Ductwork

Ducts are conduits or passages used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to deliver and remove air. The needed airflows include, for example, supply air, return air, and exhaust air.Ducts commonly also deliver ventilation air as part of the supply air. As such, air ducts are one method of ensuring acceptable indoor air quality as well as thermal comfort.

A duct system is also called ductwork. Planning (laying out), sizing, optimizing, detailing, and finding the pressure losses through a duct system is called duct design.

Ducts can be made out of the following materials:

Galvanized mild steel is the standard and most common material used in fabricating ductwork because the zinc coating of this metal prevents rusting and avoids cost of painting. For insulation purposes, metal ducts are typically lined with faced fiberglass blankets (duct liner) or wrapped externally with fiberglass blankets (duct wrap). When called for, a double walled duct is used. This will usually have an inner perforated liner, then a 1–2" layer of fiberglass insulation contained inside an outer solid pipe.

Rectangular ductwork commonly is fabricated to suit by specialized metal shops. For ease of handling, it most often comes in 4' sections (or joints). Round duct is made using a continuous spiral forming machine which can make round duct in nearly any diameter when using the right forming die and to any length to suite, but the most common stock sizes range evenly from 4" to 24" with 6"-12" being most commonly used. Stock pipe is usually sold in 10' joints. There are also 5' joints of non-spiral type pipe available, which is commonly used in residential applications.

Aluminium ductwork is lightweight and quick to install. Also, custom or special shapes of ducts can be easily fabricated in the shop or on site.

The ductwork construction starts with the tracing of the duct outline onto the aluminium preinsulated panel. The parts are then typically cut at 45°, bent if required to obtain the different fittings (i.e. elbows, tapers) and finally assembled with glue. Aluminium tape is applied to all seams where the external surface of the aluminium foil has been cut. A variety of flanges are available to suit various installation requirements. All internal joints are sealed with sealant.

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