Air conditioning often referred to as aircon, AC or A/C) Is the process of altering the properties of air (primarily temperature and

nd humidity) to more favorable conditions. Can refer to any form of technological cooling, heating, ventilation, or disinfection that modifies the condition of air. An air conditioner a major or home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to change the air temperature and humidity within an area (used for cooling and sometimes heating depending on the air properties at a given time). The cooling is typically done using a simple refrigeration cycle, but sometimes evaporation is used, Commonly for comfort cooling in buildings and motor vehicles. Free cooling Uses pumps to circulate a coolant (typically water or a glycol mix) from a cold source, which in turn acts as a heat sink for the energy that is removed from the cooled space.

An air conditioning unit: 1. The coils and pipes in an air conditioning unit contain refrigerant gas. The refrigerant gas enters the compressor as warm, lowpressure gas and leaves it as hot, high-pressure gas. 2. In the condenser coils, hot, compressed refrigerant gas loses heat to the outdoor air and becomes liquid while it is still warm. 3. The warm, liquid refrigerant passes through the tiny opening of the expansion valve, expands, and partly turns to gas at a low temperature. 4. In the cooling coils, the refrigerant takes up heat from the indoor air and leaves the coils as warm, low-pressure gas. 5. The indoor air gives up heat to the refrigerant in the cooling coils and also loses moisture as it is chilled. The moisture condenses on the coils and trickles down to outside drain holes. Cooled air is blown back into the room.

HISTORY

Ancient cooling
In ancient Egypt, reeds were hung in windows and were moistened with trickling water. The evaporation of water cooled the air blowing through the window, though this process also made the air more humid (also beneficial in a dry desert climate) In Ancient Rome, water from aqueducts was circulated through the walls of certain houses to cool them. In medieval Persia, it involved the use of cisterns and wind towers to cool buildings during the hot season.

Mechanical cooling
The 2nd-century Chinese inventor Ding Huan (fl 180) of the Han Dynasty invented a rotary fan. In the 17th century, Cornelis Drebbel demonstrated "Turning Summer into Winter" for James I of England by adding salt to water. In 1758, Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley, conducted an experiment to explore the principle of evaporation as a means to rapidly cool an object. They confirmed that evaporation of highly volatile liquids such as alcohol and ether could be used to drive down the temperature of an object past the freezing point of water. In 1820, English scientist and inventor Michael Faraday discovered that compressing and liquefying ammonia could chill air when the liquefied ammonia was allowed to evaporate. 1842, Florida physician John Gorrie used compressor technology to create ice, which he used to cool air for his patients in his hospital. James Harrison's first mechanical ice-making machine began operation in 1851.

Electromechanical cooling
In 1902, the first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier. Designed to improve manufacturing process control in a printing plant, Carrier's invention controlled not only temperature but also humidity. Carrier used his knowledge of the heating of objects with steam and reversed the process. In 1906, Stuart W. Cramer of Charlotte, North Carolina was exploring ways to add moisture to the air in his textile mill. Cramer coined the term "air conditioning", using it in a patent claim he filed that year as an analogue 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, controlling the humidity so necessary in textile plants. In 1945, Robert Sherman of Lynn, MA, invented the portable, in-window air conditioner that cooled and heated, humidified and dehumidified, and filtered the air.

Refrigerant development
The first air conditioners and refrigerators employed toxic or flammable gases, such as ammonia, methyl chloride, or propane, that could result in fatal accidents when they leaked.Thomas Midgley, Jr created the first non-flammable, non-toxic chlorofluorocarbon gas, Freon, in 1928.

Refrigeration cycle

Condenser coil (hot side heat exchanger, gas cools and liquifies) Metering Device (liquid expands and cools) Evaporator coil (cold side heat exchanger, liquid vaporizes and heats up) Compressor (gas is compressed and heats up) Red = Gas at high pressure and very high temperature Pink = Liquid at high pressure and high temperature Blue = Liquid at low pressure and very low temperature Light Blue = Gas at low pressure and low temperature In the refrigeration cycle, a heat pump transfers heat from a lower-temperature heat source into a higher-temperature heat sink. Heat would naturally flow in the opposite direction. This is the most common type of air conditioning. A refrigerator works in much the same way, as it pumps the heat out of the interior and into the room in which it stands. This cycle takes advantage of the way phase changes work, where latent heat is released at a constant temperature during a liquid/gas phase change, and where varying the pressure of a pure substance also varies its condensation/boiling point.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Humidity control
The comfort air conditioner is designed to create a 40% to 60% relative humidity in the occupied space. A specific type of air conditioner that is used only for dehumidifying is called a dehumidifier. Dehumidifier

Evaporator and condenser coils are placed in the same air path. heat a room just as an electric heater
Having the condenser coil in the same air path as the evaporator coil produces warm, dehumidified air.

Design
1. Window and through-wall a. Unitary systems - the common one room air conditioners, sit in a window or wall opening, with interior controls

b. Packaged terminal (PTAC) systems - have two separate units (terminal packages), the evaporative unit on the interior and the condensing unit on the exterior, with tubing passing through the wall and connecting them 2. Split systems a. Central - inside heat-exchanger is typically placed inside the central furnace/AC unit of forced air heating system b. Mini-split - supplied chilled air to only a single space 3. Ductless (split-system) air conditioning - similar to PTAC air conditioners - allows design and installation flexibility because the inside wall space required is significantly reduced and the compressor and heat exchanger can be located further away from the inside space 4. Central Air Conditioning - Offers whole-house or large-commercial-space cooling, and often offers moderate multi-zone temperature control capability by the addition of air-louver-control boxes. 5. Evaporative coolers - device that draws outside air through a wet pad, such as a large sponge soaked with water. 6. Portable units a. Refrigerative - air-cooled, meaning they use air to exchange heat i. Split - has an indoor unit on wheels connected to an outdoor unit via flexible pipes ii. Hose - vented to the outside via air ducts - Monoblock - collects the water in a bucket or tray and stops when full - Air-to-air - re-evaporates the water and discharges it through the ducted hose and can run continuously. b. Evaporative - sometimes called "swamp coolers - do not have a compressor or condenser - Liquid water is evaporated on the cooling fins, releasing the vapor into the cooled area. - Evaporating water absorbs a significant amount of heat, the latent heat of vaporization, cooling the air: humans and animals use the same mechanism to cool themselves by sweating. 7. Heat pumps - air conditioner in which the refrigeration cycle can be reversed, producing heating instead of cooling in the indoor environment. 8. Refrigerants - substance used in a heat cycle usually including, for enhanced efficiency, a reversible phase transition from a liquid to a gas.

Uses
Comfort applications Makes deep plan buildings feasible, for otherwise they would have to be built narrower or with light wells so that inner spaces received sufficient outdoor air via natural ventilation. Allows buildings to be taller Can be used for many types of transportation Process applications Domestic use The objective may be to not only control temperature, but also humidity, air quality, and air movement from space to space. can promote the growth and spread of microorganisms can be used to provide a clean, safe, hypoallergenic atmosphere in hospital operating rooms and other environments can have a negative effect on skin, drying it out and also dehydration may have a positive effect on sufferers of allergies and asthma

Health issues