AIR CYCLE

• An integral part of air-conditioning system. Refrigeration

cycle is part of air cycle.
• Both Air cycle and Refrigeration cycle is not independent
but inter dependent.
• Indoor air can be too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry etc.
These can be changed by treating the air.
• The treatment of air includes cooling of hot air, heating of
cool air, adding or removing moisture, creating air
movement etc.
• The treatment provided in the air cycle is part of the air-
conditioning.
• Major components of air cycle - Fan, Supply air Duct
(SAD), Supply Air Grille (SAG), Space to be conditioned,
Return Air Duct (RAD), Return Air Grille (RAG) with filter,
heating or cooling coil.
 COMPONENTS
FAN
• Circulates, creates air movement & Forces air from
supply duct to room
• Can be regulated to prevent draft
SAD – Supply Air Duct
• For uniform air distribution, Minimum turns & length
SAG – Supply Air Grille
• Uniform distribution by jet or flow or combination of both
• Number of outlets and their design is vital for comfort.
ROOM SPACE
• Most important component, & a must for working of an
air cycle
• The material used for floor, wall, ceiling etc are very
important to prevent heat loss or gain.
RAG – Return Air Grille
• Allow used air to escape through outlets & best location is
opposite SAG
RAD – Return Air Duct
• From RAD the air passes through this duct & filter to the
Cooling coil.
• RAD can be eliminated if plenum is used.
FILTERS
• To remove dust, dirt, pollutants, contaminants etc, location
in RAD
• Materials - spun glass, plastic etc,
• Attract and capture dust particles with the help of electricity
COOLING COIL OR HEATING CHAMBER
• Located only after the filter to prevent accumulation of dust
and dirt over coil and before SAD
• If the air is too dry, moisture is added with shallow pan of
water, above heating chamber OR after the cooling coil in
the SAD
• Cooling coil can be used for cooling air or to reduce the
humidity
 REFRIGERANT CYCLE
REFRIGERANT
• Any liquid can be used for absorbing heat by
evaporation. Water can also be used as a refrigerant but
its boiling and freezing temperature is too high for
ordinary cooling purposes.
• A change of state of refrigerant from liquid to vapour and
back to liquid helps to absorb or discharge large quantity
of heat efficiently. This has been efficiently used in
refrigeration cycle and Air-conditioning.
• The selection of refrigerant depends on specific
application and the context.
Any refrigerant must satisfy two main conditions.
1. It must readily absorb heat at the temperature required
by the product load.
2. For economy and continuous cooling, the system must
use the same refrigerant over & over again.
OTHER FEATURES OF REFRIGERANT
• To absorb heat from a cooling coil by evaporating at low
temp & Pr.
• It gives up heat by condensation at a higher temp and
pressure.
• Ammonia (R-717) - earliest refrigerant. Boiling point –28 F
but it is very corrosive and toxic.
• R12 is Trichloride di fluro methane & its boiling point is -
21.7 F.
• Some refrigerants boils at very low temp, as low as -40
deg C
• A boiling refrigerant absorbs huge quantity of heat from
surroundings hence are most suited for refrigeration
purpose.
• Some refrigerants cause damage to the ozone layer
• Ozone friendly refrigerants - gradually replacing old types
 Secondary Refrigerant
• Large a/c areas • pumped to AHU or
• Cost of main FCU at different
refrigerant places through
• pumping to AHU/FCU insulated pipes
• Water or brine is • Secondary refrigerent
chilled in the runs in evaporator coil
evaporator (chiller) in AHU or FCU
 REFRIGERATION
• It is the process of producing and maintaining
temperature below the surrounding atmosphere
• it is nothing but the removal of heat from the
substance to be cooled to reduce its
temperature below atmosphere
• Temperature and humidity is controlled by
refrigeration process
• One ton of refrigeration is equivalent to the
amount of heat required to be removed from 1
ton of water (2100 Lb) at 32 F in 24 hours
• One ton refrigeration (TR) = 1200 British thermal
units (BTU)
 REFRIGERATION CYCLE
• Common refrigeration can be accomplished by
several different processes. In the great majority
of applications vapor compression system is
adopted. However vapor absorption system and
steam jet vacuum system is also successfully
used in many applications.
• Compressor, the main component in vapor
compression system involves with two types of
pressure. First, evaporating at low pressure and
second, condensing at high pressure.
REFRIGERATION CYCLE
REFRIGERATION
CYCLE
 REFRIGERATION PROCESS
• Liquid refrigerant evaporates in cooling coil
(evaporator).
• Refrigerant boils at very low temp like, R-22 at-
40deg C
• The cooling coil with refrigerant is in contact with
air surrounding it. Chilled water (Secondary
refrigerant) is distributed to AHU or FCU in coils.
• Fins are used to get clear contact of all air that is
passing through the cooling coil.
• This air is distributed to the conditioned spaces
through ducts
• The hot refrigerant comes back to evaporator
again in a cycle as cold refrigerant
BASIC LAWS OF REFRIGARATION
• Fluids absorb heat while changing from liquid to
vapor.
• Vapor releases heat while changing from vapor to
liquid
• Heat cannot be destroyed but can be transformed
from one substance to another.
• Heat flows from higher temperature to substance at
lower temperature
• Heat and other forms of energy are mutually
convertible
• Temp of a liquid can be raised by increasing
pressure
• Temp of a liquid can be lowered by reducing
pressure
• Boiling temperature of refrigerant is very low
A TYPICAL AC UNIT
COMPRESSOR
DESIRED TEMP IS ACHIEVED IN EVAPORATOR BY THIS
TYPES
• It is similar to automotive engine making alternate suction and
compression strokes in a cylinder equiped with suction and
discharge valve. It is suitable for small displacement volumes. It is
efficient at high condensing pressures and high compression ratios.
Its adaptability to different refrigerant is also an advantage. The
other advantages are it is durable, simple in design and economical.
Open type compressor:
• Earlier version of compressor in which only the piston and cylinder
alone were sealed. A crank shaft was extended around the body
with seal around to prevent leakage of refrigerant as well as oil. It is
very heavy, large in size, noisy and seal failure was common. Due to
these reasons it is not used frequently.
Accessible type Hermetics (Semi Hermatics)
• driven by electric motor mounted directly on the crank shaft -
compact, efficient, maintenance free and economical. - capacity of
17.5kw to 35kw
• Welded Hermetic motor compressor:
• It is small in size and used for 17.5kw and below capacity. All the
parts including the electric motor is housed in a shell and sealed by
welding. Hence field repair is not possible. It is very widely used for
unitary air-conditioning system.
• In this there are three types are available as below.
• Reciprocating compressor: Available from very small fractional
capacitiy and upto 35kw.
• Scroll compressor: Very efficient and saves power. Available upto
50kw. The plus points are, high efficiency, less noise, high reliability
and low maintenance. Tandem scroll type is an advanced type and
is very energy efficient type.
• Rotary compressor: It is less noisy when compared with
reciprocating type. Due to this they are widely used in Window AC
units and to some extent in Split units.
CONDENSER

COMPRESSOR
• COMPRESSOR IN REFRIGERATION CYCLE
• The hot refrigerant vapour from cooling coil
moves to compressor.
• The compressor compresses the hot vapour in
to a high-pressure vapour.
• This increases the temperature of vapour
further.
• The compressor automatically maintains low-
pressure condition in cooling coil and creates
high-pressure condition in condenser.
CONDENSER
• Heat exchange takes place between refrigerant (hot high
pressure vapor) and air) or water
AIR COOLED CONDENSER
• Very commonly adopted type, inexpensive, easy to install
and maintain
• Fan forces large quantity of air through compact
condenser assembly.
• Satisfactory in all climates.
WATER COOLED CONDENSER
• Economical - water available in abundance or as recycled
• Water has excellent heat transfer characteristics
• Types - Shell and coil, Shell and tube, Tube with in tube
• Requires a cooling tower
• spray ponds – Water aerated and cooled in the form of
fountain jets
• Requires plumbing & pump due to cooling tower
• Cold weather - freezing of water may create problem
 CONDENSER IN REFRIGERATION
CYCLE
• High-pressure hot vapor refrigerant passes to
condenser
• The condenser motor drives a condenser fan
• Blown air receives heat - refrigerant vapor turns to
liquid
• This liquid is collected in a receiver.
• Remember this liquid is high-pressure and high
temp
• Refrigerant movement from condenser to
evaporator is called as ‘liquid line’
• To remove heat – air – Air cooled condenser -
water - water cooled condenser
 EXPANSION VALVE
• Liquid refrigerant under high pressure flows
through this
• Release of pressure reduces temp of liquid - cold
refrigerant
• Capillary tube or Restrictor is an alternative to EV
• Cold refrigerant pass through cooling coil & cycle
continues
• Expansion valve also controls proper flow of
refrigerant
• Other flow control devices equivalent to EV are
Automatic expansion valve, Hand expansion valve,
Thermal expansion valve, Low side floats,
High side floats, Capillary tube
 EVAPORATOR
EVAPORATOR OR COOLING COIL
• Located at low pressure of the refrigeration cycle. Here
refrigerant boils or evaporates, absorbing heat &
changes into vapor.
TYPES OF EVAPORATORS
• BLOWER COIL OR FORCED CONVECTION TYPE –
Here the refrigerant evaporates in side the tube with fin
or plate around, extracting heat from air blown through
the coil / fin.
• DIRECT EXPANSION TYPE –Refrigerant is fed directly
into the coil through a metering device like expansion
valve, capillary tube etc. The heat is absorbed directly
through the walls of the evaporator.
• CHILLER – In a cylinder the coils with refrigerant is
placed and secondary refrigerant like water or brine is
fed into it. This chilled water / brine and is pumped to
AHU or FCU
FCU & CHILLER
EVAPORATOR OR COOLING COIL IN
REFRIGERATION CYCLE
• The cold refrigerant liquid moves through
cooling coil and picks heat from the
surrounding air.
• Surrounding air looses heat & becomes
cold. Refrigerant boils and turns to vapor.
• Refrigerant from evaporator to compressor
as vapor is called as ‘suction line’