i

ME2121-2 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF

AIR-CONDITIONERS
(E1-03-01)









2014/2015



















Department of Mechanical Engineering
National University of Singapore




AS A SAFETY MEASURE, WEARING OF SHOES DURING EXPERIMENT IS
MANDATORY. WEARING OF SHORTS OF ANY KIND (E.G. BERMUDAS, MINI
SHORTS) IS ALSO PROHIBITED AND STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR
LONG PANTS.

ii



TABLE OF CONTENTS




LIST OF FIGURES (i)
NOMENCLATURE (ii)
INTRODUCTION 1
DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT 1
THEORY OF OPERATION 1
PROCEDURE 2
ERROR ANALYSIS 5


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure I Basic configuration of an air-conditioner 4

Figure 2 The refrigeration cycle 4

Figure 3 Psychrometric chart 5

Figure 4 P-h diagram for R-22 refrigerant 6



iii


NOMENCLATURE

a
m air flow rate (kg dry air/s)

T temperature (C)

absolute humidity of air (kg moisture/kg dry air)

C
pa
specific heat of air = 1.02 kJ/kg dry air K

h
fg
latent heat of water = 2465 kJ/kg

v specific volume (m
3
/kg)

subscripts:

a
i
air inlet

a
o
air outlet




1
INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE

Air conditioners are widely used in tropical countries like Singapore where the controlling of humidity
and temperature is required for human comfort and for storing special equipment such as computers.
This laboratory manual outlines an experimental procedure for the performance study of a room air
conditioner.

SCOPE

The performance study is carried out to examine the refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner and to
evaluate the cooling capacity and power consumption under different operating conditions.


DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT

The basic configuration of the air conditioner unit is shown in Figure 1. It consists essentially of a
compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and two capillary tubes connecting the condenser and the
evaporator. A propeller fan blows outdoor air across the condenser coil and a centrifugal fan induces
the room air to flow across the evaporator coil, and supply the air into the room. Both fans are driven
by one electric motor. The flow rate of air supplied into the room can be regulated by adjusting the
speed of the fan motor. The supply air flow rates for high and low fan speeds are indicated on the unit.
A thermostat, which will make or break the electric circuit of the compressor motor, is employed in the
unit to control the room air temperature. Saturated temperature and pressure readings of the refrigerant
both before and after the condenser and evaporator are given via dial gauges. The required temperature
data at the different locations can be read off by turning the knob of a digital thermometer unit.


THEORY OF OPERATION

(a) Refrigeration cycle

In the air conditioner, the room air is cooled and dehumidified at the evaporator, where the refrigerant
R-22 is allowed to evaporate, thus, creating a cooling effect. An amount of heat equivalent to the heat
absorbed by the evaporator and the work supplied to the compressor is rejected at the condenser to the
atmosphere. The process undergone by the refrigerant is as follows (Figure 2):

High pressure liquid refrigerant flows from the condenser to the evaporator through the capillary tubes.
The pressure of the refrigerant reduces as it flows through the capillary tubes due to friction and
acceleration. The low pressure refrigerant then evaporates in the evaporator providing the required
cooling effect. The vapour refrigerant thus generated is sucked by the compressor where the vapour
pressure is raised and superheated vapour is delivered to the condenser. The vapour is air cooled at the
condenser and liquefied (condensation) for the beginning of the next cycle.




2
(b) Cooling and dehumidification of air

The saturation temperature of the refrigerant in the evaporator is below the dew point of the room air.
When room air is forced to flow across the evaporator coil, heat (sensible & latent) is transferred from
the air to the refrigerant which then evaporates. This process reduces the air temperature (cooling) and
humidity (dehumidification).

The heat absorbed by the evaporator can be calculated as follows:
Sensible heat transfer Qs = m
a
C
pa
(T
ai
- T
ao
)
and Latent heat transfer Q
1
= m
a
h
fg
(
ai
-
ao
)
The sum Q
s
+ Q
1
is known as the capacity of the air conditioner, Q
t

Q
t
= m
a
(h
ai
-h
ao
)
The performance of an air conditioner is measured by the coefficient of performance (COP) expressed
as
Input Power
Capacity Cooling
COP =
When the capacity is expressed in Btu/h and the power in Watt, this ratio is called Energy Efficient Ratio (EER).
(Note that I Btu = 1.055 kJ).

PROCEDURE

(a) Instrumentation and readings to be taken:

The instrumentation consists of four pressure gauges, five temperature sensors (refrigerant Side), two
humidity/temperature sensors (air side) and a wattmeter. The saturation temperature of the refrigerant is
also indicated on the pressure gauge dial
1
.

Identify the following measuring points where the following readings are to be taken:

(i) Condenser and evaporator pressures

(ii) Condensing and evaporating temperatures

(iii) Refrigerant temperatures entering and leaving the compressor and condenser

(iv) Temperature (Dry Bulb) and Relative Humidity values of air before and after the evaporator
coil.

For each measurement (temperature, pressure, power input) note down carefully the accuracy of the
readings e.g. for thermocouple reading T = 1 C.



1
This may also be obtained from R-22 saturation properties table.
3
(b) Steps

Follow the procedure given below:

(i) Start the air conditioner with "High" fan speed setting

(ii) After the air temperature leaving the air conditioner has reached a steady value, take the
readings (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) in item (a) of the procedure.
(iii) Switch off the unit at the end of the experiment

COMPUTATION
At the fan speed used, determine
(i) the cooling capacity of the air conditioner

(ii) the coefficient of performance (COP is defined as the ratio of useful cooling effect to work
input by compressor) and the energy efficiency ratio (EER is defined here as cooling effect in Btu/h to
power in Watt). Note that 1 W = 3.412 Btu/h.

(iii) the fraction of the capacity that goes to dehumidify the air. The outlet air volume flow rates at
high and low fan speeds are measured to be 7.7 m
3
/min and 6.8m
3
/min, respectively.

The properties of moist air can be determined from the psychrometric chart given in Figure 3. e.g. For
air at 32C dry bulb and 62.5% RH , v = 0.89 m
3
/kg dry air, = 0.0188 kg water/kg dry air, h = 80.3
kJ/kg
DIAGRAM AND SKETCHES

(i) Draw a neat schematic diagram of the refrigeration cycle. Indicate the points where the
temperature and pressure measurements were made

(ii) Indicate the measured pressures and temperatures on a P-h Chart for refrigerant R-22 when the
circulation fan was running at high speed.

(Note: The chart shows the absolute pressure, and not the gauge pressure that you read).







4


Figure 1. Actual air-conditioner standalone unit (left front view; right side view)






Figure 2. The schematic of a vapour compression refrigeration cycle
Work
(capillary tubes)
Evaporator
Condenser
Warm air in
Cool air out
Heat rejected
5
ERROR ANALYSIS


The sensible heat transferred to the refrigerant,


The relative error in the sensible heat can be expressed as:







Therefore, the absolute error:







Where, x = T
ai
- T
ao
and



Therefore, the relative error in the sensible heat is:

















) (
ao ai pa
a
s
T T C m Q =

2
2
2
2

x
x
C
C
m
m
Q
Q
pa
pa
a
a
s
s
2
2
2

x
x
C
C
m
m
Q
Q
pa
pa
a
a
s
s
( ) ( )
2 2
ao ai
T T x + =
2
2 2
2
2
) ( ) (

+
+

ao ai
ao ai
pa
pa
a
a
s
s
T T
T T
C
C
m
m
Q
Q

+
+

2
2 2
2
2
) (
) ( ) (
ao ai
ao ai
pa
pa
a
a
s
s
T T
T T
C
C
m
m
Q
Q
6
Similarly, the error in the latent heat transferred to the refrigerant can be established as follows:

The latent heat transferred to the refrigerant,









Therefore, the corresponding errors in the cooling capacity, COP can be expressed as follows:









where, W is the power input to the compressor



The relative error in the cooling capacity and COP can be expressed as:











) (
ao ai fg
a
l
h m Q =

2
2 2
2
2
) (
) ( ) (
ao ai
ao ai
fg
fg
a
a
l
l
h
h
m
m
Q
Q

+
+

l s t
Q Q Q + =
2
2

W
W
Q
Q
COP
COP
t
t
W
Q
COP
t
=
( ) ( )
2 2
l s t
Q Q Q + =
7


8