AIR COOLING SYSTEM

Sustainable Engineering

Project Report

Group Members ID Number

R.D.Bulumulle EN15565518

K.P.V.Oshan EN16548992

W.A.D.Jayrathne EN16522916

T.V.De Silva EN16556676

Y.N.Wijerathne EN16527584

S.A.S.Karunarathne EN16538542

B.G.S.C.Sirirtane EN16555136

L.P.H.B.Karunathilake EN16538856
Group Number – 4 Project Mentor –

ABSTRACT
This is a report about the Air Cooling system that we have introduced which is sustainable for the
environment. The main advantage of this system is that we can save up to 90% of the energy that
would be spent on a conventional home Air Conditioner. Air cooling systems are a common need
for many people in today’s world. This is very important since there are many places which make
use of these systems. The only downside to this is these normal air conditioning system, though
seem user friendly pollutes the environment vastly. The main reason being most of these systems
use R22 and R600 gases. These gases are known to pollute air by emitting various poisonous
gasses namely CFC ( Chloro Floro Carbon ). As a solution to this problem our group came up with
an idea of making an eco-friendly air cooling system which immensely reduces the amount of
poisonous gasses released into the environment.
Introduction
In the 21st century extreme conditions namely heat with the high occurrence of heat waves highly
impacts our overall physical and intellectual wellbeing making even the simplest of tasks an
absolute chore. Having a proper air cooling system in place helps reduce heat and humidity, thus
reducing the impact on our ability to perform and complete work tasks. The lower temperatures
that our air cooling system creates it helps reduce dehydration as it lessen the likelihood of
excessive sweating. So when our air cooling system has been installed properly it effectively helps
and improve air quality. Hence the system we are trying to build doesn’t use the gas R22 or R600
with intention of reducing pollution but instead uses thermo electric cooling plates ( TES plates )
in addition to this the entire system will be made portable which will make this user friendly.
With the increase of industrialization and global warming continuously becoming a threat, we have
to minimize the use of resources, hence focus more on sustainable products to keep us comfortable
in a cooler environment. Air coolers have become an essential product for most of the houses in
urban areas, office environments and educational institutions. By maintaining the temperature
within a comfortable range we could increase the productiveness.

Currently the only type of Air coolers other than conventional air conditioners available in the
market is the Ice water air coolers. Ice water air coolers only uses a fraction of the current used
by Air conditioners and would only cost one third of the price.

We have introduced a new type of cooling system that uses TEC plates (Thermo Electric
Cooling plates) to cool the air. This compared to ice water air coolers use a significantly less
amount of power and may cost less.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Global-Air-Conditioning-Needs-Could-Grow-50-
Times-Greater-Than-US-Demand

http://www.honeywellaircoolers.com/faqs

http://www.marlow.com/resources/general-faq/6-how-do-thermoelectric-coolers-tecs-work.html
METHODOLOGY
There are two types of portable air cooling systems.

1. Ice-Water Air cooling System

2. TEC-Plate Air Colling System

Out of the above concepts our concept is the (TEC-Plate air cooling system) most efficient and
sustainable one with respect to our air-cooling systems projects for sustainable engineering.

Here we mainly use TEC-Plates to cool the air panel.

TEC-plate has two sides. One side get cold and one side get heat. We use the side which is
getting cold for our air cooling system. We fix a heating sink to cold side and then we fix that
heat sink to bladeless fan’s air intake. Then we plug the TEC-Plate and the bladeless fan to
power and system is starting to work and we get cool air. But the issue is other side of the TEC-
Plate is getting heat. That reduce the efficiency of the unit. To avoid that we have to control
the temperature of that side in TEC-Plate. For that we flow water through a copper tube via the
TEC-Plate. Water absorb the heat and then no longer that heat is not going to be a trouble.
Then we flow that heat water through a radiator and radiator cool that water. Then again that
cool water flow through hot side of the TEC-Plate. So on we do this as a cycle. This is the basic
methodology of our project.
Material Aspects
For this report we used the following components
 Bladeless fan
 2 Ice cream containers
 2 heat sinks
 Copper pipes
 Rubber pipes
 Water pump
 Radiator fan
 TEC plates
The reason we chose the bladeless fan was because we could easily connect the heat sink to the
air intake. A table fan would be an alternative but that would make it more difficult for us to
connect the heat sink to the air intake. Bladeless fan is also easy to maintain and more portable
than a normal table fan.
The radiator was made by us using copper tubes and a radiator fan. This was to ensure that we
could minimize the total budget of the project.

Energy Aspects
Unit Power input (W)
Bladeless fan 40
Radiator fan 40
TEC Plates ( 3 ) 15
Water pump 8

What we have done is we supply power to the TEC plates which in return heats one side and
cools the other side. Extract the heat through a heat sink and send it through a radiator by
running water through the heat sink. To run the water we use a small water pump. To ensure the
water gets cooled down through the radiator we have added a radiator fan. The other heat sink is
supposed to be at the cooling side of the TEC plates. The air is sucked through the cooled heat
sink which will go into the air intake of the bladeless fan.
Bladeless fan with the heat sink connected

The Air intake of the bladeless fan

Simple representation of the cooling system
Material Aspects

1 Materials identified (if the object is Bladeless fan, 2 Ice cream containers,
already in existence or for the new 1 heat sink, water cooling unit, Copper
design) pipes, Rubber pipes, Water pump,
Radiator fan, TEC plates

2 Reasons for proposing alternative The reason we chose the bladeless fan was
materials (include facts such as because we could easily connect the heat sink
availability, environmental impacts) to the air intake. A table fan would be an
alternative but that would make it more
difficult for us to connect the heat sink to the
air intake. Bladeless fan is also easy to
maintain and more portable than a normal
table fan.

3 Alternative materials proposed/used Table fan

4 Availability of the proposed material Can bought from electric shops

(indication of the availability of world

reserves)
5 Methods of extraction of the proposed
6 Impacts on the environment/society of Can be harmful for environment because they
the proposed material (during extraction, included undisposal materials
processing, manufacturing, usage and
disposal)
7 Anticipated benefits to the environment Could be used as an Air Cooler
and society
Energy Aspects
1 Details of energy usage (if the object is Air conditioners = 1300W, Ice water Air cooler
already in existence or for the new = 120W, TEC plate Air Cooler = 90W
design)
2 Reasons for modifying/redesigning to To reduce the power consumption
optimize energy usage
3 Energy usage after the modification 90W
4 Anticipated benefits to the Less power consumption would lead to saving
environment/society large amounts of CO2 emissions to the
environment.
Life Cycle analysis of the project/object
1 Identified impacts (on environment and Provides a comfortable atmosphere to the
society) during manufacturing and working environment.
mitigation methods
2 Identified impacts (on environment and
society) during usage and mitigation
methods
3 End of life -Recyclability as a percentage 75%
(%)
4 If disposed, what is the method Try to recycle copper tubes. TEC plates have to
proposed? be disposed carefully, may have harmful
impacts to the environment.
5 Anticipated impacts on the environment Heavy metals would be added to the
and society due to the suggested disposal environment.
method
6 Methods proposed to minimize the Supply It to a company that can recycle it
anticipated impacts mentioned under ‘5’ without disposing.
above
Discussion
It is apparent that using thermo electric cooling plates are more effective at cooling than ice water
cooling systems. We were also able to make our product more efficient by using roughly 30W less
than a normal ice water air cooler. Also if we consider the product boundary, the energy used for
the production of ice water that will be put into the ice water coolers have to be taken in to account.
By taking that into consideration the actual energy used by the ice water cooling system would be
more than what’s stated.

Our system could be improved by designing it in such a way that it will be easier to be carried
around. At the moment, the external water tank and the radiator makes it difficult to be a mobile
air cooler since the water could be easily spilled and the radiator is too hot to be handled. The
system can be improved by sealing the water tank and modifying the radiator such that it could be
handled and moved around even while it’s working. We also lack the ability to control the
temperature of the air output. Even though air flow rate can be controlled through the bladeless
fan, it would be better to have something that could control the power input for the TEC plates.
Conclusion

As previously stated, we mainly focused on low energy consumption. So we always considered

to reduce energy consumption via mechanism, structure & using method of air cooling system.
so when compare to all the other such as air conditions, ice water cooling system, our cooling
system used TEC plates are more efficient and energy saving more than other cooling systems.