UNIT : 5 – TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONING

AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPENT

An HVAC designer will recommend different types of air conditioning systems for
different applications. The most commonly used are described here.

The choice of which air conditioner system to use depends upon a number of factors
including how large the area is to be cooled, the total heat generated inside the
enclosed area, etc. An HVAC designer would consider all the related parameters and
suggest the system most suitable for your space.

A. WINDOW TYPE AIR-CONDITIONER:

Also called the room-air-conditioners are the most basic for of A/C equipment. All basic
components of refrigeration cycle namely the compressor, condenser, expansion valve
or coil, evaporator or cooling coil are housed as below in a factory made cabinet. This
unit is fitted in a slot made in the wall of the room, or more commonly a window sill.

WINDOW TYPE AIR CONDITIONER (SECTION)

 PLAN OF WINDOW TYPE AC

The whole assembly of the window air conditioner can be divided into two
compartments: the room side, which is also the cooling side and the outdoor side from
where the heat absorbed by the room air is liberated to the atmosphere.

The room side and outdoor side are separated from each other by an insulated partition
enclosed inside the window air conditioner assembly.

In the front of the window air conditioner on the room side there is beautifully decorated
front panel on which the supply and return air grills are fitted (the whole front panel itself
is commonly called as front grill).

The louvers fitted in the supply air grills are adjustable so as to supply the air in desired
direction. There is also one opening in the grill that allows access to the control panel or
operating panel in front of the window air conditioner.

Although the unit is designed for one room only, several units can be used to provide
air-conditioning for whole residence. It is possible to air-condition the entire multi-room
commercial building using window units.

Advantages: 1. Separate temperature control for each room.

2. Ducts not required.
3. Plumbing not required.
4. Installation is simple.
5. Some units can be fitted with heating coil.
 6. They are available from 1 ton (3.5 kW) to 3 ton (10.5 kW) capacity.

Disadvantages: 1. Unit need space in window.

2. Unit has a fixed air quantity.
3. Unit must have an external wall.
4. Appearance may be a factor.

B. SPLIT A. C. SYSTEM:

A split sir conditioner consists of two main parts: the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.
The outdoor is installed on or near the wall outside of the room or space that you wish
to cool. The unit houses the compressor, condenser coil and the expansion coil or
capillary tubing. The sleek-looking indoor unit contains the cooling coil, a long blower
and an air filter.
A split air conditioner does not require ductwork. The indoor and outdoor units are
connected with a set of electrical wires and insulated tubing. Therefore, there is very
little opportunity for energy loss in a split air conditioner.

The most obvious benefit of this system over the window type is the quiet performance.
The parts of an air conditioner that make the most noise are the compressor and the fan
that cools the condenser, which are placed outside of the room in this system, removing
the major source of noise unlike window A. C.

Another benefit of a split air conditioner system is that you can opt for a multi-split
system, where you can have more than one indoor unit connected to a single outdoor
unit. This makes it easy to cool multiple rooms or maintain the temperature throughout a
large room through the use of two indoor units.

Although the initial cost of this unit is significantly more than the window type, the saving
in energy bills and its longevity makes it very attractive in the end.

C. PACKAGED AIR-CONDITIONERS:

For larger capacities than 5 TR (7.5 kW) packaged units are recommended for use.
These components are housed in a vertical cabinet.

These machines can be used singly or in multiples to air-condition up to 500 sq. m

beyond which capacities, a centralized DX system is generally more economical. The
majority of package units are water cooled requiring free flow of water through them.

Cold water enters the condenser and leaves after being warmed. If same water is to be
used again then it must undergo cooling to avoid cumulative build up of heat. This is
done simply by spraying the water in a cooling tower.

These units are best installed in small rooms adjacent to the air-conditioned space.
They should have fresh air intake point and a drain point for draining out condensate.
The package unit room acts as a return air plenum and is an integral part of air-
conditioned space. Piping connects the package unit to the cooling tower which is
located in a freely ventilated area.
Some units are made with air cool condensers, which must be located in a freely
ventilated space.

*****************
AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPENT (Continued)

CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS:

There are two types of central air conditioning systems: Direct Expansion (DX) type of
central air conditioning plants and Chilled Water type of the central air conditioning
plants.

D. CENTRAL DX PLANT:

In the DX system the air used for cooling the room or space is directly passed over the
cooling coil of the refrigeration plant. In case of the chilled water system the refrigeration
system is used to first chill the water, which is then used to chill the air used for cooling
the rooms or spaces.

In the direct expansion or DX types of central air conditioning plants the air used for
cooling space is directly chilled by the refrigerant in the cooling coil of the air handling
unit. Since the air is cooled directly by the refrigerant the cooling efficiency of the DX
plants is higher.

However, it is not always feasible to carry the refrigerant piping to the large distances
hence, direct expansion or the DX type of central air conditioning system is usually used
for cooling the small buildings or the rooms on the single floor.

CENTRAL DX AC PLANT EQUIPMENT LAYOUT:

1) The Plant Room:

The plant room comprises of the important parts of the refrigeration system, the
compressor and the condenser. The condenser is of shell and tube type and is cooled
by the water. The refrigerant flows along the tube side of the condenser and water along
the shell side, which enables faster cooling of the refrigerant.

The water used for cooling the compressor and the condenser is cooled in the cooling
tower kept at the top of the plant room, though it can be kept at other convenient
location also.

2) The Air Handling Unit Room:

The refrigerant leaving the condenser in the plant room enters the thermostatic
expansion valve and then the air handling unit, which is kept in the separate room. The
air handling unit is a large box type of unit that comprises of the evaporator or the
cooling coil, air filter and the large blower.

After leaving the thermostatic expansion valve the refrigerant enters the cooling coil
where it cools the air that enters the room to be air conditioned. The evaporator in the
air handling unit of the DX central air conditioning system is of coil type covered with the
fins to increasing the heat transfer efficiency from the refrigerant to the air.

There are two types of ducts connected to the air handling unit: for discharging the hot
return air from the rooms and for sending the chilled air to the rooms to be air
conditioned. The blower of the air handling unit enables discharging the hot return air
that has absorbed the heat from the room via the ducts.

This air is then passed through the filters and then over the cooling coil. The blower
then passes the chilled air through ducts to the rooms that are to be air conditioned.

The DX expansion system runs more efficiently at higher loads. For capacities larger
than 20 TR (70 kW) it is generally economical to use central DX plants.

3) Air Conditioned Room:

This is the space that is to be actually cooled. It can be residential room, room of the
hotel, part of the office or any other suitable application. The ducts from the air handling
room are passed to all the rooms that are to be cooled. The ducts are connected to the
grills or diffusers that supply the chilled air to the room.

The air absorbs the heat and gets heated and it passes through another set of the grill
and into the return air duct that ends into the air handling unit room. This air after
cooling is then re-circulated by the air handling unit.

Though the efficiency of the DX plants is higher, the air handling units and the
refrigerant piping cannot be kept at very long distance since there will be lots of drop in
pressure of the refrigerant along the way and there will also be cooling losses.

Further, for the long piping, large amounts of refrigerant will be needed which makes the
system very expensive and also prone to the problems like the leakage of the
refrigerant. If there are large air conditioning loads, then multiple direct expansion
systems can be installed.

E. CHILLED WATER PLANT:

The chilled water types of central air conditioning plants are installed in the place where
whole large buildings, shopping mall, airport, hotel, etc, comprising of several floors are
to be air conditioned. These are generally economical only beyond 80 TR (282 kW)
capacity.
While in the direct expansion type of central air conditioning plants, refrigerant is directly
used to cool the room air; in the chilled water plants the refrigerant first chills the water,
which in turn chills the room air.
In chilled water plants, the ordinary water or brine solution is chilled to very low
temperatures of about 6 to 8 degree Celsius by the refrigeration plant. This chilled water
is pumped to various floors of the building and its different parts. In each of these parts
the air handling units are installed, which comprise of the cooling coil, blower, filters and
the ducts.

The chilled water flows through the cooling coil. The blower discharges return air from
the air conditioned rooms that are to be cooled via the ducts. This air passes over the
cooling coil and gets cooled and is then supplied to the air conditioned space.

CENTRAL CHILLED WATER AC PLANT EQUIPMENT LAYOUT:

1) Central Air Conditioning Plant Room:

The plant room comprises of all the important components of the chilled water air
conditioning plant. These include the compressor, condenser, thermostatic expansion
valve and the evaporator or the chiller.

Condenser and the evaporator are of shell and tube type. The condenser is cooled by
the water, with water flowing along the shell side and refrigerant along the tube side.
The thermostatic expansion valve is operated automatically by the solenoid valve.

The evaporator is also called as the chiller, because it chills the water. If the water flows
along the shell side and refrigerant on the tube side, it is called as the dry expansion
type of chiller. If the water flows along tube side and the refrigerant along the shell side,
it is called as the flooded chiller.

The water chilled in the chiller is pumped to various parts of the building that are to be
air conditioned. It enters the air handling unit, cools the air in cooling coil, absorbs the
heat and returns back to the plant room to get chilled again. The amount of water
passing into the chiller is controlled by the flow switch.

In the central air conditioning plant room all the components, the compressor,
condenser, thermostatic expansion valve, and the chiller are assembled in the structural
steel framework making a complete compact refrigeration plant, known as the chiller
package.

Piping required to connect these parts is also enclosed in this unit making a highly
compact central air conditioning plant.

The air handling units are installed in the various parts of the building that are to be air
conditioned, in the place called air handling unit rooms. The air handling units comprise
of the cooling coil, air filter, the blower and the supply and return air ducts. The chilled
water flows through the cooling coil.

The blower discharges the return hot air from the air conditioned space and blows it
over the cooling coil thus cooling the air. This cooled air passes over the air filter and is
passed by the supply air ducts into the space which is to be air conditioned.

The air handling unit and the ducts passing through it are insulated to reduce the loss of
the cooling effect.

2) Air Handling Unit Rooms:

The air handling units are installed in the various parts of the building that are to be air
conditioned, in the place called air handling unit rooms. The air handling units comprise
of the cooling coil, air filter, the blower and the supply and return air ducts. The chilled
water flows through the cooling coil.

The blower absorbs the return hot air from the air conditioned space and blows it over
the cooling coil thus cooling the air. This cooled air passes over the air filter and is
passed by the supply air ducts into the space which is to be air conditioned.

The air handling unit and the ducts passing through it are insulated to reduce the loss of
the cooling effect.

3) Air Conditioned Rooms:

These are the rooms or spaces that are to be air conditioned. These can be residential
or hotel rooms, halls, shops, offices, complete theater, various parts of the airport etc. At
the top of these rooms the supply and the return air ducts are laid.

The supply air ducts supply the cool air to the room via one set of the diffusers, while
the return air ducts absorbs the hot return air from the room by another set of the
diffusers. The hot return air enters the air handling unit, gets cooled and again enters
the room via supply duct to produce air conditioning effect.

4) Cooling Tower

The cooling tower is used to cool the water that absorbs heat from the compressor and
the condenser. When water flows through these components some water gets
evaporated, to make up this loss some water is also added in the cooling tower.

The cooling tower is of evaporative type. Here the water is cooled by the atmospheric
air and is re-circulated through the compressor and the condenser.
F. COSTING DATA:

1. Window type: Rs. 25,000 / ton (Rs. 7000 / kW)

2. Central DX plant: Rs. 15000 to Rs. 20,000 / ton (Rs. 4300 to 6000/
kW)
3. Chilled water plant : Rs. 20,000 to 25000 / ton (Rs. 6000 to
7500/kW)
(February 1987)
The above costs include refrigeration and A/C equipment. False ceiling, roof insulation
plant, room civil work - extra.

G. SPACE REQUIREMENTS:

a. Package unit room

Single unit - 3.00 x 2.00
Double unit - 3.00 x 4.00
Three units - 3.00 x 5.00

b. Air handling unit

Up to 30 TR - 4.00 x 3.00
30 to 60 TR - 4.00 x 5.00
60 to 100 TR - 6.00 x 5.00

PLANT ROOM FOR TWO CONDENCING UNITS:

UNIT 1

6.00

PUMP
UNIT 2

***********************