BUILDING SERVICES

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

SUBMITTED BY:
E.ANANTHA NIMALAN BABITHA DONA THOMAS S.Aiswarya b.shoba

What is an Air Conditioner?

An air conditioner (often referred to as AC) is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle. In construction, a complete system of heating, ventilation and air conditioning is referred to as "HVAC". Its purpose, in a building or an automobile, is to provide comfort during either hot or cold weather. A complete system also includes the air distribution system (ductwork, dampers, grilles and registers), and the temperature and schedule control system.

A typical home Air-Conditioning unit

AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM BASICS AND THEORIES

REFRIGERATION CYCLE: In the refrigeration cycle, a heat pump transfers heat from a lower-temperature heat source into a higher-temperature heat sink. This is the most common type of air conditioning.
The most common refrigeration cycle uses an electric motor to drive a compressor. Whether in a car or building, both use electric fan motors for air circulation. Since evaporation occurs when heat is absorbed, and condensation occurs when heat is released, air conditioners use a compressor to cause pressure changes between two compartments, and actively condense and pump a refrigerant around. 1. A refrigerant is pumped into the evaporator coil, located in the compartment to be cooled, where the low pressure causes the refrigerant to evaporate into a vapor, taking heat with it. 2. At the opposite side of the cycle is the condenser, which is located outside of the cooled compartment, where the refrigerant vapor is compressed and forced through another heat exchange coil, condensing the refrigerant into a liquid, thus rejecting the heat previously absorbed from the cooled space. 3. By placing the condenser inside a compartment, and the evaporator in the ambient environment, or merely running a normal air conditioner's refrigerant in the opposite direction, the overall effect is the opposite, and the compartment is heated. This is usually called a heat pump, and is capable of heating a home to comfortable temperatures. 4. Cylinder unloaders are a method of load control used mainly in commercial air conditioning systems. Unloaders can be electrical or mechanical

HUMIDITY
Air conditioning equipment usually reduces the humidity of the air processed by the system. The relatively cold (below the dew point) evaporator coil condenses water vapor from the processed air, much as a cold drink will condense water on the outside of a glass. The water is

drained, removing water vapor from the cooled space and thereby lowering its relative
humidity. Since humans perspire to provide natural cooling by the evaporation of perspiration from the skin, drier air (up to a point) improves the comfort provided. The comfort air conditioner is designed to create a 40% to 60% relative humidity in the occupied space. In food retail establishments, large, open chiller cabinets act as highly effective dehumidifiers. Some air conditioning units dry the air without cooling it. These work like a normal air conditioner, except that a heat exchanger is placed between the intake and exhaust. In

combination with convection fans, they achieve a similar level of comfort as an air cooler in
humid tropical climates, but only consume about one-third the energy. They are also preferred by those who find the draft created by air coolers uncomfortable.

How do Air Conditioning Compressors Work?

The (usually) outdoor half of a typical air conditioning system is a unit containing the refrigerant compressor and condensing coil. The air conditioning compressor motor is a pump which draws heat laden refrigerant gas from the building's indoor components (evaporator coil and air handler), and compresses the low pressure refrigerant gas to high pressure and higher temperature.

The high pressure high temperature refrigerant gas enters the condensing coil where it is cooled to a liquid state by a fan blowing outside air across the condensing coil or by immersion of the condensing coil in cooling water. The heat produced in these steps is transferred to the outside by a fan which blows outside air across the condensing coil. The liquid refrigerant is then able to return to the indoor components for cooling and dehumidifying the building interior.

TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONERS There are various types of air conditioning systems. The application of a particular type of system depends upon a number of factors like how large the area is to be cooled, the total heat generated inside the enclosed area, etc.

AIR CONDITIONING TYPES

1)Window Air conditioning 2)Split Air conditioning 3)Packaged Air conditioning 4)Central Air conditioning 1) Chilled Water Central Air Conditioning Plant 2) Direct Expansion Central Air Conditioning Plant 5)Portable Air conditioning

Window Air Conditioners

Window air conditioning units are one of the cheapest types of air conditioners. Window air conditioning units are used to condition a single room and as their name implies, are generally mounted in the window (or in the wall). Window air conditioning units aren't very efficient but they do a good job as residential air conditioners. They are relatively cheap and this is another benefit of theirs. Window Air Conditioner is most commonly used air conditioner for single rooms. In this air conditioner all the components, namely the compressor, condenser, expansion valve or coil, evaporator and cooling coil are enclosed in a single box. This unit is fitted in a slot made in the wall of the room, or often a window sill.

Parts of the Window Air Conditioners

Windows air conditioners are one of the most widely used types of air conditioners. Window air conditioner comprises of the rigid base on which all the parts of the window air conditioner are assembled. The base is assembled inside the casing which is fitted into the wall or the window of the room in which the air conditioner is fitted. The whole assembly of the window air conditioner can be divided into two compartments: the room side, which is also the cooling side and the outdoor side from where the heat absorbed by the room air is liberated to the atmosphere. The room side and outdoor side are separated from each other by an insulated partition enclosed inside the window air conditioner assembly. In the front of the window air conditioner on the room side there is beautifully decorated front panel on which the supply and return air grills are fitted (the whole front panel itself is commonly called as front grill). The louvers fitted in the supply air grills are adjustable so as to supply the air in desired direction. There is also one opening in the grill that allows access to the control panel or operating panel in front of the window air conditioner.

The various parts of the window air conditioner can be divided into following categories: the refrigeration system, air circulation system, ventilation system, control system, and the electrical protection system.

The Refrigeration System of the Window Air Conditioner

The refrigeration system of the window air conditioner comprises of all the important parts of the refrigeration cycle. These include the compressor, condenser, expansion valve and the evaporator. The refrigerant used in most of the window air conditioners is R22. The compressor used in the window air conditioners is hermetically sealed type, which is portable one. This compressor has long life and it carries long warranty periods. In case of the maintenance problems it can be replaced easily . The condenser is made up of copper tubing and it is cooled by the atmospheric air. The condenser is covered with the fins to enable faster heat transfer rate from it. The capillary tubing made up of various rounds of the copper coil is used as the expansion valve in the window air conditioners. Just before the capillary there is drier filter that filters the refrigerant and also removes the moisture particles, if present in the refrigerant. Like condenser, the evaporator is also made up of copper tubing of number of turns and is covered with the fins. The evaporator is also called as the cooling coil since the rooms air passes over it and gets cooled. Just in front of the evaporator there is air filter fitted in the front panel or front grill. As the room air is absorbed, it is first passed over the filter so that it gets filtered. The filtered air is then blown over the cooling coil and the chilled air is passed into the room. The refrigerant after leaving the cooling coil enters the accumulator where it is accumulated and then it is again sucked by the compressor for recirculation over the whole cycle.

Air Circulation System of the Window Air Conditioner

The air circulation system of the window air conditioner comprises of the following parts 1) Blower: This is the small blower that is fitted behind the evaporator or cooling coil inside the assembly of the window air conditioner system. The blower sucks the air from the room which first passes over the air filter and gets filtered. The air then passes over the cooling coil and gets chilled. The blower then blows this filtered and chilled air, which passes through the supply air compartment inside the window air conditioner assembly. This air is then delivered into the room from the supply air grill of the front panel. 2) Propeller fan or the condenser fan: The condenser fan is the forced draft type of propeller fan that sucks the atmospheric air and blows it over the condenser. The hot refrigerant inside the condenser gives up the heat to the atmospheric air and its temperature reduces. 3) Fan motor: The motor inside the window air conditioner assembly is located between the condenser and the evaporator coil. It has double shaft on one side of which the blower is fitted and on the other side the condenser fan is fitted. This makes the whole assembly of the blower, the condenser fan and the motor highly compact.

Split Air Conditioners

Split air conditioners are the most common type of air conditioning units. With it the air conditioning unit is split into two the outdoor body is placed outside the room and the indoor body is mounted inside. Split air conditioning units are also known as ducted air conditioning units. Split air conditioners can be used to cool/heat more than one room. If split system central air conditioning is used, it is possible to cool the whole house or small building. The split air conditioner comprises of two parts: The Outdoor Unit And The Indoor Unit. The outdoor unit, fitted outside the room, houses components like the compressor, condenser and expansion valve. The indoor unit comprises the evaporator or cooling coil and the cooling fan. For this unit you dont have to make any slot in the wall of the room. Further, the present day split units have aesthetic looks and add to the beauty of the room. The split air conditioner can be used to cool one or two rooms. Must read:

Wall Mounted Indoor Unit

It is the indoor unit that produces the cooling effect inside the room. The indoor unit of the split air conditioner is a box type housing in which all the important parts of the air conditioner are enclosed. The most common type of the indoor unit is the wall mounted type though other types like ceiling mounted and floor mounted are also used. We shall discuss all these types in separate articles, here we shall discuss the wall mounted type of the indoor unit. These days the companies give utmost importance to the looks and aesthetics of the indoor unit. This is one of the major reasons that the popularity of the split units has increased tremendously in the last few years.

PARTS
1) Evaporator Coil or the Cooling Coil:
The cooling coil is a copper coil made of number turns of the copper tubing with one or more rows depending on the capacity of the air conditioning system. The cooling coil is covered with the aluminum fins so that the maximum amount of heat can be transferred from the coil to the air inside the room. The refrigerant from the tubing at very low temperature and very low pressure enters the cooling coil. The blower absorbs the hot room air or the atmospheric air and in doing so the air passes over the cooling coil which leads to the cooling of the air. This air is then blown to the room where the cooling effect has to be produced. The air, after producing the cooling effect is again sucked by the blower and the process of cooling the room continues. After absorbing the heat from the room air, the temperature of the refrigerant inside the cooling coil becomes high and it flows back through the return copper tubing to the compressor inside the outdoor unit. The refrigerant tubing supplying the refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit and that supplying the refrigerant from indoor unit to the outdoor unit are both covered with the insulation tape. 2) Air Filter: The air filter is very important part of the indoor unit. It removes all the dirt particles from the room air and helps supplying clean air to the room. The air filter in the wall mounted type of the indoor unit is placed just before the cooling coil. When the blower sucks the hot room air, it is first passed through the air filter and then though the cooling coil. Thus the clean air at low temperature is supplied into the room by the blower.

Packaged Air Conditioners

Packaged air conditioners contain all their parts in one package. As a rule this package is mounted on the roof of the building but it could also be mounted on a wall. Packaged air conditioners come in several flavors. For instance, a single-packaged central air conditioner is a variety of the packaged air conditioner type and it is one of the most common types of industrial air conditioning system because it is designed to cool huge areas
An HVAC designer will suggest this type of air conditioner if you want to cool more than two rooms or a larger space at your home or office. There are two possible arrangements with the package unit. In the first one, all the components, namely the compressor, condenser (which can be air cooled or water cooled), expansion valve and evaporator are housed in a single box. The cooled air is thrown by the high capacity blower, and it flows through the ducts laid through various rooms. In the second arrangement, the compressor and condenser are housed in one casing. The compressed gas passes through individual units, comprised of the expansion valve and cooling coil, located in various rooms.

Central Air Conditioning System

The central air conditioning system is used for cooling big buildings, houses, offices, entire hotels, gyms, movie theaters, factories etc. If the whole building is to be air conditioned,. The central air conditioning system is comprised of a huge compressor that has the capacity to produce hundreds of tons of air conditioning. Cooling big halls, malls, huge spaces, galleries etc is usually only feasible with central conditioning units Central air conditioning, is an air conditioning system that uses ducts to distribute cooled and/or dehumidified air to more than one room, or uses pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers in more than one room, and which is not plugged into a standard electrical outlet. Central air conditioning performs like a regular air conditioner but has several added benefits: When the air handling unit turns on, room air is drawn in from various parts of the building through return-air ducts. This air is pulled through a filter where airborne particles such as dust and lint are removed. Sophisticated filters may remove microscopic pollutants as well. The filtered air is routed to air supply ductwork that carries it back to rooms. Whenever the air conditioner is running, this cycle repeats continually. Because the condenser unit (with its fan and the compressor) is located outside the home, it offers a lower level of indoor noise than a free-standing air conditioning unit.

There are two types of central air conditioning plants or systems: 1) DIRECT EXPANSION OR DX CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING PLANT: In this system the huge compressor, and the condenser are housed in the plant room, while the expansion valve and the evaporator or the cooling coil and the air handling unit are housed in separate room. The cooling coil is fixed in the air handling unit, which also has large blower housed in it. The blower sucks the hot return air from the room via ducts and blows it over the cooling coil. The cooled air is then supplied through various ducts and into the spaces which are to be cooled. This type of system is useful for small buildings.

2) CHILLED WATER CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING PLANT: This type of system is more useful for large buildings comprising of a number of floors. It has the plant room where all the important units like the compressor, condenser, throttling valve and the evaporator are housed. The evaporator is a shell and tube. On the tube side the Freon fluid passes at extremely low temperature, while on the shell side the brine solution is passed. After passing through the evaporator, the brine solution gets chilled and is pumped to the various air handling units installed at different floors of the building. The air handling units comprise the cooling coil through which the chilled brine flows, and the blower. The blower sucks hot return air from the room via ducts and blows it over the cooling coil. The cool air is then supplied to the space to be cooled through the ducts. The brine solution which has absorbed the room heat comes back to the evaporator, gets chilled and is again pumped back to the air handling unit. To operate and maintain central air conditioning systems you need to have good operators, technicians and engineers. Proper preventative and breakdown maintenance of these plants is vital.

Portable Air Conditioning Units

Finally, portable air conditioning units are a real alternative for everybody, who doesn't want to mount permanently an air conditioning system. Portable air conditioning units are also known as mobile air conditioning units. The main advantages of portable air conditioning units are that they don't have to be mounted and they are easy to transport. Their main disadvantages are that they are noisier and less efficient than the other types of air conditioning units. Portable air conditioning units are great as emergency air conditioners or as supplemental air conditioners. Seemingly, there might be many types of industrial and residential air conditioning units but actually the choice is limited to two or three industrial air conditioning systems and two or three residential air conditioning units. Packaged air conditioners, split air conditioners, ductless air conditioners, evaporation coolers, window air conditioners, and portable air conditioning units are among the main types of industrial and residential air conditioning systems.

Evaporation Coolers Evaporation coolers, known also as swamp coolers, are great for hot dry locations because they add humidity to the air. They are not as sophisticated as the other types of air conditioners and they can't lower the temperature substantially. Evaporation coolers run on water, which evaporates and this creates the cooling effect.

Ductless Air Conditioners If the premises that are to be cooled don't have ducting, ductless air conditioners are the solution. Ductless air conditioning units also have their outdoor body outside the room but they are generally not as powerful as split air conditioners and can't be used to cool large areas.

Natural Gas Air Conditioning

The most recent use of natural gas is to provide cooling during warm weather. Natural gas air conditioning units are useful in many respects as they are more efficient than electric air conditioners and their capital cost is also less than other air conditioners. Environmental consciousness and high electric bills have compelled the people to change their priorities and more and more people have started buying natural gas air conditioners. The advantages of natural gas air conditioners are not easy to list. They not only cut the overall operations costs rather their feature of being free from CFC is very attractive because it makes these systems environmental friendly. They can also be installed where the existing electrical systems are not easy to upgrade or the places where electric air conditioning may prove expensive.

Other features to look for when buying an air conditioner:

1. A thermal expansion valve and a high-temperature rating (EER) greater than 11.6, for high-efficiency operation when the weather is at its hottest 2. A variable speed air handler for new ventilation systems 3. A unit that operates quietly 4. A fan-only switch, so you can use the unit for nighttime ventilation to substantially reduce airconditioning costs 5. A filter check light to remind you to check the filter after a predetermined number of operating hours 6. An automatic-delay fan switch to turn off the fan a few minutes after the compressor turns off.