The ASHRAE Handbook is published in a series of four volumes, one of which is revised each year, ensuring that no volume is older than four years.
The Handbook can be purchased at the ASHRAE Bookstore by clicking on this link.
This TC is responsible for the following chapters in the HVAC Applications Volume
Industrial Air Conditioning
This chapter addresses air-conditioning systems for industrial facilities such as manufacturing plants, laboratories, processing plants, and power plants. HVAC systems provide the process environment (including temperature, humidity, air motion, air quality, noise, and cleanliness) to facilitate industrial processes and provide for the health, safety, and comfort of personnel. Many industrial buildings require large amounts of energy, in both manufacturing and maintaining building environmental conditions. This chapter provides system and building design guidance for energy conservation by using insulation, ventilation, and waste heat recovery.
Engine Test Facilities
Industrial testing of turbine and internal combustion engines is performed in enclosed test spaces to control noise and isolate the test for safety or security. These spaces are ventilated or conditioned to control the facility environment and fumes. Isolated engines are tested in test cells; engines inside automobiles are tested on chassis dynamometers. The ventilation and safety principles for test cells also apply when large open areas in the plant are used for production testing and emissions measurements.
Printing Plants
This chapter outlines air-conditioning requirements for key printing operations. Air conditioning of printing plants can provide controlled, uniform air moisture content and temperature in working spaces. Paper, the principal material used in printing, is hygroscopic and very sensitive to variations in the humidity of the surrounding air. Printing problems caused by paper expansion and contraction can be avoided by controlling the moisture content throughout the manufacture and printing of the paper.
Textile Processing Plants
This chapter covers (1) basic processes for making synthetic fibers, (2) fabricating synthetic fibers into yarn and fabric, (3) relevant types of HVAC and refrigerating equipment, (4) health considerations, and (5) energy conservation procedures. Most textile manufacturing processes may be placed into one of three general classifications: synthetic fiber making, yarn making, or fabric making. Synthetic fiber manufacturing is divided into staple processing, tow-to-top conversion, and continuous fiber processing; yarn making is divided into spinning and twisting; and fabric making is divided into weaving and knitting. Although these processes vary, their descriptions reveal the principles on which air-conditioning design for these facilities is based.
Photographic Material Facilities
Processing and storing sensitized photographic products requires temperature, humidity, and air quality control. Manufacturers of photographic products and processing equipment provide specific recommendations for facility design and equipment installation that should always be consulted. This chapter contains general information that can be used in conjunction with these recommendations. See Chapter 31 for information on general industrial ventilation.
Air Conditioning of Wood and Paper Product Facilities
This chapter covers some of the standard requirements for air conditioning of facilities that manufacture finished wood products as well as for pulp and paper product process operations.
Power Plants
This chapter discusses HVAC systems for industrial facilities for the production of process heat and power and for electrical generating stations and transmission facilities. Not every type of power plant is specifically covered, but the process areas addressed normally correspond to similar process areas in any plant. For example, wood-fired boilers are not specifically discussed, but the requirements for coal-fired boilers generally apply. Aspects of HVAC system design unique to nuclear power plants are covered in Chapter 28.
Nuclear Facilities
The HVAC requirements for facilities using radioactive materials are discussed in this chapter. Such facilities include nuclear power plants, fuel fabrication and processing plants, plutonium processing plants, hospitals, corporate and academic research facilities, and other facilities housing nuclear operations or materials. The information presented here should serve as a guide; however, careful and individual analysis of each facility is required for proper application.
Mine Ventilation and Air Conditioning
In underground mines, lower worker productivity, illness, and potentially death can result from poor working environment conditions. It is therefore extremely important to design, install, and manage underground ventilation systems with the necessary care and attention. Excess humidity, high temperatures, inadequate oxygen, and excessive concentrations of potentially dangerous gases can significantly affect the quality of the working environment if not properly controlled. Ventilation and air cooling are needed in underground mines to minimize heat stress and remove contaminants. As mines become deeper, heat removal and ventilation problems become more difficult and costly to solve. Caution: This chapter presents only a very brief overview of the principles of mine ventilation planning. The person responsible for such planning should either be an experienced engineer, or work under the direct supervision of such an engineer. Several English-language texts have been written on mine ventilation since 1980 (Bossard 1982; Hall 1981; Hartman et al. 1997; Hemp 1982; Kennedy 1996; McPherson 1993; Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa 1982; Tien 1999). The ventilation engineer is strongly encouraged to study these references.
Industrial Drying Systems
Drying removes water and other liquids from gases, liquids, and solids. The term is most commonly used, however, to describe removing water or solvent from solids by thermal means. Dehumidification refers to the drying of a gas, usually by condensation or by absorption with a drying agent (see Chapter 32 of the 2013 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals). Distillation, particularly fractional distillation, is used to dry liquids. It is cost effective to separate as much water as possible from a solid using mechanical methods before drying using thermal methods. Mechanical methods such as filtration, screening, pressing, centrifuging, or settling require less power and less capital outlay per unit mass of water removed. This chapter describes industrial drying systems and their advantages, disadvantages, relative energy consumption, and applications.
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