TECHNICAL SECTION – VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING

WHAT IS AN AIR CONDITIONER?

An air conditioner is used for the following purposes. The Four Factors of Air Conditioners

a. Temperature Control
b. Air Circulation Control
c. Humidity Control
d. Air Purification

An air conditioner maintains the air in the room at comfortable temperature and humidity as
follows:

a. When the room temperature is high, the heat is taken away to lower the temperature
by the air conditioner and conversely, when the room temperature is low, heat is
supplied to raise the temperature.

b. In addition, moisture in the room is removed to maintain a comfortable humidity

level.

To perform these operations, the air conditioner for a vehicle generally consists of a heater,
cooler (or evaporator), ventilation system such as a blower and ducts, and air purifier.

Refrigeration Cycle (Cooler System)

TECHNICAL TERMS AND CHANGE OF STATE

HEAT Heat Quantity

Heat is one form of energy.

1 Kcal heat quantity changes the temperature

of 1 kg of liquid water by 1°C

SPECIFIC HEAT Specific Heat

Specific heat is heat quantity required to CHANGE

THE TEMPERATURE of an object by 1°C

TEMPERATURE

a. Temperature Scales Temperature Scales

Temperature is the degree of heat or

coldness of an object. The unit generally
used to express it is ’Centigrade degree
(°C)” or “Fahrenheit degree (°F)”. In the
Centigrade scale, the freezing point (solid
point) of pure water is taken as 0°C, and
the distance between the freezing point and
boiling point divided into 100 parts and
each part designated as 1°C. In the
Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of pure
water is taken as 32°F, and the distance
between the freezing point and boiling
point divided into 180 parts, and each part
designated as 1°F.

[°C] = 5/9 ([°F] – 32)

[°F] = 9/5 [°C] + 32
b. Wet Bulb and Dry Bulb Thermometers

WET BULB THERMOMETER Thermometer

The bulb (heat sensitising part) of a glass tube

thermometer is wrapped with a gauze or other rough mesh
cloth. One end of the cloth is immersed in a water
container to allow the water to be drawn up by a capillary
action and to moisten the heat sensitising part.

The water in the cloth surface near the heat sensitising

part evaporates and robs the latent heat of evaporation
from surrounding air, causing the air temperature around
the heat sensitising parts to drop. The temperature
registered by the thermometer at this time is called the
wet bulb temperature.

This is used to find out humidity in combination with the

dry bulb temperature.

c. Dew Point Temperature

When the air surrounding us is cooled, the air temperature drops, and when the humidity becomes
100%, that is, when the dry bulb and wet bulb temperature become the same, the water vapour
contained in the air will be in a saturated state.

On further cooling, the water vapour reaches a condition where it cannot remain in a vapour state so
that a part condenses and becomes dew. The temperature at which the humidity becomes 100% and
dew is formed is called dew point temperature.

HUMIDITY
Relative humidity
Humidity

When you pour water and ice into a glass, you notice that
drops of water are generated on the glass. Do you
sometimes wonder where these drops of water come
from? The drops of water come from the surrounding air.
This means humidity is water vapour contained in the air.

Relative Humidity

The relative humidity is used to measure the humidity.

The relative humidity is the amount of water vapour the
air contains in comparison with the amount the air could
contain at a given temperature. Thus, if the relative
humidity is 50%, the air contains 50% of the water vapour
amount the air could contain at a given temperature.

Absolute Humidity

Absolute humidity is the amount of water the air contains,

compared with the dry air.
PRESSURE
Pressure
Pressure is defined as the vertical force applied on a unit
area of a solid, liquid or gas. The unit of measurement
generally used to indicate pressure is ‘kg/cm2’.

However, instead of ‘kg/cm2’, Pascal is used as an

international unit of measurement.

1 kPA (Pascall) = 1.01972 x 10-2 kg/cm2

1 kg/cm2 = 98.06 kPA

For blower performance, mmAq (Water Column) is

generally used.

For pressure below atmospheric (Vacuum) mmHG

(Mercury Column) is used.
Pressure Scales
1. Atmospheric Pressure

This is the pressure acting on all objects on earth. This

pressure is the weight of air surrounding everyone and
is equal to 1.03kg/cm2 (1 atmosphere). At this pressure,
the mercury column will be 760 mmHg.

1 atm = 1.03 kg/cm2 = 760 mmHg

Practically all pressure gauges are made to indicate

atmospheric pressure as 0.

2. Absolute Pressure

Absolute pressure is when perfect vacuum is taken as 0 kg/cm2. Therefore, the atmospheric pressure is
1.03 kg/cm2 in terms of absolute pressure.

To distinguish from absolute pressure, the pressure measured with a gauge is called a gauge pressure.
For identification, absolute pressure is indicated by kg/cm2abs and gauge pressure by kg/cm2G.

The relationship between absolute pressure and gauge pressure is as follows:

Absolute press. [kg/cm2abs] = Gauge press. [kg/cm2G] + 1.03 kg/cm2
CHANGE OF STATE
State Change of Water
a. State Change of Water

Now, we will consider how ice changes its state when

we add heat to it. We will use water as an example as it
is the easiest matter to understand heat and state change.

If we add heat to ice until the temperature of ice reaches

0 degree Centigrade (320F), ice melts into water, and
while the ice is melting, the temperature of ice and
water remains at 0 degree Centigrade. After the ice has
melted, the temperature of water begins to rise.

When the temperature of water reaches 1000C, water

begins to become steam. Until all the water becomes
steam, the temperature of water remains 1000C.

b. Sensible Heat and Latent Heat

Sensible Heat and Latent Heat
Fig. 1-11 shows the relation between heat and temperature.
There are two kinds of heat called sensible heat and latent
heat.

Sensible Heat

can change the temperature of water but cannot change the

state of water. Therefore, the sensible heat raises or lowers
the temperature of water.

In the case of water, 1kg of water at 00C must absorb 100

Kcal of sensible heat to change to 1 kg of water at 1000C.

The Latent Heat

can change the state of water, but cannot change the

temperature of water. Ice melts into water by adding latent
heat and water evaporates into steam by adding latent heat.
In the case of water, 1 kg of ice at 0 degree must absorb
80Kcal of latent heat to change to 1 kg of water at 0 degree,
and 1 kg of water at 100 degrees must absorb 539 Kcal of
latent heat to change to 1 kg of steam.
Three States of Matter Three States of Matter
As you know, matter exists in thee states; solid,
liquid and gas. In the case of water, the solid
state is ice, the liquid state is water, and the gas
state steam.

① Fusion

When solid melts into liquid, heat is absorbed from the surrounding matter.

② Solidification

In the opposite situation, when liquid changes into a solid, heat is released to the surrounding.
In the case of water, when 1 kg of ice melts into 1 kg of water, under atmospheric pressure, 80
kcal of heat is absorbed from the surrounding.

③ Evaporation

When liquid evaporates into gas, heat is absorbed from the surrounding.

④ Condensation

In the opposite situation, heat is released to the surrounding.

In the case of water, when 1 kg of water evaporates into 1 kg of steam 539 kcal of heat is
absorbed from the surrounding.
In the opposite situation, 539 Kcal of heat is released to the surrounding matter.

⑤ Sublimation

In rare case such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) and naphthalene, heating causes the solid to
directly turn into gas.

⑥ Adhesion

The reverse process is called adhesion.

PRINCIPLE OF COOLING Vaporisation

A cooler cools and dehumidifies the air inside the

vehicle or fresh air from outside the car so as to produce
comfortable cooling.

BASIC THEORY OF COOLING

After swimming on a hot day we feel a little cold. This

is because the water remaining on our body eventually
vaporises. Whilst vaporising, this is drawing heat from
our body.

For the same reason, we feel cool when we apply

alcohol to our skin. The alcohol is placed as a liquid on
our skin. After a short time the liquid starts to change
into a gas (vaporise).

In this process heat is drawn from our skin (our skin

feels cold). Using this principle we can apply it to an
air conditioning system. ie: Heat being drawn when a
liquid vaporises to a gas.

Basic Theory of Cooling

REFRIGERANT

Refrigerant is a substance that services as a moving

fluid in a refrigerator and circulates through functional
parts to produce the cooling effect by absorbing heat
through the expansion valve and vaporising. The
refrigerant used in new vehicle today is now HFC 134a,
which has no-ozone-destroying properties (does not
contain chlorine).

Characteristics of HFC134a

Water boils at 1000C under atmospheric pressure, but

HFC134a boils at –26.90C under atmospheric pressure. Characteristics of Refrigerant
(HFC134a)
Water boils at 1210C under 1 kg/cm2G (98kPa) of
pressure, but HFC134a boils at –10.60C under
1kg/cm2G (98 kPa) of pressure.

If HFC134a were released to the air under normal room

temperature and atmospheric pressure, it will absorb the
heat from the surrounding air and boil immediately,
changing into a gas.

HFC134a is also easily condensed back into liquid

under a pressurised conditions by removing the heat.
The graph shows the characteristic relationship Refrigerant Saturating Curve
between the temperature and pressure of HFC 134a.

The curve in the graph indicates the boiling point of

HFC134a under different temperatures and
pressures. The upper portion above the curve is
gaseous HFC134a and the lower portion is liquid
HFC134a.

Example-1

The gaseous refrigerant can be converted into the

liquid refrigerant by increasing the pressure without
changing the temperature.

Example-2

The gaseous refrigerant can also be converted into a

liquid by decreasing the temperature without
changing the pressure.

Conversely

Example-3 Refrigerant Saturating Curve

The liquid refrigerant can be converted into gas by

decreasing the pressure without changing the
temperature.

Example-4

The liquid refrigerant can be converted into a gas by

increasing the temperature without changing the
pressure.

HFC134a has very good characteristics and properties to be used in automotive air conditioning
systems. It is nonflammable, non-explosive, non-poisonous, non-corrosive, odourless and harmless to
clothes and food.