DUCT Duct System Sizing Program

Purpose

The purpose of DUCT is to compute sizes for supply or return air duct systems and to determine
the pressure / flow requirements for the fan. The program is limited to round ducts except rectangular to
round transitions are available at the air handling unit (AHU) and where rectangular diffuser boots are
required.

Methodology

Either the Equal Friction or the Balanced Capacity method may be chosen.

Operation Overview

The Main Window

The main window of DUCT is shown below. This window is used to enter data for:

File management
Air Properties
Air Supply System
Duct Fittings
System Type
Sizing Method
Duct Size Rounding
The menus: The menu items allow files to be read and saved, and the Air Properties to be entered.

The Air Supply Frame: Several different air supply configurations may be modeled with the
options available in the Air Supply Frame:

1. Conventional AHU The supply and return ducts are connected to rectangular openings in
the AHU. In this case the lost pressures for the coil(s), filters, and miscellaneous casing
losses are input along with the fan total pressure. The total pressure available for the supply
and return ducts is then determined. The total available AHU pressure may be proportioned
between the supply and return air ducts.
2. Fan Only AHU The supply and return ducts connect directly to the fan. The internal lost
pressures are set equal to zero and fan total pressure is entered. The total available AHU
pressure may be proportioned between the supply and return air ducts.
3. Plenum Pressure Given The supply or return ducts are connected to a plenum with known
total pressure. Plenum total pressure is the input, internal losses may be specified and the
total pressure may be proportioned between supply and return. The fan total pressure is
calculated. The plenums are part of the duct system. On the supply side, air is undergoing a
contraction to enter a duct and on the return side the air is undergoing an expansion.
4. Unit Equipment The external static or total pressure is known in this case and is entered for
fan total pressure, internal losses are set equal to zero. The user proportions the total pressure
between supply and return ducts.
5. Maximum Velocity Given An alternative to specifying the system total pressure is to give
the maximum allowable velocity for the duct system. This will occur in the first duct section
closest to the fan. The system total pressure is then calculated.

The Duct Fittings Frame: Shows a list of all fittings currently in the duct system and the
connections between the fittings. Command buttons allow adding, modifying or deleting of
fittings. The Add and Modify buttons cause the Fitting Screen to be displayed.

The System Type Frame: Allows a choice between a supply system and a return system. The
choice of system type controls the available pressure for the duct system, and the specific fitting
files used.

The Sizing Method Frame: Allows a choice between the Equal Friction method and the Balanced
Capacity method.

The Duct Size Rounding Frame: Allows a choice between:

Rounding to the nearest standard size

Rounding up to the next largest standard size
No rounding

In all cases, the duct sizes are first calculated without rounding, followed by the selected rounding.
The No Rounding choice is useful when rectangular ducts will be used.

The Calculate Duct Sizes Button: Computes duct sizes and Fan requirements, and displays the
results in a scrolling text window.
 The Fittings Window

The Fittings Window is shown below. It allows addition and editing of fittings. Any one of eleven
different fitting types may be selected using the tabs. Parameters may be entered for the selected
fitting, including a unique Fitting ID.

The Fittings Window is the primary tool for describing the duct network. For each fitting, the
following information must be entered:

The fitting type: selected by choosing the appropriate tab

The fitting ID: a unique string identifying the fitting
The specific fitting data: the required data is specific to each fitting type
The Fan-Side connection: selected by clicking on one of the available fitting in the Fan-
Side Connection frame. A fitting may be left disconnected by selecting Leave
Temporarily Disconnected. All fittings must be connected before the system
can be sized. Only unconnected fittings are shown in this area.

Note: the Fan-Side Connection for any fitting would be that fittings immediate neighbor on
the side closest to the fan.

The command buttons cause the following actions:

Show Picture: Shows a sketch of the selected fitting. The sketches were produced by
ASHRAE and are part of the AHSRAE Duct Fitting Database Software.
Cancel: Discards any information entered in this screen and returns to the main screen.
Accept: Accepts the information entered in this screen and returns to the main screen.
Next: Accepts the information entered on this screen, and remains in this screen to allow
immediate entry of the next fitting.
 To minimize the amount of effort required of the user to enter the duct system, the program will
make guesses for some of the required inputs. The guesses are the same whether you are entering
a supply air system or a return air system. Those guesses include:

The Fitting Type: a straight duct is assumed as the next fitting type. This should be
correct guess nearly half of the time.
The Fitting ID: is assumed to be an integer, with the smallest unused number being
assumed
The specific fitting data: is assumed to have the same values as the most recent previous
occurrence of the same fitting type.
The Fan-Side Connection: is assumed to be the fitting most recently entered. If the most
recently entered fitting is a Tee or a Wye, then the main side of the Tee or Wye
is assumed. If the most recently entered fitting is a Diffuser, (which may not be
a fan-side connection for any other fitting), then the branch side of the most
recently entered Tee or Wye is assumed. For additional clarification, see
examples 1 and 2. Those examples have fittings numbered in the order assumed
by the program.

Note: When you enter fittings in the order assumed by the program (starting with
the fan and working outward to the diffusers), it is not necessary to click in
the Fan-Side Connection frame, because the correct value will already be
selected. This is the fastest and simplest way to enter a duct system. You
may choose to number and/or enter the fittings in some other order, but
much more clicking and typeing will be required.

Practical Considerations

It is possible that the input data may fall outside the available fitting data for some fittings. In such cases
an approximate equivalent length is used rather than the fitting data. However, in most cases a
modification of the input data or the duct system will correct the situation.

Examples:

In the case of a Conical Entrance, A0/A1 must be greater than 0.10 and L/D0 must be greater than
0.025. For the Bellmouth Entrance r/D0 must be greater than 0 and less than 10.
Transitions are sometimes troublesome. Here A0/A1 must be greater than 0.1 and the included
angle must be greater than 10 degrees.
Data for Tees and Wyes may also fall outside available data. With diverging fittings Ab/Ac

and/or As/Ac must be greater than 0.1 and less than 0.9 and Q& b/ Q& c and/or Q& s/ Q& c must be
greater than 0.1 and less than 0.9. For converging Tees and Wyes As/Ac and/or Ab/Ac must

be greater than 0.2 and less than 1.0 and Q& b/ Q& c and/or Q& s/ Q& c must be greater than 0.1
and less than 0.9.
The problem with divided flow fittings usually occurs with a small branch off a large main duct
causing Ab/Ac to be too small or As/Ac equal to 1.0. To correct the problem, a damper
should be inserted in the branch to increase the lost pressure which will yield a larger branch
duct, decrease the velocity and increase Ab/Ac. When As/Ac equals 1.0, with a diverging
system, there is no way to correct the problem short of redesigning the system.
Example 1

The software distribution CD contains an example duct system in a file named Example 1.df. The sketch
for this system is given below. Note that the fittings are numbered, starting with 1 at the AHU, and
increasing sequentially as you move away from the fan. At the Tee (fitting 4), numbering continues on the
main side of the TEE, until the diffuser is reached (fitting 6). Then numbering continues from the branch
side of the TEE.

1
Example 1
Air
Handling 2
3
Unit

7
4 8

5
9

6
10

The Main Screen for this example is shown below. Notice the information provided in the Duct Fittings
Frame. Each of the fittings are listed, showing the ID, Type and Fan Side Connection. The fan side
connection for fitting 3 (the elbow) is fitting 2 (the straight duct). The fan side connection for fitting 5 (a
straight duct ) is fitting 4-main ( the main side of the Tee).
Pressing the Calculate Duct Sizes button will bring up the window for viewing the results of the
calculations (after a brief delay). That screen is shown below. Menu items on this screen allow saving and
printing. This screen is actually simple text editor. If you wish, you might add titles, notes or comments to
the file before you save or print the file.
Example2

The software distribution CD also contains a file named Example 2.df. The sketch for this example file
is shown in the next figure. Again, the fittings are numbered in the order assumed by the program.

1
Example 2
Air 23
Handling 2 22 24
Unit
Fan Outlet
with Elbow

3 21

17
4 20
18 19

5
15
14
6
Rectangular
Transition
7

12
8 13

10
11 9