What is air conditioning?
All air conditioning is based on the same mechanism: a cooling fluid, generally water or air, through evaporation of coolant fluid . The refrigerating circuit, which compressor, evaporator, and condenser, constitutes an integral part of both systems. However, there are substantial differences between the refrigeration and the conditioning, for example, components, design, business structures or industrial where they are installed and functioning itself, which explains the existence of two distinct sectors .
Air conditioning is the process that allows you to create and maintain certain conditions of temperature, relative humidity and air purity indoors. This process is usually applied to maintain a level of personal comfort. It also utilize the industry standard to ensure the proper functioning of apparatus or machines operating under limited environmental conditions or to preserve the development of some particular industrial fabrications, such as welding, which produce substantial amounts of heat which must be removed in some way.
An air conditioning system should be effective regardless of external weather conditions, and its based on four key control variables: temperature, humidity, air movement and air quality.
The distinction between industrial applications or personal comfort is not always clear. The industrial conditioning usually require high accuracy in controlling the temperature and humidity. Some applications also demand a high degree of filtration and removal of contaminants.
Conditioning for personal well-being, in addition to meeting the personal needs of temperature and humidity, is integrated with other disciplines such as architectural design, meteorology, energy consumption and noise level to re-create the ideal conditions for the psychophysiological welfare person.
The main process in which the air conditioning (air conditioning) is based is the exchange of heat and water vapor between the external environment and internal and people within that space.
The main devices that are in the field of domestic or industrial cooling are:
- mini conditioners, split or multi-split for domestic use.
- Portable air conditioners
- Package AC
- Floor standing air conditioners
- Domestic heat pumps;
- Air treatment plants for medium and large environments;
- Rooftop air conditioners, air handling units for small environments;
- Conditioning units shelter for telephony cabinets;
- Chiller and industrial heat pumps, units producing cold or hot water after used to treat ambient air or introduced directly into cooling devices;
- Precise control units;
- Fan coil and hydronic systems with chilled water circuits and terminals ventilation design of buildings.
These differ significantly by size, complexity, cooling capacity, which can go from a few hundred watts to several megawatts, internal components and in general whether or not to perform the main functions that a climate must have, for example:
- Cooling air or water;
- Heating air or water;
- Air dehumidification;
- Humidifying the air;
- Filtering / purifying air;
- Mix indoor / outdoor air;
- Ventilation.
Domestic conditioners, for example, take the air of an environment mainly closed circuit. The cooling also causes dewetting because of the moisture in the air condenses inside the conditioner (as droplets), collected and leads to the outside through rubber pipes.
Units precise control, however, to be dedicated to critical environments where servers or telephony equipment are, they must deal with managing the temperature and humidity in very limited ranges, thereby effecting not only the cooling and dehumidification but also accurate correction of temperature and humidity by the use of electric resistors heating and humidifiers.
Treatment units comprise air more complex all the above features that only identified by separate sections.
In the chiller what is on the other hand is water, cooled to temperatures near 0 ° C (even lower if mixed with antifreeze) or heated through investment refrigeration cycle.
While ventilation functions, filtering, mixing and often heating are managed by relatively simple components (fans, dampers filters and electric heaters or boilers respectively), the most complex functions of management are developed by more complex systems such as cooling circuits and humidifiers (see “CREATE hotandcold” and the “wetting”).
Particular mention is made of system commonly used to produce cold fail the phenomenon of evaporation of a fluid within a circuit contacted with the environment to cool. The principles on which this technology is based are very interesting.