Handbook of air conditioning and refrigeration / Shan K

1.10 CHAPTER ONE
fire protection system detects alarm conditions. The central operating station gives emergency
directions to the occupants, operates the HVAC&R system in a smoke control mode, and actuates
the sprinkler water system.
Air, Water, Refrigeration, and Heating Systems
Air, water, refrigeration, heating, and control systems are the subsystems of an air conditioning or
HVAC&R system. Air systems are often called secondary systems. Heating and refrigeration systems
are sometimes called primary systems.
Central hydronic and space conditioning air conditioning systems both have air, water, refrigeration,
heating, and control systems. The water system in a space conditioning system may be a
chilled/hot water system. It also could be a centralized water system to absorb heat from the condenser
during cooling, or provide heat for the evaporator during heating.
For a unitary packaged system, it consists of mainly air, refrigeration, and control systems. The
heating system is usually one of the components in the air system. Sometimes a separate baseboard
hot water heating system is employed in the perimeter zone.
A evaporative-cooling system always has an air system, a water system, and a control system. A
separate heating system is often employed for winter heating.
In an individual room air conditioning system, air and refrigeration systems are installed in indoor
and outdoor compartments with their own control systems. The heating system is often a component
of the supply air chamber in the room air conditioner. It can be also a centralized hot water
heating system in a PTAC system.
Air conditioning or HVAC&R systems are therefore often first described and analyzed through
their subsystems and main components: such as air, water, heating, cooling/refrigeration, and control
systems. Air conditioning system classification, system operating characteristics, and system
selection must take into account the whole system.
Among the air, water, and refrigeration systems, the air system conditions the air, controls and
maintains the required indoor environment, and has direct contact with the occupants and the manufacturing
processes. These are the reasons why the operating characteristics of an air conditioning
system are esssentially represented by its air system.
1.5 DISTRIBUTION OF SYSTEMS USAGE
According to surveys conducted in 1995 by the Department of Energy/Energy Information
Administration (DOE/EIA) of the United States, for a total floor space of 58,772 million ft 2 (5462
million m 2 ) in commercial buildings in 1995 and for a total of 96.6 million homes in 1993 (among
these, 74.1 million homes were air conditioned), the floor space, in million square feet, and the
number of homes using various types of air conditioning systems are as follows:
Percent of Million Percent
Million ft2 floor space homes of homes
Individual room systems 12,494 22 33.1 45
Evaporative-cooling systems 2,451 4
Space conditioning systems (estimated)
Unitary packaged systems (including air-source heat
(8)
pump as well as desiccant-based systems)
Central hydronic systems (including thermal storage
26,628 48 41.0 55
and clean-room systems) 13,586 24
Others 949 2