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Energy Efficiency Improvement of the Split Air Conditioner Through Condensate Assisted Evaporative Cooling

Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering volume 46, pages 7719–7727 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The overwhelming evidence of global warming caused by human activities documents both contemporary impacts on human life but also extraordinary future risks are also assisted with it. Accretion of global temperatures engenders the extensive use of air conditioning devices to make the surrounding livable in the summer season. Energy consumption for air conditioning is also palpable by the evidence that this industry is the 2nd largest power-consuming sector in the consumer field. High temperatures also affect the performance of the air conditioning system by decreasing their energy efficiency ratio (EER) and cooling capacity (QC). Modifications are made in such a way to lower down the temperature of the surrounding by the use of a honeycomb wet pad which uses evaporative cooling with condensate of the indoor side. Experiments were made to observe the difference in performance efficiency, with modification and sans modification, by operating separately at 40–50 °C temperatures. Results were evident that condensate assisted evaporative cooling shows improvement in cooling capacity by 19% and a reduction in power consumption (P) by 13% as compare to the conventional system. A huge increase in the energy efficiency ratio of 36% was observed with the use of the modified system. The things used for the modification are cheaper and easily available in the market.

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Abbreviations

DC:

Direct current (A)

ROI:

Return on investment

MU:

Measurement uncertainty

C.I:

Confidence interval

P :

Power consumption (W)

P 1 :

Power consumption for simple air conditioner without any modifications (W)

P 2 :

Power consumption for modified air conditioner with wet pad (W)

SEER:

Seasonal energy efficiency (W/W)

EER:

Energy efficiency ratio (W/W)

EER1 :

Energy efficiency ratio for simple air conditioner (W/W)

EER2 :

Energy efficiency ratio for modified air conditioner (W/W)

OD:

Outdoor side

ID:

Indoor side

Q c :

Cooling capacity (W)

Q C1 :

Cooling capacity for a simple air conditioner without any modifications (W)

Q C2 :

Cooling capacity for modified air conditioner with wet pad (W)

V o Air :

Volume flow rate (m3/h)

Φ :

Relative humidity

ODB:

Outdoor dry bulb

IDB:

Indoor dry bulb

OWB:

Outdoor wet-bulb

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

    Majid Ramzan, Muhammad Sajid Kamran, Muhammad Wajid Saleem & Hassan Ali

  2. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Mudather Ibrahim Mudather Zeinelabdeen

Authors
  1. Majid Ramzan
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  2. Muhammad Sajid Kamran
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  3. Muhammad Wajid Saleem
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  4. Hassan Ali
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  5. Mudather Ibrahim Mudather Zeinelabdeen
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Correspondence to Muhammad Sajid Kamran.

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Ramzan, M., Kamran, M.S., Saleem, M.W. et al. Energy Efficiency Improvement of the Split Air Conditioner Through Condensate Assisted Evaporative Cooling. Arab J Sci Eng 46, 7719–7727 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05494-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05494-x

Keywords

  • Energy efficiency ratio
  • Vapor compression
  • Evaporative cooling
  • Modified condenser
  • Honeycomb wet pad