LAB REPORT:

AIR CONDITIONING

NAME: KAVENESH GUNASEGARAN

ID: 015619
DATE: 29/10/2015
LAB INSTRUCTOR: MR. ARUN PRABHAKAR
LECTURER: DR. YOUSIF ABDALLA ABAKR
SUMMARY.
The aim of this experiment is to understand the air conditioning process and the indicators of
moisture and heat content of the environmental air. Besides that, through this experiment,
students also obtained the knowledge to calculate the required heat exchanges that will
achieve the required air condition.
The objective is to experiment with air heating and compare air condition with the real air
condition measured using wet and dry bulb thermometers. Besides, the student also carried
out experiment with air cooling and compares expected condensate collection with
experimental observations.
The air conditioner used in this system is the PA Hilton model. In this model, it has two main
systems, which are the air cycle and the refrigerant cycle.
For the air cycle, water initially is boiled using a boiler. Then the steam from the boiler is then
sucked by a fan. Then the steam passes the evaporator where it acts as a cooling coil, causing
heat from the steam is extracted. Since heat is extracted, this causes the steam to undergo
condensation process. As a result, condensate is produced and is channeled out of the system
by a drain. After the evaporator, there is a secondary heater that is used to ensure that the
temperature of the steam is ideal. However, during the experiment, the secondary heater is
used to ensure that mist is not formed. Before the air from the evaporator leaves the system, it
passes through an orifice. The function of an orifice is to calculate the differential pressure
between inside and outside of the air conditioning unit.
For the refrigerant cycle, the refrigerant used is the R134a. The refrigerant cycle has four main
processes that it undergoes. Firstly, the refrigerant with high pressure passes the condenser
where it undergoes condensation. This occurs because the refrigerant has a much higher
temperature than the surrounding of the condenser, so heat is extracted. Then, the refrigerant
passes through the expansion valve where the pressure is reduced. After the expansion valve,
the refrigerant then passes through the evaporator, where the temperature of the surrounding
is much greater than the temperature of the refrigerant. Thus, this causes the refrigerant to
undergo evaporation process as heat is extracted from the surrounding. As the refrigerant
leaves the evaporator, it has low pressure and is in the superheated state. The refrigerant then
passes the compressor where the pressure is increased, causing the saturation pressure to
increase and the cycle continues.
When analysing the calculations for this experiment, there’s an important quantity that must
be considered. That quantity is known as uncertainty. Uncertainty is caused by the coarseness
of the measuring tool. Thus, this causes non-accurate results to be obtained. Besides,
uncertainty is also defined as the parameter that determines the dispersion of a measured
quantity. For this experiment, the uncertainty is calculated using a method called Kline-
McClintock Method.
The formula used to measure the uncertainty in mass flow is;
2
2
1.594 1.594 Δ𝑧
𝜖𝑚̇𝑎 = √( ) (𝜖Δ𝑧)2 + ( √ 3 ) (𝜖𝜈𝐷 )2
2√Δ𝑧 𝜈𝐷 2 𝜈𝐷

Besides, the uncertainty in sensible heating, 𝜖𝐻𝐵−𝐶 is calculated using;

𝜖𝐻𝐵−𝐶 = √(ℎ𝐵 − ℎ𝐶 )2 (𝜖𝑚𝑎 )2 + (𝑚̇𝑎 )2 (𝜖ℎ𝐵 )2 + (𝑚̇𝑎 )2 (𝜖ℎ𝐶 )2 + (ℎ𝑤 )2 (𝜖𝑚𝑤 )2

Furthermore, the psychometric chart also plays an important role in air conditioning, especially
in the refrigeration unit. The psychometric chart enables us to determine quantities such as
enthalpy, specific volume, relative humidity, absolute humidity and even the dew point
temperature of the refrigerant. All of these quantities can be determined by just knowing the
dry and wet bulb temperatures. On the other hand, the pressure vs enthalpy graph also plays a
significant role in this experiment as the enthalpy and specific volume of refrigerant is
determined from this graph.
THEORY.
Air conditioning is a process mainly concerned with controlling temperature and humidity. It is
a complex electronic circuitry that is used to for controlling the comfort of living organisms.
Besides, an air conditioning unit is required to maintain people’s steady core body
temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius.
In air conditioning, the refrigeration unit plays an important role in reducing the temperature of
air that is entering the air conditioning unit. The refrigeration unit consist of 4 main
components, namely the condenser, expansion valve, evaporator and compressor. Each of
these components play an essential role in ensuring the temperature of the air entering the air
conditioning unit reduces. Another important point about the refrigeration unit is that the fluid
that circulates inside the refrigeration unit is known as the refrigerant. The refrigerant has a low
saturation temperature over a range of pressure. The most common refrigerant is the R134a.
For a brief idea of how a refrigeration unit works is as the following. Initially the refrigerant
vapour enters the condenser with high pressure and temperature greater than the temperature
of the surrounding in the condenser. Due to the difference in temperature, this causes the
vapour to lose thermal energy to the surrounding. As a result, the refrigerant vapour undergoes
condensation by which it converts into liquid. At this point, the refrigerant liquid is in the sub-
cooled liquid phase. As the refrigerant leaves the condenser, the liquid still in high pressure and
has high saturation temperature but there’s a drop in enthalpy due to loss in thermal energy.
Since the liquid refrigerant is in high pressure, thus it can still be expended. Therefore, it
undergoes a constriction called expansion valve (or throttle). As the refrigerant passes through
this constriction, the pressure immediately drops, causing the saturation temperature of the
sub-cooled liquid to also drop. However, since the constriction is short, well insulated and no
work done, thus it can be said that the enthalpy of the liquid remains constant.
As the sub-cooled refrigerant has passed the expansion valve, the refrigerant now has a lower
pressure and low saturation temperature. Now the refrigerant approaches the evaporator. The
temperature of the evaporator is much larger than the temperature of the refrigerant. Thus,
this causes heat transfer to occur again. This time, the refrigerant absorbs thermal energy from
the surrounding. As a result, this causes the sub-cooled refrigerant to evaporate into
superheated vapour. As the refrigerant leaves the evaporator, although it is superheated state,
the refrigerant still has low pressure and saturation temperature. Its temperature is still lower
than the evaporator.
After passing the evaporator, the cycle needs to repeat again. Thus, the low pressure
superheated refrigerant now passes the compressor where the pressure of the refrigerant is
increased. As the pressure is increased, the saturation temperature also increases. Then, the
cycle repeats again, where the refrigerant now passes through the condenser.
The component that connects the refrigeration unit and the air conditioning unit is the
evaporator. This is because when the refrigerant enters the evaporator, the temperature of the
evaporator is greater than the refrigerant. Thus, as atmospheric air is sucked into the air
conditioning unit and when it passes the evaporator, heat is extracted from the atmospheric air
and is absorbed by the refrigerant. As a result, the refrigerant undergoes evaporation due to
absorption of heat and the atmospheric air undergoes condensation due to the extraction of
heat. The figure below will provide a rough idea on how this process occurs.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the air conditioning unit used in the experiment.
APPARATUS.

Figure 2: Show the type of air conditioning unit that was used for this experiment.
For this air conditioning experiment, a PA Hilton model was used as the air conditioning unit.
This particular model works with humid air and also R134a (tetrafluoroethane) refrigerant. This
air conditioning unit is made up of multiple parts. Among the main part of this PA Hilton model
are shown in the figure below:

Figure 3: Figure shows all the main components of the PA Hilton model.
Based on Figure 2, the names of all the components are given in the figure below.

Figure 4: Figure shows the labeling of all the component of the PA Hilton model based on Figure
2.
 RESULTS.
Table 1: Stabilisation of the System.

Stabilisation of the system

Expected Time (min) Actual Time (min) 𝑇𝑑𝐶 (℃) 𝑇𝑤𝐶 (℃)

5 5 27.0 26.0
10 10 29.0 27.0
15 15 31.5 28.5
20 20 32.5 28.5
25 25 31.0 28.5
30 30 31.0 29.5
35 35 31.0 28.5
40 40 31.0 28.5
45 45 31.0 28.5
50 50 31.0 29.0
55 55 31.5 29.0
60 60 31.0 29.0

Table 2: General parameter of experiment.

Atmospheric Pressure Patm (bar) 1

Pre-heated heat input Qp (W) 2K
Water boiler heat input Qb (W) 5K

Table 3: Calculation of Mass flow of air in a system.

Orifice Differential ∆z (mm) 4.8 Uncertainty in ∆z 0.05

Pressure (mm)
Wet Bulb TwD (˚C) 29.0 Uncertainty in 0.25
Temperature of TwD (˚C)
the air at D
Dry Bulb TdD (˚C) 31.0 Uncertainty in TdD 0.25
Temperature of (˚C)
the air at D
Specific Volume of vD (m3/kg) 0.895 Uncertainty in vD
the air at station D (m3/kg)
Air Mass Flow Rate ṁa (kg/s) 3.961 Uncertainty in ṁa
(kg/s)
Table 4: Calculation of water loss and enthalpy decrease through air conditioner.

Wet bulb Temperature of Uncertainty in TwB

TwB (°c) 34.0 0.25
the air at B (°c)

Dry bulb Temperature of Uncertainty in TdB

TdB (°c) 49.5 0.25
the air at B (°c)

Wet bulb Temperature of Uncertainty in TwC

TwC (°c) 29.0 0.25
the air at C (°c)

Dry bulb Temperature of Uncertainty in TdC

TdC (°c) 31.5 0.25
the air at C (°c)

Specific humidity at B from Uncertainty in ωB

ωB (kg/kg) 0.027
chart (kg/kg)

Specific humidity at C from Uncertainty in ωC

ωC (kg/kg) 0.0245
chart (kg/kg)
Uncertainty in ṁw
Mass of water lost ṁw (kg) -0.000292
(kg)
Enthalpy of air at B from Uncertainty in hB
hB (J/kg) 120000
chart (J/kg)

Enthalpy of air at C from Uncertainty in hC

hC (J/kg) 95000
the chart (J/kg)

Sensible heating of air Uncertainty in HB-C

HB-C (J)
across air-conditioner (J)
Table 5: Calculation of heat gain by air conditioner refrigeration cycle.
Temperature, t1
23.0 Uncertainty in t1 (°c) 0.5
superheated (°c)
refrigerant R134a Pressure, P1 Uncertainty in P1
375 12.5
vapour leaving (kN/m2) (KN/m2)
evaporator Enthalpy from Uncertainty in h1
317000
chart, h1 (J/kg) (J/kg)
Temperature, t2
75.0 Uncertainty in t2 (°c) 0.5
(°c)
R134a after Pressure, P2 Uncertainty in P2
1400 25
compressor (kN/m2) (KN/m2)
Enthalpy from Uncertainty in h2
353000
chart, h2 (J/kg) (J/kg)
Temperature, t3
50.0 Uncertainty in t3 (°c) 0.5
(°c)
R134a before Pressure, P2 Uncertainty in P3
expansion valve, at 1350
(kN/m2) (KN/m2)
the high pressure
Enthalpy from Uncertainty in h3
170000
chart, h3 (J/kg) (J/kg)
Uncertainty in ṁr
R134a mass flow rate ṁr (g/s) 18 0.5
(g/s)
Mass of condensate
mc (g) 1288 Uncertainty in ṁc (g)
collected
Condensate Unfndnscertainty in t
t (s) 3745.2
collection time (s)
Specific volume Uncertainty in v1
v1 (m3/kg)
leaving evaporator (m3/kg)

Volumetric efficiency Compressor swept

of compressor ηvol
volume, Vswept
 Temperature vs Time
35

30
Temperature, T (degree celcius)

25

20 dry bulb temp

15 wet bulb temp

Linear (dry bulb temp)
10
Linear (wet bulb temp)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time, t (s)

Graph 1: Based on Table 1, stabilization of the system, a graph of Temperature vs Time is

plotted.
DISCUSSION.
Based on my knowledge in air conditioning, the process associated with the removal of heat
from the air is condensation process that occur in the evaporator. This is mainly because when
the refrigerant enters the evaporator, it is in the low pressure and low saturation temperature
subcooled state. Since the temperature of the evaporator is much greater, this causes the
refrigerant to undergo evaporation by absorbing heat from the surrounding. In other words,
the surrounding in the evaporator loses thermal energy. Thus, it can be said that the air passing
through the evaporator also loses thermal heat energy and undergoes condensation. As a
result, the temperature of air would be much cooler when it leaves the evaporator.
Besides, when the experiment is carried out, it was obvious that one of the most important
process was occurring in the evaporator. It is said as such because as air from the boiler passes
the evaporator, the air consists of temperature greater than the evaporator. This is because at
that particular moment, the low pressure sub-cooled refrigerant is passing through the
evaporator. Due to the difference in temperature between the sub-cooled refrigerant and the
surrounding of the evaporator, the refrigerant undergoes evaporation where it changes state to
become superheated. So at that instant, the refrigerant is actually absorbing heat from the
surrounding in the evaporator. Thus, heat from the air that is passing the evaporator is also
absorbed, resulting in a much lower temperature. As temperature decreases, the humidity of
air also decreases. This statement is proven in Table 4, where the specific humidity of air at
position B is greater than specific humidity of air at position C. The figure below shows an idea
of how the process of condensation of the boiled air undergoes condensation in the air
conditioning unit.

Figure 5: Describes the cooling process of the air from the boiler.
From the figure above, it can be seen clearly that the evaporator acts as the cooling coil where
it absorbs heat from the air that is passing through it. As a result, cool air is produced. However,
there is a heating coil after cooling coil to ensure that the cool air that is produced is not too
cool and meets the required conditions.
Since the air is cooled and dehumidified while passing past the evaporator, the rate of heat and
moisture removal can be determined. However, there are a few important assumptions that
need to be taken into account. One of the main assumptions is considering air moving in the air
conditioning unit is a steady-flow process. Besides that, it is also assumed that the kinetic
energy and the potential energy term is zero. The conservation of energy and mass also must
be obeyed.
As stated, the energy gained by the refrigeration cycle can be obtained. The most essential
principle that must be considered is the principle of conservation of energy. There are mainly
three forms of energy that is generated within the refrigeration cycle, which is heat, work and
enthalpy (in the form of Steady Flow Energy Equation). However, when analyzing these three
forms of energy, there is another important quantity that needs to be considered. That quantity
is the mass of flow in the system. From Table 1, the mass flow rate of air is calculated using the
formula;

∆𝑧
ṁ𝑎 = √
𝑣𝐷

Where; ṁ𝑎 = mass flow rate of air

∆𝑧 = orifice differential pressure
𝑣𝐷 = specific volume of air at D
Thus, after substituting the values,
𝑘𝑔
ṁ 𝑎 = 0.1167
𝑠

From this mass flow rate, other energy such as sensible heating of air across the air conditioner
can be calculated. This sensible heating of air is energy lost by the air during the condensation
process as it passes evaporator. It is calculated by considering the energy balance within the air
conditioning unit. The energy balance on the cooling is determined through the formula;
HB−C = ṁa (hB − hC ) + ṁw hw
Where; HB−C = sensible heating of air
ṁa = mass flow rate of air
ṁw = mass of water lost
hw = enthalpy of condensate water
The value for hw is obtained for the steam table. The value of hw is given as 96.4 kJ/kg. This
value is obtained by assuming the temperature of water is 23 degree Celsius. By substituting all
the values, the HB−C value is given as:
HB−C = 2889.35 J
Furthermore, the heat gain by the refrigeration cycle can also be calculated based on data
collected in Table 5. From this table, it can be seen that the highest temperature recorded is
when the refrigerant leaves the compressor. This result can be justified by saying that the
refrigerant has low pressure when it passes the evaporator. Since, temperature is proportional
to pressure, it is fair to say that as the pressure is low, the temperature is also relatively low.
After passing the compressor, the pressure of the refrigerant immediately increases, which
causes the temperature to increases too. However, for calculating the heat gain in the
refrigeration, an important point must be highlighted again. That is when refrigerant passes
through the expansion valve, the pressure drops. Not only that, by analyzing the expansion
valve, it can be seen that there is no work in the valve. Besides, the expansion valve is also
thermally insulated well, so the heat transfer is also zero. Thus, by applying the Steady Flow
Energy Equation:

Q + W = ṁ (hafter - hbefore )
Since it is proven that both Q and W is zero, thus;
ṁ (hafter - hbefore ) = 0
hafter = hbefore
Thus, to calculate the heat gain by the refrigeration unit, again the Steady Flow Energy Equation
is applied. This time, the section considered is the section before and after the evaporator. This
is because the refrigerant only gained thermal energy when it undergoes evaporation in the
evaporator. However, when calculating the heat gained, work done is considered as zero. Thus;
Q + W = ṁ (hafter - hbefore )
Since W=0;

Q = ṁ (h1 - h3 )
Where;
ṁ= mass flow rate of refrigerant
h1 = enthalpy when leaving evaporator
h3 = enthalpy before expansion valve
Thus, after substituting the values, the heat gained obtained is;
Qgained = 2646 J
From the experiment, it is assumed that the air conditioning system obeys the principle of
conservation of energy. From this principle, it can be said energy cannot be created or
destroyed, as it can only be transformed from one form to another. Thus, by applying this
essential law, it is true that the energy lost from the air in the air cycle is equal to the energy
gained by the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle. Therefore, the value for HB−C must me
equal to the value for Qgained . However, there values are not the same. There are many causes
that may result in the difference in energy values. There are possibilities of heat loss to the
surrounding. This may occur if the air duct that transports the air in the air conditioning unit is
made out of material of that has high thermal conductivity. Therefore, this enables heat
transfer to occur and causes heat to escape. This may affect the results of the experiment. Not
only that, there are many other errors that may have contributed to the difference in energy as
stated later on in this discussion.
Similarly, it also can be seen that the air conditioning system also obeys the conservation of
mass principle. This principle states that the mass enters a system will be equal to the mass
leaving the system. Figure below shows an idea on how conservation of mass occurs.

Figure 6: Figure shows the flow of air in the air cycle in an air conditioning unit.
Thus, by only concentrating in the evaporator (cooling coil) section;

ṁ2 = ṁ3 + ṁ4
By using the principle of conservation of mass, the total mass entering the system is equal to
the total mass leaving the system. Therefore, by using this principle, it can be said that the mass
of water loss by air must be equal to the mass of condensate. The mass of water loss by air is
the amount of water that is converted from steam to water and mass of condense is the
amount of water obtained from the condensation process. The mass flow rate of water loss in
air is obtained by;
 ṁ𝑤 = ṁ𝑎 (𝑤𝐵 - 𝑤𝐶 )
Where;

ṁ𝑎 = mass flow rate of air

w𝐵 = specific humidity at B
w𝐶 = specific humidity at C

Thus, by substituting all the values, the mass flow rate of water loss in air during the
condensation process is;
ṁ𝑤 = -0.000292 kg/s (negative because of water loss)
ṁ𝑤 = 0.000292 kg/s

Now calculating mass flow rate of condensate is calculated by;

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑒
ṁ𝑎 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
1.228
ṁ𝑎 =
3745.2
ṁ𝑤 = 0.000343 kg/s
By comparing both mass flow rates, it can be seen that the mass flow rate of condensate is
greater than the mass flow rate of water loss in air. Therefore, it can be said that the mass of
condensate will be greater than the mass of water loss.
The results obtained from the experiment may vary from the actual theoretical result. This may
be caused by errors such as human error. There are many examples of human error. One of the
main human errors that could have occurred is parallax error. This error is due to the position
of the eye not being perpendicular to the measuring scale. This may cause wrong results being
tabulated. Besides that, another type of human error is the timing error. This occurs when a
person that is in charge of recording time using a stopwatch might not have stopped the time at
the exact moment where he is supposed to. Thus, as a result the result obtained is not accurate
and although the difference in time might be a bit, but it might cause a significant difference in
the final result. To overcome this, the person in charge should be more focus and should
concentrate in what they do.
Other than human error, there are other errors that may affect the result of the experiment
such as the error while taking temperature for wet bulb temperatures. This is because for a wet
bulb thermometer, there’s an additional muslin sock that acts a water reservoir. Assuming
during the experiment there is a formation of residue on the sock, this may cause minimal
contact between the air that is flowing and the thermometer. Thus, the temperature will be
affected. Unfortunately, if this occurs, there’s nothing much that can be done.
CONCLUSION.
From this experiment, there are many conclusions that can be made. Firstly, from this
experiment, it clearly shows the importance of the psychometric chart. This is said as such
because by using this chart, just by knowing two variables (dry and wet bulb temperatures),
other property of the fluid such as specific volume, specific humidity and many more can be
determined. Not only that, the usage of the pressure vs enthalpy graph is also essential in this
experiment as the state of the refrigerant can be determined after a particular process.
Besides that, through this experiment, we have a better understanding about measurement
uncertainties and how to calculate it. As stated above, the method used to calculate
uncertainties is the Kline-McClintock Method. By carrying out experiment, it is also observed
that air conditioning cycle does obeys the principle of conservation of energy. However, due to
errors and heat lost to surrounding, the heat lost by air through conduction is not equal to the
heat gain by the refrigerant through evaporation. It is observed that the heat lost is much
greater than the heat gained.
Other than conservation by energy, air conditioning cycle also obeys the conservation in mass.
The experimental data shows that the mass flow rate of condensate is greater than mass flow
rate of heat lost by air. Again, the difference in value is assumed to be caused by error and heat
lost to surrounding during the process.
APPENDIX