AIRCONDITIONING

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS

I. Self-contained room units: Cooling only units Cooling & Heating Units Heat pump units II. Central Systems: Packaged Units Remote or Split Systems Combination Heating & Cooling Units Heat pump Units Built up Systems

Cooling only units

A room AC has two separate & distinctive air circuits: Outside Air over Condensor: air drawn into the unit from outside, passes thru air-cooled condensor over motor compressor & back outside, carrying with it the heat removed from condensor. Cooled Room Air: air drawn from the rm. Into the unit thru a filter that removes dust & impurities, passes thru evaporator coil, where it gives up somr heat, then back into the room as conditioned air.

Air Cooled & Water Cooled Condensor

Used in areas where free air supply is limited or non existant

AIR COOLED AC SYSTEMS

use of air to cool the compressor & condenser coil used to return the refrigerant gas to a liquid state. These split systems usually have an inside evaporator cooling coil installed to work along with the blower & duct system. The outside half of the equipment contains the compressor and condenser coil.

schematic diagram shows how refrigerant moving through the system as a gas or liquid moves heat from inside the building (at the evaporator coil in an air handler) to outside the building (at the condenser unit's condensing coil).

WATER COOLED AC SYSTEMS

use water as a chiller to remove heat from the high temp gas in the (usually but not always outside) compressor/condenser unit. uses refrigerant & coils to move heat from indoors to outside. But instead of moving heat from the condensing coil into air blown across the coil outdoors, we're moving heat into water circulated around a condensing coil.

Combination Heating & Cooling Units

some rm conditioners are offered with electrical resistance, usually in the form of strip heaters for supplying heat during cool days, done instead of incorporating reverse cycle system as heat pumps. strip heaters are placed in the air stream beyond the evaporator, manually operated, with fan operating but compressor turned off. with strip heaters all current drawn is converted into heat. Additional heat is provided by heat of fan motor. Wattage is same as drawn by compressor motor.

Strip heater for room unit

Combination Heating & Cooling Units

Advatages: heating & cooling facilities in one package. Blower serves both sections, only one duct system is required. Blower designed to handle larger usually reqd. for summer cooling loads. Both operations are independent & air from either side does not pass thru other side. minimum duct work required to connect unit to air distribution system. Compact unit takes up less space. Disadvatages: Sometimes over capacity results, space utilization, initial cost & additional wiring.

Heat Pump Units

electrically driven device designed to provide heating & cooling in the same basic unit but operation is entirely different & hence treated separately. used for residential & light commercial application.

Operation depends on two simple facts: 1. There is always considerable heat in air, at extremely low outside temp. 2. A cold object absorbs heat from warmer one.

Construction of a room air to air heat pump unit

Reverse Cycle: Air to air heat pump Cycle: in winter extracts heat from outside air & uses it to heat the air inside the rm. in summer operation is reversed to remove heat from inside & release it outside. Water to water system water to water system takes heat from water source such as deep well & transfers it to closed circulation water system.

PACKAGE AIR CONDITIONING: COOLING

In case of higher capacities the unit AC becomes larger in size. Needs network of supply & return. Capacity is 7 TR, 10TR, 12TR etc. Built up spaces between 1200 to 1800 Sft can be effectively served. include ceiling as well as floor mounted units. Commercial or residential uses. Consist of evaporator or cooling coil, compressor-condensor combination. & may include heaqting function also. Compressors are reciprocating type, cooling colis are direct expansion type, Condensors can be air cooled or water cooled. Expansion devices are capillaryv tubes, thermostatic expansion valves are also used.

Air conditioning ducts

Uses: Air Distribution efficient method of conveying & distributing cold air. Without ducting the effect of a fan, air conditioner or cooler is limited to a small area but ducting allows the cold air to be directed to specific hot spots to provide localised cooling, or diffused over a wide area to reduce temp. gradients. usually suspended overhead from steel wires. Rows of small holes in the sides of the ducts produce jets of cold air that mix with the warmer room air before falling to floor level. Leading to draft free air movement thru out the building and reduced temperatures. By using numerous small jets the air velocity is kept low, ensuring the workforce do not complain of uncomfortable cold drafts.

Desirable qualities: Smooth surfaces offer min. resistance to flow Air tight for no leakage Water proof insulating qualitiesmin. 2-4 thk Min. sound transmission

Duct Materials: Galvanised Steel Aluminium Copper & Brass Laminated asbestos Spring steel wire Woven fibre glass

Insulation

Commonly used System Conventional system: branch & section sized on quantity of air to be carried.

Extended Plenum system: large main duct of uniform dimension thru out its length with branches taken off thru special fittings.

Small pipe system: air is delivered thru 31/2 or 4 round pipe with prefabricated fittings & special outlets.

Duct Layout
Commonly used System Conventional system: branch & section sized on quantity of air to be carried. Extended Plenum system: large main duct of uniform dimension thru out its length with branches taken off thru special fittings. Small pipe system: air is delivered thru 31/2 or 4 round pipe with prefabricated fittings & special outlets. Duct Layout requirements: to determine air movement required in each room-found by sensible cooling & heating load of each room. to determine supply air temperature-usually ranges from 50-65 deg F for cooling & 100-150 deg F for heating. figuring sizes of various duct sections- round duct will carry more air with less friction loss than other shape & same given cross section. Square ducts are better than rectangular.