Special Topic: HVAC Engineering

Learning Outcomes

1 Recognise and understand the mechanism of heat and mass transfer, and solve problems in which mass transfer occurs (including situations in which heat transfer is occurring simultaneously).
2  Understand the nature and behaviour of moist air through:
a) Acquiring familiarity with the relevant parameters (relative humidity, wet-bulb temperature, etc.);
b) Determining moist air property values from both fundamental equations and the psychrometric chart.
3 Use a psychrometric chart in the representation and analysis of heating, cooling, humidifying, dehumidifying and mixing processes involving moist air.
4 Explain the construction, characteristics and limitations of, and undertake the analysis of heat and mass transfer components used in heating and air-conditioning plant (heat exchangers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, cooling towers).
5 Quantitatively assess the sensible (i.e. temperature-influencing) and latent (i.e. moisture-influencing) contributions to the total heating or cooling load on a building (or space within a building), including allowance for solar gains through both glazed and unglazed components of the building envelope.
6 Describe the factors that influence human thermal comfort, the reasons for those influences, and the acceptable limits on the influencing factors.
7 Select and size (by analysis, not rules-of-thumb) the air-conditioning components necessary to achieve required thermal comfort under given design conditions.
8 Recognise and quantify the opportunities for energy and cost savings in the design and operation of HVAC plant.
9 Interpret HVAC-related requirements and produce professional written reports to communicate analyses and recommendations suitable for industrial clients.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Prerequisites

For further information see Mechanical Engineering .