PERFORMANCE OF AN

AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM
ChBE 343
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Rice University
Revised 11 March 2013

A. PURPOSE OF EXPERIMENT
To carry out heat and material balances on a refrigerant evaporator, determine the coefficient of perfomance of an
air-conditioning system and how it is influenced by various parameters, and to study the characteristics of a typical
expansion valve.

B. SIMPLIFIED DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENT

In essence a (compression type) air-conditioning system comprises a compressor, a (refrigerant) evaporator and a refrigerant condenser. See Figure 1. This unit uses R-22 which boils (or condenses) at 42 F at 71.5 psig and at 110 F at
226.4 psig. The liquid boiling point in the evaporator varies, but 42 F is typical. In this refrigerant evaporator, typically
23,000 BTU/hr of heat is transferred from air to the refrigerant. The vaporized refrigerant is piped to the compressor
which discharges it at a pressure which varies (mostly with the outside air temperature) but which commonly lies in
the range 220-260 psig. This hot gas is condensed and sub-cooled in a condenser in which about 32,000 BTU./hr are
transferred from the refrigerant to the outside air.

Figure 1: A Simplified Vapor Compression Air Conditioning Unit

The refrigerant circuit pressure jumps about 170 psi in passing through the compressor and drops an equal amount
in passing through the rest of the equipment. The major pressure drop of around 140 psi or so occurs across the expansion valve. This device, which is described in detail elsewhere (and in fact is the subject of a separate part of this
experiment) serves the important function of maintaining the refrigerant leaving the evaporator in a slightly (5-12 F)
superheated state. In this way the fluid entering the compressor will be vapor. (Liquids, being incompressible, more
or less, tend to damage compressors, so theirpressence is limited.
A more detailed drawing of the refrigerant circuit is shown in the Appendix. Pressure tapping points are shown, as
well as a drier, filter, turbine flow meter and rotameter. The latter is used to measure the refrigerant flowrate.

C. REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT
The refrigerant is chiorodifluoromethane (CHCIF2) also known as R-22, and by trade names such as Freon-22. A
diagram showing the ideal thermodynamic cyclic path taken by the refrigerant is shown in Figure 1. Thermodynamic
data for this refrigerant are widely available and may be obtained from any reliable source, including the NIST Chemistry Webbook1 may be used.

Figure 2: Ideal Thermodynamic Paths for Air Conditioning Unit

Saturated liquid refrigerant (point 1 on the diagram) passes through the expansion valve where it flashes to a mixture of
vapor and liquid at the evaporator pressure (point 2 on the diagram). The refrigerant then passes through the evaporator
(horizontal finned-tube exchanger) where it is completely vaporized by heat transfer with the air that is being cooled.
The refrigerant leaving the evaporator is at a condition of 5-12 F superheat (point 3 on the diagram). The refrigerant
then enters a compressor (reciprocating type) where it is brought up to the condenser pressure (point 4 on the digram).
Finally, the refrigerant is passes through the condenser (another finned-tube exchanger) where heat is exhausted to the
outside air. This returns the refrigerant to the saturated liquid state (point 1 on the diagram).
Details about the thermodynamics can be found in your thermodynamics textbook2 or Perrys Chemical Engineers
Hanbook.3 The ideal thermodynamic paths for refrigerant in the condenser and evaporator are isobaric. The ideal path
for refrigerant passing through the compressor is isentropic. and the ideal path for the valve is isenthalpic.

D. VALVES, SWITCHES, AND INSTRUMENTATION

You must never turn any of the valves on this experiment, except the drain for the condensation vessel.
There are five switches that you will be using with this apparatus. The main power switch, the fan switch, the compressor switch, and the meter switch are all turned to the on position at the beginning of the experiment. There is a
rotary switch to select among the thermocouple temperature readouts.
The flowrate of the refrigerant is measured by two devices, operating in series. The first is turbine flowmeter. The
second device is a high pressure rotameter with magnetic coupling between the internal float and the external indicator.
The turbine flowmeter is considered accurate, but not reliable. The rotameter is reliable, but cannot be read accurately.
Generally, you should find the readings from the turbine flowmeter adequate for your purposes, but you should report
readings from both devices.
The pulses from the turbine flowmeter go to a pulse counter which counts for 10 seconds, displaying the previous 10
second count. 11235.8 pulses correspond to a US gallon. If Z is the pulse count, the refrigerant flow rate is given by
3600
1

Z = 0.03204 Z US GPH
10 11235.8
All essential temperatures are measured by copper-constantan thermocouples. The temperature probe locations are indicated in the diagrams in the appendix. A rotary switch is provided to switch among the temperature probes. Proper
Refrigerant Flow Rate =

wet-bulb temperature readings require that the water reservoirs (inverted funnels on the back of the unit) are filled to
the line with de-ionized water.
Several measuring devices are associated with the inside are circuit. Inside air is drawn in through a filter, passes
through a reducer and a honeycomb straightener, and flows through an 11 x 11 (inside dimensions) wooden duct to
a test section where the velocity profile can be measured with an anemometer whose range is (0-25 ft/sec) and wet and
dry thermocouples provide temperature and humidity information. The air then flows across the refrigerant evaporator
where some water drops out. Next comes another measuring zone where wet and dry thermocouples are located.
Finally, the air is moved through a blower and exhausted into the room. The air flow rate is changed by adjusting the
damper at the exit of the blower.
Upstream of the anemometer in the test section is another anemometer (with range 0-50 ft/sec). This anemometer enables the center line velocity to be maintained constant (by adjusting the damper if necessary) while velocity profiles
are being measured with the other.
The anemometers are EXPENSIVE and DELICATE. Adequate velocity profile information is already available. Please
do not adjust the position of these devices. To obtain the average air velocity from the measured centerline velocity,
use
v = Cvo
with C = 0.8 unless instructed otherwise by the teaching staff.
There are wet and dry thermocouples (all referenced to 32 F) which register air properties before and after passage
through the refrigerant evaporator.
The condensate water which leaves the evaporator should be measured, recorded and discarded about every 15 minutes, simultaneously with other measurements.
There are two meters that measure power. Each has a digital gauge, but generally you should rely on the reading from
the rotating disk power meters. The smaller meter on the left reads the power from the compressor motor and the condensing unit fan. For your calculations you should neglect the fan and assume that the compressor power dominates.
The meter on the right measures the power to the inside blower motor.
The dials (designed to be read periodically by meter-readers) rotate much too slowly to be useful in this application.
The main disk is used. Every revolution of the disk corresponds to 3.6 watt-hours for the compressor meter and 14.4
watt-hours for the blower power meter. The power consumed over a small time period may be determined by timing
a few revolutions, or, in the case of the small Kw-H meter by reading the associated pulse counter. Each revolution of
the main disk gives rise to 8 pulses being sent to a pulse counter. This counter counts for one minute and then displays.
The power consumption corresponding to a reading on the pulse counter is therefore,
Power =

(60)(3.6)
= 27 watts
8

E. GENERAL OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

There are two parts of this experiment. The main experiment is the air conditioning experiment discussed in this document. The other experiment involves a separate apparatus to explore the behavior of an expansion valve. The team
members should split their time so they experience both experiments. You should be able to complete the expansion
valve experiment in an hour or two. The main experiment should run for about three hours total (half for each air flow
rate). You should be running both parts at the same time.
You will be performing two different runs, corresponding to different air velocities. One of the runs should be made at
20 ft/s and a second run at about 16 ft/s. The actual velocities you choose are not critical, as long as you choose values
near the maximum flow and a velocity reduced from the maximum by about 20 percent. You should be recording

measurements from all of the temperature ports and all of the flows mentioned in the previous section. This includes
the power measurements for the compressor and the air blower. You also need to record the pressure of the condenser
and evaporator. As mentioned above, you should check and measure the condensate accumulation at about fifteen
minute intervals. Each run should be about 90 minutes long to allow for accurate condensation rate measurements. It
will take the unit a while to reach steady-state operation.

F. REQUIRED CALCULATIONS AND DISCUSSION

The most critical part of the calculations is determining the water concentration in the air entering the evaporator and
properly account for the enthalpy change of the damp air entering to produced cool, condensed water and a cool,
saturated air stream. This requires the use of theory or a psychrometeric chart to interprete the wet and dry bulb temperatures. See Perrys Handbook3 or McCabe and Smith4 for details.
In the end, you will do a complete energy balance around the evaporator unit. You will also provide the heat duties
of the two exchangers and the power required for the compressor. At minimum, your report also needs to include the
following information (some by observation and some by calculation):
relative humidity of the air entering the evaporator
relative humidity of the air leaving the evaporator
enthalpy flows of the air and water, including a statement of heat loss
enthalpy change of the refrigerant in the evaporator (plus cooling duty)
duty of the condenser
power required for the compressor
overall heat balance calculation for the evaporator
coefficient of performance of the refrigeration unit
heat balance around the blower motor
temperature, pressure, enthalpy, and enthalpy values at all four numbered points in Figure 1
All measured values must be included in the report. You need to sure that you have taken full advantage of all of the
instrumentation and gauges reported in the previous sections. Be sure to discuss how you approached your calculations
and any deviations you observe in the heat balance.
The results of the expansion valve experiment can be included as an appendix section in your report.

G. HELPFUL HINTS
VERY IMPORTANT: You must not open or close any valves on the air conditioner unit, with the exception of
the drain on the condesate collector.
Keep in mind that it is an honor code violaton to refer to or use any materials from previous years courses. For
the case of this lab, it will result in some very serious (and obvious) mistakes.
Each team of three is responsible for completing both the Expansion Valve Experiment and the Air Conditioning
Experiment and include both in your report.
You should complete sample calculations of your expectations for a typical humidity level before you come to
the lab.
Additional hints can be found in the Appendix.

Bibliography
[1] P. J. Linstrom and W. G. Mallard, editors. NIST Chemistry WebBook, NIST Standard Reference Database Number
69. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD, 20899, June 2005.
[2] J.M. Smith, H.C. Van Ness, and M.M. Abbott. Introduction to chemical engineering thermodynamics. McGrawHill chemical engineering series. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
[3] R.H. Perry and D.W. Greeen. Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, Eighth Edition. McGraw-Hill Education,
2007.
[4] W.L. McCabe, J.C. Smith, and P. Harriott. Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering. McGraw-Hill Chemical
Engineering Series. McGraw-Hill, 2005.