Air conditioners work by collecting the hot air from the environment, processing it, and further releasing cold air into the same environment. It incorporates the functionality of 5 primary cooling tower parts, namely evaporator, condenser, refrigerant, compressor, and expansion valve.
An air conditioner converts hot air into cold air with the help of the refrigerant and a bunch of coils who process the hot air and further releases cold air into the same environment where it had originally been collected. Industrial cooling towers make use of the same technique with cooling tower parts, allowing the air of a larger area to cool.
For example, if you are outside in the heat on a summer day, the only thing that keeps you going on is the feeling of being inside an air conditioner at home.
Once you step into your house the chill air wraps every cell of your body and you start feeling better. The feeling is common and most of us have experienced it at least once in a lifetime.
Don’t Miss: What Are Cooling Tower Parts? The Complete Guide
How Does Air Conditioner Remove Heat Outside?
As the air conditioner is turned on, the hot air inside the home is absorbed and transferred outside by a cooling agent called the refrigerant. The cooling agent is present inside the coils that travel in a closed circuit within the air conditioner. The coil guide the refrigerant from inside your home to the outdoors and back again.
The heat exchange coil in the air conditioner is called the evaporator. The coil is responsible for collecting heat from a given environment through refrigerant gas.
The liquid refrigerant absorbs heat and evaporates to become a gas, precisely the cold gas. Air conditioners use common gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and hydrocarbons. Primarily the gas is responsible for absorbing the heat and traveling to the next component to collect the heat and processes it.
On the other hand, the compression of the gaseous refrigerant occurs inside the compressor. Although it is located in the outside unit, it performs a crucial task to operate the heat collected.
The vaporized refrigerant passes from the compressor to the condenser and further converts the gas into liquid air conditioners attached with long pipes through which water constantly drains. The condenser converts heat into liquid and expels it outside through the pipe. Needless to say, it is the part located outside of the air conditioning unit.
Last but not the least, the expansion valve is present between two sets of coils. The expansion valve is responsible for keeping a tab on the amount of refrigerant moving towards the evaporator. Industrial belts install cooling towers to dissipate the area heat with the help of cooling towers parts such as fan deck, valves, nozzles, a cold water basin, driveshafts, drift eliminators, and much more.
Air Conditioners In Cars
Air conditioners fitted into a car work on the same principle as they do in our offices and homes. The difference arises in the size of the expansion valve and evaporator. The cold part is placed behind the car’s dashboard. The compressor and condenser are present near the car’s radiator.
All four parts are connected by a circuit of pipes that encompasses the coolant. Once the air conditioning is switched on, the compressor in the car derives its power from the engine. The presence of a heater and a dehumidifier also known as the driver unit works by adjusting the temperature of the passenger compartment.
What Happens When The AC Is Turned On?
Upon turning the air conditioner on, it is usually set at a defined temperature. Air conditioners have the thermostat installed to identify the temperature gap and release air accordingly. The set temperature of the conditioner signals the thermostat of the difference in the temperature of the rooms and the temperature set by the user.
As such, the conditioner draws the hot air through a grille, allowing the air to flow through some pipes, called the refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant absorbs hot air and turns it into a hot gas. This is how hot air is removed from the environment and dissipated to the coils. The evaporator, precisely, the coils absorbs heat, thereby pulling out the moisture from the incoming air. As such, air-conditioned rooms lack humidity.
The hot refrigerant gas thereafter passes on to the compressor and further increases its temperature. The high-pressure gas travels to the condenser which transforms the hot gas into a cold liquid. Hot gas dissipates into the surroundings, thereby pouring the remaining in the form of liquid through the pipes. As the refrigerant flows through the expansion valve it again arrives at the point where the journey started initially.
