Question # 1: Describe the development history of Air conditioner.

Answer: In ancient Rome, attempts to regulate indoor temperatures started, where rich people
took advantage of the incredible aqueduct system to pump cool water in house walls. In the third
century, Emperor Elagabalus took it a step further, constructing a snow mountain to overcome
high temperatures in summer. In pre-modern temperature regulation, architecture played a
significant part. Windows faced away from the sun in typical Middle Eastern architecture, and
larger buildings feature "wind towers" built to capture and circulate the prevailing breezes. [1]

In 1902, to maintain heat and humidity in printing company, W.H. Carrier invented the first
modern air-conditioning system to solve the issue. [2] Through that history of air conditioning
started. The mechanical machine was not targeted at human comfort and delivered air into water-
cooled coils. In 1904, he invented the air washer, a chamber built for air humidification and
washing with many banks of water sprays. His temperature and humidity control system,
accomplished by regulating the dew point of supply air, is still used in many industrial applications,
such as lithographic printing plants and textile mills. [3] He preceded the invention of the
centrifugal chiller in 1922, incorporating a central compressor to minimize the scale of the
machine. [1]

In 1928, CFC was synthesized by Thomas Midgley. [2] In 1930, the white house is air conditioned.
[4] In 1930, C&C Kelvinator Co. air conditioned first car. [2] First rotary compressor developed
in 1957 to make more efficient and smaller air conditioning unit. [4] Instead of varying the supply
air temperature as in constant-volume systems, variable air-volume (VAV) systems minimize the
frequency flow rate of the supply air at lower loads. These systems were launched in the early
1950s and achieved broad acceptance as a result of their lower energy consumption compared with
constant-volume systems during the energy crisis of 1973. Due to the accelerated space technology
advancement since the 1960s, air conditioning systems for clean rooms have been built into
advanced structures of highly efficient air filters. [3] In 1977, for heating and cooling from same
machine, heat pumps developed. [2] R-22 AREP (Alternative Refrigeration Evaluation Program)
started to find R-22 and R-502 in 1992. [4] CFC production ended in America in 1995 to protect
environment. [2]

Studies on heat characteristics of heat transfer involved heat transfer over liquid helium surface in
a cryostat, formation of methane hydrate, liquid desiccant dehumidifier HMT, air-cooling system
of thermoelectric, impinging jet heat transfer. High heat transfer gives high efficiency in air-
conditioning system. Pin finned surfaces are also used to make high heat transfer in the paper.For
pool boiling R125a is used [5] Alternative refrigerants were studied and used for high
effectiveness like CO2, hydrocarbons and mixed refrigerants were studied in paper. [6]

Question # 2: Describe how would you select the right size of Air conditioner
for a house? And Why?
Answer: The selection of a suitable type of central air conditioning system is a critical priority
because incorrect selection will increase the original and operating costs of the system and decrease
the level of human comfort and indoor air quality. [7]
In the early days of the 1980s, the use of air conditioning systems for residential / office buildings
was very limited. Construction in a closed area was begun due to the technological development
and residential growth buildings and apartment construction have grew after the 1980s with an
increased population. Owing to emissions and concrete framework, atmospheric temperatures are
also dramatically modified. Air conditioning has thus become an important residential / office
building necessity. [8]

First of all indoor and outdoor conditions are selected for the AC where it needs to be implemented.
In order to get it to the correct temperature by air conditioning and cooling equipment known as
cooling load, the total heat needed must be removed from the room. The aim of the load calculation
is to decide the size of the equipment for refrigeration and air conditioning that is necessary to
sustain the conditions of the interior design. The air conditioning system's design load is based on
the design conditions inside and outside, and the ability of its air conditioning and refrigeration
equipment to generate and retain adequate conditions inside. [8]

The house has different envelops that needs to be considered and given as below: [3]
 A solid external partition that divides conditioned space from the outside is an exterior
wall. The sum of the window area, door area, and exterior wall area is the gross exterior
wall area.
 A partition wall is a solid internal boundary that divides a conditioned space from another.
Partition walls are typically built on two sides from inner surface. A partition wall divides
a conditioned space from an unconditioned space enclosed.
  Below wall grade is a rigid structure below ground level that also distinguishes the floor
from a basement.
 A roof is external barrier that has a slope of less than 60 ° from horizontal and directly or
implicitly via a ceiling has a fixed room underneath.
 A ceiling is an internal partition that divides a ceiling plenum from the conditioned room.
The ceiling plenum either air-conditioned or not. Typically, the ceilings are constructed
from acoustic tiles or boards.
 Under conditioned area, an external floor is a horizontal outside partition. An exterior floor
is a floor that is placed above a ventilated basement or parking area. Typically, the exterior
floors are made of timber, asphalt, thermal insulation and face tiles.
 Slab on grade is a slab on the ground on a concrete base. Between the concrete layer and
the earth, there is typically a vapour barrier, heat insulation, and gravel and sand filling.
 A window is made of either clear or translucent glass or plastic. Frequently wooden,
aluminum and steel frames are used.

The unit selection is done through cooling load calculations which include all envelops described
above. Resistances and overall heat transfer coefficient for insulation and framing are calculated
from the equations given below: [9]

𝑅 = 𝑅𝑖 + 𝑅𝑔𝑦𝑝 + 𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐. + 𝑅𝑏𝑟𝑘 + 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝑠 + 𝑅𝑜 Eq. 1

1
𝑈=
𝑅
Now heat gain is calculated for the transmission of all partitions and solid valves from equation 2.

𝑄 = 𝑈 × 𝐴 × 𝐶𝐿𝑇𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 Eq. 2
Here A is the area and CLTDcorr is corrected cooling load temperature difference.
CLTDcorr is calculated through the equation:
𝐷𝑅 Eq. 3
𝐶𝐿𝑇𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 𝐶𝐿𝑇𝐷 + (25.5 − 𝑡𝑖 ) + {(𝑡𝑜 − ) − 29.4}
2
For solar heat gain from the glass, equation 4 is used.

𝑄 = 𝑆𝐶 × 𝐶𝐿𝐹 × 𝐴 Eq. 4
Infiltration is the heat loss from the leakage of the exterior surfaces. Heat loss through infiltration
is calculated from the below given equations 5, 6 and 7.

𝑄𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 = 1230 × 𝑉 . × (𝑡𝑜 − 𝑡𝑖 ) Eq. 5

 𝑉 Eq. 6
𝑉 . = 𝐴𝐶𝐻 ×
3600

𝑄𝑙𝑎𝑡 = 3010 × 𝑉 . × (𝑊𝑜 − 𝑊𝑖 ) Eq. 7

Here to is outdoor and ti indoor temperature difference, ACH is air changing per hour and V is the
space volume, Wi and WO are the humidity ratios of inside and outside climate respectively.

When the appliances and lights are on then they create heat. Heat gain from the lightening is
calculated by the given equation 8.

𝑄𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝑊 × 𝐵𝐹 × 𝐶𝐿𝐹 × 𝑁 Eq. 8

Here W is the lightening watts, CLF is cooling load factor, N for number of lights and BF is the
blast factor. For equipment heat gain equation 9 is used.

𝑄𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑊 × 𝐶𝐿𝐹 Eq. 9

Heat gain from people is calculated by the given formula:

𝑄𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 = 𝑁𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 × 𝑄𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 × 𝐶𝐿𝐹 Eq. 11

𝑄𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑁𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 × 𝑄𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 Eq. 12

Qper person is the heat gain from each occupant and CLF is the cooling load factor for the occupant.
Duct heat gain is the overall supply and return heat gain from the duct system of the AC. Duct heat
gain is calculated from the equation 13.

𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 Eq. 13

𝑄𝐷𝑢𝑐𝑡−𝑠 = 𝑄𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔−𝑠 ×
2
Now all the heats are measured and by summation of all the heats, this heat gives the selection of
the right size of AC. Heat is then converted to TR because “TR is cooling capacity in Tons
Refrigeration.” [10]
Question # 3: Describe how would you improve the efficiency and lifetime of
AC by design? And Why?
Answer: Energy consumption is higher in buildings which cause low efficiency of the HVAC
system. This can be reduced by three factors reducing heat demand of building, recovering energy,
using high efficiency HVAC. Efficiency of the system can be improved by applying water
condensation system rather using air condensation system. By using water-water heat exchanger
energy consumption of the chiller can be reduced by 18.6% annually. [11]
The efficiency and lifetime of the HVAC system can be increased by using low temperature in the
cooling tower inlet, using fiber reinforce plastic (FRP) blades except aluminum blades and using
the AHU for ground floor. [12]

Adding a low-power electronic drive to enable variable-speed operation of a fixed-speed

compressor used in single-speed systems results in SEER changes varying from 10 per cent to 25
per cent based on the compressor technology, without reducing the full-load EER value. [13] By
using variable-speed drives the energy consumption can be decreased and the CO2 emissions can
be reduced as described in paper. [14]

Cleaning the system is difficult and costly. Cleaning is necessary to save the energy and durability
of AC. The most critical maintenance job maintaining the air conditioner's performance is to repair
or clean the filters regularly. [15] Cleaning needs to be done of the filters because it can cause low
velocity of the air. This low velocity cause the condenser to heat up more and cause the damage in
the system.

AC’s efficiency can be improved significantly by the use of a "drop-in" R32/R125 refrigerant
blend (90 per cent/10 per cent molar concentration) as a refrigerant instead of R140A. R32 enhance
the energy efficiency because it has limited flammability issues. By decreasing the compressor
capacity, efficiency can be increased. Furthermore, AC fan motor can be replaced by highly
efficient ECM motor. Capillary tube can be replaced by needle valve to increase the efficiency.
All these factors are taken into considerations and have a huge impact in efficiency increasing and
durability increasing. [16]

The increase in efficiency and durability/lifetime is necessary to overcome heat shortfall and the
running and maintenance cost of the AC system. This all can be done through various techniques
as described above. Through these techniques global warming issues and energy consumption can
be overcome and running and maintenance costs are decreased.
References

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[2] B. Nagengast, "100 years of air conditioniing," ASHRAE Journal, pp. 44-46, 2002.

[3] S. K. Wang, Handbook of Air conditioning and Refrigeration, New York: McGraw-Hill
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