AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM

DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

Lecturer: -Dr. Esam Mejbil Abid

Subject: Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Year: Fourth B.Sc.

Babylon University
College of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering

LECTURE-1
Air-Conditioning Systems
Introduction
Air-conditioning is a process that simultaneously conditions air; distributes
it combined with the outdoor air to the conditioned space; and at the same time
controls and maintains the required spaces temperature, humidity, air
movement, air cleanliness, sound level, and pressure differential within
predetermined limits for the health and comfort of the occupants, for product
processing, or both.
The

HVAC&R

is

the

heating,

ventilating,

air-conditioning,

and

refrigerating. The combination of these processes is equivalent to the functions

performed by air-conditioning.

Importance of air
The human need to 1.2 kg. of water , 2.7 kg. of food and 16 kg. of air per day .
The healthy requirements is :
Moving the air by 2.5 L/s

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

A third of the feeding air must be fresh air and the 2 thirds is return air
after purifying
the entire air in the air conditioned areas must be moved at a velocity
between 0.15 to 0.25 m/s . This velocity doesnt cause a noise

Humans comfort
The human

needs to a comfort medium and we can do that by the next 5

properties treatment : 1. Dry bulb temp.(d.b.t) : It is needed to cool or heat the air before flowing
2. The humidity ratio () : The air must be humidified or dehumidified before
flowing.
3. The air movement : the flow rate of air and its distribution must be changed
to be homogeneous at the conditioned areas to make everyone feel the same
conditions (the static air cause a temperature difference between the
breath level and the ceiling level about 8-16 co)

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

4. Air purifying : By using filters to prevent dust and killing the bacteria
5. Ventilation : It is required to use fresh air to provide the needed oxygen for
the conditioned areas

COMFORT AND PROCESSING AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

An air conditioning, or HVAC&R, system is composed of components and
equipment arranged in sequence to condition the air, to transport it to the conditioned
space, and to control the indoor environmental parameters of a specific space within
required limits.
Most air conditioning systems perform the following functions:
1. Provide the cooling and heating energy required.
2. Condition the supply air, that is, heat or cool, humidify or dehumidify, clean
and purify, and attenuate any objectionable noise produced by the HVAC&R
equipment.
3. Distribute the conditioned air, containing sufficient outdoor air, to the
conditioned space.
4. Control and maintain the indoor environmental parameterssuch as
temperature, humidity, cleanliness, air movement, sound level, and pressure
differential

between the

conditioned

space

and

surroundingswithin

predetermined limits.

Comfort Air Conditioning Systems

Comfort air conditioning systems provide occupants with a comfortable and
healthy indoor environment in which to carry out their activities. The various
sectors of the economy using comfort air conditioning systems are as follows:

AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM

1.

DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

The commercial sector includes office buildings, supermarkets, department

stores, \shopping centers, restaurants, and others.

2.

The institutional sector includes such applications as schools, colleges,

universities, libraries, indoor stadiums, cinemas, theaters, concert halls, and

recreation centers. For example, one of the large indoor stadiums can seat 78,000
people.
3.

The residential and lodging sector consists of hotels, motels, apartment

houses, and private homes. Many systems serving the lodging industry and
apartment houses are operated continuously, on a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week
schedule, since they can be occupied at any time.
4.

The health care sector encompasses hospitals, nursing homes, and

convalescent care facilities. Special air filters are generally used in hospitals to
remove bacteria and particulates of sub-micrometer size from areas such as
operating rooms, nurseries, and intensive care units. The relative humidity in a
general clinical area is often maintained at a minimum of 30 percent in winter.
5.

The transportation sector includes aircraft, automobiles, railroad cars, buses,

and cruising ships. Passengers increasingly demand ease and environmental

comfort, especially for long distance travel. Modern airplanes flying at high
altitudes may require a pressure differential of about 5 psi between the cabin and
the outside atmosphere.

Psychrometric Relations
Though there are many Psychrometric terms, yet the following Psychrometric
relations are important from the subject point of view :

1. Dry Air: The pure dry air is mixture of a number of gases such nitrogen, oxygen, carbon
dioxide, hydrogen, argon, helium etc. The composition of dry air varies slightly at

AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM

DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

different geographic locations and from time to time. The approximate

composition of dry air by volume is nitrogen, 79.08%; oxygen, 20.95%; argon,
0.93%; carbon dioxide, 0.03%; other gases (e.g., neon, sulfur dioxide), 0.01%.

2. Moist Air: It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour. The amount of water vapour,
present in the air depends upon the absolute pressure and temperature of mixture.

3. Saturated Air: It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour, when the air has diffused the
maximum amount of water vapour into it.

4. Specific Humidity, Humidity Ratio or Moister Content (): It is the ratio of the mass of the water vapour to the mass of the dry air
contained in the mixture of the moist air, in (kg/kg).
The equation of state for an ideal gas that describes the relationship between its
thermodynamic properties for dry air is:

= ..1

And for water vapour,

= ..2

where: P = pressure of the gas, (Pa)

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

R = gas constant, in (kJ/kg.K)

Ta = absolute temperature of the gas, (K)
V = volume of the gas, i (m3)
m = mass of the gas, (kg)

Also
V a=V v

and

Ta=Tv=Td

where Td is dry bulb temperature

From equations 1&2, get

...3

Hence, Humidity ratio (W) is:

=
=
4

Substituting Ra=0.287 kJ/kg.K for dry air and Rv=0.461 kJ/kg.K for water
vapour , get

= . = .
Where:

P: -barometric pressure (1.01325 bar)

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

5. Dew Point Temperature: It is the temperature of saturated moist air of the moist air sample having
the same humidity ratio at the same atmospheric pressure. Two moist air
samples of similar dew points tdp at the same atmospheric pressure have the
same humidity ratio (W) and the same partial pressure of water vapour (pw).

Pv

td= tsup

tdp= tsat
Dew Point Temperature

6. Degree of Saturation (): It is defined as the ratio of the humidity ratio of moist air, W, to the
humidity ratio of saturated moist air, Ws, at the same temperature and pressure:

=W/ Ws =

.....6

Notes: The partial pressure of saturated air (Ps) is obtained from the steam tables
corresponding to dry bulb temperature (tdb).

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

If the relative humidity is equal zero, then the humidity ratio W=0, and for
dry air =0
If the relative humidity is equal one (1), then the humidity ratio W=Ws,
and for dry air =1 thus varies between 0 and 1.

7. Absolute Humidity(vapour density): It is the mass water vapour in 1 m3 of dry air or expressed in term of
gram per cubic meter of dry air(g/ m3). From perfect gas for water vapour and
dry air the mass flow rate ratio is:

..7

Hence, humidity ratio is:

=
= ...8

From equation of state equation 1 for (1 kg) mass flow rate and equation
8, the vapour density is:

=
=
9

8. Relative Humidity(): It is the ratio of actual mass of water vapour in a given volume of moist
air to the mass of vapour in the same volume of saturated air at the same
temperature and pressure.

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DEPARTMEN OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERIN

10

= .11
Hence, relative humidity is:

= ...12
Note: For saturated air, the relative humidity is 100%. = 1
For dry air, the relative humidity is 0%. = 0