To warm air or water, energy in the form of heat must be added.

Conversely, to reduce the temperature of

air or water, energy must be removed. At the heart of all air-conditioning systems is a piece of
refrigeration equipment (that which uses electricity) called a chiller which typically removes energy
producing chilled water. This equipment which is used by the majority of air conditioning systems is
based on the vapor compression cycle (vapor compression chiller). A less common system is absorption
chilling. It should be noted that the term "cooling" usually relates to the direct production of cold air
whereas the term "chilling" relates to the production of cold water. This chilled water is then circulated
through the cooling coil of an air handling or fan coil unit to cool the airflow. The way in which the chilled
water is used depends on the type of air-conditioning system the chiller serves. For example in a centralized
air system the chilled water will be pumped around one or more cooling coils in central air handling units.
In a partially centralized air/water system, for example a fan coil installation, it will be supplied to both a
central air handling unit and the individual fan coils located around the building. Some smaller chillers
provide refrigerant directly to a cooling coil in an air handling unit and consequently avoid the need
for a chilled water circuit (often referred to as a DX system). The chiller and air handling unit in a
DX system can be purchased as an integrated unit. In order for a chiller to cool the water used in the air-
conditioning system it must first extract heat (energy) from the water and then get rid of it. This process is
the same as the operation of a domestic fridge which takes heat from the food inside and then rejects it at
the back of the unit via the black serpentine coil which warms the surrounding air. In the same way, a
commercial chiller must reject the heat it picks up. This can be achieved in several ways. The simplest
approach is to combine the heat rejection system and chiller into a single unit called a packaged
chiller. This is located outside and incorporates one or more fans which draw fresh air through the unit to
carry away the heat. Large chillers often have a separate heat rejection system linked by pipe work,
enabling the chiller to be located in a plant room. The heat rejection system can take several forms. The
most efficient is the evaporative cooling tower which uses the cooling effect of evaporating water to
boost the cooling provided by fresh air. This approach has become less popular during the last 10 to 15
years as a result of the risk of Legionnaires ’ disease associated with poor maintenance. However, for
some building applications, cooling towers remain the favored method of heat rejection due to their
high efficiency which enables a small footprint. A more widely used system for providing separate heat
rejection is the dry cooler. This consists of a low profile unit containing one or more fans which drive fresh
air across a serpentine coil. The coil contains hot water from the chiller which is cooled and pumped back
to the chiller.
Alternatively, the coil can contain hot refrigerant directly from the refrigeration process, which is cooled in
the same way and then travels back to the chiller.
The vapor compression cycle (the process behind refrigeration).
A liquid introduced into a vessel in which there is initially a vacuum (a volume of space that is
essentially empty of matter such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure)
and whose walls are kept at a constant temperature (heat must be added during the process as latent
heat is being abstracted) will evaporate at once. In the process latent heat of vaporization will be
abstracted from the sides of the vessel. The resulting effect is the start of the refrigeration cycle. As
the liquid evaporates (vaporizes), the pressure inside the vessel will rise until it reaches a certain
maximum value for the temperature – the saturation vapor pressure. After this no more liquid will
evaporate and of course the cooling effect will cease. Any further liquid introduced will remain in
liquid in the bottom of the vessel. If we now remove some of the vapor from the container by
connecting it to the suction of a pump the pressure will tend to fall and this will cause more liquid to
evaporate.
Most people have daily contact with cooling caused by the vapor compression cycle in the form of the
domestic refrigerator. The refrigerator is a useful example to keep in mind whilst considering how the
system works. Cooling systems used in buildings use the same principle but on a different scale. The main
components of the cycle are an evaporator coil, a compressor, a condenser coil, and an expansion device.
These components are connected together using copper pipe through which refrigerant circulates in a
closed loop. Cooling is achieved in the following way; Liquid refrigerant is forced through the expansion
valve. As the refrigerant leaves the expansion valve its pressure is reduced. This allows it to evaporate at a
low temperature. For any liquid to evaporate it must absorb energy. The refrigerant evaporates by
removing energy from the evaporator coil which in turn removes heat from the air which is flowing
over it. Hence the air becomes cooled. The refrigerant, now in a vapor state, leaves the evaporator and
passes through the compressor. The pressure is thereby increased (beyond its saturated vapor
pressure) causing the refrigerant vapor to condense in the condenser coil. This occurs at a relatively
high temperature. As the refrigerant condenses it releases the heat it absorbed during evaporation.
This heats up the condenser coil. Air passing over the condenser coil takes away this waste heat.
In terms of a domestic refrigerator the evaporator would be situated in the ice box and the condenser is the
grid of piping at the rear of the refrigerator which is warm to touch. In building cooling systems significant
amounts of waste heat are produced at the condenser and various techniques are used to safely remove it
from the building. The method of heat rejection depends on the amount of waste heat produced and
operational decisions such as the choice between using a dry system or a wet system. In a domestic
refrigerator the waste heat is simply allowed to enter the kitchen via the condenser coil at the rear of the
refrigerator. However, in air conditioning systems the amounts of waste heat involved are too great
and would cause serious overheating in the plant room. Because of this the waste heat must be safely
rejected outside the building. There are three main ways in which waste heat is removed from the
condenser. These are by using; air cooled condensers, evaporative condensers or water cooled condensers.
Air cooled condensers
Air cooled condensers have been described previously in their application to split air conditioning systems.
They are predominantly used for smaller cooling loads (less than 100kW) although they are used for
rejecting up to three times this value mainly due to the fact that water is not used in their operation.
This means maintenance costs are low.
Evaporative condensers.
Evaporative condensers are similar to air cooled condensers except that their heat rejection capacity is
increased by spraying water over the condenser coil. As this water evaporates it absorbs heat. Cooling
of the condenser coil is therefore achieved by both sensible and latent means. The practical implication
of this is that the unit has a smaller physical size for a given heat rejection capacity than an air cooled
condenser. The water circulating over the condenser is treated to prevent bacterial growth. In addition
spray eliminators must be used to avoid water droplets, which may be contaminated, leaving the unit.
Evaporative condensers can be used up to 500kW cooling capacity.
Water cooled condensers.
Variations in ambient air temperature cause changes in the efficiency of air cooled condensers. A
more temperature stable heat sink is water. Water cooled condensers make use of this by jacketing the
condenser in a shell which is filled with water. The condenser passes its waste heat to the water
increasing its temperature by about 5C. The water is then pumped to a water to water plate heat
exchanger. Water from a large nearby source, such as a canal, river, lake or sea is also circulated
through this heat exchanger having first been strained and filtered. In this way the condenser cooling
water only makes thermal contact with the heat sink water. The heat sink water having picked up heat
from the condenser circuit is returned to the main body of water where the heat it carries is
dispersed. The condenser cooling water leaves the plate heat exchanger and returns once more to the
condenser to pick up more waste heat. The use of bodies of water such as rivers and canals as a heat
sink is subject to water authority approval.
Cooling Towers.
In locations where there are no large bodies of water that can be used as a heat sink, the water cooled
condenser is used in conjunction with a cooling tower. A cooling tower is a device which cools the
condenser cooling water by evaporation before returning it to the condenser to collect more heat. Figure
7.9 shows a forced draught cooling tower. It can be seen that the condenser cooling water is allowed to
tumble down through the device whilst air is forced upwards through the cascading water by a fan. The
purpose of the tower is to enhance evaporative cooling of the condenser water. It does this by increasing the
surface area of the water exposed to air. Evaporation is a surface effect so increasing the surface area of
water in contact with the air increases evaporation. Water surface area increases are achieved in a
number of ways such as by allowing the water to tumble down splash bars, by spraying or by running it
over a PVC matrix. When the condenser water evaporates it absorbs latent heat from the water which
is left behind. The effect of this is to cool the water which collects in the sump at the base of the
tower. This is pumped back to the water cooled condenser to remove more waste heat.
Cooling tower hygiene is an important area of concern since the water temperatures in the tower are
conducive to bacterial and algal growth. In particular legionnaires disease, which is a form of pneumonia,
has been associated with wet heat rejection equipment. The legionella bacteria grow in the warm water of
the cooling tower. They escape from the tower as part of the mist created by the flow of air and water
through the tower. If ambient conditions are suitable and the bacteria carrying droplets are breathed in by a
susceptible passer by a potentially fatal infection can occur. The problem is avoided by using air cooled
condensers. However, dry heat rejection uses approximately 30% more energy for the same capacity
as a wet method. Cooling towers can be used safely with the following precautions; • Use of spray
eliminators to prevent the release of infected droplets • The tower should be built of easily cleanable
materials such as plastics or epoxy coatings with smooth surfaces. Access doors should be incorporated
into the tower to facilitate cleaning. • The tower should be positioned away from air intakes which could
draw infected droplets into the building through the air conditioning system. • A programme of
maintenance and cleaning should be carried out throughout the life of the tower. This should include dosing
the cooling water with bactericides. Chemicals to prevent algal growth should also be used since algae tend
to coat surfaces and give the legionella a medium on which to grow.

Refrigeration plant is equipment which converts electricity into coolth. Coolth is the same stuff as heat i.e.
thermal energy except that it has a negative value. In other words it is heat being removed from something
causing a reduction in temperature. The energy consumption of a cooling system is by two principle
components. Firstly by the compressor, and secondly by any fans or pumps used to remove waste heat from
the condensor and remove coolth from the evaporator. The compressor consumes the majority,
approximately 95%, of the energy input to the refrigeration equipment.

COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE (COP)

The efficiency of a cooling system is normally called the coefficient of performance or COP. The COP of a
real system is given by;

COP = Cooling Capacity (kW)

Total Power Input (kW)

Typical COP's for cooling are 1.5 to 2.0 which indicates that you can achieve 2kW of cooling for the
consumption of 1kW of electricity.
This compares with a COP of 2.5 to 3.0 if the refrigeration equipment is being used as a heat pump. To
study factors affecting performance more clearly it is useful to look at the formula for the theoretical COP.

This is given by; COP = T1

T1-T2

where T1 = Evaporator ambient air temperature (K)

T2 = Condenser ambient air temperature (K)

From this it can be seen that for the COP to be high the difference between T1 and T2 should be small.
Since T1 is set by system requirements the variable is T2 , the ambient temperature surrounding the
condenser. Taking a split cooling system as an example, what this means in practice is that when the
outside air temperature increases the efficiency of the system will fall. This is unfortunate since most
cooling is required in summer when high ambient condenser temperatures prevail. However, there are a
number of things that can be done to improve this. The first is to increase the size of the air cooled
condenser and ensure that there is good airflow through the device to keep the ambient temperature low.
The next is to consider evaporative condensers these use latent heat removal to reduce ambient
temperatures. Finally, stable low temperature heat sinks should be considered such as surface and ground
waters.

Sensible heat and latent heat are both forms of thermal energy. The difference in name arises as a
result of what happens to a material when the thermal energy is being absorbed. The absorption of
latent heat (energy) causes a change of state. One example is the absorption of the latent heat of
vaporization by water to change it from a liquid to a gas (water vapor). It should be noted that a substance
gives out latent heat when the phase change is reversed. For example the latent heat absorbed by a
refrigerant in the evaporator coil of a vapor compression chiller is released once more when the refrigerant
condenses in the condenser. Absorption of sensible heat (energy) causes an increase in the temperature
of the object. The amount by which the temperature rises depends on the amount of energy absorbed, the
mass of the material and its specific heat capacity. Sensible energy is released by the object as it cools.
Sensible and latent heat are best illustrated using water as an example. Figure IP6 shows what happens if a
1kg block of ice at 0oC is placed in a beaker over a Bunsen burner. The ice absorbs heat from the flame
but its temperature does not increase instead it changes state, it begins to melt. The heat absorbed is
called the latent heat of fusion (units J/kg). When completely melted, further heat input causes the
temperature of the water to rise. The thermal energy now being absorbed is called sensible heat. The
temperature rise continues until 100C is reached. At this point the temperature once again stabilizes and
a second change of state occurs. This time from liquid to vapor (gas phase of water). The heat absorbed is
called the latent heat of vaporization. This continues until all the liquid is converted to vapor.
Consideration of figure IP6 shows some interesting features. The first is that substantially more energy
is required for the phase change from water at 100oC to steam than for the heating from 0 to 100C.
This means that steam at 100C contains far more energy than water at this temperature. This is why steam
is a useful heat transfer medium. It contains a lot of energy so distribution pipes can be kept small
whilst transferring large amounts of heat to the heat emitters. It is also dangerous. If steam escapes
and condenses onto human skin all of the latent heat of vaporization is re-released which can cause
severe burns.
The energy absorbed during evaporation of water is substantial. To illustrate this the amount of energy
required to raise the temperature of 1 litre of water from 0C to 100C is 0.42megajoules (MJ). The
amount of energy required to change 1 litre of water at 100C to vapour at 100C is 2.22MJ. Evidently
it takes a lot of heat to evaporate liquid. In other words a small amount of liquid circulating in a
refrigerator can perform a large amount of cooling. This is one reason why the vapour compression
cycle is widely used. The refrigeration system can be small and compact. Also from a practical point
of view heat exchange is much better when using change of state evaporation and condensation

AN INTRODUCTION TO SATURATED VAPOUR

PRESSURE

This page looks at how the equilibrium between a liquid (or a solid) and its
vapour leads to the idea of a saturated vapour pressure. It also looks at how
saturated vapour pressure varies with temperature, and the relationship between
saturated vapour pressure and boiling point.

The origin of saturated vapour pressure

The evaporation of a liquid

The average energy of the particles in a liquid is governed by the temperature.

The higher the temperature, the higher the average energy. But within that
average, some particles have energies higher than the average, and others have
energies lower than the average.
Some of the more energetic particles on the surface of the liquid can be moving
fast enough to escape from the attractive forces holding the liquid together. They
evaporate.

The diagram shows a small region of a liquid near its surface.

Notice that evaporation only takes place on the surface of the liquid. That's quite
different from boiling which happens when there is enough energy to disrupt the
attractive forces throughout the liquid. That's why, if you look at boiling water, you
see bubbles of gas being formed all the way through the liquid.

If you look at water which is just evaporating in the sun, you don't see any
bubbles. Water molecules are simply breaking away from the surface layer.

Eventually, the water will all evaporate in this way. The energy which is lost as
the particles evaporate is replaced from the surroundings. As the molecules in
the water jostle with each other, new molecules will gain enough energy to
escape from the surface.

The evaporation of a liquid in a closed container

Now imagine what happens if the liquid is in a closed container. Common sense
tells you that water in a sealed bottle doesn't seem to evaporate - or at least, it
doesn't disappear over time.

But there is constant evaporation from the surface. Particles continue to break
away from the surface of the liquid - but this time they are trapped in the space
above the liquid.
As the gaseous particles bounce around, some of them will hit the surface of the
liquid again, and be trapped there. There will rapidly be an equilibrium set up in
which the number of particles leaving the surface is exactly balanced by the
number rejoining it.

In this equilibrium, there will be a fixed number of the gaseous particles in the
space above the liquid.

When these particles hit the walls of the container, they exert a pressure. This
pressure is called the saturated vapour pressure (also known as saturation
vapour pressure) of the liquid.

Measuring the saturated vapour pressure

It isn't difficult to show the existence of this saturated vapour pressure (and to
measure it) using a simple piece of apparatus.
Note: This experiment is much easier to talk about than do, given the safety problems in
handling mercury because of its poisonous vapour. This is particularly going to be a problem if
you want to find the saturated vapour pressure of a liquid at a higher temperature. You would
have to use a more complex bit of apparatus. That isn't a problem you need to worry about for UK
A level purposes.

If you have a mercury barometer tube in a trough of mercury, at 1 atmosphere

pressure the column will be 760 mm tall. 1 atmosphere is sometimes quoted as
760 mmHg ("millimetres of mercury").

If you squirt a few drops of liquid into the tube, it will rise to form a thin layer
floating on top of the mercury. Some of the liquid will evaporate and you will get
the equilibrium we've just been talking about - provided there is still some liquid
on top of the mercury. It is only an equilibrium if both liquid and vapour are
present.
The saturated vapour pressure of the liquid will force the mercury level down a
bit. You can measure the drop - and this gives a value for the saturated vapour
pressure of the liquid at this temperature. In this case, the mercury has been
forced down by a distance of 760 - 630 mm. The saturated vapour pressure of
this liquid at the temperature of the experiment is 130 mmHg.

You could convert this into proper SI units (pascals) if you wanted to. 760 mmHg
is equivalent to 101325 Pa.

A value of 130 mmHg is quite a high vapour pressure if we are talking about
room temperature. Water's saturated vapour pressure is about 20 mmHg at this
temperature. A high vapour pressure means that the liquid must be volatile -
molecules escape from its surface relatively easily, and aren't very good at
sticking back on again either.

That will result in larger numbers of them in the gas state once equilibrium is
reached.

The liquid in the example must have significantly weaker intermolecular forces
than water.

The variation of saturated vapour pressure with temperature

The effect of temperature on the equilibrium between liquid and vapour

You can look at this in two ways.

There is a common sense way. If you increase the temperature, you are
increasing the average energy of the particles present. That means that more of
them are likely to have enough energy to escape from the surface of the liquid.
That will tend to increase the saturated vapour pressure.

Or you can look at it in terms of Le Chatelier's Principle - which works just as well
in this kind of physical situation as it does in the more familiar chemical
examples.

Note: You could follow this link if you aren't sure about Le Chatelier's Principle.

Use the BACK button on your browser to return to this page later.

When the space above the liquid is saturated with vapour particles, you have this
equilibrium occurring on the surface of the liquid:

The forward change (liquid to vapour) is endothermic. It needs heat to convert

the liquid into the vapour.

According to Le Chatelier, increasing the temperature of a system in a dynamic

equilibrium favours the endothermic change. That means that increasing the
temperature increases the amount of vapour present, and so increases the
saturated vapour pressure.

The effect of temperature on the saturated vapour pressure of water

The graph shows how the saturated vapour pressure (svp) of water varies from
0°C to 100 °C. The pressure scale (the vertical one) is measured in kilopascals
(kPa). 1 atmosphere pressure is 101.325 kPa.
Saturated vapour pressure and boiling point

A liquid boils when its saturated vapour pressure becomes equal to the external
pressure on the liquid. When that happens, it enables bubbles of vapour to form
throughout the liquid - those are the bubbles you see when a liquid boils.

If the external pressure is higher than the saturated vapour pressure, these
bubbles are prevented from forming, and you just get evaporation at the surface
of the liquid.

If the liquid is in an open container and exposed to normal atmospheric pressure,

the liquid boils when its saturated vapour pressure becomes equal to 1
atmosphere (or 101325 Pa or 101.325 kPa or 760 mmHg). This happens with
water when the temperature reaches 100°C.

But at different pressures, water will boil at different temperatures. For example,
at the top of Mount Everest the pressure is so low that water will boil at about
70°C. Depressions from the Atlantic can easily lower the atmospheric pressure
in the UK enough so that water will boil at 99°C - even lower with very deep
depressions.

Whenever we just talk about "the boiling point" of a liquid, we always assume
that it is being measured at exactly 1 atmosphere pressure. In practice, of
course, that is rarely exactly true.
Saturated vapour pressure and solids

Sublimation

Solids can also lose particles from their surface to form a vapour, except that in
this case we call the effect sublimation rather than evaporation. Sublimation is
the direct change from solid to vapour (or vice versa) without going through the
liquid stage.

In most cases, at ordinary temperatures, the saturated vapour pressures of solids

range from low to very, very, very low. The forces of attraction in many solids are
too high to allow much loss of particles from the surface.

However, there are some which do easily form vapours. For example,
naphthalene (used in old-fashioned "moth balls" to deter clothes moths) has quite
a strong smell. Molecules must be breaking away from the surface as a vapour,
because otherwise you wouldn't be able to smell it.

Another fairly common example (discussed in detail on another page) is solid

carbon dioxide - "dry ice". This never forms a liquid at atmospheric pressure and
always converts directly from solid to vapour. That's why it is known as dry ice.

Note: This link will take you straight to the page about phase diagrams where this is discussed in
detail. Follow this link as well if you are interested in the logical next step in this topic which is a
discussion of the phase diagrams of pure substances, including water and carbon dioxide.

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© Jim Clark 2004