In India, an attempt to withstand the hot summer climate has led to the creation of a virtually perpetual motion machine. Having installed a frame wrapped around a coconut palm - tatti, instead of the front door to the room, the Indians placed a container above it, which was slowly filled with water due to the capillary effect of tatti. When the water level reached a certain value, the tank overturned, spraying water on the door, and returned to its original state. This process was repeated many times.
In the 19th century, British inventor Michael Faraday discovered that compressing and liquefying a certain gas cooled the air. But his ideas were largely theoretical.
Electric air conditioning was invented Willis Carrier around 1902. He also designed the first air conditioning system for a Brooklyn print shop. In the summer, during the printing process, the constant change in temperature and humidity did not allow to achieve high-quality color reproduction.
Carrier developed an apparatus that cooled the air to constant temperature and dried it up to 55%. He called his device "an apparatus for processing air." In 1915, he and six fellow engineers founded their own company, Garner Engineering Co., later renamed Carrier. Today, Carrier is one of the leading manufacturers of air conditioners, owning 12% of the world's air conditioner production.
The term air conditioning itself was first proposed in 1906 by Steward Cramer, who associated this concept with obtaining a conditioned product.
Later, expensive air conditioning systems began to be used to improve productivity in the workplace. Then the scope of air conditioning was expanded to improve comfort in homes and cars.
The first air conditioners and refrigerators used toxic gases such as ammonia and methyl chloride, which were far from life-threatening when they leaked out. In the 1930s, for safety reasons, General Electric introduced an air conditioner with a condensing unit located on the outside of the building. It was the first split system.
Willis Carrier with the first refrigeration unit (chiller)
Willis Haviland Carrier next to the world's first chiller (CHILLER).
The first car air conditioner had a cooling capacity of 370 watts, was created by C & C Kelvinator Co in 1930 and installed on a Cadillac.
Thomas Midgley Jr. was the first to propose the use of difluoromonochloromethane as a refrigerant, later named freon in 1928. This refrigerant turned out to be much safer for people, but not for the ozone layer of the atmosphere.
Freon is DuPont's brand name for all CFC, HCFC or HFC refrigerants, each including a number indicating the molecular composition (R-11, R-12, R-22, R-134). The most commonly used blend is HCFC, or R-22, but the plan is to phase it out of new appliance production by 2010, and eliminate it entirely by 2020. R-11 and R-12 are no longer made, the only way to buy them is to clean the gas found in old air conditioners. R-410A refrigerant is gaining popularity these days as it is safe for the Earth's ozone layer, non-flammable, non-toxic and highly energy efficient.
In the 1980s, Toshiba developed a new way to control the compressor, which consists in changing the frequency of the compressor's power supply, later called the inverter. Inverter power management can reduce the power consumption of the air conditioner by 30%.
MILESTONES IN HISTORY
1734. The first known axial fan is installed in the British Parliament building. It was powered by steam engine and worked without repair for more than 80 years.
1754. Leonhard Euler developed the theory of the fan, which formed the basis for the calculation of modern mechanical ventilation systems.
1763. Mikhail Lomonosov publishes his work "On the free movement of air in the mines noted." The ideas presented in this work formed the basis for the calculation of natural ventilation systems.
1810 The first calculated natural ventilation system was installed in the hospital in the suburb of London - Derby.
1815. Frenchman Jean Chabannes received a British patent for "a method of air conditioning and temperature control in dwellings and other buildings ..."
1852 Lord Kelvin developed the basics of using a refrigeration machine for space heating (a heat pump). Four years later, the idea was practically implemented by the Austrian Rittenger.
1902 American engineer Willis Carrier developed the first industrial air conditioning unit.
1929 In the United States, General Electric developed the first room air conditioner.
1931 The invention of a refrigerant safe for human health - freon. Made a real revolution in the development of climate technology.
1958 Daikin has proposed an air conditioner that can work not only for cold, but also for heat according to the “heat pump” principle.
1961 Toshiba was the first in the world to start industrial production of air conditioners divided into two blocks, called split systems.
1966 Hitachi was the first in the world to offer a dehumidifying window air conditioner. Four years later, she was the first to introduce this feature in split systems.
1968 Daikin offered an air conditioner with one outdoor unit and two indoor units. This is how multi-split systems appeared.
1977 Toshiba is the first in the world to release a microprocessor-controlled air conditioner.
1981 Toshiba has developed a variable speed compressor. In the same year, air conditioners equipped with them, called inverter air conditioners, appeared on the market.
1982 Daikin has developed and introduced into production a new type of VRF central air conditioning systems, which allow solving air conditioning and ventilation issues in a complex.
1998 Sanyo offered a VRF system with inverterless power control.
1995 A decision was made to phase out the use of refrigerants that are hazardous to the ozone layer. In Europe, their production should be completely stopped by 2014.
2002 Haier is the first company in the world to offer a household air conditioner capable of increasing the oxygen concentration in a room.
AND WE HAVE A HISTORY
In the Soviet Union, air conditioning has long been considered an unaffordable luxury that distracts the proletariat from the class struggle. Thus, in 1940, the journal Heating and Ventilation was smashed for publishing a number of materials on air conditioning. These articles were perceived as "propaganda of bourgeois views in technology", and until 1955 (when it turned out that Soviet ships were absolutely not adapted to sailing in the tropics), this topic remained under an unspoken ban. A little later, in 1963-65, in the city of Domodedovo near Moscow, the production of air conditioners for communication centers and missile weapon control points was launched, the Equator plant in Nikolaev began to produce ship air conditioners, and, finally, several enterprises began to produce climatic equipment for aviation. The production of air conditioners for industrial enterprises was mastered in Kharkov, and on a smaller scale at a number of industry enterprises.
Production of domestic air conditioners in the territory Soviet Union began only in the 70s, after the factory built in Baku began manufacturing products under license Japanese company hitachi. In their best years, which fell on the mid-80s, the Baku plant produced 400,000 - 500,000 air conditioners per year, of which about 120,000-150,000 were exported. Most of the Soviet windows were sold to Cuba - about 700,000 pieces. China, Iran, Egypt and Australia were major importers. Moreover, in other years, more than 10,000 devices were sent to the green continent. Now it is fashionable to scold BCs for their large dimensions and high noise level, but one cannot but admit that they turned out to be extremely unpretentious and durable. In the same Australia, some devices still work! In addition, Soviet prices pleased local farmers so pleasantly that in the homeland of kangaroos, these products are still remembered with a kind word.
No Japanese, American, Israeli or Korean air conditioner has been so durable. Perhaps the fact is that all over the world the concept of durability of manufactured equipment has undergone significant changes already at the turn of the 70-80s. If earlier they tried to make it last for centuries, now the service life does not exceed the time of obsolescence. At the current pace of technological development, this is no more than 10 years. By the way, at least this fact speaks about the quality of BCs released in the 70-80s. The compressor plant (designed for 1,000,000 units per year) exported half of the production, fulfilling the order of Toshiba. After the collapse of the USSR and the departure of the best specialists, the production of air conditioners in Baku began to decline, and by 1997-98 it had completely collapsed. Of the former 6,000 workers at the enterprise, no more than 500 people remained engaged in the repair and maintenance of equipment. The era of BC is over.
Another Soviet project, now practically forgotten, was the Neva air conditioners, a small batch of which was made in Leningrad. The first air conditioners made in Russia were the Fedders windows, which were assembled in the city of Zheleznogorsk (Kursk region) in the early 90s. However, due to low quality production did not last long, and by 1996 it was completely curtailed. The baton was picked up in Elektrostal near Moscow. In 1997, the Elemash plant mastered the production of split systems from Samsung assembly kits, and then launched production of products under its own brand.
The history of air conditioners based on the principle of operation, which is widely used now, is associated with the name of the American engineer Willis Carrier. It is his name that popular modern air conditioners of the Carrier brand are called.
Text: Natalia KONOPLEVA.
An air conditioner is just a “refrigerator in reverse”
It all started with the fact that the owner of the Brooklyn printing house in New York complained about the high humidity and heat in the room, due to which the printing ink spreads on paper. He was concerned about how to reduce the humidity in the printing house.
The young engineer Carrier decided to use a physical pattern to solve this problem - when the air temperature drops, its humidity decreases.
Carrier was familiar with the design of industrial refrigeration machines, and in a short time he built an electrical apparatus, in the body of which the coils cooled by the refrigeration machine were placed. It was in 1902.
Carrier's first installation reduced the humidity in the print shop by 55%. "Air purifiers," as Carrier cryptically called them, were installed to dry the air in cotton, textile, and pasta factories.
Soon, a textile engineer coined the term "air conditioning" because the term "conditioning" was used in yarn and fabric processing processes. And only then they noticed that the new device not only dries the air, but also cools it. That is over a hundred years old.
In 1929, Carrier developed domestic air conditioners for cooling and dehumidifying the air in private homes. New designs of devices of reduced size and reduced power were created.
At the same time, Carrier began to install air-cleaning filters in his air conditioners. Then came the function of warming the air, and so on.
But the principle of operation, which Carrier used in his first installation in 1902, remains unchanged today. And this principle is the same as that of a household refrigerator.
However, even tech-savvy people often show incomprehension, and from that comes mistrust and many prejudices.
This is how an air conditioner works, which can be called a “refrigerator in reverse”.
When operating in cooling mode, the air from the room is sucked in by the fan through air filter into the inner compartment, while being cleaned of dust. Freon compressed by the compressor, meanwhile, enters the condenser - a long zigzag tube.
Here he partially gives up his heat to the environment (to the street). After passing through the expansion valve, the freon pressure drops sharply, it enters the evaporator, where it boils and evaporates, turning into a gas.
Evaporation requires a lot of heat energy. It is taken from the air washing the evaporator, while part of the moisture condenses on the evaporator. Purified, cooled and dried air again enters the room.
And the heat taken from the air is carried away by freon circulating through the coil (condenser) and thrown out to the outside of the building. The evaporated freon is again sucked in by the compressor, and the cycle repeats.
And more about the relationship of the refrigerator and air conditioning. There is a bearded joke about the Chukchi: “Well, why do they buy refrigerators?! And then, to warm up in them: -40 degrees outside, and +4 degrees in the refrigerator!
In fact, the refrigerator can only create a given temperature difference in the downward direction and is not able to provide a temperature higher than the outside temperature in the refrigerator compartment. It extracts excess heat from the refrigerator compartment and throws it out.
From the point of view of physics, the anecdote is wrong, but witty. But an air conditioner is a refrigerator turned inside out, a heat pump that extracts heat from the outside air and transfers it inside the house, in strict accordance with the Carnot cycle (studied at school!).
Even if it's freezing outside, there are plenty of calories in the air compared to the absolute zero of outer space. So the Chukchi can really warm themselves from the refrigerator if it is run "in reverse." Most modern air conditioners can pump energy in two directions: both cooling and heating.
Is it true that air conditioners cool the air?
This is far from the whole truth. If you look into the English-Russian dictionary, then the word "to condition" means: to bring to the desired, necessary (good) state. In a word, bring the air in the room to the standard.
After all, the air in the room is often too warm or too cold, too humid or too dry. The air can be polluted with dust, pathogenic bacteria, allergens, mold spores. All of this is very harmful to our health.
A modern air conditioner is designed to bring the air that we breathe in the premises into a “conditional state” in all these indicators.
Since 1902, when the first apparatus was created that performed only the function of dehumidifying the air, the air conditioner gradually acquired new functions. By 1958, he was already able to cool, dehumidify and purify the air with the help of filters.
In 1958, the first air conditioner was released, capable of operating both in cold and in heat. Here is the fourth function for you: heating the air if necessary. In models newest generations there is also an air ionization function, the fifth one.
And now there are more and more models that can enrich the air with oxygen. This is the sixth feature. The most advanced companies produce air conditioners with sensors for the content of carbon dioxide in the air and with the function of removing excess CO2. Here's feature number seven.
In addition, any air conditioner can work as a fan. This is another function, the eighth. In a word, a modern air conditioner replaces a whole set of climatic equipment for air processing and improving the ecology of our homes.
So the statement that air conditioners only cool the air was initially not true.
The fact that air conditioning is needed only in the hot season is also a delusion. For example, in Scandinavia, with its cool climate and short summers, almost all offices and many residential buildings are equipped with air conditioners. They serve here not so much to cool the air, but to create comfortable microclimatic conditions in the room all year round.
Today it is not enough that air conditioners simply cool or warm the air. They must provide: optimum temperature; comfortable humidity; purity and mobility of air; silent operation; high degree of reliability; simplicity Maintenance; carry out a number of special programs. And at the same time, air conditioners should ideally fit into the interior of the room.
Who Invented Air Conditioning?
The fact that it is possible and necessary to fight the exhausting heat, our distant ancestors guessed thousands of years ago. Probably, the first refrigeration man can be considered a Neanderthal, who discovered that a pleasant cool reigns in the cave even on the hottest days. In order to somehow escape from the heat, the rulers of antiquity surrounded their palaces with shady gardens and ponds, filled cellars with ice, and servants armed with fans created a refreshing movement of air. And until the middle of the 18th century, nothing better than the “Arap” boy was invented.Installation and installation of air conditioners. Fast, high quality, best prices, large selection. Japanese quality.
However, the technological revolution that began in the century before last very quickly turned people's ideas about the climate. Interestingly, for the first time the word air conditioning was spoken aloud back in 1815. It was then that the Frenchman Jeanne Chabannes received a British patent for a method of "air conditioning and temperature control in dwellings and other buildings." But the practical implementation of the idea had to wait a long time. It wasn't until 1902 that the American engineer-inventor Willis Carrier assembled an industrial refrigeration machine for the Brooklyn printing house in New York. The most curious thing is that the first air conditioner was not intended to create a pleasant coolness for workers, but to deal with humidity, which greatly degraded print quality ...True, a year later, the aristocracy of Europe, coming to Cologne, considered it their duty to visit the local theater. Moreover, the lively interest of the public was caused not only (and not so much) by the performance of the troupe, but by the pleasant chill that reigned in the auditorium even in the hottest months. And when in 1924 it was installed in one of the department stores in Detroit, the influx of onlookers was simply breathtaking. It was just right to introduce an entrance fee, however, the enterprising owner did not remain at a loss. These first units became the ancestors of modern central air conditioning systems.
The "fossil" ancestor of all modern split systems and windows can be considered the first room air conditioner, released by the company back in 1929. Since this device was used as a refrigerant, the vapors of which are unsafe for human health, the compressor and air conditioner condenser were taken outside. That is, at its core, this device was a real split system! However, since 1931, when it was synthesized safe for the human body, the designers considered it good to assemble all the components and assemblies of the air conditioner in one case. This is how the first window air conditioners appeared, the distant descendants of which are successfully operating today. Moreover, in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and most African countries, window units are still the most popular type of air conditioner. The reasons for their success are obvious: they are about half the price of split systems of similar power, and their installation does not require special skills and expensive tools. The latter is especially important far from the centers of civilization, where it is easier to catch Bigfoot than to find a citizen familiar with the installation of refrigeration equipment.
For a long time, the leadership in the field of the latest developments in ventilation and air conditioning belonged to American companies However, in the late 50s and early 60s, the initiative firmly passed to the Japanese. In the future, it was they who determined the face of the modern climate industry.
So in 1958 Japanese company offered the first heat pump, thereby teaching air conditioners to work on heat.
And three years later, an event occurred that largely predetermined the further development of domestic and semi-industrial air conditioning systems. This is the beginning of the mass production of split systems. Since 1961, when the Japanese company Toshiba first launched mass production air conditioner divided into two units, the popularity of this type of climate equipment has been constantly growing. Due to the fact that the noisiest part of the air conditioner - the compressor - is now placed outside, rooms equipped with split systems are much quieter than rooms where windows work. The sound intensity has been reduced by an order of magnitude! The second huge plus is the ability to place the indoor unit of the split system in any convenient place.
Today there are many various types internal devices: wall-mounted, sub-ceiling, floor-mounted and built-in in a false ceiling - cassette and channel. This is important not only in terms of design - various types of indoor units allow you to create the most optimal air distribution in rooms of a certain shape and purpose. And in 1968, an air conditioner appeared on the market, in which several internal ones worked simultaneously with one external unit. This is how multi-split systems appeared. Today they can include from two to six indoor units of various types.
A significant innovation was the appearance of an inverter-type air conditioner. In 1981, Toshiba offered the first split system capable of smoothly regulating its power, and already in 1998, inverters occupied 95% Japanese market. And finally, the last of the most popular types of air conditioners in the world - VRF systems - were offered in 1982 by Daikin.
Even ancient people noticed that it is cooler in the shade, and coolness reigns in the cave even on hot days. This is where air conditioning came into play. So people began to resort to such moves as filling cellars with ice, the servants of the kings were armed with fans. And so it all lasted until the middle of the XVIII century, until the technical revolution began.
AT 1815 Frenchman Jeanne Chabannes received a British patent for a method of "air conditioning and temperature control in dwellings and other buildings". But technically, he failed to realize anything then.
After in 1902 American engineer Willis Carrier created an industrial refrigeration machine for the Brooklyn printing house in New York. It was intended to combat moisture, which degraded print quality.
Further, the air conditioning system began to gain momentum in everyday life. So in 1924 an air conditioning system was installed in one of Detroit's department stores. People began to flock there. All these devices are the ancestors of modern air conditioning systems.
The first room air conditioner, the ancestor of modern split systems, was released by General Electric in 1929. As a refrigerant, ammonia vapor was used, which is unsafe for health. That is why the compressor and condenser were taken outside.
With 1931 freon was synthesized safe for the human body. The designers decided to assemble all the components and assemblies of the air conditioner in one building. This is how the first window air conditioners appeared.
For a long time, the Americans were the leaders in the climate technology market, but in the late 50s, the Japanese became the leaders, whose leadership continues to this day.
AT 1958 Japanese company Daikin offered the first heat pump. So the air conditioners began to work on heat.
with 1961 when the Japanese company Toshiba launched an air conditioner divided into two units. The most noisy part of the air conditioner (compressor) is placed outside. These are the first split systems. The noise of air conditioners has been reduced by an order of magnitude - the noisy part is now on the street. And the indoor unit is possible in any convenient place.
AT 1966 Hitachi was the first in the world to offer a dehumidifying window air conditioner.
AT 1968 an air conditioner appeared on the market, in which several indoor units worked simultaneously with one external unit. This is how multi-split systems appeared.
AT 1977 Toshiba is the first in the world to release a microprocessor-controlled air conditioner.
AT 1982 Daikin offered VRF systems, and in 2002 Haier is the first company in the world to offer a home air conditioner that can increase the oxygen concentration in a room.
The widespread use of air conditioning systems (allowing not only to cool it, but also to clean it from moisture and odors) began in the 30s of the XX century. At first, air conditioners were installed en masse in business and administrative buildings in the United States, in particular in the famous New York skyscrapers.
In the mid-30s, "kondei" migrated to transport. And by no means private. In those years, road trains were a very popular type of passenger intercity communication in the Middle East: trucks with semi-trailers equipped for a passenger compartment. On such road trains, which ran along the route Baghdad - Damascus, the first automobile air conditioners appeared. It is quite logical: in a desert area, the air cooling system in the cabin is almost an essential thing!
Failure in the thirties and forties
The first serial a car with air conditioning was introduced to the general public in 1939 at the Chicago Auto Show. They became the Packard 12 Sedan. This model, however, did not cause a furore and did not provoke the mass distribution of air conditioners on cars. For three reasons.
Firstly, the "condo" on that Packard was offered exclusively as an option. And not just expensive, but very expensive: its price was $274. At that time, it was a third of the price of a new middle-class passenger car in the USA!
Secondly, as they say, there was no smell of any automation in the management of the first car air conditioner. In order to cool the interior a little in hot weather, the driver had to stop, turn off the engine, and then open the hood and manually set drive belt air conditioning systems.
Thirdly, this system itself was very cumbersome. The units necessary for its operation were not only under the hood and in the cabin, but also "ate" almost half of the useful volume of the trunk.
In general, this option did not become any popular, and literally two years after the premiere of Packard with air conditioning, they stopped offering it. The idea, however, was picked up by Packard's rivals Cadillac and Chrysler, and in 1941-1942, air conditioning was listed additional equipment on top models of both brands.
During the Second World War, the process of improving car air conditioners stopped (manufacturers, for obvious reasons, had no time for that).
The rebirth of the air conditioner
It was not until the mid-1950s that a breakthrough occurred in this area. The first systems similar to modern ones appeared: they combined an air conditioner and a heater, much more compact; units were located only under the hood. And the price of such an option became more and more reasonable.
Accordingly, the popularity of "condos" in the economically developed United States began to grow at an impressive pace. By the end of the 80s in the United States, almost 90% of cars were equipped with air conditioning. But in Europe, which suffered greatly during the Second World War, they, on the contrary, were not very popular until the end of the 70s.
When did we get air conditioning?
In the USSR, air conditioning systems were the lot of exclusively government cars. The "pioneer" was the ZIL-111A, launched into mass production in 1959. The car was equipped with a Soviet-designed air conditioner. But the "Seagull" of the second generation (GAZ-14), released in 1977, has already received a foreign air conditioning system.
Air conditioning became available to the mass buyer of domestic cars after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the 2000s, "kondei" appeared in price lists for various modifications of the "Volga" 3110, and the first model of the Lada brand with a factory-installed air conditioner was the Priora, which appeared in 2007.
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How is it arranged?
circuit diagram work car air conditioner has not changed since about the 50s (when compact engine compartments appeared). There were only all sorts of additional filters, automated control systems, the efficiency and durability of "kondeevs" improved.
One of the main components of the system is the compressor, which, in fact, “drives” the refrigerant through it. As a rule, freon acts as the latter. The compressor works from the engine: through a belt drive. That is why the air conditioner takes power from the engine, and also increases fuel consumption.
The compressor compresses the freon, causing it to heat up, and sends it to the condenser. There, the freon is cooled by the fan, passes through the condenser tubes, passes into a liquid state, and the heat given off by it is removed to the atmosphere.
After that, the refrigerant passes through the purification system and is fed into the evaporator, where it begins to boil, goes into a gaseous state and is then strongly cooled. It is this cold from the evaporator that is supplied to the cabin with the help of a fan, and the cooled freon enters the compressor again, and the described cycle is repeated.
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Photo: classicandperformancecar.com
What is the difference between air conditioning and climate control?
Air conditioning differs from climate control in that the latter is controlled mechanically and "knows" only air cooling. While the "climate" is controlled automatically (electronics) and not only cools, but also warms up the air, and also mixes its warm and cold flows in certain proportions.
That is why, in the presence of climate control, the driver only needs to set the desired temperature in the cabin. The owner of a car with a simple air conditioner needs to constantly turn it on and off manually.
Where is it and where is it not?
Nowadays, "kondei" are installed even on "budget" sedans and hatchbacks, including domestic ones. However, the air conditioner goes into the category of mandatory basic equipment only on models of class D and above. In cars of a class and two below, you either need to pay extra for a "condo" or buy a car in a more expensive configuration, in which it is already included.
Among the golf-class models popular with us, the air conditioner in the "base" does not have, in particular, Ford Focus, chevrolet cruze, Skoda Octavia; from class B models – Renault Logan, Volkswagen Polo Sedan, Hyundai Solaris.