BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING FOR HVAC ENGINEERS :A heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is a simple system of heating and cooling exchangers using water or refrigerant (direct expansion system) as the medium. Pumps move the heated or cooled water to the exchangers. Fans then move the warmed or cooled air created at the exchangers to the occupied building interiors. So there are two stages to heating and cooling

1. Water stage: water is the most efficient and inexpensive medium that we can cool directly (through a chiller) or heat (through a boiler)

2. Air stage: air is the medium for heat exchange in the building as it can be cooled or heated through coils.

Big energy users in HVAC :

1. Fans: for air circulation and ventilation.

2. Cooling: accomplished via chillers for the production of chilled water for large buildings or for the use of direct expansion cooling systems such as packaged air-conditioners for small buildings.

3. Heating: most frequently the energy use of boilers for the production of hot water for heating, but also often the use of electric heaters for zonal reheat.

4. Pumps: for the circulation of heating hot water, chilled water and condenser water.

5. Cooling towers: for heat rejection. The primary energy use is the cooling tower fan and pumps.

Power distribution systems and equipment used to drive HVAC machinery, motors and other auxiliaries can be complex to the non-electrical engineer. This course will address some basic electrical concepts that will be useful to HVAC engineers and other mechanical engineers in their day to day work. The course is divided in 4 sections:

Part -1: Basic Electrical Concepts & Fundamentals

Part -2: Electrical Distribution Systems and Components

Part -3: Motors and Variable Speed Drives

Part -4: Electrical Energy Efficiency in HVAC Systems