ASHRAE Journal - October 2013 - 73

research report

create make-up air systems that supply air at a velocity greater than 200 fpm (1 m/s) at
the supply grille while maintaining safe conditions in exit pathways within the atrium.
Thermal-Fluid
1602-RPApplications Behavior of Mixed Refrigerants for Cryogenic
December 2012 – November 2014; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Principal Investigator, Greg Nellis; TC 10.1, Custom
Engineered Refrigeration Systems; Co-Sponsored by: TC 1.3 Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow

The objective of the proposed work is the measurement of the heat transfer coefficient
under heating conditions and pressure drop associated with mixed gas working fluids
flowing at cryogenic temperatures while evaporating and condensing. These data will be
correlated in a manner that is familiar to refrigeration equipment designers. Mixed refrigerants are widely used to extend vapor compression type cycles to lower temperatures.
The thermodynamic and thermal-fluid behavior of these mixtures is critically important
to the industrial designer.

1603-RP Role of HVAC Systems in the Transmission of Infectious Agents in
Buildings and Intermodal Transportation
April 2013 – March 2015; University of Colorado, Principal Investigator, Shelly Miller; TC 9.3, Transportation Air Conditioning;
Co-sponsors: TC 2.4, Particulate Air Contaminants and Gas Contaminant Removal Equipment; TC 9.6, Healthcare Facilities; EHC,
Environmental Health Committee

Preventable infections cause thousands of deaths annually and cost billions of dollars in societal costs. There are insufficient data to specify and quantify the minimum
ventilation requirements in high risk environments like hospitals, schools, aircraft, cruise
ships, subways, and other spaces to prevent infectious disease transmission. This project
is Phase I of a larger research agenda to understand, document and improve the role of
HVAC in reducing and mitigating airborne pathogens transmission (APT) in buildings
and transportation environments. The Phase I tasks are to (1) review protocols used in
previous studies specifically those that seek causal relationship between HVAC and APT
in buildings and public transportation; (2) identify and demonstrate HVAC parameter
measurements in at least two building environments that are at risk for infectious disease
transmission, and in at least two high occupant density transportation environments that
are at risk for infectious disease transmission.

1604-RP Demand Controlled Filtration for Cleanrooms

September 2011 – September 2013; Engsysco, Inc.; Principal Investigator, Wei Sun; TC 9.9, Clean Spaces

Very little research has been done on dynamic control of airflow to control particles
in cleanrooms - matching airflow to the desired contamination limits. The high energy
use and resulting cost for typical systems today and concern over availability of electricity suggests that the ventilation rate should be adjusted in order to achieve the desired
cleanliness yet minimizing excess airflow. Up till now, this technology was not applied, as
real time particle measurement systems did not have both sufficient precision, reliability,
and cost effectiveness, and controls did not have adequate reaction time. Also owners and
operators of industrial cleanrooms have been hesitant to make changes to the air exchange
rates in cleanrooms due to misconceptions that varying flow rates through cleanroom
filters will disrupt the flow and cause particle counts to increase.
The main objective of this project is to establish a scientific approach to implement
demand controlled filtration (ventilation rate) for cleanrooms for the two cleanroom
classes (ISO, 7 and 8, (10 000 and 100 000) that have the broadest application. For example, these two classes comprise 85 to 90% of pharmaceutical class rooms. Based on
the results of this research, a future project could well research applying this approach
to other more stringent classes.

1606-RP Laboratory Testing of Flat Oval Transitions to Determine Loss
Coefficients
October 2011 – January 2014 (P); University of Illinois; Principal Investigator, Yuanhui Zhang; TC 5.2, Duct Design

More reliable data and/or a large database of fitting loss coefficients will help ASHRAE
members and others to better design ductwork for their clients, enabling more accurate
pressure drop calculations and less safety factor. This will allow fans to be sized properly,
reducing energy consumption and wasted material. It should also generate an increase
in sales for the ASHRAE Duct Fitting Database.
The objective of this research is to test flat oval transition fittings to determine their
total pressure loss coefficients, and update the ASHRAE Duct Fitting Database (2009). The
tests are to be conducted in compliance with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 120-2008, “Method
of Testing to Determine Flow Resistance of HVAC Ducts and Fittings”, except (1) the flow
measuring station velocity shall not exceed 1.5 m/s (300 fpm), and (2) the entrance duct
length to the test fitting shall be increased from 10 hydraulic diameters to 12 diameters.

1609-RP

Defining the Capabilities, Needs and Current Limitations of Building
Information Modeling (BIM) in Operations and Maintenance for
HVAC&R

September 2013 – February 2015; Hitchcock Consulting; Principal Investigator, Robert J. Hitchcock; TC 7.3, Operation and
Maintenance Management; Co-sponsor TC 1.5, Computer Applications; TC 7.1, Integrated Building Design; GPC 20

As the use of BIM technologies gains momentum across the industry, ASHR AE
members, including mechanical system design engineers, product vendors, software
developers, controls engineers, commissioning authorities, facility managers, researchers

and academic instructors will all be impacted by BIM. ASHRAE seeks to meet the needs
of ASHRAE members and the HVAC design, installation and operations communities by
committing the resources and developing specific goals to establish comprehensive, consistent HVAC&R terminology, data dictionaries, rule sets, and schema for its Handbooks,
Standards and Guidelines to support the HVAC&R and building industry. Given the $10.5
billion cited as potential savings in the NIST interoperability study (Gallaher et al. 2004)
improvements in interoperability are likely to have a continual and quantifiable impact
across a large cross-section of ASHRAE and its partner organizations.
The objective of this project is to develop and formally document use cases that specify
the work processes and data exchange requirements for five professional activities related
to the operation and maintenance of HVAC&R equipment and systems. The five use cases
will be based on existing ASHRAE Standards where appropriate. Each use case will be
documented according to the format of ASHRAE Guideline 20: Documenting HVAC&R
Work Processes and Data Exchange Requirements published in 2010. Compendia of
common use case elements from the selected topics will also be documented to support
consistency across these use cases and others to follow.
Update Climatic
1613-RP Fundamentals Design Data in Chapter 14 of the 2013 Handbook of
June 2011 – October 2013 (P); Numerical Logics Inc.; Principal Investigator, Didier Thevenard; TC 4.2, Climatic Information;
Co-sponsor: TC 4.1, Load Calculation Data and Procedures

The climatic design conditions in the HOF Chapter 14 are fundamental for the sizing and
design of building energy systems to allow for optimal energy efficiency measures and ensure
that the design conditions are related to the energy system capacity to meet the climatic
loads in a probabilistic sense. Regular updating of the climatic conditions is critical in this
respect for many practical reasons and to show due diligence in a world of changing climate.

1616-RP

Revise Load Calculation Application Manual (2009)

April 2012 – January 2014 (P); Oklahoma State University; Principal Investigator, Jeff Spitler; TC 4.1, Load Calculation Data
and Procedures

The objective of the project is to revise the Load Calculations Application Manual, 1st
edition to produce a second edition. The second edition will: Incorporate results from
recently completed ASHRAE research projects RP-1453, RP-1363, RP-1311 and RP-1362.
Consider incorporating results from ASHRAE research projects RP-1482 and RP-1416, due
to be completed in 2010 and 2011 respectively, if completed in time and if they provide
relevant data for the Manual. Update the example problems to utilize floor plan and construction data for the renovated ASHRAE HQ building. Update the software spreadsheets
included with the manual to incorporate the new load calculation procedures. Produce
separate IP units and SI Units versions of the manual.
Data and
1633-RP Operation Interfaces for Advanced Building Maintenance and
July 2011 – January 2014; KGS Buildings LLC; Principal Investigator, Stephen Samouhos; TC 1.4, Control Theory and Application; Co-sponsors: TC 7.5, Smart Building Systems; TC 7.6, Building Energy Performance; TC 7.9, Building Commissioning

Develop a set of standard data-driven metrics, interfaces and dashboards for advanced
building operation and management, segmented by building typology and stakeholder
needs; prototype those dashboards, document methods of data collection, and test those
metrics with real building data. Provide this body of work to help fill the void in standards
literature for informing designers and practitioners on how they can use building data to
improve building operations, energy efficiency, comfort, and sustainability. Perform fundamental field work by evaluating EMCS data and interfaces in 50+ buildings across the United
States including 5 different EMCS platforms and 6 different building types, interview 50+
stakeholders, prototype and test 15+ complete dashboards, and review the pertinent technical
literature. The following unsolicited research proposal is a direct adaptation of a previous
ASHRAE RFP 1502-TRP, which received no bids when it was circulated for bids in spring 2010.

1641-RP

Effect of Unsaturated Fluorocarbon Contaminants on the Reliability
and Performance of HVAC&R Equipment

September 2013 – August 2014; Spauschus Associates, Inc.; Principal Investigator, Ngoc Dung Rohatgi; TC 3.3, Refrigerant
Contaminant Control; AHRTI $22,500 co-funder

Understanding the reliability and performance implications of higher levels of unsaturated fluorocarbons would be beneficial to any manufacturer and user by; 1)increasing
the sustainability of refrigerant by allowing less restrictive use of HCFC and HFC’s in the
market place by potentially allowing higher levels of unsaturants. 2) Improving system
reliability and performance. 3) Reducing the efforts by reclaimers to maintain unnecessarily low levels of unsaturants in reclaimed or recycled refrigerants. 4) Extending testing
methodology developed as a model to evaluate the new HFO refrigerants for potential
reliability and performance issues. The objectives of this project are to determine chemical
reactivity of unsaturated fluorocarbon contaminants in refrigerants and their impact on
performance and reliability of HVAC&R systems.

1646-RP

Measurements of Thermal Conductivity of Pipe Insulations at Below
Ambient Temperatures and in Wet Condensing Conditions with
Moisture Ingress

June 2012 – July 2014; Oklahoma State University; Principal Investigator, L. Cremaschi; TC 1.8, Mechanical System Insulation

The ASHRAE Fundamentals Chapter 23 - Insulation for Mechanical Systems - emphasizes that the thermal performance of insulation on cold piping systems lacks credible

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ASHRAE Journal - October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - October 2013
