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Air conditioning 101: Basics,

working principle and sizing
calculations
Temitayo Oketola
|
September 22, 2022
Air conditioners (ACs) and HVAC systems are
essential in many facilities and homes today.
These systems provide cold air inside an
enclosed space by removing heat and humidity
from the indoor air and keeping the space from
feeling stuffy.

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they all have the same basic components and operate on the
same premise. Source: zetha_work/Adobe Stock
Basic construction and
working principle of an AC
An AC is made up of four essential parts:

Evaporator
Compressor
Condenser
Expansion valve

The operation of the AC relies on the ability of a

refrigerant to absorb heat once converted from a
gaseous state to a liquid state. And all of these
components work together to manage the
refrigerant and provide cool air inside an
enclosed space.

#1 The evaporator
The evaporator is the part of the system
typically found in the indoor unit in a mini-split
AC. It is made up of coils through which low-
temperature refrigerant flows and a fan that
draws the warm air from the indoor space to the
coil. As a result, the low-temperature refrigerant
absorbs heat from the indoor space, cooling the
air. The fan then blows this cool air back into the
indoor space.

Refrigerant usually enters the evaporator coil as

a low-temperature liquid but leaves as a vapor
due to the heat absorbed from the surrounding
warm air. Therefore, there needs to be a way to
change the refrigerant to its original state (low-
temperature liquid) before it returns to the
evaporator coils. This original refrigerant state
can be achieved through a series of additional
processes performed by the compressor,
condenser and expansion valve.

#2 The compressor
The compressor, which is usually located in the
outdoor unit of central and split AC units, is the
heart of an AC unit. And as its name implies, a
compressor compresses the gaseous refrigerant
coming from the evaporator coils. This operation
raises the pressure of the refrigerant, which
changes the refrigerant to a superheated vapor
before the refrigerant enters the condenser.

[Learn more about air compressors on

GlobalSpec.com]

#3 The condenser
The condenser of a typical AC unit is quite
similar to the evaporator; they feature hollow
coils through which the refrigerant travels.
However, unlike the evaporator coils that
absorbs heat from the surrounding, the
condenser coils absorb heat from the refrigerant
and eject it to the outside environment.
Condensers are typically located in the outdoor
unit of ACs.

The operation of the condenser on the

refrigerant causes it to change its state from
superheated vapor into hot liquid. This hot liquid
refrigerant is then made to pass through the
expansion valve.

#4 The expansion valve

The expansion valve regulates the amount of
refrigerant going inside the evaporator.
However, remember that the refrigerant coming
from the condenser is still at a high temperature.
The expansion valve reduces the pressure and
temperature of the refrigerant, changing its state
to gas. The gaseous, cooled refrigerant goes to
the evaporator to repeat the air conditioning
process.

Basics of sizing air

conditioners
The cooling capacity is an important parameter
used in choosing an AC for an application.
Cooling capacity measures the air conditioner’s
ability to remove heat from an enclosed space,
measured in Tonnage (ton) or BTU (British
Thermal Unit).

ACs used for cooling small buildings usually

have a tonnage rating between 1.5 tons and 5
tons, while commercial units can have a rating
of up to 30 tons. To make the best choice,
engineers can take these three basic steps.

#1 Calculate the room size

The first step to take is to calculate the area of
space the AC is required to cool. For
rectangular or square-shaped rooms, this can
be done by simply multiplying the length and
width of the room, as shown below.

However, engineers might want to divide the

room into small sections and sum up all the
areas for complex shapes.

#2 Estimate the tonnage required

The U.S. Department of Energy recommends
that an AC needs 20 BTU (approximately
0.0016 tons) for each square foot of living
space. Therefore, an ideal AC size for a 900 sq
ft room would be approximately 1.5 tons, as
shown below:
#3 Consider the number of people
in the space
The human body generates heat, which tends to
add unwanted heat gain to the cooling space.
Therefore, it is recommended that engineers
increase the cooling capacity of an AC
depending on the number of people that will be
in the space. For instance, engineers can add
0.0317 tons (or 380 BTU) per person that will be
in the cooling space.

Other factors that engineers must consider

when choosing a system for an application
include the number of windows in the space, the
height of the room, and the region’s general
climate and humidity levels. Therefore,
engineers are advised to reach out to AC
suppliers to discuss their application needs.

To contact the author of this article, email

engineering360editors@globalspec.com

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Re: Air conditioning 101: Basics,

working principle and sizing
calculations
SolarEagle #1
2022-Sep-22 3:58 AM
 There are several errors here in this
article....

..."The operation of the AC relies on the

ability of a refrigerant to absorb heat
once converted from a gaseous state
to a liquid state."...

...no, the refrigerant absorbs heat in the

gaseous state and discharges the heat
from the refrigerant after compressing the
gas into a now hot gas, then cools it into a
warm liquid via condensation....

The proper sizing of an air conditioning

system is done by calculating the heat
load of the structure and operating design
temperatures...while there are various
rules of thumb that are used, like the 5 or
600 square ft per ton mentioned, this
actually can vary significantly...also the
design of the structure must be taken into
account not only for sizing of the unit but
also the installation....fitting necessary
equipment into available spaces can be
challenging, and may involve
compromises or alterations to the existing
structure....

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