ESL-HH-94-05-26
DEHITMIDlFICATION WITHOUT REHEAT
USING FACE AND BYPASS DAMPERS
Dale T. Warila
Member Group Technical Staff
Texas Instruments
Dallas, Texas
ABSTRACT: handle it's heat load. A cleanroom air handling unit
Installations with chill water cooling, needing only needs 60" to 70" discharge air temperatures to
constant air volume and dehumidification, remove it's heat load. The 55' discharge AHU
traditionally use a draw through air handling unit system's cooling coil will by design remove moisture
with a cooling coil and a re-heat coil. from the air as it m l s . The cleanroom system's
Dehumidification is achieved by overcooling the cooling coil modulated to deliver 60' to 70°
discharge air to wring out moisture and then re- discharge air will not be cold enough to do adequate
heating it back to the desired temperature. This dehumidification. This condition requires the control
method works well but at the added expense of over system to lower the cooling coil temperature to
cooling plus re-heating. A properly controlled Face remove moisture while not allowing the discharge
and Bypass unit can deliver the same air conditions temperature to drop. This report will investigate
by blending return air and cold deck air with no need solving this problem using a traditional re-heat unit
for re-heat. This system uses only the amount of and a face and bypass unit.
cooling energy needed to do the job and no re-heat
energy, in some cases as much as 50% less energy
than the re-heat method.
Reheat unit:
INTRODUCTION:
The concept developed from the desire to reduce the
installation and operating costs of air handling unit
equipment for cleanrooms at Texas Instruments.
The special demands of a cleanroom require a
constant high volume of circulating air as well as
close pressure, temperature and humidity control.
Small cleanrooms often use one air handler unit to Fig. l
provide all four of these requirements.
This system uses a draw through air handling unit to
Dehumidification~roblem: take advantage of the fan heat generated as added re-
A higher than nonnal air volume to cooling load
ratio results in high dehumidification costs. for room v
has both a
Cleanrooms require large air flows through HEPA When delu
filters for particle removal. The cleanroom nominal passes thrc
*
requirements of 72" F. 2' and 45% Rh. 5% * down to re
heated bac
dictate a discharge dew point of 47O to 54O F.
Because of the high volume of air required for temperatw
particle removal, the discharge air temperature does humidity c
not need to get as cold as in normal HVAC designs and an equ
to remove the same amount of heat. An office area Together t:
air handler may be designed around a 55' discharge energy act^
temperature and normal discharge air volumes to
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
Face and bypass unit: does not provide adequate dehumidification in low
load high humidity conditions.
CHLLW Face and Bmass Unit
VATER A slandard face and bypass unit modulates it's
discharge temperature by maintaining a constant
cold deck temperature and mixing it with varying
amounts of entering [Link] the discharge air
temperature is lowered from entering air temperature
the discharge dew point drops rapidly and assumes a
slow chancing profile through out the normal
operating range. ( see fig. 3 )The lowered dew point
at higher discharge temperatures occurs because
some portion of the total air stream still passes
This system uses a draw through air handling unit to
through the cold cooling coil, removing moisture
take advantage of the fan heat generated as added re-
that subtracts from the final mixture.
heat. It uses a mixing box section to add building air
for ventilation and room pressure control. The unit
has a modulating cooling coil and an additional
section installed behveen the film box and the coil
section. This Face and Bypass section has a set of Discharge Temperature Vs. Dew Point
cross linked dampers that gives it the ability to flow Profiles
all the air through the coil or divert any amount
needed around it. The air passage around the coil is
designed to have the same pressure drop as the coil
so the total discharge air volume does not change
when any portions of the air is modulated around the
coil. When dehumidification is needed the cooling
coil temperature is lowered to remove the moisture
needed. A portion of the entering air bypasses the
cooling coil to hold the discharge temperature
needed to maintain room temperature. The result is
the same temperature and humidity conditions as in
the re-heat method, while using only the amount of
energy required to do the job.
Technical Background
Air handling unit dehumidification Psychrometric comparison
characteristics
Reheat Unit:
A Psvchrometric descri~tionof the re-heat cvcle
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
Room conditions
Re- conditions
Face and Bwass Unit: 46OdbI45"wb (E). The amount of air passing through
The face and bypass cycle shows air entering the coil the coil is calculated form the dry bulb ratio needed
at 74"db/62Owb @). to make the mixture.
It is a mixture of return air at 73°/60"wb (B) and
building air at 80°db/710wb
. . ~ -
(C). The
.
cold deck
.
Cold deck % = (74-59) / (74-46) = 53%
- - - - - -
oling energy needed
ing energy
e coil temperature
at a temperature that
ater available some
the delta.
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
A. n o & ,59°wb Room conditions
B.n o & ,6 M Retarn conditions
C. 80°db, 71% Building air
D. 74Odb, 62% Entering air
E. 46Odb, 45% Coil temperature
F.5g0db,53% Discharge temperature
G. 64Odb, 56% Fmal discharge temperature
40 50
Graphic depiction: Face and Bypass Unit
These ~iguresshow the air handling unit
configurations, air paths and a scaled depiction of
the dry bulb and dew point changes as air passes
through the unit.
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
2. Dehumidifjrto room specification at lowest actual configuration of the air handler as it was
energy cost. installed.
3. Make the air handling unit and controls
maintainable.
4. Monitor and historically trend the systems
operation.
Face and Bypass Unit
Lay Out
Room s~ecifications:
1. Class 100,000 Cleanroom 12,500 Sq. Ft
2. Temperature 72 Deg. F + or - 2 Deg. F
3. Humidity 45 % Rh. + or - 5 % Rh. DISCHARGE
'it H20
FlETURN
1. 6000 CFM air flow at 5" H20 static pressure
2. Heat load of 88,000 BTLTs
3.42 Deg. F cooling water at 10 PSID
4. 90 Deg. F heating water at 20 PSID
5. Summer Psychrometrics
building air conditions 80°F 62% Rh 25%
Mix
return air conditions 73OF 45% Rh 75%
Mix
Air handler desim:
Pressure and ventilation requirements dictated the
use of a mixing box to add fresh air from the
building space. The Psychometrics were done using
the room and building air conditions and mbctum.
The calculations indicated that normal
dehumidification conditions could be accomplished
with out re-heat. They also reviled that higher chill Controls desim:
water temperatures, greater room or building air This cleanroom required close tolerance temperature
latent loads or high building air mixtures could control at [Link] allowed relative humidity to drift
possibly present conditions the face and bypass unit between the 40%Rh and 50%Rh limits. A cascade
would not have the capacity to handle. The decision control system was chosen to help stabilize room
was made to install a re-heat coil as a back up conditions during dehumidificationchange over
measure. Under extreme conditions the unit can periods. This system also smoothes out sudden
close the bypass damper and function at the full changes in chill water temperature or pressure from
capacity of a re-heat unit. The cooling coil was sized the central utility plant.
for the M l load of a re-heat unit. The oversize Room temoerature :
cooling coil and demeased coil face air flow helps The outer (room temperature) control loop uses a
keep the chill water differential temperature from wall mount sensor located 54" Erom the floor. It
dropping when the face and bypass unit requires a changes the discharge temperature needed by
low coil temperature. This along with a lower total adjustmg the set point of the inner (discharge
cooling requirement help the chill water pumping temperature) control loop. The discharge I
savings at the central utility plant. A vertical draw temperature sensor is mounted just down stream of
through face and bypass unit with a re-heat coil in the fan discharge. The output of this loop modulates
the fan section was chosen to accommodate the space the chill water valve to acquire the discharge
limitations of this project. This figure shows the temperature needed to cool the room.
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
Room dehumidification : 0 1/26/94 of the cleanroom air handling in the
A dehumidification control loop will on a call for dehumidification mode. It shows the air handling
dehumidification take control of the chill water valve unit face damper open 76.5% to the cooling coil and
away from the duct temperature loop and begin to the re-heat valve 0% open. It farther shows the duct
modulate the cold deck to the colder temperature steam humidifier 0% on and the building air make
needed for moisture removal. The duct temperature up damper 100% open. Temporary wall construction
begins to drop and the duct temperature loop in the area prevents the room from pressurizing. The
responds by modulating open the bypass damper to room set points at this time are 74" deg. 48% Rh.
reestablish control. The dehumidification control and .05" H20. The screen also shows the room
sequence involves to main control loops that interact temperature at 73.g0 relative humidity 48.8% and
with each other. The face and bypass dampers effect room pressure -05" H2o. all within specifications.
the amount of air flowing through the cold deck
which effects it's temperature and the cold deck
temperature effects the amount of air the face and
bypass dampers modulates around the coil.
Room humidification :
A separate humidity control loop gave the advantage
of specific loop tuning for the steam humidifier used
in this installation rather than tuning for the whole
humidification system. It also provided an individual
set point to create an energy conserving
humidification / dehumidification dead band.
Room Dressure :
A room pressure control loop modulated the building
air damper to hold a slightly positive pressure in the
room.
Backuo dehumidification : Results:
The concern that under extreme conditions the The biggest concern for system has been it's
dehumidification cycle could require the face and controllability. The room load changes dramatically
bypass damper to limit the amount of air passing from full operation of the equipment with as many
through the cooling coil to such a small amount that as 10 people to all off and no occupants. The control
it could not function needed to be addressed. In this system has been able to adjust to these difticult load
event the face and bypass damper would reverse and changes with out upset in the room conditions. The
begin to modulate back open to the coil. The duct unit has proven to be stable during humidification to
temperature would begin to fall and the duct dehumidification changeover. The temperature is
temperature control loop would begin to modulate -
being held within + or .75 Deg. and humidity is
the re-heat valve. The entire sequence reverses as being held within + or - 1 % Rh. The units' capacity
dehumidification requirements subside. to dehumidifv was tested to it's maximum this
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
ESL-HH-94-05-26
This project was done on a normal cleanroom project Lower operating cost than re-heat system. If re-
control budget and did not have funding for added heat coil is eliminated lower initial cost can be
instrumentation to show actual savings. realized from the elimination of the coil and
associated hot water piping.
CONCLUSION:
Re-heat dehumidification is least efficient at low With proper controls set up and loop tuning the
load conditions. Face and bypass has itk highest system has proven to be stable under all
percentage savings at these conditions. conditions. Two smaller projects have been
installed in the last year using the face and
The previous Psychrometric calculations were bases bypass system. Both have operated through the
on a 6,000 CFM unit with entering mixed air summer with out problem.
conditions of 74Odb 162Owb. A comparison made
with identical load room load conditions and lower Considerations:
entering air conditions of 72"db / 61°wb shows the Psychrometric study done to determine system
increased percentage savings. capacity and savings.
Adequate coil selection for dehumidification.
Proper control valve sizing.
Re-heat Unit 202,500
DDC controls make the loop tuning and monitoring.
Face 6 Bypass 140,400
Delta 62,100 30% Thorough controls set up and commissioning to
insure stability.
Heating BTU1e
Re-heat Unit 62,100
Face 6 Bypass
Delta 62,100 100%
I would like to aclcnowledge the help and
encouragement of my colleagues on this project.
o t a l BTU Savings 124,200 45.9%
Pat H u b e m (mechanic design)
George Havlik and Kim Wirt. (controls support)
Dave Marr, Brad Milam (installation)
The North Building crew (installation)
Mark Leypoldt (monitoring system)
In memory W.C."CooleyWRichardson (inspiration)
Re-heat Unit 167,000
Face 6 Bypass 94,500
Delta 72,500 43%
I
Re-heat Unit 72,500
Face 6 Bypass
Delta 72,500 100%
o t a l BTU Savings 145,000 59%
I
Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Improving Building Systems in Hot and Humid Climates, Arlington, TX, May 19-20, 1994
