Capacity & Performance Testing of Packaged Air Conditioners

D. Ravindra
Blue Star Limited
A 1963 B.Tech. (Hons) from IIT Khara!ur and 1996 "# from Indian Institute of
Science Banalore$ %a&indra has 3' (ears e)!erience in !roduct de&elo!ment and
manufacture of A* + % e,ui!ment.
Packaged air conditioners are self-contained air conditioning units compressing a
refrigeration system and an air-handling system, usually (but not necessarily) connected
to ducting for distributing the conditioned air at different desired locations. These units
are usually made in capacities upwards of 10,000 (about ! T") and may consist of one
or more assemblies, which are designed to be used together. #ndian $tandard #$. %1&%-
1'() co*ers packaged air conditioners in the range of ! to 1+ T", which also happens to
be the range commonly manufactured in #ndia.
,$-",. $tandard !(-1'%% specifies the #ndoor side air-enthalpy method for
determining the cooling capacity less than !',+)0 . (11./+ T"), ,$-",. prescribes an
additional confirming test such as 0utdoor side air-enthalpy method.
#$1 %1&%-1'() specifies both #ndoor side and 0utdoor side air-enthalpy methods for air-
cooled condensers. These tests shall be described in some detail in this article.
2top3
Air Enthalpy or Psychrometric Test Method
#n this method, capacity is determined from the difference in enthalpies of air entering
and lea*ing the 4nit 4nder Test (44T) and the associated air flow rate under specified
test conditions. The enthalpies are read off from the standard psychrometric chart 5 table
for the measured dry-bulb and wet bulb temperatures of the entering and lea*ing air. The
air flow measurement is carried out in accordance with ,67, standard /10-%+ 5
,$-",. standard &1./ - 1'%( by the measurement of the pressure drop across standard
,$-",. no88les. These measurements may be carried out only on the indoor side or
both the indoor and outdoor sides. $ince this method is based on the properties of air, it is
often referred to as the Psychrometric method of test.
Description of Test Facility
Test Rooms: The Psychrometric test facility (Fig.) consists of an indoor side and an
outdoor side room, in which the dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperature conditions are closely
controlled and maintained as specified. The rooms shall be of sufficient *olume and shall
circulate air in a manner such that it does not affect the normal air circulation pattern of
the 44T ,ir *elocities in the *icinity of the 44T shall not e9ceed /.+ m5s The room
dimensions shall be such that the distance from any room surface to 44T surface shall be
not less than 1 m (and / m from any 44T surface discharging air)
The test rooms are built with thermally insulated walls with a *apour barrier in order to
minimi8e the effect of outside ambient conditions.
2top3
Ta!le : Capacity Rating and other Type test conditions
#$1 %1&% -1'() specifies the following test conditions for 7apacity "ating and other
Type tests
Description of test Capacity
Rating
Ma"im#m
operating
Condition
Free$e
#p test
Enclos#re
s%eat test
Condensate
disposal
#ndoor (e*aporator)
$ide inlet air temp

-:ry ;ulb<7/(=0./+ !+ /1 /( /(
-et ;ulb<71'=0./+ /& 1) /& /&
0utdoor (condenser) $ide
inlet air temp :ry ;ulb<7
!+>0./+ &) /1 /( /(
7ondenser water
#nlet temp. <7
!0>0./+ !& 1' /( /(
7ondenser water
0utlet temp.<7
!+>0./+
6in.
- - - -
ater ? air flow rate - $ame as for capacity rating test.
Conditioning e&#ipment: #t is installed in plenums attached to both the test rooms. The
purpose of this e@uipment is to pro*ide heating and humidification 5 cooling in the indoor
and outdoor side rooms respecti*ely to nullify the cooling and dehumidification 5 heating
effects produced by the 44T and thereby maintain specified e@uilibrium conditions of
temperature and humidity in the two rooms. The conditioning e@uipment for each room
comprises electric heaters, humidifier, cooling and dehumidification coils and air
circulation fans discharging into the test space. The fans in each room shall be capable of
handling twice the air flow @uantity of he 44T The cooling and dehumidification coils
may be either direct e9pansion (with *ariable refrigerant *olume - control) or chilled
water coils (with modulated chilled water control) fed from a chilled water plant.
ater-cooled packaged air conditioners re@uire only the indoor side room complete with
its conditioning e@uipment and air flow measurement, with the addition of a cooling
tower(Fig.') and an arrangement to control and maintain the condenser water inlet
temperature as specified. , water flow meter of the specified accuracy shall be pro*ided
in the condenser water circuit.
2top3
Air flo% meas#rement: The ,irflow tester(Fig.() also referred to as 7ode tester
measured the @uantity and dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures of the air discharged from
the 44T #t is an insulated tunnel consisting of a recei*ing chamber containing an air
mi9er and psychrometric sampler, no88le section and e9haust fan section. The recei*ing
chamber 5 air mi9ing section is designed to pro*ide a true uniform temperature
distribution to a single sample point by1
6i9ing the 44T discharge air thoroughly through shear-type centrifugal or static
baffle type air mi9ers. ,ir mi9ers are particularly necessary if the 44T is of
Ablow throughA design.
.9tracting the air sample at nearly uniform condition through a tree shaped
sampling de*ice.(Fig.))
The recei*ing chamber is designed to limit the ma9imum air *elocity to 0.% m5s.
The no88le section consists of flow straighteners, the no88le plate assembly and pressure
raps for measuring the differential pressure across the no88le plate. The no88le plate
assembly may be e@uipped with to measure the desired range of air flows. The no88les
shall be selected to ensure a throat *elocity of 1+ to !+ m5s. The no88les (Fig.*) shall
ha*e an elliptical profile with a s@uare, sharp outlet edge, free from burns and nicks and a
smooth inner surface. Blow straighteners or diffusion baffles (with at least &!C free area)
are pro*ided before and after the no88le plate.
The last section of the 7ode tester consists of a *ariable speed e9haust blower and an
adDustable bypass damper in order to control the air flow through the 7ode tester. The
sped of the blower is adDusted to maintain the desired e9ternal static pressure of the 44T,
which to measure by a draft gauge manometer at the recei*ing chamber. The bypass
damper is adDusted to select the operating point of the e9haust blower.
The 7ode tester discharges the air from the 44T into the test room, which is sucked into
the 7onditioning .@uipment plenum by the air circulation fans and re-circulated into the
test room after conditioning it.
2top3
Temperat#re meas#rement: :ry bulb and we bulb temperature of the air entering and
lea*ing the 44T are measured by means of tree shaped sampling tubes which sample the
air o*er a wide area (as desired) and route the sample to a single point at which the
thermometers 5 temperature sensors are pro*ided. , small motori8ed e9haust fan e9tracts
the air sample through the sampling tube such that the *elocity of the air sample o*er the
we wick of the wet bulb thermometer is maintained at + m5s
#$1 %1&% - 1'() specifies the test conditions for the 7apacity "ating and other Type tests.
(Please refer Ta!le ) The test facility has to be designed to achie*e these different test
conditions.
Control and Date Ac&#isition +ystem
The parameters to be controlled and the other parameters measured during he test are
listed in Ta!le '.
Ta!le ': Parameters Controlled and Meas#red D#ring Capacity Rating Test
Parameter Acc#racy of
Meas#rement
Means of meas#rement
Controlled parameters
:;T,44T inlet indoor side 0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
(Platinum)100 "T:
:;T,44T inlet indoor side 0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T:.
;T,44T inlet indoor side
0.0+<7
-g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T:.
ater inlet temperature
(water cooled condenser)
0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T:.
ater flow 1C 6agnetic flow meter
.9ternal resistance to
.*aporator air flow
/.+ Pa
:raft gauge manometer or Pressure
transmitter
Eoltage to 44T 0.+C Eoltmeter5Eoltage transmitter
Bre@uency
0.+C
Bre@uency meter5Bre@uency
Transmitter
Meas#red Parameters
:;T,44T outlet
#ndoor side
0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
(Platinum) "T: sensor
;T,44T outlet
#ndoor side
0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T: sensor
:;T,44T outlet 0utdoor side 0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T:.
ater outlet temperature
(water-cooled condenser)
0.1<7 -g in glass thermometer or & wire Pt.
100 "T:.
;arometric pressure 1milli bar ;arometer
Power input to .@uipment 0.+C attmeter
$tatic pressure difference
:ifference across no88le(s)
0./+mm F :raft gauge manometer or differential
pressure transmitter
The controlled parameters may be controlled either manually or automatically by means
of a Programmable Gogic 7ontroller or a dedicated system using P#: controls.
6easurements may be recorded either manually or automatically through a P7 based
:ata ,c@uisition $ystem.
2top3
Test Proced#re & Calc#lations
The procedure for capacity rating and other tests is described in #$1 %1&%-1'() and it is
not intended to repeat them in detail here.
;riefly, for the capacity rating test, the test conditions shall be maintained until
e@uilibrium has been reached and maintained for one hour, after which data shall be
recorded e*ery 1+ minutes for / hours.
The cooling capacities ? e*aporator air flow capacities are computed by the e@uations
gi*en below.
here Hm
Em
Ei
Ih
It
I@
,n
J
Ip
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
.*aporator air flow (m!5s)
$pecific Eolume at measurement point (m!5kg)
$pecific *olume at no88le inlet (m!5kg)
.nthalpy difference between entering and lea*ing air (L5kg)
:ry bulb temperature difference between entering and lea*ing air (<7)
:ifference in specific humidity between entering and lea*ing air
(kg of moisture5kg of dry air)
,rea of no88le
Jo88le coefficient
Pressure drop across no88le (Pa)
Jo88le discharge coefficient usually *aries from 0.'( to 0.'' and is a function of no88le
diameter, *elocity pressure at the no88le and dry bulb temperature.
6ore details can be found in #$1 1!'1-1''/ for room air conditioners.
2top3