Ductwork
Ductwork
A booklet produced by SCANDIACONSULT, Box 35, S-164 93 Kista, Sweden at the request of Lindab Ventilation AB.
Class C is thus three times tighter than Class B and nine times tighter than Class A. It is far simpler and more economical to connect various parts of a circular duct system than that of a rectangular: Connecting two circular spiral wound ducts only requires one fitting, whereas rectangular ducts are connected by use of a complete separate flanging system. The perimeter, that has to be sealed, is shorter on a circular duct: For the same free cross sectional area, a square duct has 13% longer perimeter than the circular one, for a rectangular duct with side ratio 1:2, the perimeter is 20% longer, 1:3 30%, 1:4 41% and 1:5 51%.
Ducts with a high degree of air-tightness are increasingly in demand for many reasons: Leakage class Rising energy prices - the cost for filtering, heating, cooling and distributing air is rising rapidly. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) has to be guaranteed today. An increasing number of existing buildings are being classified as "Sick Buildings". One of the remedies to this is to increase the amount of fresh air intake. With circular "air-tight" ducts it is often easier and more economical to fulfill these increasingly stricter demands.
Pressure Difference in Pa 2
Fig 1 A rectangular duct 250 x 150 mm can, without any increase in pressure drop, be replaced by a circular duct of 200 mm diameter within the same space. The in-situ cost for the circular duct is approximately 50% of the cost for the rectangular duct.
Fig 2 Flat rectangular ducts can often be replaced by several circular ducts without any need for extra space. The in-situ cost is lower as shown in Fig 4 The use of two or more circular ducts instead of one rectangular gives beneficial advantages with better airflow control, simplified air balancing and more flexible fire zone sectioning.
Fig 3 Circular ducts are approved with thinner layers of outside fire insulation material than the equivalent rectangular ducts. Fire insulation of ventilation ducts, minimum demands as specified by Swedish standards. The outer temperature must not exeed 140C during the time (15,30 or 60 minutes) the fire is ongoing inside of the duct with a fire curve as defined by ISO 834. Insulation Thickness tmm Insulation Outer Inner Type net matting A15: sheet net matting A30: sheet net matting A60: sheet 30 30 50 50 100 100 40 30 70 60 140 120 30 50 100 30 50 100
Fig 4 The In-situ cost (inclusive of transportation, packaging and waste), for ducts with the same equivalent diameter.
In the bar chart the cost of, e.g. 3 ducts of 315 mm diameter (used as shown in Fig 2), is compared to that of a rectangular duct 1000 x 250 mm dimension. 4
One circular duct with the same equivalent diameter as the rectangular duct has been used as a base - this is always the most economical alternative.
The drawings below, Fig 6 - 9, give circular alternatives to the rectangular system shown in Fig 5 at the top. All systems are calculated for the flow of 0.5 m3/s. The highest and lowest pressure drop is
shown for all systems as is the maximum velocity. To the right of each drawing the in-situ costs for the systems are shown in relation to that of the rectangular system.
Fig 5 System A
When the total air flow into a large room is to be supplied equally through a number of supply air registers, the design shown in the two examples below results in the same duct pressure drop through all the registers the air Installation with Rectangular Ducts Fig 10 System R
passes through the same duct length and through the same number of bends on its way to each register. Also here, the cost is considerably lower and approximately halved, when using circular ducts.
No.
1 2A 2B 3 4A 4B 5 6A 6B 7
Air Flow (l/s) 2,400 2,400/1,200 1,200 1,200/600 600 600/300 300
Duct Dim. (mm) 500x400 500x400 500x400/ /400x300 400x300 400x300 400x300/ /400x200 400x200 400x200 400x200/ /250x200 250x200
Air Veloc. (m/s) 12.0 12.0/ /10.0 10.0 10.0/ /7..5 7.5 7.5/ /6.0 6.0
Nos. off 1 1 2 2 2 4 4 4 8 8
Pressure Drop ea. 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.0 tot. (Pa) 28.0 45.0 27.4 36.0 12.0 9.0 8.0 165.4
Total Pressure Drop (Pa) Total Installation Cost: R Installation with Circular Dukts Fig 11 System S
No.
Air Flow (l/s) 2 400 2 400/1 200 1 200 1 200/600 600 600/300 300
Duct Dim. (mm) 500 500/400 400 400/315 315 315/250 250
Air Veloc. (m/s) 12.2 12.2/9.5 9.5 9.5/7.7 7.7 7.7/6.1 6.1
Nos. off 1 1 2 2 4 4 8
Pressure Drop ea. 2.2 1.9 1.9 1.6 tot. (Pa) 21.1 44.0 17.7 32.0 8.4 21.0 6.7 150.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Ducts with external fire insulation comparisons between rectangular and circular ducts
(Mineralwool covered with Aluminium foil)
Duct Perimeter A15 .785 .87 .900 30 .75 40 Thickness (mm) Fire class A30 50 .71 70 Insulation Material Volume (l/m duct) Fire class A15 A30 A60 24 .67 36 39 .62 .63 78 .62 126 .92 .85 .60 Relative Installation costs (cost/meter duct) Fire class A15 A30 A60
20mm
40 mm 30 mm
Nominal Internal Diameter mm 63 80 100 125 160 200 250 315 355 400 450
Perimeter area per metre length in m2 0.198 0.251 0.314 0.393 0.502 0.628 0.785 0.990 1.115 1.257 1.413
Nominal Internal Diameter mm 500 560 630 710 800 900 1000 1120 1250 1400 1600
Perimeter area per metre length in m2 1.571 1.760 1.979 2.229 2.512 2.826 3.142 3.517 3.927 4.400 5.030
Low
Medium
High
Rectangular and flat oval ducts must always be manufactured tailor made for every individual installation, the variations are here practically infinite as both widths and heights vary, a bend can either turn around the flat or the high side, etc., the alternatives are thus too many to admit any batch production and automation of the manufacturing process. The circular ducts can easily be cut to exact length on site and are thus much more flexible to alterations etc. The rectangular ducts have to be made exactly to measure, any site alteration and adjustment is impossible and ducts of incorrect length have to be scrapped and replaced.
As these slip joints cover the duct width, they require an available space of the same order on either side of the duct. Often, when space is restricted, e.g. when ducts are installed above the false ceiling in an office corridor or in a duct shaft and the ducts are only accessible from one side/end, severe problems arise due to the impossibility of applying mastic or tape to the inwards facing joint sections.
This will not only raise the costs of the installation and prolong the time needed for the job, but also reduce the air-tightness qualities of the ducts.
However the HVCA DW/142 specification for sheet metal ductwork specifies the following gauges for spirally wound ducts:
Maximum diameter mm 762 1020 0,8 1,0
1525 1,2
With these accurate but inexpensive devices the ventilation systems can be equipped with fixed measuring units, a low cost method which enables regular check-ups or continuous monitoring. A decreasing air flow has often been found to be the reason for a sound building turning "sick" - A fact that has been stressed on many air quality conferences during the last few years. Also when making site measurements for control purposes, the circular ducts are easier to work with. When using the classic Prandtl-method the circular duct, regardless of size, has to be measured through two holes at right angles. The rectangular duct will have to be measured through several test holes, the larger the duct, the higher the number of holes for collecting the data needed to get the same measuring accuracy as for the circular duct.
The complete weight for a typical system comprising a normal combination of straight ducts, bends and diffusers, is between 30 and 40 % higher for a rectangular system than for a circular duct system.
As per SIS 82 72 06
As per SIS 82 72 04 8
9. Flat oval
When limited ceiling void restricts the use of a circular duct system and a multiple system of circular ducts is impractical, a flat oval duct system offers an interesting alternative. Flat oval ducts are manufactured from spirally wound circular ducts which have been formed into an elliptic shape in specially designed machines. See fig 12. Some of the basic advantages of spirally wound circular ductwork permeate through to the flat oval system such as: More rigid than rectangular since it is manufactured from the seamed spiral duct. Elliptic shape with round corners gives a lower contact area for a given cross section than rectangular resulting in superior air flow. The rigidity reduces reverberation and noise penetration. The duct system is joined together with slip joints without any need for fitting and bolting separate flanges onto the ducts and fittings. An aesthetic appearance well suited for exposed applications. Compared with circular ducts, the flat oval shows some of the drawbacks which apply to the rectangular system such as: An endless variety of widths and heights which makes standardisation, batch production and ex-stock deliveries impossible. The manufacturing is more labour intensive and skill demanding. It is assumed that the total in-situ cost level is approximately the same as fore rectangular. Fig 12
is far stiffer than rectangular and hence reduces the level of penetration through the duct wall. Where the air flow requires a ductwork diameter too large to fit into the false ceiling area, several smaller diameter ducts should be used or as second best, flat oval ducting, since in noise terms it is false economy to use the conventional rectangular type of ductwork resulting in noise problems at the commissioning stage.
the U-shaped strip will be folded back. The gasket will thus be better able to withstand negative pressure than positive, since negative pressure will tend to press the gasket lips harder against the inside of the duct. The system withstands positive pressure up to 3000 Pa (300 mm WG) and negative pressure down to 5000 Pa (500 mm WG). Under British and European standards, there is a greater tolerance range between duct and fitting as the diameters increase. In order to obtain the maximum seal for all dimensions, successively heavier rubber gaskets are used for increasing duct dimensions in accordance with the group divisions in the table below.
The advantages the push-fit system has to offer are of great importance mainly regarding installation time and savings on commissioning and it has therefore replaced the conventional slip joint system in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and is gradually spreading into other markets on the European continent. Leakage classification test All ductwork and fittings fitted with the LindabSafe system, are included in the type approval certificate of leakage up to and including class C. The leakage factor in (l/s) /m2 gives the flow of air that leaks out of or into the system in l/s relative to the surface area of the ductwork in m2.
Figure 14 shows the components and the layout of the system tested, constructed entirely of LindabSafe fittings, accessories and Lindab spirally wound ducting. No other forms of sealing agent were used. The joint length of the system was 41.8 metres. The perimeter area was calculated to be 27.9 m2.
Fig 14
Total system Total system leakage leakage flowrate received l/s (l/s)/m2
400 3.11 0.112 0.147 600 3.94 0.140 0.192 800 4.61 0.165 0.231 1000 5.16 0.184 0.267 1200 5.69 0.202 0.301 1400 6.19 0.222 0.333 1600 6.58 0.236 0.363 1800 6.94 0.249 0.392 2000 7.36 0.262 0.420 Uncertainty of flow measurement is within 3%.
Relationship received against class C % 76.2 72.9 71.4 68.9 67.1 66.7 65.0 63.5 62.4
1 SRFA Flexible aluminium duct 16 2 SRFG Flexible galvanized duct 17 3 RCU Pressed concentric 18 reducer 4 MF Female coupler 19 5 BU Pressed bend 45, radius 1.0xd 6 RCLU Elongated concentric 20 reducer 7 SLU Sound attenuator 3005 21 22 8 SR Spiral duct 23 9 PSDRUClean-out damper 10 BFU Segmented bend 90, 24 radius 1.0xd 11 TU Eccentric tee-piece 90 12 NPEU Expandible connector 25 13 EPF Female end cap 26 14 NPU Male coupler 27 15 TCU Concentric tee-piece 90
DRU Regulating damper SNPU Male coupler for flexible ducts SMF Female coupler for flexible ducts RLU Eccentric elongated reducer BSU Pressed bend 90, radius 1.5xd RU Eccentric short reducer ESU Male end cap BKCU 90 pressed bend with clean-out section BU Pressed bend 90 radius 1.0xd BU Pressed bend 15 1.0xd KLU Constant flow unit PSUU 90 collar saddle with gasket
Testing and classification The type approval certificate (Type approval no. 1358/88) was obtained by the National Testing Institute of Sweden, an independent government testing authority, carrying out a leakage classification test on the LindabSafe system. The test was carried out in accordance with Eurovent 2/2 (Air leakage rate in sheet metal air distribution systems). The graph illustrated below shows the leakage limits for classification C along with the received leakage readings of the test.
Manufacturers assume responsibility When a product has been certificated there is an important shift of responsibility towards the manufacturer. When supplying pre-sealed ductwork on the Scandinavian market, the specialist manufacturers guarantee the leakage performance of their tested and approved products. Since the onus of product performance falls on the manufacturers, the contractors only have to install in accordance with given recommendations to be safe-guarded against failure.
10
12. Strength
Circular ducts are normally made from a 137 mm wide steel strip which is seamed and formed into a perfect circular cross section (see illustration bellow). The technique employed gives each duct a rigidity that reduces the need of additional stiffeners. Negative pressure In installations in which pressure is very low in relation to the atmosphere, there is a risk that ventilation ducts will collapse. This phenomenon is known as buckling and occurs whithout warning at the weakest point in the system. The buckling spreads along the duct and as negative pressure increases it becomes completely flattened. The weakest point is often a "transit dent" in the duct. The bar-chart shows the maximum negative pressure an undamaged spirally wound duct can withstand without collapsing.
13. Summary
The benefits of circular ductwork are many and influential which has caused and is causing changes to traditional work patterns throughout Europe. This can be illustrated by a study of the Scandinavian countries where the following development has taken place: 1. 1960 and before Ductwork contractors manufactured and installed all equipment in square and rectangular form. 2. 1961 - 1970 Some specialist companies started batch production of circular ducts and fittings. The ductwork contractors started buying circular which they installed alongside the rectangular made in their own work shops. 3. 1971 - 1991 A total change of behaviour took place during which specialist manufacturers intensified their level of automation, research and development. During this period the ductwork contractors started sourcing more materials from specialist suppliers at lower cost than by producing in-house. The contractors gradually concentrated their resources on installing standardised prefabricated items which were readily available at short notice.
Positive pressure The risk of ventilation pipes bursting as a result of positive pressure is considerably less than that of collapse caused by low negative pressure. At a given positive pressure it is also probable there will be ruptures in the joint between the ducts long before the duct splits apart at the seam. If however the connections can be well fixed, the duct will burst along the seam. The bar-chart shows the maximum positive pressure an undamaged duct can withstand without bursting.
These changes were made possible through the contractors ability to adapt their work patterns around the system that provides the greatest competitive edge. Consulting Engineers changed their designs and specifications from tailor made design of specially constructed ductwork for every buildings specific needs to designs built around a standardised concept. An international comparison gives the following picture of the actual market share of circular ductwork and the way this has developed: % of total ductwork market
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 5 15 40 60 70 80 85 5 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 5 10 15 20 25 35 45
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