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| Cooling
For Your Business |
Air
Conditioners: How Does It Work?
An air conditioner cleans,
circulates, cools and dehumidifies
(removes undesirable moisture
from) indoor air. A filter cleans
the air by trapping dust and
other small particles. An air
handler (blower built into the
system) circulates it, while
the cooling and dehumidifying
are accomplished by a process
called refrigeration.
Refrigeration. Refrigeration
cools a business by transferring
heat inside a business to the outdoors.
All central air conditioners
employ two main units in this
process – the indoor unit
and the condensing unit.
The indoor unit. This
unit removes undesirable indoor
warmth and humidity. It includes
the filter (A), the air handler
(B) and the evaporator coil
(C). The air handler blows filtered
air through the evaporator coil.
The evaporator coil is kept cold by the circulation of a substance called a refrigerant.
Office air that travels across the evaporator coil gives up heat (the colder
coil absorbs it) and humidity (moisture condenses upon contact with the cold
surface of the coil).
The cooler, drier air that continues through the air ducts (D) is vented throughout
the office to maintain your desired comfort level. Depending on the structure
of your business, the ductwork may be above the ceiling or below the floor.
The condensing unit. Outdoors, at the condensing unit, an air conditioner
releases the heat that was captured indoors. The same refrigerant that absorbed
the heat indoors at low pressure is now pressurized – by the compressor – and
is circulated through another coil, the condensing coil (E).
In the condensing coil, under high pressure, the refrigerant releases its heat
very quickly, making the coil itself hot. A fan blows across the coil, cooling
its temperature down and transferring the heat to the outside air.
The refrigerant is returned indoors to the evaporator coil (C), chilled again
by pressurization, and the heat transfer process continues. |
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