CHAPTER 4

HUMAN COMFORT

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 CHAPTER CONTENTS
4.1 HEAT BALANCE OF HUMAN BODY
4.2 HEAT BALANCE
4.3 ASHRAE COMFORT CHART
4.4 ACCLIMATIZATION
4.5 INSIDE DESIGN CONDITIONS
4.6 VENTILATION AIR AND INFILTRATION
4.7 OUTSIDE DESIGN CONDITIONS
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• The main objective of air conditioning is to maintain the
environment in enclosed spaces at conditions that induce
the feeling of comfort to all occupants of the spaces.

• This feeling of comfort is influenced by a number of air

related parameters which are inside space temperature,
humidity, air motion and its speed and the air purity.

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4.1 HEAT BALANCE OF HUMAN BODY
• The normal human body temperature is 37.2°C. Thus heat is
continuously transferred from humans to their ambient air.
• For body thermal equilibrium to be maintained, heat must
be produced within the body in amounts equal to the heat
loss by the body.
• Metabolism is the biological process by which body cells
generate heat from consumed food. The efficiency of this
transformation is bout 20%.
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• In general, human body cooling takes place by four different
modes:
1. Evaporation: There are two mechanisms of evaporation,
witch are respiration and insensible skin moisture.
2. Radiation: The heat loss from the body by this mode accounts
for about 45% of total heat loss of the body.
3. Convection: The heat loss by convection accounts to about
30% of the total heat loss by the body.
4. Conduction: The heat loss by this mode of heat transfer is
negligible.
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4.2 HEAT BALANCE
• The rate of heat produced by the body through metabolism
M, is measured in Met units.
• A Met unit is equal to 58.2 W/m2 of the surface area of the
body.
• This thermal power is consumed in a number of ways, such
that the relation between metabolism M and the heat losses
from the body must be satisfied by the following relation.
M–P=E+R+C+S (4-1)

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• where M is the metabolic rate (W), P is the power output of the
individual, E is the rate of heat dissipated by evaporation from
the body, R is the rate of heat dissipated by radiation from the
body, C is the rate of heat dissipated by convection, and S is the
stored or the residual thermal power.
• For healthy bodies, S must be zero, i.e. the body remains at a
constant temperature. However, if S is positive, the temperature
of the body starts rising. This is an indication of sickness. If S is
negative, the temperature of the body starts dropping. This is
also an indication that the individual is sick.
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Table 4-1 shows the average metabolic rate for a mixture of people
representing both sexes and all ages and undertaking various activities.

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Table 4-2 gives instantaneous values of both latent and sensible heat rates
given off by individuals undertaking different activities in units of Watt.

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• The listed values of latent heat gains of Table 4-2 goes directly
into the air in the space without delay. On the other hand, the
sensible heat gains of Table 4-2 is delayed due to the storage of
part of the energy in the space and its furniture. Thus the values of
the instantaneous heat gains of Table 4-2 must be multiplied by a
factor called the cooling load factor for occupants, (CLF)oc.

• Values of the (CLF)oc. are given in Table 9-16 *. It should be

noted that the value of (CLF)oc. is taken equal to 1.0 if the number
of occupants is large or when the cooling equipment are turned On
and Off when the occupants arrive and leave the space.
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4.3 ASHRAE COMFORT CHART
• Comfort conditions are obtained as a result
of tests for which people are subjected to air
at various combinations of temperatures and
relative humidities.
• Studies conducted by ASHRAE with relative
humidity between 30% and 70% indicated
that 98% of people feel comfortable when
the temperature and relative humidity
combinations fall in a comfort zone such as
that indicated in the ASHRAE comfort chart
of Fig. 4-1.
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• The most recommended inside design conditions for comfort
are 24.5°C dry bulb temperature and 40% relative humidity
with air velocity less than 0.23 m/s.
• The cross-hatched area of Fig. 4-1 represents the comfort
zone for individuals wearing average clothing and performing
light activities and is used for winter air conditioning.
• The parallelogram area shown on ASHRAE comfort chart
represents the comfort zone for individuals wearing light
clothes. It is used as a comfort zone for summer operation.

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4.4 ACCLIMATIZATION
• Acclimatization is the state of temporary feeling of comfort
experienced by people when they move from unconditioned
environment to a conditioned space.

• For example, if one moves from an environment at 40°C to

a space at 30°C, he feels comfortable for a short period of
time before starting to feel uncomfortable.

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Example 4-1
A lecture hall with seating capacity of 100-student is to be air conditioned during winter season. The dry bulb
and wet bulb temperatures are maintained at 23°C and l6°C, respectively. Calculate the followings:
(a) The relative humidity in the lecture hall. Determine if the hall inside conditions qualify it as comfort zone
or not.
(b) The heat gain due to occupants (seated and doing very light work). Take (CLF)oc = 1.0
(c) The fraction of latent heat and sensible heat given off by occupants.
SOLUTION
(a) Referring to the psychometric chart, Fig. 3-1 (a), one can obtain that the relative humidity inside the lecture
hall is 50% at 23°C db and l6°C wb. Figure 4-1 indicates that the inside condition at 23°C db and 50% relative
humidity falls in the comfort zone for winter operation.
(b) Table 4-2, for seated people that doing very light work, gives instantaneous sensible heat gain of 70 W per
person and a latent heat gain of 44 W per person.
Therefore;
Total sensible heat gain = 100(70)/1,000 = 7 kW
Total latent heat gain = 100(44)/1,000 = 4.4 kW
and total heat gain = 7 + 4.4 = 11.4 kW
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(c)

Latent heat fraction = Latent heat gain/Total heat gain

Therefore;

Latent heat faction = 4.4/11.4 = 0.39

Similarly;

Sensible heat fraction = 7/11.40 = 0.61

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 4.5 INSIDE DESIGN CONDITIONS
The inside design conditions refer to temperature, humidity, air speed, and
quality of inside air that will induce comfort to occupants of the space at
minimum energy consumption.
Factors that control the selection of the inside design conditions:
(1) The outside design conditions.
(2) The period of occupancy of the conditioned space.
(3) The level of activity of the occupants in the conditioned space.
(4) The type of building construction and its use.
Usually, the range of temperature difference between inside and outside
air is from 4 to 12 °C. The relative humidity range for the conditioned
space varies from 30% to 60%. 17
Table 4-3
The recommended inside
design conditions for summer
and winter air conditioning.

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The inside design dry bulb
temperatures usually specified
for sensible winter heating of
specific types of spaces are
presented in Table 4-4.

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4.6 VENTILATION AIR AND INFILTRATION
Outside air may be introduced to the space by one of the following ways:
(1) As ventilation air that mixes with room return air before flowing over
the heating or cooling coil. A fan of certain volumetric flow rate is
used for this purpose.
(2) By normal infiltration through the clearance areas (cracks) around
windows and doors.
(3) By infiltration due to door opening.
It should be noted that ventilation air is introduced intentionally through
the air conditioning equipment. Therefore, ventilation air causes
additional load on the cooling and heating coils. on the other hand,
infiltrated air is considered as a part of the space heating or cooling loads.
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 In general, outside ventilation air must be introduced to the space
return air for one or more of the following reasons:
(1) Outside air must be supplied to the inside space at a rate that
ranges from 8.0 to 20. 0 liters of air per second per occupant according
to the type of application, as indicated in Table 4-5.
(2) Carbon dioxide must be removed or diluted such that it does not
exceed 0.1 % of the air by volume (see Table 4-7).
(3) Body smells and other odors must be removed from the air
conditioned space or diluted as a result of introducing outside fresh air.
(4) Ventilation air must be introduced to spaces (such as workshops,
factories, laboratories etc.) that are characterized by producing various
contaminants (such as carbon monoxide, acetone, chlorine, etc.)
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Note: In some cases, exhaust air
from one space is used as a
supply air to another space
where different contaminants
are generated, examples are:
offices and corridors exhaust to
toilet rooms and dinning areas
exhaust to kitchens.
The exhaust air in this case is
considered as an acceptable
outside ventilation air.
Example 4-2
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Table 4-6 lists infiltration
rates in terms of number
of air changes per hour
for different type of
spaces. Air changes per
hour is defined as the
complete change of the
space air volume each
hour.

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EXAMPLE 4-2
An auditorium seats 1500-person. It is desired when it is full capacity to keep the inside dry bulb and wet bulb
temperatures at 25.5 °C and 19 °C, respectively. The outside dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures are 32°C and
23°C, respectively. The total rate of heat gain through outside walls, partions, windows, roof and floor is 34.3
kW. The heat added to the space from the occupants is over and above this heat gain. The supply air
temperature is 16°C.

Calculate the followings:

a- Required volumetric flow rate of ventilation air.
b- Sensible and latent heat loads due to occupants for evening show, assuming ( CLF)oc. = 1.0.
c- Mass and volumetric flow rates of supply air.

SOLUTION
The volumetric flow rate of ventilation for occupants seated in the auditoriums is obtained from Table 4-5 as
8 L/s per person.
Therefore;
The rate of ventilation air = 8(1,500)
= 12,000 liter/s
= 12 m3/s 24
From the psychometric chart, one can obtain that:
Vo = 0.89 m3 /kg at 32°C db and 23°C wb.
Therefore;
Mass flow rate of ventilation air = 12/0.89 = 13.5 g/s
(b) From Table 4-2, the sensible and latent heat gains for evening show are 70 and 30 W per person,
respectively. Therefore;
Total sensible heat = 70(1,500)(1.0)/1,000 = 105 kW
Also:
Total latent heat = 30(1,500)/1,000 = 45 kW
Thus
Total heat load for the theater = 105.0+45+34. 3
= 184.3 kW
And
The total sensible Heat gain = 105.0+34.3 = 139.5 Kw
( c) The mass flow rate of supply air is obtained from the relation:
Therefore;
Qs = ṁs Cp (Ti -Ts) 25
Therefore;
139.3 = ṁs (1.0) (25.5 - 16.0)
ṁs = 14.7 kg/s
To find Vs then:
Vs = ṁs × vs (a)
In order to find the supply state (s) then:
SHR = QS/(QS + QL)
Therefore;
SHR = 139.3/184.3 = 0.750
The supply air state (s) is located on the psychrometric chart by the intersection of the SHR line that passes
through the given inside design conditions and Ts = l6°C.
From the psychometric chart then:
vs = 0.83 m3/s
Put in Eq. (a) then:
Vs = 14.7(0.83)
= 12.2 m3/s
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In industrial areas, one major function of ventilation air is the removal of
contaminants that are hazardous to human wellbeing. The Threshold
Limit Value (TLV) for these contaminants should not be exceeded. These
TLV values are given in Table 4-7 where the limits for different
contaminants are listed in units of part per million ppm, and mg/m3. To
convert mg/m3 to ppm unit, the mole volume is used, which is equal to
24.4 liters at 25°C and 760 mm Hg. Therefore:

ppm = 24.4/M (4-2)

where M is the molecular weight of the contaminant.

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4.6-1 Ventilation Air For Spaces Producing Contaminants
One of the main objectives of
mechanical ventilation for workshops
and laboratories is the removal or the
reduction of the produced contaminants
to their threshold limit value, TLV. The
flow rate of ventilation air required to
remove or reduce a certain contaminant
to its TLV is given by the following
relationship:
(4-3)

where Ci is the TLV inside concentration of the contaminant which is given in Table 4-7,
Co is its outside concentration, is the contaminant rate generated inside the space and
is the ventilation air rate of flow that must be supplied to the space . 28
4. 7 OUTSIDE DESIGN CONDITIONS
The outside design temperature To , for calculating the heating load for a given
application is selected to be the minimum outdoor temperature that exceeds 97½
percent (recent ASHRAE standards increased this value to 99.6%) of the total hours
during winter season ( months of November, December, January and February). On
the other hand, the outdoor design temperature To , for calculating the cooling load is
the maximum outdoor temperature that equals to or exceeds 2½ percent (or 1.0%
according to recent ASHRAE value) of the total hours during summer season
(months of June, July and August).
Table 4-8 gives the outside design conditions for both summer and winter seasons
for some selected locations throughout the world. The ASHRAE handbook of
fundamentals contains extensive tabulation of outdoor temperature of selected
locations all over the world.
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EXAMPLE 4-3
The carbon dioxide generated in an industrial workshop is 0.01 m3 /h. The dimensions of the workshop are 20
m by 20 m and 4 m in height. The carbon dioxide concentration in the outside fresh air is 0.034%. Calculate
the rate of fresh air needed for the ventilation of the workshop to keep the carbon dioxide within the
acceptable TL V limits.

SOLUTION

Equation ( 4-3) gives:

V = F/(Ci – Co)

From Table 4-7 then the threshold limit value, TLV for carbon dioxide is 5,000 ppm or 5,000 ppm. The 5,000
ppm represents 0.5% or 0.005.

Also, the percentage of carbon dioxide concentration in the outside fresh air is 0.00034.

Using Equation (4-3), then:

V = 0.0/(0.005 - 0.00034) =2.1 m3/h

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Table A-11 of the appendix lists
winter and summer outdoor
conditions for selected locations in
Jordan. The outside temperatures of
Table A-11 are listed according to
local Jordanian code.

The failure of the air conditioning

system to maintain the inside design
conditions during short periods of
severe weather conditions in summer
and winter is not critical operation
case.

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Thank you

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