Topic

AirConditioning
Services

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of th topic, you should be able to:
1.

Define air-conditioning and refrigeration;

2.

ExpIain the processes which occur at the various stages in the

refrigeration cycle;

3.

Identify various components and equipments in the air-conditioning

cycle;

4.

Explain the differences between the room air-conditioner, packaged

unit air-conditioner and the centralised unit air-conditioner; and

5.

Identify the components to be considered in air-conditioning load

estimation.

X INTRODUCTION
Air-conditioning is one of the most important building services systems in any
modern building. It accounts for the largest building services cost component in
terms of installation, operation, maintenance and space requirements. Airconditioning is used to improve the comfort of occupants and for industrial
applications such as storage, production of precision instrument, computer
rooms etc. The component which plays the key role in the cooling and
conditioning function is the refrigeration plant.

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8.1

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177

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF AIR-CONDITIONING

Air-conditioning involves the simultaneous conditioning of air to control the

temperature, relative humidity and dust level in an enclosed space. It is a
process that conditions air by cleaning, cooling or heating, humidifying or
dehumidifying it in a defined zone.
An air-conditioning system is defined as an arrangement of equipment which
performs the function of conditioning the air.

8.1.1

Refrigeration

Refrigeration is defined as the intentional removal of heat from a space which it

is not wanted to another space where the heat increase makes no difference.
Figure 8.1 shows the refrigeration equation.

Figure 8.1: The refrigeration equation

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The refrigeration cycle is based on two principles:

(a)

As liquid changes into a vapour, it absorbs large quantities of heat.

(b) The boiling point of a liquid can be changed by changing the pressure
exerted on the liquid. In other words, the boiling point of a liquid can be
raised by increasing its pressure, and it can be lowered by reducing its
pressure.
The various processes and stages involved in refrigeration is as illustrated in
Figure 8.2.

Figure 8.2: The refrigeration cycle

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Equipment at the Various Processes of the

Refrigeration Cycle

Evaporator
The evaporator is designed to cool the air. It consists of finned tubes filled with
liquid refrigerant over which air is circulated. Liquid refrigerant is fed into the
tubes. Heat from the relatively warm air is absorbed by the cold refrigerant by
means of conduction through fins and tubes causing the refrigerant to vaporise.
(Note: this is the evaporating process when heat is added to a boiling liquid, it
changes to vapour.)
Compressor
The compressor is used to reclaim the refrigerant vapour leaving the evaporator
by compressing it to the pressure corresponding to a saturation temperature
higher than the temperature of the naturally available air. In short, the
compressor raises the pressure and temperature of the vapour refrigerant. (This
raises the temperature so that condensing process occurs at normally available
temperature)
Condenser
The condenser is designed to remove heat from the vapour refrigerant. It consists
of many finned tubes over which air or liquid (usually water) is circulated. The
heat of the vapour refrigerant is conducted through the tubes and fins and is then
transferred to the relatively cool stream of air or water. It is here where the
vapour refrigerant rejects heat and changes state into liquid (condensing process
when heat is removed from a boiling vapour, it changes to liquid).
Expansion Valve
The expansion valve is located near the evaporator inlet. Its function is to feed
only the refrigerant to the evaporator that will be vaporised completely before it
leaves the cooling coil. While passing through the expansion valve, the liquid
refrigerant undergoes a pressure reduction. This causes it to boil, cooling itself to
a temperature that corresponds to the boiling point at the new pressure.
The expansion valve, in short reduces the pressure, hence the temperature of the
liquid refrigerant (to reduce the temperature so that evaporation process occurs
near or at the evaporating temperature of refrigerant).

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SELF-CHECK 8.1
It was noted that the tubes in the evaporator and condenser are
finned. Why is this so?

8.2

AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

A basic air-conditioning system involves the following components or equipment

as in Figure 8.3. Within the air-conditioning system is the refrigeration unit
which is the core of the cooling and conditioning processes.

Figure 8.3: The air-conditioning cycle

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8.2.1
(a)

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181

Types of Air-conditioning Equipment

Fan The fan is responsible for the movement of air to and from an enclosed
space which can be:
(i)

All outdoor air;

(ii) All indoor air; or

(iii) Or combination of outdoor and indoor air.
(b) The amount of air can be controlled and regulated by the fan speed.
(c)

Supply duct The supply ducts distributes conditioned air from the fan to
the room space. Its length ideally should be kept to the minimum to reduce
airflow loss.

(d) Supply outlets These are openings whereby conditioned air is distributed
evenly into a room.
(e)

Room Space The room space is the area whereby the air is to be
conditioned.

(f)

Return outlets These are openings whereby the used air is extracted
from the room. Its locality should not be too close to the supply outlets to
avoid short circuiting the supply air.

(g) Return duct The return duct forms the passageway for the used air to be
returned to the plant room for re-conditioning.
(h) Filters - The filters clean the air by trapping the dust and dirt particles. They
are normally located ahead of the cooling coil where the air can be filtered.
(i)

Cooling coil Cooling coil are normally copper tubing in which the cold
refrigerant flows and cools the air in contact with the skin of the coil by the
absorption of heat. Excessive moisture in the air is also removed (condenses)
when the air is cooled or dehumidified.

(j)

Dampers Dampers are used in air distribution system to regulate the

airflow for the purpose of regulation of the fresh return air. They can be
manually or automatically operated by motorised action when connected to
a control system.

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AIR-CONDITIONING TYPES

The most common types of air-conditioning systems used in buildings are room
air-conditioners, packaged units and centralised unit.

8.3.1

Room Air-conditioners

Room air-conditioners are the simplest form of an air-conditioning system

encased and installed on windows or wall openings. There are 2 types of room
air-conditioners, namely:

The window unit; and

The split unit.

(a) Window Unit

Window unit room air-conditioners are a sensible cooling solution for
apartments or situations where we want to cool a portion of a residence or
just a room. The capacity of such a unit is designed so that a given size unit
is adequate to air condition the designated space. However, it is possible to
air condition an entire multi-room residence by several units. Figure 8.4
shows a section through a room air-conditioner.

Figure 8.4: Room air-conditioner

Source: P.N. Ananthanarayanan (1999), Basic Refrigeration and Air-conditioning,
Tata Mcgraw- Hill

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183

(b) Split Unit

Split unit, as it names implies, consist of two split sections; the indoor unit
and the outdoor unit. The evaporator and cooling coil is found in the indoor
unit while the outdoor unit comprises of the compressor, the condenser and
the expansion valve.
Both types of room air-conditioners above have its advantages and
disadvantages which cater for specific needs. Some basic comparisons are shown
in Table 8.1.
Table 8.1: Differences between the Window Unit and the Split Unit Air-conditioners
Window unit

Split unit

Cheap in capital cost but higher

operating cost

Slightly higher in capital cost but lower

operating cost

Loud running noise as it is

Noise is excluded from the room

located within the same room

As the compressor is located externally

Installation needs a large

Installation needs only a small

opening on the wall or on window

opening

hole for plumbing works (insulated

tubing, drain pipe) and for electrical
cable run.

Installation is possible only if

Can be installed for internal rooms

it can be mounted on a perimeter wall.

even when there is no perimeter walls

Provision of fresh air intake

There is no provision of fresh air intake

8.3.2

Packaged Unit

The packaged unit refer to the air-cooled or water-cooled unitary air-conditioner

where the components, namely the compressor, the cooling coil, the condenser
and the evaporator fan are all packaged, designed and matched up by the
manufacturer to form a complete system. They are usually used for medium and
large installation air-conditioning system and are used with or without a ducting
system. A typical packaged unit is shown in Figure 8.5.

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Figure 8.5: Packaged air-conditioner cross section view

Source: Ananthanarayanan (1999)

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8.3.3

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185

Centralised Unit

The centralised system has its air-conditioning equipment centrally located in a

plant room. The system enables the air-conditioning of numerous locations based
on a centrally located air-conditioning plant. This enables an easier maintenance
of the system but generally this type of installation is more costly. They are
usually used for medium and large installations where design engineers will
calculate, select and configure each component to build up a complete airconditioning system that best suits the requirements of each application.
There are 2 different types of centralised systems:
(a)

Direct expansion type where the air is cooled directly by the cooling coil as
shown in Figure 8.6; and

(b) Chilled water type where water, used as the cooling medium, is first
chilled in the refrigerating unit. The chilled water is then distributed to
various locations and in turn, used to cool the air for that particular space as
shown in Figure 8.7.

Figure 8.6: Centralised air-conditioner Direct Expansion type

Source: Ananthanarayanan (1999)

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Figure 8.7: Centralised air-conditioner chilled water system

Source: Ananthanarayanan (1999)

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The choice of the 2 different types of centralised system depends on the locality,
size and the operational times of the air-conditioning requirements.
Visit the following website to view the different air conditioning products by
different manufacturers:
htpp://www.trane.com
http://www.york.com.my
http://www.carrier.com.my

8.4

PRINCIPLES OF AIR-CONDITIONING DESIGN

Thermal comfort is an important consideration in air-conditioning. As mentioned

at the beginning of this topic, it involves the cleaning, control of the temperature,
humidity and the flow of air in a defined space.

8.4.1

Cooling Load Estimation

Cooling load estimation is an integral part in the design of air-conditioning

equipments. The air-conditioning loads is the amount of heat that must be added
to or removed from a structure to maintain the desired conditions. The
determination of the amount of heat to be handled to establish and maintain the
required comfort conditions is called load estimation. Consideration should
include the temperature and the moisture content to be conditioned. Typical
values used are as shown in Table 8.2.
Table 8.2

1.
(a)

Indoor design conditions

Dry bulb design temperature

= 24C

(b)

Maximum dry bulb temperature

= 26C

(c)

Minimum dry bulb temperature

= 22C

(d)

Design relative humidity

= 60%

(e)

Maximum relative humidity

= 65%

(f)

Minimum relative humidity

= 55%

2.

Outdoor design conditions

(a)

Dry bulb temperature

= 33.5C

(b)

Wet bulb temperature

= 27.8C

Source: Guidelines for Energy Efficiency in Buildings, (1989).

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In cooling load estimation, the amount of heat generated by the occupants,

electric lighting, fans and other appliances should be considered. Generally this
can be classified into internal and external heat gains.

8.4.2

Internal Heat Gain

The common sources of internal heat gain are:

Occupants sensible and latent heat;
Lighting sensible heat; and
Equipment motors, computers etc. sensible and latent heat.
(a)

Occupancy Heat
An Individual produces more heat than what is required to maintain the
average body temperature of 36.8C. The surplus heat is dissipated to the
surrounding air in sensible and latent form. The amount of heat released by
a person varies with age, size, sex, clothing worn and the physical activity of
that person.

(b) Lighting Heat Gain

All lighting and their control gears generate heat which contribute
significantly to the cooling load. Incandescent lamps particularly produce
more heat than fluorescent lamps as the former emits lights by heating up
its filament until it fluoresces. However, when using fluorescent lamps,
consideration have to be taken of the heat generated by its lamp gears (e.g.
ballast) which accounts for 20% of the lighting load.
(c)

Equipment Heat Gain

When electrical motor-driven equipment (e.g. fans, pumps etc.) is operated
within the conditioned space or is located within the conditioned air stream,
the motor heat will contribute to the cooling load. This equipment will only
generate sensible heat gain.
Computer is another main source of internal sensible gain. Electrical
appliances, especially those used in the kitchen or for boiling purposes will
also contribute to cooling load in both sensible and latent forms.
Gas appliances are another source of heat gain within the conditioned space
that normally produces sensible and latent heat.

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189

External Heat Gain

The sources of external heat gain are:

Solar radiation;

Conduction heat gain; and

Infiltration and ventilation heat gain.

(a)

Solar Radiation
Solar heat gain is produced by the sun and is transmitted to earth by
radiation. Radiant heat can pass through a transparent material, e.g. glass,
but when it strikes an opaque surface, the amount of radiant heat
transferred to that surface is dependent on two main factors; the colour and
smoothness of the surface and the angle of incidence.

(b) Conduction Heat Gains

Conduction heat gains absorb through the roof, wall and glass areas of a
building based on the assumption that these surfaces are shaded, i.e. heat
gains absorb through walls, roofs and glass areas when the sun falls directly
on these surfaces are not taken into account.
The amount of heat flowing through a unit area of the surface of the wall,
roof or glass depends on the thickness and difference in air temperature
between the often expressed as the thermal conductivity of a specific
material.
Thermal conductivity (k Value) is defined as the quantity of heat
transmitted under steady-state conditions through unit area of the material
of unit thickness in unit time when unit temperature difference exists
between its opposite surfaces. It is expressed in W/mK.
The choice of construction materials with consideration of its thermal
conductivity affects the cooling load. Common conductivity characteristics of
common building material is shown in Table 8.3.

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Table 8.3: k Values of Basic Building Materials

No

Material

1
2
3
4
5

Asbestos cement sheet

Asbestos insulating board
Asphalt, roofing
Bitumen
Brick
(a) Dry (covered by plaster or tile outside)
(b) Common brick wall (brick wall directly exposed to
weather outside)
Concrete

Concrete, light weight

8
9
10
11
12
13

Cork board
Fibre board
Glass sheet
Glass wool, mat or quilt
Gypsum plaster board
Hard board
(a) standard
(b) medium
Metals
(a) aluminium alloy, typical
(b) copper, commercial
(c) steel
Mineral wool, felt

14

15
16

17
18
19
20
21

Plaster
(a) gypsum
(b) perlite
(c) sand/cement
(d) vermicultie
Polystryrene, expanded
Polyurethane, foam
PVC flooring
Soil, loosely packed
Stone, tile:
(a) sand stone
(b) granite
(c) marble/terrazzo/ceramic/mosaic

Density
kg/m3
1488
720
2240

k value
W/m K
0.317
0.108
1.226
1.298

1760

0.807
1.154

2400
64
960
1120
1280
144
264
2512
32
880

1.442
0.144
0.303
0.346
0.476
0.042
0.052
1.053
0.035
0.170

1024
640

0.216
0.123

2672
8784
7840
32104

211
395
47.6
0.035
0.032

1216
616
1568
640-960
16
24
1360
1200

0.370
0.115
0.533
0.202
0.303
0.035
0.204
0.713
0.375

2000
2640
2640

1.298
2.927
1.298

Source: Guidelines for Energy Efficiency in Buildings, (1989). Ministry of Energy,

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Infiltration and Ventilation Heat Gain

Air infiltration is the uncontrolled inward air leakage through cracks in any
building elements, around windows, and doors of a building. This is caused
by the pressure effects of wind and/or the effects of difference in the indoor
and outdoor air density. The forcing of outdoor air into a building by means
of a fan is called mechanical ventilation.
As the warmer infiltrated air is brought into the conditioned space, it carries
with it the higher sensible and latent heat and these will become a part of
the internal sensible and latent heat load.

EXERCISE 8.1
1.

Sketch and label the refrigeration cycle, showing all the

components and state of the refrigerant at the various stages.

2.

Sketch and label all the components involved at various stages of

an air conditioning cycle.

3.

Room air-conditioners which are traditionally dominated by the

window unit types, are being replaced and favoured by split unit
types. State 3 advantages of the split unit types over the window
units.

4.

What are the factors that we need to consider in the estimation of

cooling load.

To find out more on air conditioning please go to the following website

http://www.ashrae.org

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In this topic, we have studied the concepts of refrigeration and airconditioning, its systems, air-conditioners types and the various factors to be
considered in cooling loads estimation.

The understanding of the air-conditioning principles and systems would be

beneficial for those in the building industries as air-conditioning constitutes a
big component of the mechanical services works and cost in a building.