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Performance Test of AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

This document discusses performance metrics for air conditioning systems. It defines the Coefficient of Performance (COP) as a ratio of the output power to input power of a system, with higher COP indicating greater efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) is a similar ratio measuring efficiency over time. Seasonal metrics like SEER and HSPF provide representative efficiency measures over varying outdoor temperatures during heating and cooling seasons. Performance is affected by the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor air.

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152 views20 pages

Performance Test of AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

This document discusses performance metrics for air conditioning systems. It defines the Coefficient of Performance (COP) as a ratio of the output power to input power of a system, with higher COP indicating greater efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) is a similar ratio measuring efficiency over time. Seasonal metrics like SEER and HSPF provide representative efficiency measures over varying outdoor temperatures during heating and cooling seasons. Performance is affected by the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor air.

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Za Yon
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PERFORMANCE TEST

Introduction
This discusses performances of air conditioning systems,
including heat pumps and chillers. It describes the
efficiencies of systems so you can estimate how much
energy a system may use. The discussion applies equally
to residential, commercial, and industrial systems.
When we talk about the size of an air conditioning
system (whether by tons of cooling, BTU/h, or kW), we
are specifying the cooling capacity (power) of the
system. The actual electrical power used to operate such
a system is less.
Coefficient of Performance, COP
The COP is a measure of the amount of power
input to a system compared to the amount of
power output by that system:
The COP is therefore a measurement of efficiency; the higher the number, the
more efficient the system is. The COP is dimensionless because the input
power and output power are measured in Watt. The COP is also an
instantaneous measurement in that the units are power which can be
measured at one point in time.
Consider a simple electric heater. All of the electricity that is input to the unit is
converted to heat. There is no waste and the power output (in heat) equals the
power input (in electricity), so the COP is one. The COP can be used to describe
any system, not just heating and cooling.
An air conditioning system uses power to move heat from one place to another
place. When cooling, the air conditioning system is moving heat from the space
being cooled (usually a room), to somewhere it is unwanted (usually outside).
A heat pump uses the same principles, but it is moving heat from outside (the
cold side) to the space being heated inside (the living space).
The maximum theoretical COP for an air
conditioning system is expressed by Carnots
theorem, reduced to the following equation:
Where TC is the cold temperature and TH is the hot
temperature. For space cooling, the cold temperature is inside
the space; for space heating, the cold temperature is outside.
All temperatures are expressed in Kelvin. To convert from C to
Kelvin, add 273.15.
As you can see from equation 2, as the difference between the
hot temperature and the cold temperature increases, the COP
becomes lower, and vice versa. This means that an air
conditioning system is more efficient when the room
temperature is closer to the outside temperature and will use
more power when there is a larger difference in these
temperatures.
Typical COP values for air conditioning and heat pump systems are in
the range 2 to 4, or about a tenth of the theoretical maximum.
However, this helps to explain where the power is used in such a
system. Consider the heat pump application shown below.
Energy Efficiency Ratio, EER
The EER is the ratio of output cooling energy
(in BTU) to electrical input energy (in Watt-
hour).

The units are therefore BTU/W/h or more formally BTU.W-1.h-1.


The bizarre units of measurement originated
in the US to measure the efficiency of an air
conditioning system in a steady state. The
units are therefore not dimensionless and EER
can be measured only over time. Typically,
with the system stable, one can measure the
energy used over an hour period. One
measures the amount of cooling the system
has performed during that time.
Many writers erroneously consider the EER to
be a ratio of power, not energy:

The units are the same, but now we are dividing the power of the air conditioning unit (in
BTU/h) by the power to operate it (in Watt). Although incorrect, this view does have the
advantage of allowing us to easily estimate the power used for a certain size of air
conditioning unit.
As an example, consider an air conditioning unit that is
five tons and has an EER of 11.6. 4 If we want to find out
how much power is used:

Where the multiplication by 12,000 converts tons of air conditioning to BTU/h. The EER can
be specified only at a specific delta temperature (between inside and outside the space being
cooled), because as we see from equation 2, the efficiency changes with this delta
temperature.
The EER is usually specified under the conditions shown in table .
To convert EER to COP, we need to accommodate for the units used. We
convert the BTU energy and the electrical input energy to a common energy
unit, namely Joule. 5 One BTU equals 1055 J. One Wh equals 3600 Ws or
3600 J. So:
To convert EER to COP, we need to accommodate for the units used. We
convert the BTU energy and the electrical input energy to a common energy
unit, namely Joule. 5 One BTU equals 1055 J. One Wh equals 3600 Ws or
3600 J. So:
Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, SEER
As with EER, the SEER is the ratio of output cooling energy (in BTU) to
electrical input energy (in Watt-hour). However the SEER is a representative
measurement of how the system behaves over a season where the outdoor
temperature varies:
The US DoE defined the formula to be used to
calculate SEER values for residential air
conditioning systems of less than 65,000 BTU/h
(19 kW). The manufacturer makes EER or COP
measurements at various values for indoor and
outdoor temperature and then computes the
SEER. The result is one number that may guide a
prospective purchaser or owner of a system to
compare one unit with another unit.6
As an example, consider a five ton unit (60,000 BTU/h) that runs on average
eight hours a day during the cooling season. 7 At the ends of the season, the
system may run only four hours a day but at the peak of the season, it is
running 14 hours a day. Assume the cooling season is 180 days (about six
months). Again, assume that on average throughout the season, the unit runs
at two thirds of its capacity. The cooling energy is:
If the system has a SEER of 13, the total electrical energy used is:

If the cost of electricity is 17 per kWh, the cost to run this air
conditioning unit during the season is:
Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF)

Like SEER, this is a measurement of the efficiency of a system


and the units are the same (BTU/h divided by Watt). However,
this measures the efficiency of the system in heating mode,
not cooling mode. Therefore it applies only to heat pumps or
reversible air conditioning units and not to units that only cool
a space.

As with COP, EER, and SEER, the higher the number of HSPF the greater the
efficiency.
Heat Balance

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