Landmark order in India
The expanded Terminal 1 will be connected to Delhi Metro making it quick and easy for commuters from central and south Delhi to access the airport. With the substantial increase in footprint and area of the Terminal 1, existing mechanical and electrical equipment/systems will not be sufficient and need to be redesigned and augmented to cater to requirements of the new development.
Asokdas Damodaran is MD at Systemair India:
- We were invited to provide a technical ventilation solution for Terminal 1. In cooperation with the airport company we made an assessment of the existing system. The design of new systems has been based on maintaining specified temperature, humidity conditions for maintaining thermal comfort, indoor air quality and noise criteria within conditioned spaces and shall be suitable for proper operation and maintenance of equipment, plants and sub-systems and other airport systems. This system shall also provide tempered cooling (with chilled water AHUs/ FCU - Fan Coil Units) type of mechanical ventilation to specified areas.
Specific demands
Due to high occupancy rates in all areas and the use of ducted supply/return and outdoor air, air handling units (AHU) shall be thermal bridge free, with double skin pre insulated casing (to prevent condensation, limit heat gain & achieve noise control). Furthermore, the construction will have variable air volume type design, comprising of plug fans with variable frequency for SA, cooling coil section, stainless steel double sloping drain pan (for zero water retention) and pre and bag filter sections and IAQ (inddor Air Quality) section to reduce VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and contaminants. AHUs shall be generally floor-mounting type with mixing box for ducted arrangement for supply air, return air and outside air. Return air shall be collected through ceiling spaces / ducts and brought back to air handling unit room. In high occupancy areas, where free cooling is employed, AHUs will be provided with a return air fan as well if space permits.
In addition, due to very high occupancy with a high transient population, outdoor air modulation and control is being proposed to reduce operational costs while maintaining VOC/ CO2 level as per ASHRAE* recommendation. AHUs feeding terminal concourses shall have, as part of IAQ section, UV based photo-catalytic converters (UVPCO) that will neutralise VOCs and odour thereby cutting down the OA (outdoor air) requirements and effecting energy savings.
Similarly, for terminal, chemical filters and UVPCO shall be used for neutralising contaminant gases in OA and VOCs in conditioned area. Where space is a constraint or where ceiling suspended AHUs/FCUs are considered, they may not be provided with UVPCO.
Altogether Systemair India will supply 163 Air Handling Units, Supply & Return Air Grills, Square Diffuser, Drum Jet Diffuser, Jet Nozzles and Volume Control Dampers. Delivery will be completed before 30th April 2023.
Offering the right solutions
Due to Systemair India´s earlier association of working on Terminal 3, the airport company DIAL, Delhi International Airport Ltd, invited Systemair to provide technical solutions for the project.
- We are very proud to have been chosen to provide our solution to the airport, says Asokdas from Systemair India. The requirements were stringent, and our team successfully worked together with DIAL team to select the right solutions to overcome the challenges put forth.
* ASHRAE = American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers