PART 1

Module 1/2
SI Units and Basic
Measurements for Air/Water
Systems

Objectives:
To state the common SI Units used in
Commissioning
Understand how they are used
Calculate areas of ducts and volume
flow rates/velocities

INTRODUCTION TO MODULE
Commissioning of Air and Water
Systems involves the taking of a
number of measurements to arrive
at a flow rate. In this module we
will look at the basic SI Units
involved in calculations which may
arise during commissioning.

1. THE SI SYSTEM
The building services industry
follows the ISO (International
Standards Organisation)
recommendations to adopt an
international system of units (the
SI System).

Base Units:
Unit

Name

SYMBOL

Length
Mass
Time

Metre
Kilogram
Second

m
Kg
s

Units derived from those above include

UNIT
Area
Volume
Velocity
Specific Volume
Density
Force
Pressure

NAME
Square Metre
Cubic Metre
Metres per second
Cubic Metres per kilogram
Kilograms per cubic metre
Newton
Newton per metres or Pascal

SYMBOL
m2
m3
m/s or ms-1
m3/kg or m3kg-1
Kg/m3 or kg m3-1
N
N/m2 or Pa

Mass & Volume

mass of a body is measured in
kilograms (kg)
volume of a body in cubic metres
(m3)
Another measurement of fluid volume
is the litre (l), which is used in low
airflows and also water flow.

1000 LITRES = 1 CUBIC METRE

Mass & Volume Flow Rates

Mass flow rates are expressed in
kilograms per second (kg/s).
Similarly volume flow rates are
expressed in cubic metres per
second.
m3/s or litres per second (l/s)

Density and Specific Volume

Within the industry fundamental
calculations are carried out in mass flow
(kg/s).
Fans and pumps move volumes of air (m3/s)
and water (l/s) respectively.
Commissioning engineers take
measurements to establish the volume flow
rate. You can not measure mass flow, you
have to calculate it from volume flow.
The link between the two is density.

Density and Specific Volume

(Contd)
Consider a cubic metre of water and a cubic
metre of air. The water will be considerably
heavier and is said to be more dense. Density
is measured in kg/m3 (mass per unit volume).
Density of water at 4C
=
1000kg/m3
Density of standard air
=
1.2kg/m3
Density varies with temperature (and pressure with
gases)
Specific volume is expressed in m3/kg and is inverse
of density.
i.e. Specific volume = 1
Density

Velocity
This is the simplest form of motion a
body experiences, moving at a
constant speed in a straight line, this
is said to be a Constant Velocity.
Velocity = Distance
=
m
Time
s
This expression of velocity
(m)
(s)
is represented in documents as m/s. This type
of notation will henceforth be used.

Pressure
Pressure is force per unit area.
PRESSURE = Force (N) = N/m2
Area (M)2
A Newton per square metre (N/m 2) is
termed a Pascal (Pa).
A pressure of one Pascal is exerted when
a force of one Newton is evenly applied
over an area of one square metre.

Pressure (Contd)
This is a very small measurement, hence
larger units have been derived. These units
are the kilopascal, Bar and Millibar.
UNIT OF PRESSURE

SYMBOL

PASCALS

kilopascals

kPa

1000

Bar

Bar

100,000

Millibar

mbar

100

In some instances, pressures are measured in

millimetres of Mercury (mm Hg) Hg being
the chemical symbol for Mercury.
1mmHg
=
133.3 Pa
7,5mm Hg
=
1000pa or 1 kPa

2. AIRFLOW
To calculate the amount of air flowing through a duct it is necessary
to measure a number of parameters.
Firstly we need to know the cross sectional area of the duct in square
metres at the point we are measuring.
1. Take the following example of a rectangular duct. Duct sizes are normally
dimensioned in mm. Remember 1000mm = 1m.
600m
m

400m
m

Before you calculate the area you need to turn the dimensions of the duct into metres. i.e.
600mm = 0.6m and 400mm = 0.4m.
Area = width x height
=
0.6 x 0.4 =
0.24m2

2. AIRFLOW (Contd)
2. For a circular duct, you need to know the diameter of the duct. If
unsure about the diameter, measure the circumference of the duct
and divide that by which = 3.142 and is often on a calculator.
For example:The circumference of a duct is measured at 1885mm

Duct diameter =Circumference = 1885 =599.9mm

3.142
= approximately 600mm
Duct Cross Sectional Area (m2) = r2 or d2
4
r = radius of duct
d = diameter of duct in metres
Area = 3.142 x 0.62
4
= 0.2827m2 or 0.283 to 3 decimal places

2. AIRFLOW (Contd)
3. The most complicated area you are going to meet is what is known as `flat oval" and
consists of a rectangle and two semi circles or one circle.

Semi
Circle
Rectangle

Semi
Circle
250mm

250mm

500m
m

1200m
m

2. AIRFLOW (Contd)
This is naturally a more complicated shape to calculate, however from
either the width and depth of the duct or the depth and periphery the
area can be calculated; for example study the duct above.
This flat oval and duct consist of a circle of 500mm diameter and a
rectangle measuring 700mm x 500mm. The total area therefore equals
the sum of these two areas (remember all measurements in metres).
Total Area

Area

=
=
4
=
=

Area of Circle
+
3.142 x (0.5)2 + (0.7 x 0.5)

Area of Rectangle

0.196 + 0.35
0.546m2

COMMISSIONING ENGINEERS MUST ALWAYS

MEASURE DUCTS AT THE POINT THEY ARE
TAKING THE VELOCITY READINGS, THEY MUST
NEVER ACCEPT A DIMENSIONED DRAWING IS
CORRECT.

2. AIRFLOW (Contd)
Volume Flow Measurement
Having calculated the cross sectional area of the duct at which
the airflow is to be taken, we need to measure the velocity.
This is carried out with the aid of measuring equipment
described in module 1/7 "Basic Flow Measurement".
Except in the simplest cases, it is normal to take a series of
velocity measurements and then calculate the average
velocity.
The volume can then be calculated from the following formula.
Volume Flow Rate
=
Average Velocity x Area
m3/s =
m/s x m2

2. AIRFLOW (Contd)
Example
A rectangular duct 1500mm x 1200mm has air flowing at an average velocity of
4.2 metres per second.
Calculate the Volume flow rate
Volume flow rate =
4.2 m/s x (1.5m x 1.2m)
=
7.56m3/s
If you always put your units (m, s etc.) in the equation and know the
units in which your answer should be, there should be no doubt you
have the correct answers (unless you have made an error in arithmetic).
In the above equation we have
Volume flow (m3) = velocity
(m) x Areas (m2)
(s)
(s)
(m3) =
(m3) Correct!
(s)
(s)

EXERCISE 1
A circular duct of 850mm diameter has
air flowing through it at an average
velocity of 10.3m/s.
Calculate the cross sectional area and
airflow rate.

EXERCISE 2
A flat oval duct with an overall size of 1750mm x
550mm has air flowing through it at an average
velocity of 7.6 m/s.
Calculate the cross sectional area and air flow rate.
NB.
When carrying out any exercise always show
the basic formulae, units and workings.

ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 1
Part 1 Cross sectional area
Area of Circular Duct
=
0.568m2
Area multiplied by Velocity=
Part 2 Airflow Rate
Velocity 0.568m2 x 10.3m/s =
5.850m3/s

Volume

ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 2
Part 1 Area of Circular section with 550mm Diameter = 0.238m2
Area of rectangular section = 0.66m2
Width 550mm (as per Diameter)
Length of rectangle = overall size 1750mm less diameter of circular
section = 1200mm
Area of Flat oval duct = 0.898m2.
Part 2 Airflow rate
Area multiplied by Velocity = Volume
Volume = 0.898m2 x 7.600m/s = 6.825m3/s

WATER FLOW
Flowrate through pipework is generally not measured in the same way
as air through ductwork as water tends to leak through a pipe when
you drill holes in it!
Water flow can be measured ultrasonically and by means of a water
meter, however the commissioning engineers usual method is to
measure a pressure drop across a restriction of a known characteristic.
The restriction is normally an Orifice, manufacturers produce a chart of
each orifice size, from which water flow rate can be read for a
measured pressure drop. The pressure drop is normally read with a
liquid or electronic manometer.
As we will see in later modules (1/7 "Basic Flow Measurement" and 2/4
"Flowrate and Circulation") pressure drop varies as the square of the
change in flowrate.
A typical chart from the Crane catalogue is shown on next page. It can
be seen from this chart that for a pressure drop of 5.0 kPa there is a
flow rate of 2.85 l/s.
Conversley it can be seen that should you require a water flow of 3.0
l/s then the pressure drop through the orifice would need to be 5.4
kPa.

Flow Measurement
D901 D911 D941
Size 2 (50mm)