Test of condensate subcooling coils for air conditioners

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6343770

Mei, V C; Chen, F C; Miller, W A ^[1]; Gulati, N ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
2. Department of the Army, Fort Belvoir, VA (USA)

A 2-ton compact air conditioner was developed for the shelter environmental control application. The cooling capacity requirement was 2 tons at an outdoor ambient temperature of 110{degree}F (43{degree}C) and an indoor dry-bulb temperature of 80{degree}F (27{degree}C), 67{degree}F (19{degree}C) wet bulb (W.B), and with a sensible heat ration of 0.8. A serpentine coil was installed at the bottom of the drain pan to take advantage of cool condensate for improved cooling capacity. The coil was so arranged in the prototype unit that three different condensate reuse options can be tested by either connecting the coil to the condenser exit or compressor inlet (desuperheating) or by cutting the coil completely out of the system operation. The added coil did increase the cooling capacity by 5.5 to 8.8% and lower the discharge pressure by 5 to 10 psi (35 to 70KPa) at 95{degree}F (35{degree}C) outdoor temperature compared with the test data when the coil was not used at all. The coil worked best when it was used as a subcooling coil for refrigerant liquid. This paper presents some quantitative test results for the performance of the unit when the additional coil was used as a subcooling coil or a desuperheating coil, or not used at all. 9 figs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOD
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6343770
• Report Number(s): CONF-910127-1; ON: DE90016520
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320106* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Building Equipment-- (1987-)
AIR CONDITIONERS
AIR FLOW
BLOWERS
CAPACITY
DESIGN
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GAS FLOW
GASES
HEAT EXCHANGERS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PRESSURE EFFECTS
REFRIGERANTS
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
TESTING
THERMOCOUPLES
TRANSDUCERS
TUBES
VAPORS
WORKING FLUIDS