Misplaced Pages

#673326

91-419: Refrigeration may be defined as lowering the temperature of an enclosed space by removing heat from that space and transferring it elsewhere. A device that performs this function may also be called an air conditioner , refrigerator , air source heat pump , geothermal heat pump , or chiller ( heat pump ). Vapor-compression uses a circulating liquid refrigerant as the medium which absorbs and removes heat from

182-513: A compressor and condenser , and would eventually revert to a liquid form in order to repeat the refrigeration process over again. However, no such refrigeration unit was built by Evans. In 1834, an American expatriate to Great Britain, Jacob Perkins , built the first working vapor-compression refrigeration system in the world. It was a closed-cycle that could operate continuously, as he described in his patent: His prototype system worked although it did not succeed commercially. A similar attempt

273-420: A crankcase , crankshaft , piston rod , piston , piston ring , cylinder head and valves. This compressor uses two interleaving scrolls to compress the refrigerant. it consists of one fixed and one orbiting scrolls. This type of compressor is more efficient because it has 70 percent less moving parts than a reciprocating compressor. This compressor use two very closely meshing spiral rotors to compress

364-501: A "wired thermostat," is a device that controls an air conditioner by switching heating or cooling on or off. It uses different sensors to measure temperatures and actuate control operations. Mechanical thermostats commonly use bimetallic strips , converting a temperature change into mechanical displacement, to actuate control of the air conditioner. Electronic thermostats, instead, use a thermistor or other semiconductor sensor, processing temperature change as electronic signals to control

455-424: A 'Centrifugal Compressor Map' that shows the "surge line" and the "choke line." For the same capacity ratings, across a wider span of operating conditions, chillers with the larger diameter lower-speed compressor have a wider 'Centrifugal Compressor Map' and experience surge conditions less than those with the smaller diameter, less expensive, higher-speed compressors. The smaller diameter, higher-speed compressors have

546-534: A 1939 architecture graduate from the University of Texas at Austin , developed the first experimental "suburb" with inbuilt air conditioning in each house. 22 homes were developed on a flat, treeless track in northwest Austin, Texas , and the community was christened the 'Austin Air-Conditioned Village.' The residents were subjected to a year-long study of the effects of air conditioning led by

637-570: A 24-hour period. The value is equal to 12,000 BTU IT per hour, or 3,517 watts . Residential central air systems are usually from 1 to 5 tons (3.5 to 18 kW) in capacity. The efficiency of air conditioners is often rated by the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER), which is defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute in its 2008 standard AHRI 210/240, Performance Rating of Unitary Air-Conditioning and Air-Source Heat Pump Equipment . A similar standard

728-405: A cooling tower on its condenser side. An air source heat pump shares many components with an air conditioning system, but includes a reversing valve , which allows the unit to be used to heat as well as cool a space. Air conditioning equipment will reduce the absolute humidity of the air processed by the system if the surface of the evaporator coil is significantly cooler than the dew point of

819-422: A defrosting cycle to be performed. The icing problem becomes much more severe with lower outdoor temperatures, so heat pumps are sometimes installed in tandem with a more conventional form of heating, such as an electrical heater, a natural gas , heating oil , or wood-burning fireplace or central heating , which is used instead of or in addition to the heat pump during harsher winter temperatures. In this case,

910-402: A flatter curve., As the refrigerant flow rate decreases, some compressors change the gap between the impeller and the volute to maintain the correct velocity to avoid surge conditions. Scroll compressors are also positive displacement compressors. The refrigerant is compressed when one spiral orbits around a second stationary spiral, creating smaller and smaller pockets and higher pressures. By

1001-778: A gap between the two walls to encourage air flow, were found in the ancient city of Hamoukar , in modern Syria . Ancient Egyptian buildings also used a wide variety of passive air-conditioning techniques. These became widespread from the Iberian Peninsula through North Africa, the Middle East, and Northern India. Passive techniques remained widespread until the 20th century when they fell out of fashion and were replaced by powered air conditioning. Using information from engineering studies of traditional buildings, passive techniques are being revived and modified for 21st-century architectural designs. Air conditioners allow

SECTION 10

#1732780269674

1092-638: A motor drive which is outside of the refrigeration system, and provides drive to the compressor by means of an input shaft with suitable gland seals. Open compressor motors are typically air-cooled and can be fairly easily exchanged or repaired without degassing of the refrigeration system. The disadvantage of this type of compressor is a failure of the shaft seals, leading to loss of refrigerant. Open motor compressors are generally easier to cool (using ambient air) and therefore tend to be simpler in design and more reliable, especially in high pressure applications where compressed gas temperatures can be very high. However

1183-456: A patent in 1851, but following the death of his main backer, he was not able to realize his invention. In 1851, James Harrison created the first mechanical ice-making machine in Geelong, Australia , and was granted a patent for an ether vapor-compression refrigeration system in 1855 that produced three tons of ice per day. In 1860, Harrison established a second ice company. He later entered

1274-425: A quantity of gas from discharge to the suction side. The compressor will keep operating at the same speed, but due to the bypass, the refrigerant mass flow circulating with the system is reduced, and thus the cooling capacity. This naturally causes the compressor to run uselessly during the periods when the bypass is operating. The turn down capacity varies between 0 and 100%. Several compressors can be installed in

1365-405: A remote control to the air conditioner. The output of the infrared LED (like that of any infrared remote) is invisible to the human eye because its wavelength is beyond the range of visible light (940 nm). This system is commonly used on mini-split air conditioners because it is simple and portable. Some window and ducted central air conditioners uses it as well. A wired controller, also called

1456-460: A single or a few rooms of a building, without ducts and in a decentralized manner. Multi-zone or multi-split systems are a common application of ductless systems and allow up to eight rooms (zones or locations) to be conditioned independently from each other, each with its indoor unit and simultaneously from a single outdoor unit. The first mini-split system was sold in 1961 by Toshiba in Japan, and

1547-438: A split central system, and deliver air, possibly through ducts, to the spaces to be cooled. Depending on their construction they may be outdoors or indoors, on roofs ( rooftop units ), draw the air to be conditioned from inside or outside a building and be water or air-cooled. Often, outdoor units are air-cooled while indoor units are liquid-cooled using a cooling tower. medium (large capacity) This compressor consists of

1638-476: A temperature versus entropy diagram as depicted in Figure 2. At point 1 in the diagram, the circulating refrigerant enters the compressor as a low-temperature, low-pressure saturated vapor. From point 1 to point 2, the vapor is isentropically compressed (compressed at constant entropy) and exits the compressor as a high-pressure, high-temperature vapor. From point 2 to point 3, the vapor travels through part of

1729-541: A thin film of ice formed on the surface of the thermometer's bulb and that the ice mass was about 6 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4  in) thick when they stopped the experiment upon reaching −14 °C (7 °F). Franklin concluded: "From this experiment, one may see the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer's day." The 19th century included many developments in compression technology. In 1820, English scientist and inventor Michael Faraday discovered that compressing and liquefying ammonia could chill air when

1820-431: A very small amount of refrigerant used). HFOs which can be considered to be HFCs with some carbon-carbon bonds being double bounds, do show promise of lowering GWP so little to be of no further concern. In the meantime, various blends of existing refrigerants are used to achieve the required properties and efficiency, at a reasonable cost and lower GWP. The thermodynamics of the vapor compression cycle can be analyzed on

1911-424: A window frame or on a wall opening. The unit usually has an internal partition separating its indoor and outdoor sides, which contain the unit's condenser and evaporator, respectively. PTAC systems may be adapted to provide heating in cold weather, either directly by using an electric strip, gas , or other heaters, or by reversing the refrigerant flow to heat the interior and draw heat from the exterior air, converting

SECTION 20

#1732780269674

2002-669: Is a member of a family of systems and techniques that provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) . Heat pumps are similar in many ways to air conditioners, but use a reversing valve to allow them both to heat and to cool an enclosed space. Air conditioners, which typically use vapor-compression refrigeration , range in size from small units used in vehicles or single rooms to massive units that can cool large buildings. Air source heat pumps , which can be used for heating as well as cooling , are becoming increasingly common in cooler climates. Air conditioners can reduce mortality rates due to higher temperature. According to

2093-403: Is allowed to circulate throughout the whole circuit, but care must be taken to design the pipework and components such that oil can drain back under gravity to the compressor. In larger more distributed systems, especially in retail refrigeration, the oil is normally captured at an oil separator immediately after the compressor, and is in turn re-delivered, by an oil level management system, back to

2184-813: Is called superheat. The resulting superheated vapor returns to the compressor inlet at point 1 to complete the thermodynamic cycle. The above discussion is based on the ideal vapor-compression refrigeration cycle which does not take into account real world items like frictional pressure drop in the system, slight internal irreversibility during the compression of the refrigerant vapor, or non-ideal gas behavior (if any). The most common compressors used in refrigeration are reciprocating and scroll compressors , but large chillers or industrial cycles may use rotary screw or centrifugal compressors. Each application prefers one or another due to size, noise, efficiency, and pressure issues. Compressors are often described as being either open, hermetic , or semi-hermetic, to describe how

2275-414: Is compressed to a higher pressure, resulting in a higher temperature as well. The hot, compressed vapor is then in the thermodynamic state known as a superheated vapor and it is at a temperature and pressure at which it can be condensed with either cooling water or cooling air flowing across the coil or tubes. The superheated vapor then passes through the condenser . This is where heat is transferred from

2366-442: Is designed to operate, and be cooled by, the refrigerant being compressed. The obvious disadvantage of hermetic motor compressors is that the motor drive cannot be maintained in situ, and the entire compressor must be removed if a motor fails. A further disadvantage is that burnt out windings can contaminate whole refrigeration systems requiring the system to be entirely pumped down, and the refrigerant replaced. An open compressor has

2457-407: Is highly dependent on operating conditions, especially absolute temperature and relative temperature between sink and system, and is often graphed or averaged against expected conditions. Air conditioner equipment power in the U.S. is often described in terms of " tons of refrigeration ", with each approximately equal to the cooling power of one short ton (2,000 pounds (910 kg) of ice melting in

2548-401: Is melted through defrosting . The water from the melted ice or the evaporator then drips into a drip pan, and the water is carried away by gravity or a condensate pump. The selection of working fluid has a significant impact on the performance of the refrigeration cycles and as such it plays a key role when it comes to designing or simply choosing an ideal machine for a certain task. One of

2639-512: Is one of the oldest refrigerants, with excellent performance and essentially no pollution problems. However, ammonia has two disadvantages: it is toxic and it is incompatible with copper tubing. In 1805, the American inventor Oliver Evans described a closed vapor-compression refrigeration cycle for the production of ice by ether under vacuum. Heat would be removed from the environment by recycling vaporized refrigerant, where it would move through

2730-503: Is rejected to the environment and an internal heat exchanger (the evaporator , or Fan Coil Unit, FCU) with the piped refrigerant being circulated between the two. The FCU is then connected to the spaces to be cooled by ventilation ducts . Floor standing air conditioners are similar to this type of air conditioner but sit within spaces that need cooling. Large central cooling plants may use intermediate coolant such as chilled water pumped into air handlers or fan coil units near or in

2821-469: Is the European seasonal energy efficiency ratio (ESEER). Efficiency is strongly affected by the humidity of the air to be cooled. Dehumidifying the air before attempting to cool it can reduce subsequent cooling costs by as much as 90 percent. Thus, reducing dehumidifying costs can materially affect overall air conditioning costs. This type of controller uses an infrared LED to relay commands from

Vapor-compression refrigeration - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-518: The International Energy Agency (IEA) 1.6 billion air conditioning units were used globally in 2016. The United Nations called for the technology to be made more sustainable to mitigate climate change and for the use of alternatives, like passive cooling, evaporative cooling , selective shading, windcatchers , and better thermal insulation . Air conditioning dates back to prehistory. Double-walled living quarters, with

3003-991: The Montreal Protocol and replaced by hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which do not contain chlorine atoms. However, CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs all have very large global warming potential (GWP). More benign refrigerants are currently the subject of research, such as supercritical carbon dioxide , known as R-744 . These have similar efficiencies compared to existing CFC- and HFC-based compounds, and have many orders of magnitude lower global warming potential. General industry and governing body push are toward more GWP-friendly refrigerants. In industrial settings ammonia , as well as gasses like ethylene , propane , iso-butane and other hydrocarbons are commonly used (and have their own R-x customary numbers), depending on required temperatures and pressures. Many of these gases are flammable, explosive, or toxic; making their use restricted (i.e. well-controlled environment by qualified personnel, or

3094-534: The West ). Cooling in traditional air conditioner systems is accomplished using the vapor-compression cycle, which uses a refrigerant's forced circulation and phase change between gas and liquid to transfer heat. The vapor-compression cycle can occur within a unitary, or packaged piece of equipment; or within a chiller that is connected to terminal cooling equipment (such as a fan coil unit in an air handler) on its evaporator side and heat rejection equipment such as

3185-400: The refrigeration cycle and act as an air source heat pump , thus heating instead of cooling the indoor environment. They are also commonly referred to as "reverse cycle air conditioners". The heat pump is significantly more energy-efficient than electric resistance heating , because it moves energy from air or groundwater to the heated space and the heat from purchased electrical energy. When

3276-492: The Earth's ozone layer . In countries adhering to the Montreal Protocol , HCFCs are due to be phased out and are largely being replaced by ozone-friendly HFCs . However, systems using HFC refrigerants tend to be slightly less efficient than systems using HCFCs. HFCs also have an extremely large global warming potential , because they remain in the atmosphere for many years and trap heat more effectively than carbon dioxide . With

3367-500: The Great Hall of Westminster Abbey with an apparatus of troughs and vats. Drebbel's contemporary Francis Bacon , like della Porta a believer in science communication , may not have been present at the demonstration, but in a book published later the same year, he described it as "experiment of artificial freezing" and said that "Nitre (or rather its spirit) is very cold, and hence nitre or salt when added to snow or ice intensifies

3458-598: The Sun's strong UV radiation and has been shown to lead to increased rates of skin cancer. The chlorine will remain active as a catalyst until and unless it binds with another particle, forming a stable molecule. CFC refrigerants in common but receding usage include R-11 and R-12 . Newer refrigerants that have reduced ozone depletion effects compared to CFCs have replaced most CFC use. Examples include HCFCs (such as R-22 , used in most homes) and HFCs (such as R-134a , used in most cars). HCFCs in turn are being phased out under

3549-402: The adiabatic flash evaporation of a part of the liquid refrigerant. The auto-refrigeration effect of the adiabatic flash evaporation lowers the temperature of the liquid and vapor refrigerant mixture to where it is colder than the temperature of the enclosed space to be refrigerated. The cold refrigerant liquid and vapor mixture is then routed through the coil or tubes in the evaporator. Air in

3640-410: The air conditioner into a heat pump . They may be installed in a wall opening with the help of a special sleeve on the wall and a custom grill that is flush with the wall and window air conditioners can also be installed in a window, but without a custom grill. Packaged air conditioners (also known as self-contained units) are central systems that integrate into a single housing all the components of

3731-400: The air conditioner. These controllers are usually used in hotel rooms because they are permanently installed into a wall and hard-wired directly into the air conditioner unit, eliminating the need for batteries. * where the typical capacity is in kilowatt as follows: Ductless systems (often mini-split, though there are now ducted mini-split) typically supply conditioned and heated air to

Vapor-compression refrigeration - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-441: The air in his textile mill. Cramer coined the term "air conditioning" in a patent claim which he filed that year, where he suggested that air conditioning was analogous to "water conditioning", then a well-known process for making textiles easier to process. He combined moisture with ventilation to "condition" and change the air in the factories; thus, controlling the humidity that is necessary in textile plants. Willis Carrier adopted

3913-440: The atmosphere even in liquid-cooled chillers through the use of cooling towers . Chillers may be air- or liquid-cooled. A portable system has an indoor unit on wheels connected to an outdoor unit via flexible pipes, similar to a permanently fixed installed unit (such as a ductless split air conditioner). Hose systems, which can be monoblock or air-to-air , are vented to the outside via air ducts. The monoblock type collects

4004-617: The biggest increases in India and China . Between 1995 and 2004, the proportion of urban households in China with air conditioners increased from 8% to 70%. As of 2015, nearly 100 million homes, or about 87% of US households, had air conditioning systems. In 2019, it was estimated that 90% of new single-family homes constructed in the US included air conditioning (ranging from 99% in the South to 62% in

4095-626: The building's indoor environment to remain relatively constant, largely independent of changes in external weather conditions and internal heat loads. They also enable deep plan buildings to be created and have allowed people to live comfortably in hotter parts of the world. In 1558, Giambattista della Porta described a method of chilling ice to temperatures far below its freezing point by mixing it with potassium nitrate (then called "nitre") in his popular science book Natural Magic . In 1620, Cornelis Drebbel demonstrated "Turning Summer into Winter" for James I of England , chilling part of

4186-416: The building. Variable refrigerant flow indoor units can also be turned off individually in unused spaces. The lower start-up power of VRF's DC inverter compressors and their inherent DC power requirements also allow VRF solar-powered heat pumps to be run using DC-providing solar panels. Split-system central air conditioners consist of two heat exchangers , an outside unit (the condenser ) from which heat

4277-448: The circulating refrigerant to an external medium, allowing the gaseous refrigerant to cool and condense into a liquid. The rejected heat is carried away by either the water or the air, depending on the type of condenser. The condensed liquid refrigerant, in the thermodynamic state known as a saturated liquid , is next routed through an expansion valve where it undergoes an abrupt reduction in pressure. That pressure reduction results in

4368-433: The coil or tubes in the evaporator where it is totally vaporized by the warm air (from the space being refrigerated) that a fan circulates across the coil or tubes in the evaporator. The evaporation process occurs at essentially constant temperature. After evaporation is completed, the vapor will start to increase in temperature. The amount of sensible heat added to the vapor above its saturation point, i.e. its boiling point ,

4459-518: The cold of the latter, the nitre by adding to its cold, but the salt by supplying activity to the cold of the snow." In 1758, Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley , a chemistry professor at the University of Cambridge , conducted experiments applying the principle of evaporation as a means to cool an object rapidly. Franklin and Hadley confirmed that the evaporation of highly volatile liquids (such as alcohol and ether ) could be used to drive down

4550-400: The compression. There are several ways to modulate the cooling capacity in refrigeration or air conditioning and heating systems . The most common in air conditioning are: on-off cycling, hot gas bypass, use or not of liquid injection, manifold configurations of multiple compressors, mechanical modulation (also called digital), and inverter technology. Hot gas bypass involves injecting

4641-414: The compressor and/or motor is situated in relation to the refrigerant being compressed. Variations of motor/compressor types can lead to the following configurations: Typically in hermetic, and most semi-hermetic compressors (sometimes known as accessible hermetic compressors), the compressor and motor driving the compressor are integrated, and operate within the refrigerant system. The motor is hermetic and

SECTION 50

#1732780269674

4732-527: The compressor(s). Oil separators are not 100% efficient so system pipework must still be designed so that oil can drain back by gravity to the oil separator or compressor. Some newer compressor technologies use magnetic bearings or air bearings and require no lubrication, for example the Danfoss Turbocor range of centrifugal compressors. Avoiding the need for oil lubrication and the design requirements and ancillaries associated with it, simplifies

4823-403: The condenser which removes the heat by cooling the vapor. Between point 3 and point 4, the vapor travels through the remainder of the condenser and is condensed into a high-temperature, high-pressure subcooled liquid. Subcool is the amount of sensible heat removed from the liquid below its maximum saturation. The condensation process occurs at essentially constant pressure. Between points 4 and 5,

4914-682: The debate over competing against the American advantage of ice-refrigerated beef sales to the United Kingdom. Electricity made the development of effective units possible. In 1901, American inventor Willis H. Carrier built what is considered the first modern electrical air conditioning unit. In 1902, he installed his first air-conditioning system, in the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York . His invention controlled both

5005-472: The design of the refrigerant system, increases the heat transfer coefficient in evaporators and condensers, eliminates the risk of refrigerant being contaminated with oil, and reduces maintenance requirements. In simple commercial refrigeration systems the compressor is normally controlled by a simple pressure switch, with the expansion performed by a capillary tube or thermal expansion valve . In more complex systems, including multiple compressor installations,

5096-420: The enclosed space circulates across the coil or tubes due to either thermal convection or a fan . Since the air is warmer than the cold liquid refrigerant, heat is transferred from the air to the refrigerant, which cools the air and warms the refrigerant, causing evaporation , returning it to a gaseous state. While liquid remains in the refrigerant flow, its temperature will not rise above the boiling point of

5187-565: The evaporator and the condenser into the same air path; the air first passes over the evaporator coil, where it is cooled and dehumidified before passing over the condenser coil, where it is warmed again before it is released back into the room. Free cooling can sometimes be selected when the external air is cooler than the internal air. Therefore, the compressor does not need to be used, resulting in high cooling efficiencies for these times. This may also be combined with seasonal thermal energy storage . Some air conditioning systems can reverse

5278-441: The first automobile manufacturer to offer an air conditioning unit in its cars in 1939. Innovations in the latter half of the 20th century allowed more ubiquitous air conditioner use. In 1945, Robert Sherman of Lynn, Massachusetts , invented a portable, in-window air conditioner that cooled, heated, humidified, dehumidified, and filtered the air. The first inverter air conditioners were released in 1980–1981. In 1954, Ned Cole,

5369-636: The first wall-mounted mini-split air conditioner was sold in 1968 in Japan by Mitsubishi Electric , where small home sizes motivated their development. The Mitsubishi model was the first air conditioner with a cross-flow fan . In 1969, the first mini-split air conditioner was sold in the US. Multi-zone ductless systems were invented by Daikin in 1973, and variable refrigerant flow systems (which can be thought of as larger multi-split systems) were also invented by Daikin in 1982. Both were first sold in Japan. Variable refrigerant flow systems when compared with central plant cooling from an air handler , eliminate

5460-400: The gas. The gas enters at the suction side and moves through the threads as the screws rotate. The meshing rotors force the gas through the compressor, and the gas exits at the end of the screws. The working area is the inter-lobe volume between the male and female rotors. It is larger at the intake end, and decreases along the length of the rotors until the exhaust port. This change in volume is

5551-408: The heat pump is in heating mode, the indoor evaporator coil switches roles and becomes the condenser coil, producing heat. The outdoor condenser unit also switches roles to serve as the evaporator and discharges cold air (colder than the ambient outdoor air). Most air source heat pumps become less efficient in outdoor temperatures lower than 4 °C or 40 °F. This is partly because ice forms on

SECTION 60

#1732780269674

5642-400: The heat pump is used efficiently during milder temperatures, and the system is switched to the conventional heat source when the outdoor temperature is lower. The coefficient of performance (COP) of an air conditioning system is a ratio of useful heating or cooling provided to the work required. Higher COPs equate to lower operating costs. The COP usually exceeds 1; however, the exact value

5733-518: The late 1920s. Air conditioning Air conditioning , often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling the humidity of internal air. Air conditioning can be achieved using a mechanical 'air conditioner' or by other methods, including passive cooling and ventilative cooling . Air conditioning

5824-465: The liquefied ammonia was allowed to evaporate. In 1842, Florida physician John Gorrie used compressor technology to create ice, which he used to cool air for his patients in his hospital in Apalachicola, Florida . He hoped to eventually use his ice-making machine to regulate the temperature of buildings. He envisioned centralized air conditioning that could cool entire cities. Gorrie was granted

5915-403: The most common type of individual room air conditioner: one designed to sit on a window ledge. The units went on sale in 1932 at US$ 10,000 to $ 50,000 (the equivalent of $ 200,000 to $ 1,100,000 in 2023.) A year later, the first air conditioning systems for cars were offered for sale. Chrysler Motors introduced the first practical semi-portable air conditioning unit in 1935, and Packard became

6006-610: The most widespread refrigerants is " Freon ". Freon is a trade name for a family of haloalkane refrigerants manufactured by DuPont and other companies. These refrigerants were commonly used due to their superior stability and safety properties: they were not flammable at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, nor obviously toxic as were the fluids they replaced, such as sulfur dioxide . Haloalkanes are also an order(s) of magnitude more expensive than petroleum-derived flammable alkanes of similar or better cooling performance. Unfortunately, chlorine- and fluorine-bearing refrigerants reach

6097-718: The nation’s premier air conditioning companies, builders, and social scientists. In addition, researchers from UT’s Health Service and Psychology Department studied the effects on the "artificially cooled humans." One of the more amusing discoveries was that each family reported being troubled with scorpions, the leading theory being that scorpions sought cool, shady places. Other reported changes in lifestyle were that mothers baked more, families ate heavier foods, and they were more apt to choose hot drinks. Air conditioner adoption tends to increase above around $ 10,000 annual household income in warmer areas. Global GDP growth explains around 85% of increased air condition adoption by 2050, while

6188-404: The need for large cool air ducts, air handlers, and chillers; instead cool refrigerant is transported through much smaller pipes to the indoor units in the spaces to be conditioned, thus allowing for less space above dropped ceilings and a lower structural impact, while also allowing for more individual and independent temperature control of spaces. The outdoor and indoor units can be spread across

6279-430: The outdoor unit's heat exchanger coil, which blocks air flow over the coil. To compensate for this, the heat pump system must temporarily switch back into the regular air conditioning mode to switch the outdoor evaporator coil back to the condenser coil, to heat up and defrost. Therefore, some heat pump systems will have electric resistance heating in the indoor air path that is activated only in this mode to compensate for

6370-417: The refrigerant, which depends on the pressure in the evaporator. Most systems are designed to evaporate all of the refrigerant to ensure that no liquid is returned to the compressor. To complete the refrigeration cycle , the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator is again a saturated vapor and is routed back into the compressor. Over time, the evaporator may collect ice or water from ambient humidity . The ice

6461-498: The remaining 15% can be explained by climate change . As of 2016 an estimated 1.6 billion air conditioning units were used worldwide, with over half of them in China and USA , and a total cooling capacity of 11,675 gigawatts. The International Energy Agency predicted in 2018 that the number of air conditioning units would grow to around 4 billion units by 2050 and that the total cooling capacity would grow to around 23,000 GW, with

6552-405: The rotors to the discharge point. Small units are not practical due to back-leakage but large units have very high efficiency and flow capacity. Centrifugal compressors are dynamic compressors. These compressors raise the pressure of the refrigerant by imparting velocity or dynamic energy, using a rotating impeller, and converting it to pressure energy. Chillers with centrifugal compressors have

6643-411: The space to be cooled and subsequently rejects that heat elsewhere. Figure 1 depicts a typical, single-stage vapor-compression system. All such systems have four components: a compressor , a condenser , a metering device or thermal expansion valve (also called a throttle valve), and an evaporator. Circulating refrigerant enters the compressor in the thermodynamic state known as a saturated vapor and

6734-415: The spaces to be cooled which then duct or deliver cold air into the spaces to be conditioned, rather than ducting cold air directly to these spaces from the plant, which is not done due to the low density and heat capacity of air, which would require impractically large ducts. The chilled water is cooled by chillers in the plant, which uses a refrigeration cycle to cool water, often transferring its heat to

6825-447: The subcooled liquid refrigerant passes through the expansion valve and undergoes an abrupt decrease of pressure. That process results in the adiabatic flash evaporation and auto-refrigeration of a portion of the liquid (typically, less than half of the liquid flashes). The adiabatic flash evaporation process is isenthalpic (occurs at constant enthalpy ). Between points 5 and 1, the cold and partially vaporized refrigerant travels through

6916-427: The surrounding air. An air conditioner designed for an occupied space will typically achieve a 30% to 60% relative humidity in the occupied space. Most modern air-conditioning systems feature a dehumidification cycle during which the compressor runs. At the same time, the fan is slowed to reduce the evaporator temperature and condense more water. A dehumidifier uses the same refrigeration cycle but incorporates both

7007-412: The temperature and humidity, which helped maintain consistent paper dimensions and ink alignment at the printing plant. Later, together with six other employees, Carrier formed The Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America , a business that in 2020 employed 53,000 people and was valued at $ 18.6 billion. In 1906, Stuart W. Cramer of Charlotte, North Carolina , was exploring ways to add moisture to

7098-437: The temperature of an object past the freezing point of water. They experimented with the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer as their object. They used a bellows to speed up the evaporation . They lowered the temperature of the thermometer bulb down to −14 °C (7 °F) while the ambient temperature was 18 °C (64 °F). Franklin noted that soon after they passed the freezing point of water 0 °C (32 °F),

7189-405: The temporary indoor air cooling, which would otherwise be uncomfortable in the winter. Newer models have improved cold-weather performance, with efficient heating capacity down to −14 °F (−26 °C). However, there is always a chance that the humidity that condenses on the heat exchanger of the outdoor unit could freeze, even in models that have improved cold-weather performance, requiring

7280-646: The term and incorporated it into the name of his company. Domestic air conditioning soon took off. In 1914, the first domestic air conditioning was installed in Minneapolis in the home of Charles Gilbert Gates . It is, however, possible that the considerable device (c. 2.1 m × 1.8 m × 6.1 m; 7 ft × 6 ft × 20 ft) was never used, as the house remained uninhabited (Gates had already died in October 1913.) In 1931, H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman developed what would become

7371-403: The time the refrigerant is discharged, it is fully pressurized. In order to lubricate the moving parts of the compressor, oil is added to the refrigerant during installation or commissioning. The type of oil may be mineral or synthetic to suit the compressor type, and also chosen so as not to react with the refrigerant type and other components in the system. In small refrigeration systems the oil

7462-459: The ultimate phasing out of HCFCs already a certainty, alternative non- haloalkane refrigerants are gaining popularity. In particular, once-abandoned refrigerants such as hydrocarbons ( butane for example) and CO 2 are coming back into more extensive use. For example, Coca-Cola 's vending machines at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany used refrigeration utilizing CO 2 . Ammonia (NH 3 )

7553-423: The upper atmosphere when they escape. In the stratosphere , substances like CFCs and HCFCs break up due to UV radiation, releasing their chlorine free-radicals. These chlorine free-radicals act as catalysts in the breakdown of ozone through chain reactions. One CFC molecule can cause thousands of ozone molecules to break down. This causes severe damage to the ozone layer that shields the Earth's surface from

7644-490: The use of electronic controls is typical, with adjustable set points to control the pressure at which compressors cut in and cut out, and temperature control by the use of electronic expansion valves. In addition to the operational controls, separate high-pressure and low-pressure switches are normally utilised to provide secondary protection to the compressors and other components of the system from operating outside of safe parameters. In more advanced electronic control systems

7735-450: The use of floating head pressure, and proactive suction pressure, control routines allow the compressor operation to be adjusted to accurately meet differing cooling demands while reducing energy consumption. The schematic diagram of a single-stage refrigeration system shown in Figure 1 does not include other equipment items that would be provided in a large commercial or industrial vapor compression refrigeration system, such as: In most of

7826-405: The use of liquid injection for additional cooling can generally overcome this issue in most hermetic motor compressors. Reciprocating compressors are piston-style, positive displacement compressors. Rotary screw compressors are also positive displacement compressors. Two meshing screw-rotors rotate in opposite directions, trapping refrigerant vapor, and reducing the volume of the refrigerant along

7917-537: The water in a bucket or tray and stops when full. The air-to-air type re-evaporates the water, discharges it through the ducted hose, and can run continuously. Many but not all portable units draw indoor air and expel it outdoors through a single duct, negatively impacting their overall cooling efficiency. Many portable air conditioners come with heat as well as a dehumidification function. The packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC), through-the-wall, and window air conditioners are similar. These units are installed on

8008-403: The world, the cooling capacity of refrigeration systems is measured in watts . Common residential air conditioning units range in capacity from 3.5 to 18 kilowatt . In a few countries it is measured in " tons of refrigeration ", with common residential air conditioning units from about 1 to 5 tons of refrigeration. Many systems still use HCFC refrigerants , which contribute to depletion of

8099-501: Was developed by Ferdinand Carré of France in 1859 and patented in 1860. Carl von Linde , an engineering professor at the Technological University Munich in Germany, patented an improved method of liquefying gases in 1876. His new process made possible using gases such as ammonia , sulfur dioxide SO 2 , and methyl chloride (CH 3 Cl) as refrigerants and they were widely used for that purpose until

8190-679: Was for a vapor compression system using ether, alcohol or ammonia. He built a mechanical ice-making machine in 1851 on the banks of the Barwon River at Rocky Point in Geelong , Victoria , and his first commercial ice-making machine followed in 1854. Harrison also introduced commercial vapor-compression refrigeration to breweries and meat packing houses and, by 1861, a dozen of his systems were in operation in Australia and England. The first gas absorption refrigeration system using gaseous ammonia dissolved in water (referred to as "aqua ammonia")

8281-402: Was made in 1842, by American physician, John Gorrie , who built a working prototype, but it was a commercial failure. American engineer Alexander Twining took out a British patent in 1850 for a vapor compression system that used ether. The first practical vapor compression refrigeration system was built by James Harrison , a British journalist who had emigrated to Australia . His 1856 patent

#673326