Rate) is controlled to maintain 0.10 in. static pressure (109
Return.Static) in the return air plenum.

Exhaust Air Damper

The damper position (80 Exhaust.Damper) is adjusted to maintain a static pressure (102
Building.Static.Pressure) of 0.05 in WG in the occupied building space. This helps to minimize
infiltration into the building.

Outside Air Dampers

Based on a signal from the outside air flow sensor, the DDC system controls the outside air and
return air dampers to maintain a minimum outside air flow (85 Outside.Air.Flow.Rate) of 8700
cfm (cubic feet per minute). If too little outside air is mixed with the return air, the indoor air
quality can become unacceptable. The minimum air flow rate prevents this from happening.

Outside Air Economizer

An additional energy saving feature of the AHU uses outside air, instead of a cooled mixture of
outside air and return air, to cool the building. This is called an "economizer cycle," or "free
cooling" and would operate, for example, when the building requires cooling while the (99
Outside.Air.Temperature.1) is below 55°F (12.77°C). This allows the cooling and heating coils
to be turned off, while the fans pull in outside air.
When the outside air economizer is being used, the outside and return air dampers operate on
their own control loop to maintain the discharge air temperature (66
Air.Handling.Unit.Discharge.Air.Temperature).
That is, the dampers are opened or closed in the proper ratio to provide a mixed air temperature
(71 Mixed.Air.Temperature) sufficient to cool the building and to provide acceptable indoor air
quality; no cooling is supplied by the coil in the AHU.
It is virtually impossible to have a situation that when the building requires cooling on a hot day,
the economizer heating activates; this is not, therefore, part of the control system programming.

Steam Heating Coil

The valve status controlling the steam supply to the heating coil is automatically set to maintain
the heating coil discharge air temperature setpoint. The heating coil discharge air temperature is
reset through a cascade action based on the AHU discharge air temperature setpoint. That is,
actions are taken one at a time to maintain the discharge temperature, instead of simultaneously.
For example, the return air damper might first be opened.
If bringing in more warm air from within the building and mixing it with outside air is not
enough to raise the AHU discharge air temperature (66
Air.Handling.Unit.Discharge.Air.Temperature), then the steam valve is opened more.

Indirect Cooling Coil

For outside air temperatures above 55°F (12.77°C), the water pump continuously circulates
chilled glycol solution through the cooling coil, while the DDC system controls the three-way
(adjustable bypass) valve to maintain the required cooling coil discharge air temperature (66
Air.Handling.Unit.Discharge.Air.Temperature). If this temperature drops below 50°F(10°C), the
bypass valve is opened to prevent further cooling and potential freezing of the cooling coils.

Direct Evaporative Cooling Section

This section consists of a two honeycomb type porous pads (4 in. and 8 in. thick) over which
water is sprayed by the two sump pumps. When air is blown through the holes, some of the water
evaporates and cools the air stream in the same way sweating cools the body on a breezy day.

Sump Schedule

If the outside air temperature drops below 40°F (4.44°C), the water sump is drained; it is filled
when the outside air temperature rises above 55°F (12.77°C), and the evaporative cooler is
needed to meet the cooling requirements. The sump is drained on Sunday mornings, if it has not
been drained for the previous 4 days, while a daily 60-minute pad dry-out period runs from 5
a.m. to 6 a.m. if the cooler has not been off for at least one hour in the last 24 hours.

Sump Pumps

The sump pumps cycle in sequence (pump #1 to 4 in. pad, pump 2 to 8 in. pad, and both pumps
on) to maintain the AHU air discharge temperature setpoint; minimum on-off cycle timers
prevent the pumps from short-cycling. To allow the evaporative cooler discharge temperature to
stabilize, a 10-minute time delay between pump stages is used. The pumps only operate if the
outside air damper is completely open, the supply fan is still running and the sump has been
filled.

Humidity Control
If the return air relative humidity (77 Return.Air.Humidity) exceeds 65% for 30 minutes, the
highest current stage of sump pump operation is shut off until the relative humidity drops below
60%.

Outside Air Damper Control

As the mixed air temperature (71 Mixed.Air.Temperature) drops, the outside air damper is closed
until the fraction of outside air is at the minimum to maintain acceptable indoor air quality
(typically a 20% fraction of outside air). If the mixed air temperature drops below 40°F (4.44°C),
the outside air damper is closed further (below its minimum opening) to prevent freezing of the
AHU components.

System Operation During Unoccupied Periods

Supply and Return Fans, Dampers and Valves

The fans are de-energized, the outside air and exhaust air dampers are closed and the steam coil
control valve is opened to the coil.

Baseboard Radiators

The radiation heating valves are controlled to maintain a temperature of 65°F (18.33°C) in each
zone. If this temperature drops below 63°F or 17.22°C (with a 5°F or 2.77°C deadband), the
AHU cycles on to maintain the zone temperature using supply air at a maximum temperature of
85°F (29.44°C).

General System Operation During All Modes

Freeze Protection

A thermostat stops the supply fan, starts the return fan, starts the condenser water pump, opens
the control valves to the heating coil and indirect cooling coil and closes the outside air damper if
it senses an outside air temperature below 40°F (4.44°C). Glycol solution is circulated in the
cooling coil during this time to prevent the solution from freezing in the coil.

Smoke Detectors

Smoke detectors located at the supply duct in the air handling unit act to stop the supply and
return fans and close the outside air, exhaust air and smoke dampers if smoke is detected. These
detectors are integrated with the fire alarm system.
Duct Pressure Control

The duct static pressure sensor controls the supply fan speed to maintain the duct static pressure
setpoint. If excess static pressure (103 Duct.Static.Pressure) is detected, the supply and return
fans are shut down by a duct high pressure limit switch.

Technical Specifications

Air Handler System - Exhaust Air

Damper
Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Industrial Acoustics Company
Supplier Engineered 752-4411
Series CD-50
Size Width: 150 in, Ht: 36 in
Blade Type Airfoil shape, 3" width
Area Factor 0.11

Air Handler System - Heating and

Cooling Coil
Manufacturer Engineered Air Inc.

Supplier Engineered 752-4411

Model No. LM-48-C

Service Heating

Tube Material Copper

Outer Tube Size 5/8 in. outside dia.; .035 in. thick

Fin Material Aluminium

Fin Thickness 0.0065 in.
Number of Coils 4
STEAM COIL DATA: Following data is for 1 coil @
5400 ft elev.
Type Non-freeze
Size Width: 42 in, Height: 60 in
Number of Rows 1
Face Area 17.5 sq. ft
Design Air Volume 12075 cfm
Air Velocity 690 fpm
Air Friction 0.13 in H2O
Capacity 575629.74 Btu / hr
Entering Dry Bulb 56°F
Leaving Dry Bulb 100.14°F
Latent Heat 966.5 Btu / lb
Steam Flow 596 lb / hr
Steam Pressure 2 psig
Steam Temperature 218°F
Ent. T.D. 162°F (adjustable)
COOLING COIL DATA: Following data is for 1 coil @
5400 ft elev.
Service Cooling
Number of Coils 4
Type Ultrafin
Size 48 in x 72 in x 6 Rows / 12 FPI
Pass-Circuits-Blank 12 - 16 - 0
Left Hand (looking in the direction
Return Side
of airflow)
Supply Side Left Hand
Total Capacity 265110 Btu / hr
Sensible Capacity 265110 Btu / hr
12075 cfm (actual air at coil leaving
Air Flow
side)
Air EDBT 95.00°F
Air EWBT 63.00°F
Air LDBT 69.79°F
Air LWBT 54.81°F
Moisture 0.00 lb / hr
Leaving Air
503 fpm
Velocity
FLUID 35% Ethelyne-glycol
Entering Temp. 68.00°F
Leaving Temp. 74.92°F
Water Flow 85.00 gpm
1. Water Velocity 5.80 ft / sec
2. Water Press.
29.97 ft. WC
Drop
3. Drain Pan Depth 6 in

Air Handler System - Evaporative

Cooling Medium
Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Engineered Air
Supplier Engineered Air 752-4411
Free Face Size 156 in x 86 in
Face Velocity 518 ft / min
Evap. Cooling Efficiency 89 %
Water Flow to 4" Media 7.8 gpm (approx.)
Water Flow to 8" Media 15.6 gpm (approx.)

Air Handler System - Pleated Air

Prefilter
Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Engineered Air
Supplier Engineered Air 752-4411
Series LM
Size 156 in x 86 in

Air Handler System - Outside Air

Damper
Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Industrial Acoustics Company
Supplier Engineered Air 752-4411
Series CD-403
Size Width: 150-1/4 in, Ht: 36-1/4 in
Blade Type Airfoil shape, 3" width
Blade Action 35% Opposed Blade

Air Handler System - Return Air

Damper
Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Industrial Acoustics Company
Supplier Engineered Air 752-4411
Series CD-403
Size Width: 150-1/4 in, Ht, 24-1/4 in
Blade Type Airfoil shape, 3" width
Blade Action 8% Opposed Blade

Air Handler System - Return Fan

Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Greenheck
Supplier Engneered Air Inc. 752-4411
Model 54-PLN
Elevation 5400 ft
Airstream Temp 70°F
Startup Temp 70°F
Volume 40300 cfm
Static Pressure 3.270 in WC
Tip Speed 10297 ft / min
Output Velocity 2382 ft / min
Fan Speed 725 rpm
Fan Rotation CW (viewed from motor drive side)
Fan Power 30.3 Hp
Motor Power 40 Hp
Motor Voltage 460 V, 3 ph
Motor Speed 1725 rpm
Motor Efficiency 93.6 %

Air Handler System - Supply Fan

Plan Symbol AHU-1
Submittal Ref. # 15855
Location I-09
Manufacturer Greenheck
Supplier Engneered Air Inc. 752-4411
Model No. LM-48-C
Model 54-PLN
Elevation 5400 ft
Airstream Temp 70°F
Startup Temp 70°F
Volume 48300 cfm
Static Pressure 4.940 in WC
Tip Speed 12555 ft / min
Output Velocity 2855 ft / min
Fan Speed 884 rpm
Fan Rotation CW (viewed from motor drive side)
Fan Power 54.7 Hp
Motor Power 60 Hp
Motor Voltage 460 V, 3 ph
Motor Speed 1725 rpm
Motor Efficiency 93.6 %