INFRARED HVAC APPLICATION HVAC PDF Free Download

INFRARED HVAC APPLICATION HVAC 101

John Cannamela Owner ISC Building Diagnostics HVAC Journeyman since 1989 Start up test and Balance since 1992 Level II Thermographer Level II Vibration Level I Eddy current Fuel burning,pipe fitting, refrigeration, CFC universal cards

H.V.A.C. Hot Very Angry & Cranky

HVAC Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning

SAFETY SYSTEMS ARE TYPICALLY RUNNING SYSTEM MAY CONTAIN EXTREME PRESSURES SYSTEMS MAY BE ON ROOF OR CLOSED SPACES SYSTEM ACCESS CAN BE LIMITED YOUR EQUIPMENT MAY BE HARMED IF YOU RE NOT CAREFUL

SAFETY NOT ONLY CAN YOU GET HARMED BUT THE EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT DESERVES SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS SUCH AS CARRING CASE MOISTURE EXPOSURE YOUR EQUIPMENT MAY BE HARMED IF YOU RE NOT CAREFUL

HVAC INFRARED APPLICATIONS THEORY HVAC 101 HEAT TRANSFER IS THE BASIC PREMISE TO ALL HVAC DIFFERENT MEDIUMS ARE USED DIRECT OR INDIRECT SYSTEMS MOVE THE MEDIUMS MEDIUMS ADD OR REMOVE HEAT

HVAC 101 Basic refrigerant system a direct system removes heat directly from the area of desired cooling such as a room or vehicle. The heat is removed with a medium and delivered to an area away from the subject area. In most cases it is refrigerant

HVAC 101 Basic refrigerant system a direct system removes heat directly from the area of desired cooling such as a room or vehicle

HVAC 101 Basic refrigerant system a direct system removes heat directly from the area of desired cooling such as a room or vehicle Some are referred to as package systems Some are split systems

HVAC 101 This a package system

HVAC 101 This a split system the heat rejection is piped to another location system

HVAC 101 An indirect system use another medium to remove the heat then transfers it to then another medium, such a s a typical building system. Water or glycol is a typical medium pumped through a building

HVAC 101 Basic building HVAC system chiller Water cooled chiller

HVAC 101 Basic building HVAC system chiller air cooled chiller

HVAC 101 Basic building HVAC system

REQUIRED CONDITIONS SYSTEMS CAN BE ACTIVE OR INACTIVE LOADED SYSTEMS WOULD BE BEST SYSTEMS NEED TO BE AS CLOSE TO NORMAL RUNNING AS POSSIBLE FOR SOME CONDITIONS

DETECTABLE CONDITIONS HOT OR COLD CONDITIONS WET OR DRY CONDITIONS LOADED OR PARTIALLY LOADED CONDITIONS

LIMITATIONS SOME SYSTEMS HAVE LIMITED ACCESS SOME SYSTEMS NEED ADDITIONAL TECHNICIAN SOME EXTRA TRAINING MAY BE NEEDED

OTHER TOOLS PRESSURE GAUGES (WATER,AIR REFRIGERANT)

OTHER TOOLS MANOMETER FOR BUILDING/DUCT PRESSURE THERMO ANEOMETER FOR WIND SPEED AND AIR MOVEMENT RH/TEMP

OTHER TOOLS MULTIMETER THERMOCOUPLE MOST DIGITAL MULTIMETERS COME WITH ATTACHMENTS

ITEMS COILS MOTORS FANS COMPRESSORS AIR FLOW ISSUES DYNAMIC MEDIUM FLOW EFFECTS BUILDING ISSUES

HVAC 101 Residential unit

Furnace Split system with furnace

HVAC 101 Commercial roof top unit

Chiller Water cooled Chiller

Boiler

HVAC 101 Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning To heat or remove heat by means of a medium or fluid transfer usually with air or water. Air is harder to control due to its low density. By control I mean to transfer heat to and from an area. Since air is a low density fluid it dissipates rapidly when it leaves its controlled containment. Air is forced through duct work with fans then is circulated to and from an area to transfer heat.

HVAC 101 Specifically areas are designed for certain volume of air. This volume has to be distributed according to demand or load. This is where test and balance comes into play. Water and or liquid is another means of heat transfer. Liquid is moved in various ways pumps for example. Liquid is often passed in a heat exchanger thus the name.

Commissioning of HVAC Commissioning or start up of systems are performance and sequence verification. System tools are normally measuring electrical, pressure, and volume units of given components performance and quantities according to engineering specs.

Buildings and HVAC/IR Buildings have many issues that can be seen with infrared. The building HVAC can be manipulated so IR can see these issues quickly Some basic knowledge of building systems is required to adjust the building or to know how its operating +/

Infrared Thermal Imaging and HVAC Until recently Infrared technologies have been ignored or simply put,unknowingly left out of the HVAC world. One reason was limited access due to cost, it was expensive to buy a camera just for experimentation.

Specific uses air flow Air as a fluid in the HVAC world plays a major part of removing heat from a given space. It has low density and cannot be seen with many instruments including IR. Many tools and testing instruments have to be used to understand what the air is doing

Specific uses air flow Air flow & laminar flow below is an example of uneven air distribution. Balance measures quantity not quality measured with a flow hood in most cases

Specific uses This is an air diffuser throwing air in one direction

Specific uses air flow Other instruments are required for reading air flow IR can not be used for volume,only as an indicator of mode and direction of flow. We can only see the effect with IR

Specific uses This is an example of poor laminar flow or how straight the air is flowing across an area

Specific uses This is an example of good laminar flow the air is more evenly distributed across the coil

Laminar flow video

Hot water coil not maximized

Specific uses The one towards the rear of the photo is throwing air evenly

FLIR Systems 97.0 F air flow pattern 90 Tstat 80 68.1 70 Specific uses This show air flowing near a thermostat altering the accuracy of room temp

Specific uses roof top units Many buildings have central plants for their HVAC, but there are many smaller office building with rooftop units. These RTU s in many respects can be more complex than a Chiller.

Specific uses roof top units The RTU s come in many sizes and options. The idea of a RTU is to provide heating and cooling into a given space. The RTU s need routine maintenance. Infrared can help with that maintenance. There many dynamics to these units that can be diagnosed with IR provided you are an HVAC person or at least have some background in the trade. Some large units can take many hours to go through.significant time can be reduced with a scan

Specific uses roof top units. The building envelope is also affected by the RTU. The testing of buildings doesn t happen quarterly like a PM contract. The advantage of IR can also help with building pressure issues. Pressure issue are related to the RTU in some way be it infiltration or min outside requirements. I m not saying that the units need to be done every quarter but it should be done at both extremes of outside temperature.

Specific uses roof top units Almost everything thermal takes place on these units. Infrared is mostly used for electrical which goes without saying, but there are so many more things to be revealed by air flow and fluid flow in general. Heat goes to cold and the whole process happens roof top unit.

Specific uses roof top units IR alone can not be used but can accelerate the process of elimination Most of the imaging is qualitative other instruments are used to verify quantitative readings ;i.e. thermocouple, air flow reading tools

Specific uses RTU This RTU has many airflow leaks at the access doors gaskets fail over time.

Specific uses RTU This rtu has air leaks plugged coils many thermal anomalys

Duct leaks Ductwork leaks can be seen but not quantified with IR if the system is in heating or cooling The system mode can be changed quickly

Duct leaks Hot air leaking from duct

Duct leaks Cold air leaking from duct FLIR Systems 135.9 F 130 120 110 100 90 80 79.5

Air effects Sometimes the system is operating properly but is affected by other conditions IR can reveal air patterns

Air in this case for winter should wash the windows with warm air

Operation anomaly There are 2 zones next to each other. 1 is in heating 1 is in cooling

Operation anomaly The tstat is on an exterior wall not a good practice. The cold infiltration is causing the control to be in heat mode prematurely which is a large energy loss

Operation anomaly

Tracing ductwork Finding ductwork in an old plaster ceiling FLIR Systems 23.0 C 22 21 20 19 18 16.8 17

Tracing Hydronics

Specific uses compressors Systems use compressors to move refrigerant around a medium that exchanges heat. IR can help narrow down which units to trouble shoot issues Other meters are needs such as leak detectors,multimeters,gauges

Visual of RTU

Specific uses compressors Only half the unit is on line. The reason will be determined with other tools but the time is saved as to which system is down

RTU short cycling air

Visual condensing unit

Specific uses This condensing unit should have an even pattern other tools will be needed to troubleshoot but IR lets us see how bad it is

Visual of split system air is blocked on the evaporator which causes lower pressure

Specific uses compressors This a semi hermetic compressor with slugging liquid refrigerant a major no no for compressors. They move gas not liquid. IR helps see which one.

Specific uses compressors In some cases IR can see refrigerant leaks with a qualifier a leak tester must be used IR can not be used alone for refrigerant leaks

Chiller application A chiller chills water well removes heat from the water that is circulated through the building or process The system cools water with a refrigerant just like the air system but it cools water, indirect

Chillers

Chillers Water cooled Chiller

Chiller application

Chiller 3 stage

Chiller This chiller had non condensables (air) entrained

Chiller This is after the gaskets were changed

Specific uses cooling towers Cooling towers exchange heat usually with water flowing over a field and are assisted with a fan. The fan draws air over the field. Even distribution is needed or energy is wasted

Specific uses cooling towers This cooling tower is not pulling air evenly more air is being pulled at the top which is very inefficient

Specific uses cooling towers This cooling tower is not pulling air evenly some of the discharge air is being short cycled as seen on top in red

Specific uses boilers Boilers or water heaters need to retain the heat in the water and vent the combustible out safely. IR can see heat loss and combustion loss Other tools such as combustion analysis are needed

Specific uses boilers This boiler has uneven distribution

FLIR Systems 265.0 F 260 240 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 50.0 60 Specific uses boilers This boiler has uneven distribution

Specific uses boilers This boiler has an anomaly we found gasket had fallen down causing carbon monoxide to enter the room

FLIR Systems anomaly Specific uses boilers This boiler has an anomaly we found gasket had fallen down causing carbon monoxide to enter the room

Specific uses boilers This boiler was checked after IR was used and found to have a cracked refractory

Specific uses boilers This boiler has flue gasses leaking into the room

Steam Steam is not always associated with HVAC We can see steam leaks and trap issues Advantage it can be seen at a distance Disdvantage some issues can be seen such as partial failure so ultrasound is the prefered method Ultrasound need noise from flow.if the flow is blocked then IR is the better method

Steam applications Ultra sound is the standard practice for steam trap surveys but what if there isn t any sound

Steam applications This valve is blocked only IR can find this type of problem

Steam applications This trap is blowing by this was in a crawl spacewith IR it can be seen at a safe distance FLIR Systems Ar1:max 211.2 234.9 F 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 61.3

Steam tracing IR can be used to find leaks or piping FLIR Systems 78.3 F 70 60 50 37.8 40

CRAC Computer room air conditioning Server rooms with CRAC

CRAC Computer Room Air Conditioning Down flow in this case RETURN AIR Server Server CRAC FLOOR w/perforated tiles S U P P L Y 2/17/2015 100

CRAC Testing involves many instruments most of which measure temperature and volume and velocity of fluids, air being one of those fluids. Seeing the air is very tough smoke is one of those things we use, however the effect of air is what we are also concerned with, the effect with regards to comfort. Air movement is a necessary requirement in buildings. Where and how it moves is not easy to control after it leaves the ductwork /plenum

CRAC Here comes IR, now we can see the effect of the air and can direct it to a more beneficial area for comfort or process. www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com 102

Server

Thermal picture of server with uneven air www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com 104

Infrared picture after adjustment. The average temp went from 78 to 72 Added cabinet to offer resistance to air on the end panel. The air is now higher on the server. www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com 105

Here is an example of an air flow problem on CRAC system 2/17/2015 www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com 106

Air with poor distribution can be from congested or shallow floor 8 shallow and full of cabling www.iscbuildingdiagnostics.com 107

Special applications 3D Infrared in collaboration with Stockton Infrared Why have a 2D image when you can see the room in 3D infrared High resolution imaging

Special applications

Special applications This is a computer room in 3D infrared

Special applications raised floors Data floor leaks can be found with infrared Raised floor plenums are used in more applications than just data server rooms. these floors have to be as leak free as possible in order to perform. The system is similar to the duct system in above ceiling installation.

Special applications raised floors