Air conditioners cool a room by circulating refrigerant through a process of evaporation, compression, condensation, and expansion. The indoor and outdoor units work together to repeat this process to create a cool breeze, and modern air conditioners use inverter technology and filter systems to increase efficiency and indoor air quality.
When we think of summer, the word that comes to mind is scorching. People do everything they can to escape the heat, including taking cold showers and drinking cool drinks. The coolness is short-lived, and then the heat returns. Before we know it, we’re reaching for the air conditioner remote and enjoying the cool breeze of the air conditioner. Air conditioners have become indispensable, but despite everyone’s love for them, few people really know how they work. In this article, we’ll take a look at the structure of air conditioners and how they work in order to uncover their secrets.
First, let’s take a look at the structure of an air conditioner. Air conditioners are divided into indoor and outdoor units, each with a different purpose. Air conditioners basically use the principle of liquid evaporation. As liquids evaporate, they take away heat from their surroundings, and air conditioners follow this principle. To give you an easy example, when we spray rubbing alcohol on our skin, we feel an instantaneous cooling sensation. Alcohol evaporates very easily, and as it evaporates, it takes away heat from the skin and we feel cold. Air conditioners work on the same principle, but instead of alcohol, they use a special liquid (refrigerant) to cycle and repeat the four processes (evaporation, compression, condensation, and expansion). Before we explain how it works, there’s one thing to keep in mind. The only gas/liquid that circulates inside the air conditioner is refrigerant, and it will be better understood if you know this and read the explanation.
The evaporation process takes place in the coil (evaporator) of the indoor unit, which is literally the process of evaporating the refrigerant. As the refrigerant evaporates, it takes away a lot of heat from the coil. Then, inside the indoor unit is a fan that acts as a blower, so the air in the room meets the coil, which is cooled by the fan, and a cool breeze comes out. If you don’t understand, put some ice cubes in front of the fan and turn the fan on. As mentioned above, the air inside the air conditioner has nothing to do with the air in the room, and the evaporated refrigerant goes to the compressor.
Since the air conditioner needs to keep emitting cold air, it must constantly evaporate refrigerant. And since evaporation is only possible in a liquid state, the refrigerant that has turned into a gas needs to be turned back into a liquid. Therefore, the refrigerant that has become a gas during evaporation must be compressed. Compression is the process of compressing the refrigerant in a compressor. All substances are made up of atoms, and when they are tightly packed together, they are solids or liquids, and when they are spread out, they are gases. This means that refrigerants that are gaseous have a low density of atoms, and it is the job of the compressor to compress the refrigerant and make it easier to turn into a liquid. Gases follow the Boyle-Charles law, which states that the pressure and temperature (in Kelvin, °K) of a gas are directly proportional. Therefore, if you compress a gas, its temperature will increase. The refrigerant released from the compressor (still a gas) is a high-temperature, high-pressure gas.
The next process is condensation. The hot, high-pressure gas from the compressor is directed through some kind of piping to the condenser. The condenser is responsible for turning the refrigerant, which is a gas, into a liquid. Since the gas is at high temperature and pressure and condenses into a liquid, the liquid is also at high temperature. After passing through the condenser, the liquid refrigerant travels along the coils to the outdoor unit. The outdoor unit also has a fan, which cools the hot refrigerant. To understand this, imagine a bucket of hot water and a fan running in front of it. As you turn the fan on, the water gets cooler and cooler, and the air around it gets hotter and hotter. Outdoor air conditioners work the same way, which is why you can feel the hot breeze when you’re near one.
The cooled refrigerant moves to the expansion valve, where it expands. This process reduces the pressure of the refrigerant so that it’s easier to vaporize at lower temperatures. If compression is the process that makes the refrigerant more liquid, expansion is the opposite. In addition to this, the flow rate of the refrigerant is also regulated here. When a large amount of refrigerant evaporates, it takes away more heat from the surroundings, so the coils are cooler and you get a cooler breeze. The temperature control function on your air conditioner’s remote control is determined by the refrigerant flow rate. Once the flow of refrigerant is determined, it’s directed to the evaporator and the air conditioner repeats the four processes in a cycle.
Additionally, various technologies are being introduced to increase the efficiency of air conditioners. For example, inverter technology allows the air conditioner’s compressor to run at variable speeds, reducing energy consumption. Modern air conditioners are also equipped with filter systems that remove dust and harmful substances from the air, making the indoor air more comfortable. These technological advancements improve the performance of air conditioners and provide a healthier environment for users.
So far, we’ve delved into the secrets of air conditioning. Air conditioners work by cycling through the processes of evaporation, compression, condensation, and expansion to give us a cool breeze. A common misconception is that air conditioners turn hot air into cold air by turning it inside the air conditioner. However, in this article, we’ve debunked that myth by showing that it’s only the refrigerant that creates the cool breeze by cycling through the processes of evaporation, compression, condensation, and expansion. In conclusion, air conditioners are good machines that help us cool down in the summer, but just as even the best medicine can be harmful if abused, so too can the cold breeze of an air conditioner be harmful if breathed in for too long, so use it properly to survive the hot summer.
