The Specific Objectives of This Chapter Are To:: 38.2 - General Rules For Duct Design

The specific objectives of this chapter are to: 1.
Important requirements of an air conditioning duct (Section 38.1 ) 2.

General rules for duct design (Section 38.2) 3. Classification of duct
systems (Section 38.3) 4. Commonly used duct design methods (Section
38.4) 5. Principle of velocity method (Section 38.4.1 ) 6. Principle of equal
friction method (Section 38.4.2) 7. Principle of static regain method
(Section 38.4.3) 8. Performance of duct systems (Section 38.5) 9. System
balancing and optimization (Section 38.6) 10. Introduction to fans and fan
laws (Section 38.7) 11. Interaction between fan and duct system (Section
38.8) At the end of the chapter, the student should be able to: 1. State the
important requirements of an air conditioning duct and the general rules
to be followed in the design of ducts 2. Classify air conditioning ducts
based on air velocity and static pressure 3. Design air conditioning ducts
using velocity method, equal friction method or static regain method 4.
Explain typical performance characteristics of a duct system 5. Explain the
importance of system balancing and optimization 6. State and explain the
importance of fan laws, and use the performance of fans under off-design
conditions 7. Describe interaction between fan and duct and the concept
of balance point Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 2
Introduction: The chief requirements of an air conditioning .38.1

duct system are: 1. It should convey specified rates of air flow to
prescribed locations 2. It should be economical in combined initial cost,
fan operating cost and cost of building space 3. It should not transmit or
generate objectionable noise Generally at the time of designing an air
conditioning duct system, the required airflow rates are known from load
calculations. The location of fans and air outlets are fixed initially. The duct
layout is then made taking into account the space available and ease of
construction. In principle, required amount of air can be conveyed through
the air conditioning ducts by a number of combinations. However, for a
given system, only one set results in the optimum design. Hence, it is
essential to identify the relevant design parameters and then optimize the
.design
General rules for duct design: 1. Air should be .38.2

conveyed as directly as possible to save space, power and material 2.
Sudden changes in directions should be avoided. When not possible to
avoid sudden changes, turning vanes should be used to reduce pressure
loss 3. Diverging sections should be gradual. Angle of divergence 20 o 4.
Aspect ratio should be as close to 1.0 as possible. Normally, it should not
exceed 4 5. Air velocities should be within permissible limits to reduce
noise and vibration 6. Duct material should be as smooth as possible to
reduce frictional losses Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 3
Classification of duct systems: Ducts are classified .38.3

based on the load on duct due to air pressure and turbulence. The
classification varies from application to application, such as for residences,
commercial systems, industrial systems etc. For example, one such
:classification is given below

Low pressure systems: Velocity 10 m/s, static pressure 5 cm H 2O (g)
Medium pressure systems: Velocity 10 m/s, static pressure 15 cm H 2O
(g)
High pressure systems: Velocity > 10 m/s, static pressure 15<ps 25 cm
H2O (g) High velocities in the ducts results in: 1. Smaller ducts and hence,
lower initial cost and lower space requirement 2. Higher pressure drop and
hence larger fan power consumption 3. Increased noise and hence a need
for noise attenuation Recommended air velocities depend mainly on the
:application and the noise criteria. Typical recommended velocities are
Residences: 3 m/s to 5 m/s
Theatres: 4 to 6.5 m/s
Restaurants: 7.5 m/s to 10 m/s If nothing is specified, then a velocity of 5
to 8 m/s is used for main ducts and a velocity of 4 to 6 m/s is used for
the branches. The allowable air velocities can be as high as 30 m/s in
.ships and aircrafts to reduce the space requirement
Commonly used duct design methods: Figure .38.4

38.1 shows the schematic of a typical supply air duct layout. As shown in
the figure, supply air from the fan is distributed to five outlets (1 to 5),
which are located in five different conditioned zones. The letters A to I
denote the portions of the duct to different outlets. Thus A-B is the duct
running from the supply air fan to zone 1, A-B-C is the duct running from
supply fan to conditioned zone and so on. These are known as duct runs.
The run with the highest pressure drop is called as the index run. From
load and psychrometric calculations the required supply airflow rates to
each conditioned space are known. From the building layout and the
location of the supply fan, the length of each duct run is known. The
purpose of the duct design is to select suitable Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur
4 dimensions of duct for each run and then to select a fan, which can
provide the required supply airflow rate to each conditioned zone. Due to
the several issues involved, the design of an air conditioning duct system
in large buildings could be a sophisticated operation requiring the use of
Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. However, the following methods
are most commonly used for simpler lay-outs such as the one shown in
Fig.38.1. 1. Velocity method 2. Equal Friction Method 3. Static Regain
method
FAN
A
B
CD
E
F
G
H
1
32
4
5
F i g . 3 8 . 1 : Typical air conditioning duct lay-out
Velocity method: The various steps involved in this method are: .38.4.1
i. Select suitable velocities in the main and branch ducts ii. Find the
diameters of main and branch ducts from airflow rates and velocities for
circular ducts. For rectangular ducts, find the cross-sectional area from
flow rate and velocity, and then by fixing the aspect ratio, find the two
sides of the rectangular duct iii. From the velocities and duct dimensions
obtained in the previous step, find the frictional pressure drop for main
and branch ducts using friction chart or equation. Version 1 ME, IIT
Kharagpur 5 iv. From the duct layout, dimensions and airflow rates, find
the dynamic pressure losses for all the bends and fittings v. Select a fan
that can provide sufficient FTP for the index run vi. Balancing dampers
have to be installed in each run. The damper in the index run is left
completely open, while the other dampers are throttled to reduce the flow
rate to the required design values. The velocity method is one of the
simplest ways of designing the duct system for both supply and return air.
However, the application of this method requires selection of suitable
velocities in different duct runs, which requires experience. Wrong
selection of velocities can lead to very large ducts, which, occupy large
building space and increases the cost, or very small ducts which lead to
large pressure drop and hence necessitates the selection of a large fan
leading to higher fan cost and running cost. In addition, the method is not
very efficient as it requires partial closing of all the dampers except the
one in the index run, so that the total pressure drop in each run will be
.same
For example, let the duct run A-C-G-H be the index run and the total
pressure drop in the index run is 100 Pa. If the pressure drop in the
shortest duct run (say A-B) is 10 Pa, then the damper in this run has to be
closed to provide an additional pressure drop of 90 Pa, so that the required
airflow rate to the conditioned zone 1 can be maintained. Similarly the
dampers in the other duct runs also have to be closed partially, so that the
total pressure drop with damper partially closed in each run will be equal
.to the pressure drop in the index run with its damper left open fully
Equal friction method: In this method the frictional pressure .38.4.2
drop per unit length in the main and branch ducts (pf/L) are kept same,
,.i.e
...
pL
pL
pL
pL
D
f
C
f
B
f
A
f = = = = (38.1) Then the stepwise
procedure for designing the duct system is as follows: i. Select a suitable

frictional pressure drop per unit length (pf/L) so that the combined initial
and running costs are minimized. ii. Then the equivalent diameter of the
main duct (A) is obtained from the selected value of (pf/L) and the
airflow rate. As shown in Fig.38.1, airflow rate in Version 1 ME, IIT
Kharagpur 6 the main duct is equal to the sum total of airflow rates to all
,.the conditioned zones, i.e
A
Q.
=++++= =
N
1i
i
.
5
.
4
.
3
.
2
.
1
.
A
.
QQQQQQQ (38.2) From the airflow rate and (pf/L) the equivalent
diameter of the main duct (Deq,A) can be obtained either from the friction
,.chart or using the frictional pressure drop equation, i.e
(973.4 1)
A
f
852.1
A
.
A,eq
pL
Q022243.0
D = (38.3) iii. Since the frictional pressure drop per unit
length is same for all the duct runs, the equivalent diameters of the other
:duct runs, B to I are obtained from the equation

...
QD
QD
QD
C
973.4
eq
852.1
.
B
973.4
eq
852.1
.
A
973.4
eq
852.1
iv. If the ducts are rectangular, then (38.4) = = = .
the two sides of the rectangular duct of each run are obtained from the
equivalent diameter of that run and by fixing aspect ratio as explained
earlier. Thus the dimensions of the all the duct runs can be obtained. The
velocity of air through each duct is obtained from the volumetric flow rate
and the cross-sectional area. v. Next from the dimensions of the ducts in
each run, the total frictional pressure drop of that run is obtained by
,.multiplying the frictional pressure drop per unit length and the length, i.e
.L...
pL
.P;L
pL
P
B
B
f
B,fA
A
f
A,f = = (38.5) vi. Next the dynamic pressure losses
in each duct run are obtained based on the type of bends or fittings used
in that run. vii. Next the total pressure drop in each duct run is obtained
by summing up the frictional and dynamic losses of that run, i.e., Version
1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 7 += = + B,dB,fBA,dA,fA ...ppP;ppP (38.6)
viii. Next the fan is selected to suit the index run with the highest pressure
loss. Dampers are installed in all the duct runs to balance the total
pressure loss. Equal friction method is simple and is most widely used
conventional method. This method usually yields a better design than the
velocity method as most of the available pressure drop is dissipated as
friction in the duct runs, rather than in the balancing dampers. This
method is generally suitable when the ducts are not too long, and it can
be used for both supply and return ducts. However, similar to velocity
method, the equal friction method also requires partial closure of dampers
in all but the index run, which may generate noise. If the ducts are too
long then the total pressure drop will be high and due to dampering, ducts
.near the fan get over-pressurized
Static Regain Method: This method is commonly used for high .38.4.3
velocity systems with long duct runs, especially in large systems. In this
method the static pressure is maintained same before each terminal or
branch. The procedure followed is as given below: i. Velocity in the main
duct leaving the fan is selected first. ii. Velocities in each successive runs
are reduced such that the gain in static
pressure due to reduction in velocity pressure equals the frictional
pressure drop
in the next duct section. Thus the static pressure before each terminal or
branch is maintained constant. For example, Fig.38.2 shows a part of the
duct run with two sections 1 and 2 before two branch take-offs. The
velocity at 1 is greater than that at 2, such that the static pressure is same
at 1 and 2. Then using the static regain factor, one can write: =+
ppRpp 2,v1,v2,d2,f
(38.7) where pf,2 and pd,2 are the frictional and
dynamic losses between 1 and 2, and p v,1 and pv,2 are the velocity
pressures at 1 and 2 respectively. Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 8
ps,1=ps,2
1
2
F i g . 3 8 . 2: Principle of static regain method iii. If section 1 is the outlet
of the fan, then its dimensions are known from the flow rate and velocity
(initially selected), however, since both the dimensions and velocity at
section 2 are not known, a trial-and-error method has to be followed to
solve the above equation, which gives required dimensions of the section
at 2. iv. The procedure is followed in the direction of airflow, and the
dimensions of the downstream ducts are obtained. v. As before, the total
pressure drop is obtained from the pressure drop in the longest run and a
fan is accordingly selected. Static Regain method yields a more balanced
system and does not call for unnecessary dampering. However, as velocity
reduces in the direction of airflow, the duct size may increase in the
airflow direction. Also the velocity at the exit of the longer duct runs may
become too small for proper air distribution in the conditioned space.
Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur 9

The Specific Objectives of This Chapter Are To:: 38.2 - General Rules For Duct Design

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The specific objectives of this chapter are to: 1.

Important requirements of an air conditioning duct (Section 38.1 ) 2.

Introduction: The chief requirements of an air conditioning .38.1

General rules for duct design: 1. Air should be .38.2

Classification of duct systems: Ducts are classified .38.3

:classification is given below

Commonly used duct design methods: Figure .38.4

procedure for designing the duct system is as follows: i. Select a suitable

:duct runs, B to I are obtained from the equation

(38.7) where pf,2 and pd,2 are the frictional and

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