LESSON

BASIC AIR CONDITIONER SYSTEMS

LECTURE
SUB-OBJECTIVE
At the end of this Lesson the Trainee will be able to demonstrate a
understanding of basic air conditioning systems.
1.0

AIR CONDITIONER THROUGH WINDOW AND WALL

Window or through-the-wall air conditioners consists of three basic parts:
1.
2.
3.

A hermetic compressor.
Condenser.
Evaporator using a capillary tube refrigerant control.

Liquid refrigerant collects in the lower coils of the condenser and flows through
the capillary tube refrigerant control into the evaporator. When the unit is in
operation, this is under low pressure. The liquid refrigerant rapidly boils and
picks up heat from the evaporator surface. A motor-driven fan draws air from
inside the room, through a filter and forces it over the evaporator. Here it is
cooled and goes back into the room. Fig. 10-1-1.
Low-pressure vapor is drawn from the evaporator through the suction line back
to the compressor. Compressed to the high-side pressure, it is forced into the
condenser to be cooled and condensed to a liquid. The cycle then repeats.
An adjustable thermostat, mounted on the control panel, provides the
necessary control. The thermostat has an on-and-off switch.
Compressor and condenser are mounted in such a way that the fan in the
compressor-condenser compartment draws outdoor air in, circulates it over the
condenser and discharges it outside. Air flowing through the evaporator is
cooled and, to some extent, dehumidified.
Moisture, which collects on the evaporator, drains to a drip pan under the
evaporator. In some machines it flows into a pan in the compressor
compartment. Here, in evaporating, it helps cool the compressor and
condenser.

In this air conditioner, electric resistance heating units are included and, during
cold weather, the refrigerating mechanism is turned off while the electric
resistance heating units and room air fan is turned on. The same fan circulates
warm air in cold weather and cooled air in warm weather.

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These air conditioners are usually connected to 240V circuits.

provides a choice of temperatures.

A control

Fig. 10-1-1. Window or through-the-wall air conditioner with electric heating

elements. These provide heat during cold weather.
2.0

COOLING TOWER
Many refrigeration and air conditioning systems have water-cooled
condensers. These are very efficient and do not take very much space. Often
water-cooled condensers have tap water circulated through them. This water
is then discharged into the sewer. Such an arrangement uses large amounts
of water and may be expensive. Moreover, many places do not allow the use
of tap water for cooling air conditioner condensers.
In such cases, cooling towers can be employed to cool the water. In this way,
the water is cooled and re circulated through the condenser and sometimes
through the outer shell of the compressor. Some makeup water will be
required to replace the water lost by evaporation. A schematic of a watercooling tower is shown in Fig. 10-1-2.

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The cooling tower is a housing or shed into which air is drawn. It has a water
spray arrangement and baffles. The water sprayed over the baffles is exposed
to the stream of air and becomes cool. A float mechanism connected to the
water spray maintains a constant water level in the water reserve tank. The
pump circulates the cooled water through the water-cooled condenser.
Cooling towers are available in a great range of sizes. Small ones may cool
the water-cooled condensers for home air conditioners. Very large ones are
required for cooling the condensers used in large steam power plants. Fig.
10-1-3 shows a complete system.

Fig 10-1-2. Cooling tower in which re circulated water is cooled several

degrees in tower and then is circulated through water-cooled condenser.

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Fig. 10-1-3. Air conditioning comfort cooling installing using cooling tower.
3.0

ROOM HUMIDIFIER
Room humidifiers may be used to maintain room humidity. These humidifiers
are housed in a cabinet, which is located in the room or space in which
humidity is to be increased. The cabinet is supplied with air-in and air-out
louvers. A fan osculates air through the cabinet. A water pan or trough is
used. A rotating screen or filter (wetted surfaces) dips into a water pan or
trough and then exposes the wetted surfaces to the air stream.
An electric heating element is sometimes used to warm the water for greater
evaporation. The controls consist of an on-and-off switch, a humidity control
and an indicator light to the need for more water. Pouring more water into it

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may renew the water in the trough. It may be connected to the building water
supply by means of an automatic float mechanism. A typical humidifier is
shown in Fig. 10-1-4.

Fig. 10-1-4. Room humidifier.

Porous belt slowly moves through water in a water pan. Fan forces air through moist
porous belt and humidity is increased. Some units have electric heaters to reheat
humidified air. Humidistat controls operation of unit. Signal light goes on when water
pan is empty.

4.0

ROOM DEHUMIDIFIER
Typically, a dehumidifier consists of a hermetic compressor, condenser and
evaporator using a capillary tube refrigerant control. See Fig. 10-1-1.

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Liquid refrigerant collects in the lower coils of the condenser and flows through
the filter into the capillary tube. Then it moves into the evaporator which is
under low pressure. In the evaporator, the liquid refrigerant boils rapidly and
picks up heat from the evaporator surface. a motor-driven fan forces large
amounts of air through the evaporator.
Because of the low temperature of the evaporator, the moisture carried in the
air condenses on the evaporator surfaces. The moisture drips to the bottom of
the evaporator and into the condensate trough. Air flowing through the
evaporator is both cooled and dehumidified. Cooled air is then forced through
the condenser, where it cools the condenser and again picks up heat, so the
air leaving the dehumidifier is about the same temperature as it was when it
entered but it has a lower humidity.
Low-pressure vapor is drawn from the evaporator through the suction line to
the compressor. It is again compressed to high-slide pressure and is forced
into the condenser. Here it is cooled, becomes a liquid and the cycle is
repeated.
In addition to an on-and-off switch dehumidifiers usually have two other
controls. One is for humidity. It permits the dehumidifier to operate until the
desired relative humidity is reached; then the control shuts the machine off.
The other is a frost control element placed in the suction line between the
evaporator and the compressor. It stops the motor compressor at a high
enough temperature so the evaporator will not freeze over and stop the flow of
air thorough it.
In the drawing, arrows in black show the direction of airflow through the
dehumidifier.

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Fig. 8-1-5. Room dehumidifier.

Room air is cooled as it flows through evaporator. Considerable water vapors
condensed on evaporator surface and drains away. Air is reheated as it flows
thorough and cools condenser.

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LESSON 1 PAGE 7