Performance testing of an enhanced air flow device via bubbles

• Main Author: Sia, Jing Ming.
• Other Authors: Chan Weng Kong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16876
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project aims to test the performance of an enhanced air flow device via bubbles whether it is effective in reducing the temperature of the hot exhaust air from an air-conditioner which subsequently be used to cool the air-conditioner’s refrigerant whilst maintaining the desired temperature of the area to be cooled by the air-conditioner. The enhanced air flow device works by force feeding the hot exhaust air through an air flow straightener into a water medium. Due to the great pressure from the fan, the exhaust air has nowhere to escape except going through the water; it is then that the formations of bubbles take place. Heat from the exhaust air in the form of bubbles would be transferred to the cold water during this bubbling process. The exhaust air then becomes cooled as the heat has been dissipated to the water. Subsequently this cooled exhaust air is used to cool the heated refrigerant of the air-conditioner; these process repeats thus forming a cycle. Results show that the enhanced air flow device is able to cool the hot exhaust air by 7°C to 14°C, depending on the temperature differences between the initial and desired state of the area to be cooled by the air-conditioner. Furthermore, with the enhanced air flow device in place, the operating cost of it running for 2 hours cost as low as $0.35. The enhanced air flow device via bubbles is an effective means of cooling the hot exhaust air which subsequently be used to cool the air-conditioner’s refrigerant; thereby eliminating the need for ducts used in portable air-conditioners.