Principle of air conditioner working : how air conditioner works?

Nowadays the sales of air conditioners increase as soon as the summer season comes because everyone wants to enjoy air conditioner cooling in summers. You yourself will know how much fun it is to sit in the air conditioning room in the summer. But everyone enjoys it but how does it work. Is the principle of the air conditioner working?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Today we will discuss the principle of an air conditioner working. firstly we have discussed an Air conditioner then discuss working.

What is an Air conditioner?

Air conditioners are basically refrigerators whose refrigerated space is a room or a building instead of the food compartment. A window air conditioning unit cools a room by absorbing heat from the room air and discharging it to the outside. 

An air conditioner can change the temperature, humidity or general quality of the air. More specifically, an air conditioner makes your home cool.

Air conditioners work the same way as refrigerators. Instead of cooling just the inside of a refrigerator, an air conditioner cools a room, a whole house, or an office.

How an Air conditioner works?

An air conditioner is able to cool a building because it removes heat from indoor air and transfers it outside. A chemical refrigerant in the system absorbs unwanted heat and pumps it through the piping system to the outer coil. A fan located in the outdoor unit blows outside air over the hot coil, transferring heat from the refrigerant to the outside air.

When a liquid turns into a gas, it absorbs heat. Air conditioners take advantage of this feature of phase conversion to vaporize special chemical compounds and condense repeatedly in a closed system of coils.

Above are basic principles of Air conditioner working.

Components of Air Conditioner

In Air conditioner working, components play an important role

• Compressor - An air conditioner compressor is a component in the system that raises the temperature and pressure of the vapour refrigerant that leaves the evaporator coil. The high pressure forces the refrigerant through a line that leads to the outdoor coil, where the refrigerant releases its heat and condenses into a liquid.
• Condenser Coil - This gas leaves the compressor and flows into the condenser coils. This is where the refrigerant releases most of the heat absorbed by your home. A fan mounted on the outside of the unit blows air over the condenser coil, causing the refrigerant inside to lose heat. 
• Evaporator - The evaporator works in contrast to the condenser, where the refrigerant liquid is converted into a gas, which absorbs heat from the air in the compartment. The evaporator removes heat from the area to be cooled. The desired temperature of cooling of the area will determine whether refrigeration or air conditioning is desired.
• Thermostat - Air conditioning thermostats are used in places where there is a need to control the temperature of the space. They are usually divided into two categories i.e. mechanical or electronic type. 
  Electronic thermostats function similarly to a small computer, using sensors to determine whether or not your home is at the right temperature. An electromechanical thermostat typically contains either a bi-metal coil or a metal strip. When the temperature changes, this coil or strip will move, causing a vial containing mercury to tip to one side. The mercury flows to one end of the vial, signalling that the heating or cooling needs to be turned on.
• Air conditioner blower - Air conditioner blower or fan is one of the major components that are required as part of an air conditioning system. The function of the blower is to generate air circulation in the space which is being conditioned. There are basically four types of fans that are commonly used in HVAC(Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) equipment. They are propeller fan, centrifugal fan, vane-axial fan and tube-axial fan.

Principle of Air Conditioner Working

An air conditioning system uses the principles of thermodynamics to cool living space. In simple words, it is a closed system that circulates a substance called a refrigerant, thereby changing the pressure of the refrigerant at various points to promote the transfer of heat.

The principle of Air conditioner working describes below in detail -

All air conditioning systems use a specific material to undergo a phase conversion process. This material is called refrigerant and is contained within the tubing that runs throughout the air conditioning system. After leaving the evaporator coil (which will be mentioned above), the refrigerant is drawn into the system's compressor as hot vapour.
The compressor increases the density of the incoming refrigerant vapour, causing it to increase in pressure and temperature. This is normally accomplished using a centrifugal system, where a series of spinning blades rapidly propel the vapour to the outside of the compressor chamber, at which point it exits.
This hot, high-pressure vapour then travels to the air conditioner's condenser where it runs through a series of coils with thin metal fins. A fan blows air over the fins, and heat moves from the refrigerant to the fins and into the air stream, The air moving over the condenser coil is driven to the exterior of the building and released into the atmosphere.
This journey through the condenser causes the vapour to lose a significant amount of heat and it subsequently changes phase from gas to high-temperature liquid.
The liquid refrigerant is then forced through an expansion valve which is basically a pinhole that causes the liquid to form a mist. The sudden drop in pressure and expansion of the material when the liquid turns into a mist causes the fluid to cool rapidly as it throws off heat energy.
The sudden drop in pressure and expansion of the material when the liquid turns into a mist causes the fluid to cool rapidly as it throws off heat energy. This cool-mist travels through the evaporator coil which is located directly in the air stream of a circulation fan that draws air from within the building.
The fan pushes air into cool coils, which draw heat from the air, cooling the air. Due to the transfer of heat in the refrigerant, it turns back into hot vapour and enters the compressor to start the cycle again.