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  • Home
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  • SketchUp Models
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    • Bureaucratic Affairs Building HHW System Logic Exercise
    • Bureaucratic Affairs Building Scavenger Hunt
    • Chilled Water Plant System Diagram Exercise
    • The HIjend Hotel >
      • Chilled Water Plant Scoping Exercise
      • Ballroom AHU Scoping Exercise
      • Cooling Tower Scoping Exercise
  • Tools
    • Altitude Correction Factor
    • Economizer Evaluation Checklist
    • Eikon for Educators and WindLGC
    • Effective Duct Length Tool
    • Excel Third Axis Tool
    • Excel Time Value Conversion
    • Insulation Savings Tools
    • Logic Diagram Tool >
      • Logic Diagram Example - Discharge Air
      • Logic Diagram Example - CHW Plant 01
      • Logic Diagram Example - VAV AHU
    • Mixed Air Calculations
    • Monitoring Plan Spreadsheet
    • Pipe Friction Chart
    • Plot Digitizer >
      • Plot Digitizer Pump Curve Example
    • Square Law Spreadsheet
    • System Diagram Symbols
    • Thermodynamic Diagrams Spreadsheet
    • Universal Translator Data Analysis Tool
    • y = (m * x) + b Spreadsheet
  • Useful Formulas
    • Affinity Laws
    • Circular Equivalent Duct
    • Effective Duct Length
    • FT Guide Appendix C
    • HVAC Equations and Concepts
    • Hydraulic Diameter
    • Pump Power and Energy
    • "Square Law"
  • What's That Thing?
    • Cooling Towers
    • Pumps
    • Valves
  • Resources
    • Bill Coad's Writings
    • Data Logging Resources
    • EBCx Skills Guidebook
    • Energy Design Resources
    • Fisher Controls Valve Cavitation Bulletin
    • Functional Testing Guide
    • Honeywell Gray Manual
    • MCC Powers Bulletins
    • NBCIP Reports
    • PEC Tool Lending Library
    • PID Resources
    • Pneumatic Control Resources
    • Resource List
    • Scoping Resources
    • TAB Resources
    • Vintage Carrier Design Manual
    • VRF Systems
    • Williams' Wisdom
  • Videos
    • Bureaucratic Affairs HHW Logic Answers
    • Cooling Tower Flow Variation
    • Economizer Stratification
    • Functional Testing
    • Induction Principles
    • Monitoring Plans
    • CW Pump Deadheaded by Tower Lift
    • Ripple Effects
    • Testing a Pump
    • The Garden of Low Entropy
    • Variable Flow Systems
  • Training
    • Materials from Classes and Presentations >
      • ACEEE
      • ASHRAE
      • ASHRAE - Engineers Notebook
      • BCxA and NCBC
      • BEST Institute
      • Case Studies
      • ERDC 2020 RCx Academy
      • ELPNW
      • ICEBO
      • Marriott AEP
      • Magazine Articles
      • NAVFAC
      • Pacific Energy Center Design, Performance and Commissioning Issues Classes
      • Pacific Energy Center EBCx Project Review
      • Pacific Energy Center EBCx Workshop Series >
        • EBCx Workshop Series 12
        • EBCx Workshop Series 13
        • EBCx Workshop Series 14
        • EBCx Workshop Series 15 >
          • Student One On One Discussions
        • EBCx Workshop Series 16
        • EBCx Workshop Series 17
        • EBCx Workshop Series 18
      • Portland General Electric
      • U of W >
        • U of W Archive
    • On Demand Training >
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      • Loads and Psychrometrics
      • Induction Motor Principles
      • Introduction to Functional Testing
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Pneumatic Control Resources

Over the years, I have accumulated a number of resources that have helped me understand and work with pneumatic controls. Some of them, while still useful when you encounter the technology in existing buildings, are becoming harder to find.   I originally had these resources at a different location but decided to move them to this website because it is much easier to organize them and maintain them using the website tool.   

The blog post I wrote when I first put them up will give you some information about what each of the resources are along with an over view of why they might matter to you if you are working with existing buildings.  I have updated the links in the post to point to here and the links below will connect you with the resources directly in their new home.
Pneumatic Control Blog Posts
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Honeywell Gray Manual
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A while back, in response to a question I received, I wrote a fairly extensive blog post about pneumatic controls titled Pneumatic Controls, First Cost Advantages, and Retrocommissioning Opportunities.  Pneumatic controls also come up in a number of posts and will likely continue to do so.  If you are interested in reading any of the posts on the topic, you can easily find them by going to the blog and then using the category drop-down menu to select the "Pneumatic Controls" category, as shown in the image above.   The result will be that links to all of the posts in that category will be loaded onto the webpage and you can chose the one that interests you.
The original edition of the Honeywell Gray Manual was written back in 1934 when pneumatic controls probably were considered an emerging technology.  The current version still contains good information on pneumatic control along with a lot of other useful information and you can download a copy of it from the Honeywell Gray Manual page on this website.
One and Two Pipe Pneumatic Controls Animated PowerPoint Slides
This non-narrated (but there is music), animated PowerPoint slide set starts with some images of pneumatic controllers and pneumatic control panels from various EBCx projects, concluding with images of a process grade pneumatic PI controller that the folks at the San Francisco Ballet Building were kind enough to give to me when they upgraded their system to DDC. 

The side set then uses a PowerPoint animation to demonstrate how one pipe and two pipe pneumatic controllers work. 

The slide set closes with a number of slides that compare the pros and cons of:
  • One and two pipe pneumatic controls, and
  • Pneumatic vs. electric/electronic actuation systems
along with a few bottom lines regarding pneumatic control and pneumatic actuation.  It is important to recognize that pneumatic actuation is not the same thing as pneumatic control and that pneumatic actuation has a place in the modern world.
Fundamentals of Pneumatic Control
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Back in the olden days, a number of manufacturers provided very good engineering bulletins on fundamental principles.  The downloads below contains the ones that MCC Powers (now Siemens) and Johnson Controls published, which were handed down to me by my mentors.
mcc_powers_fundamentals_of_pneumatic_controls.pdf
File Size: 9990 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

jci_fundamentals_of_pneumatic_control.pdf
File Size: 22704 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Pneumatic Air Consumption and Air Main Sizing Data
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Typical Receiver Controller Information
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Typical Process Grade Pneumatic Controllers
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One of the "tricks" for sizing pneumatic air mains and compressors was to have an understanding of how much air the various devices in the system consumed in normal operation.  The file below contains an application engineering bulletin about how to size air mains along with pipe friction charts for copper and poly tubing along with air consumption data for typical devices.  Guidelines from a number of different manufacturers are incuded.
Air Main Sizing (air_main_sizing.pdf)
File Size: 15308 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

The silver boxes with dials and levers in the photo above are MCC Powers RC-195 pneumatic receiver controllers.  These devices are still in use and, in my experience, were one of the better receiver controllers in the market.   One way to understand a technology is to simply work with it and read the available information on it.  The file below contains the application engineering bulletin for the RC-195. In readying it, I think you will begin to understand how it works in particular and how receiver controllers work in general.
MCC Powers RC195 Manual (rc195.pdf)
File Size: 8618 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

The video above includes images of several high end/process grade pneumatic controllers.  The manuals for the two controllers in the video (an MCC Powers Series 200 and a Foxboro 43AP) are included in the file below.  You will also find the manual for Taylor Instruments Fullscope controller (the original PID controller developed by Taylor Instruments) on the PID Resources page.   All of these manuals will provide some insight into the mechanics of pneumatic instruments that are generally applicable across the boards.
Controller Manuals (controller_manuals.zip)
File Size: 3295 kb
File Type: zip
Download File

Johnson Controls Damper Engineering Information
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Some of the information in the file below is probably a bit dated since it applies to hardware that was manufactured in the 1960's and 1970's.  But truth be told, you still run into it out there in existing buildings.  In addition, since some of the information like the nomograph above is simply based on fundamental geometry and physics, it is pretty timeless and useful to us even now.  Note that you can also find information on dampers and damper sizing in the Honeywell Gray Manual and in the MCC Powers Damper Application Engineering Bulletin, which are available on other pages on the web site.
JCI Damper Engineering (dampers.pdf)
File Size: 14592 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

jci_damper_engineering_-_sizing.pdf
File Size: 10435 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Johnson Controls HVAC Reference Information
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This JCI engineering bulletin is similar to the damper engineering bulletin in that it is based on fundamental principles, so the information it contains is timeless and may be a handy reference for you if you are new to HVAC.   

It also includes the JCI pneumatic control system symbol list, symbols that are typical of those used by many of the manufacturers.  They may help you read old pneumatic control drawings if you come across them. ​Even if the controls were upgraded or replaced, the pneumatic control logic will give you some insight into the design intent for the original system.
JCI HVAC Reference Information (hvac_reference.pdf)
File Size: 16294 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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