C2 Air-Conditioning Fundamentals

Chapter 2: Air-conditioning
fundamentals
2.1 History of automotive air-conditioning
systems
• Ventilation inside the vehicle was achieved through opening or tilting
windows or the windscreen; vents were added to doors and bulkhead to
improve air circulation and louvred panels were the equivalent to our
modern air ducts.
• 1939 Packard - first mechanical automotive A/C system which worked on a
closed cycle. The system used a compressor, condenser, receiver drier and
evaporator (fitted inside the boot/trunk) to operate the system. The only
system control was a blower switch.
• 1940–41 a number of manufacturers made vehicles with A/C systems but
these were in small volume and not designed for the masses.
• 1954–55 Nash-Kelvinator introduced air-conditioning for the mass market.
It was an A/C unit that was compact and affordable with controls on the
dash and an electric clutch.
2.2 Introduction to heating and ventilation
Heat control
• determined by the occupants of the vehicle.
• done by selecting the required interior temperature which the occupants
require via a control panel.
• control panel will either control components to allow more or less water
to enter the heat exchanger or allow more or less air to flow over its
external surface.
• two systems used to control the heater’s thermal output are referred to
as:
1. Water flow type
2. Air mix type
Air distribution through the interior of the vehicle
• a ventilator is a device used to direct air through the inside of a vehicle.
There are generally two types of ventilator used on a vehicle:
1. Natural flow ventilator
2. Forced flow ventilator (blower)
Air filtration
• Pollen filter - Fibres in the filter prevent large particulates from entering
the system and trap the really small ones, the filter is electrostatically
charged.
• Carbon filter and germicidal lamp

- The active carbon layer neutralises unpleasant odours and keeps the air
free of ozone.
- Germicidal lamp is used in air-conditioning systems to kill any bacteria
which enters or forms within the air filtration system.
• Photo catalytic filter - destroy pollutant gases and micro-organisms
entering the vehicle. In less than five minutes the entire cabin air can be
purified.
• Air quality sensing - when a threshold for carbon monoxide or nitrogen
dioxide is reached, the AQS communicates to the HVAC system to initiate
the air recirculation mode.
• Air distribution unit - there is a system of ducts and mixing/directing
doors. The unit houses the blower motor, the heater core and for vehicles
with an air-conditioning system, the evaporator.
Classification of heating and ventilation systems by zone

• Dash HVAC
• Boot HVAC
• Dual HVAC
2.3 The basic theory of cooling
• generic term for a unit which maintains air within a given space at a
comfortable temperature and humidity.
• The principle of an HVAC system:
• creates a comfort zone for the occupants which can be adjusted within a
range.
• system must provide a way of controlling the climate inside the vehicle
which is generally referred to as ‘climate control’.
Heat
• cannot be destroyed; it can only be converted to or from other forms of
energy.
• heat will travel from a hot to a cold surface until the temperatures have
equalised.
• rate at which heat will travel is dependent upon the difference in
temperature between a hot (more energetic molecular movement) and
cold (less energetic molecular movement) area.
Sensible heat
• heat which causes a change in temperature.
Specific heat capacity
• different substances absorb different amounts of heat to cause the same
increase in temperature.
Latent heat and a change of state
• heat energy required to change the state of a substance without changing
its temperature.
• evaporation is the term used when enough heat is absorbed by a
substance to cause it to change into a vapour.
• condensation is when enough heat is removed from a vapour causing it to
change to a liquid.
Conduction, convection and radiation
Enthalpy
• measure of the usable energy content of a substance.
• when a liquid increases in temperature it also increases in enthalpy.
• when the liquid changes into a vapour through latent heat of evaporation
it does not increase in temperature but does increase in enthalpy because
the energy within the substance increases.
Refrigerant
Refrigerant CFC12 – dichlorodifluoromethane
Refrigerant HFC134a – tetrafluoroethane
Hose material
• aluminium extruded tubing is generally used with the exception of the
compressor which uses flexible hoses because it is connected to the
engine.
• modern hoses for R134a use an inner lining of nylon due to the size of the
R134a molecule and to reduce moisture ingression.
• R12 hose is constructed in the same way but without the nylon lining due
to the larger size molecule.
2.4 Vapour compression refrigeration
2.5 The air-conditioning system
System activation
• The signal to activate the air-conditioning system comes from the
occupant(s).
• Activation of the air-conditioning system is achieved under some or all of
the following conditions:
2.6 The expansion valve system
2.7 The fixed orifice valve system (cycling
clutch orifice tube)
Expansion valve vs Fixed orifice valve
• expansion valve - changes the • fixed orifice tube - a tube with a
refrigerant into low pressure, low fixed cross sectional area
temperature liquid/vapour. allowing only a metered quantity
• achieved by lowering the pressure of liquid refrigerant to pass
using a variable orifice. through it.
• orifice has high pressure one side
(from the receiver drier) and low
pressure the other (evaporator and
compressor) and allows a small
quantity of refrigerant to flow
through it.
• sudden drop in pressure and
temperature causes some of the
refrigerant to vaporise which is called
a flash gas.
2.8 Dual air-conditioning

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Chapter 2: Air-conditioning

• Carbon filter and germicidal lamp

Classification of heating and ventilation systems by zone

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