LATEST TRENDS IN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

 Air Conditioning system:

An Air conditioning system is nothing but “an assembly of various parts of the system to produce a specified condition of air within a specified enclosed space”.

We need to understand that the main concept of air conditioning has been available since ancient Egyptian times and the first modern air conditioning unit was first invented back in late 1902 by Willis Carrier in response to an air quality problem stated by a New York publishing company.

The air conditioning system not only maintains the temperature, but also the humidity of a space to be cooled, cooling the air by flowing it over cold coils, allowing them to control the moisture in the air. After that air conditioning was introduced to vehicles and also to improve home comfort. Over the years, the sales of air conditioning units increased drastically because of consumer needs.

 

The air conditioning system basically consists of various components which are as follows:

1.     Fans: Fans are generally used for moving and circulating the air.

2.     Filters: Filters are mostly used for cleaning of air, either fresh air or re-circulated air or both.

3.     Refrigerating plant: It is the part which is having a connection to the heat exchange surface, such as finned coils.

4.     Means for warming: Such as hot water or steam-heated coils or electrically heated coils or elements.

5.     Humidifiers and dehumidifiers: As its name suggested it is for humidifying and dehumidifying purposes.

6.     Control system: To regulate the amount of cooling and warming automatically.

Classifications of Air conditioning system:

Latest Trends In Air Conditioning System:

App control of ACs using a smartphone:

Nowadays along with the growth of smartphones, apps, the current generation needs an app for everything; even for controlling their Air conditioners. The Air conditioner manufacturers have tried to fulfill this demand by generating a smart dedicated app in order to control the Air Conditioning. Recently Hitachi leads the pack with Wifi connection technology which additionally comes along with WiFi Direct functionality. The user simply has to download the dedicated Hitachi app, pair it with a wifi router. Once the connection is take place, the user can control and monitor their AC from any part of the room.

Whirlpool Air Conditioners also comes with an app control feature. The best part about the Whirlpool app is that it also gives estimated energy consumption based on the customer's usage. Also, the app provides a graphical representation of the user so that users have a better idea of how many units of energy their Air Conditioners are taking. Even if the AC doesn’t come with inbuilt app-based control, if your phone has an IR blaster, almost any AC can be controlled using your smartphone without the need to download a manufacturer-dedicated app.

Sensor-Enhanced Vents:

 One of the latest air conditioners technologies that are booming in the industry is offered by the company Eco vent. It helps the user digitally control the climate in every room of the home through a dedicated app with the use of smart sensors that collect and transmit climate data in every room. This data is further transferred to companies smart hub portal which further connects with each vent and guides it to open or close in order to direct the flow of air.

This innovation solves the drastic temperature differences between rooms that result in improper heating and cooling. Installation is quick as well as, easy taking roughly 15-20 minutes to complete, and offers greater comfort with 30%-40% more savings on energy.

Ice-Powered Air Conditioning:

Recently Ice Air is a company based out of Glendale, CA who been introducing new AC technology in the market. The product that they have launched whose name is Ice Bear which is an air conditioning unit that is powered by ice; it freezes 450 gallons of water inside a tank overnight during the “Ice Charging mode”. When switched to “Ice Cooling mode” during the morning time, it provides cool air conditioning for up to 6-7 hours, after which point the AC comes back to the building’s conventional unit. When it’s used in conduction with standard units, the Ice Bear reduces total net energy consumption which provides profit to the user.

Zoned Air Conditioning System:

The recent trend of An air conditioner zoned system divides a customer’s house into a different number of areas, each of which can be separately controlled by a separate thermostat.  Different temperature settings may be necessary for different parts of a home and by utilizing zoning you can achieve the appropriate temperature for each area. This is especially important to low down the usage in empty rooms.

Zones can be used for central air conditioning systems, VRF systems, or ductless systems. Zones can easily be implemented in existing systems also by utilizing a zone control panel.

Apart from the recent innovation in HVAC technology, the latest trends in HVAC service and service delivery are also helping both the service providers and the end-users. 

Copper Condenser and Anti-Corrosive Hydrophilic Blue Fin:

In order to reduce the cost of AC’s, many AC manufacturers preferred using aluminum condensers in most of their models in the olden days. The aluminum condenser is having less cost than the copper condenser but tends to get corroded very quickly. Along with that, it is quite difficult to do maintenance of an aluminum condenser and it mostly needs a complete replacement. Lots of Air Conditioner manufacturing brands, most probably the Indian brands like Voltas, Godrej, etc. have received a lot of hype for bringing most of their models with aluminum condensers. With the increased level of users’ awareness, many users only prefer to buy Air Conditioner with a copper condenser. Hence, now brands are bringing more and more models with copper condensers seeing the rise in the popularity of the copper condenser.

New age Air Conditioner models from top brands like Voltas, Daikin, Hitachi, BlueStar come with an anti-corrosive hydrophilic bluefin on the outdoor heat exchanger. Usage of anti-corrosive hydrophilic blue fin improves the wettability of the heat exchanger and also it provides better protection from corrosion. This is the best advantage of the new-age air conditioner. This improvement ensures rapid removal of condensate from the indoor unit. Because of this, the formation of mold and bacteria can impact the performance of the Air Conditioner and the purity of the air. People living in an area with high humidity will find this innovation very useful to safeguard their air conditioner from corrosive elements and to extend the AC’s life for a long time.

Geothermal HVAC Systems – Sustainable Technology:

We all know that sustainable or green technology is the need of the present and the future. Geothermal heating and cooling systems are one of the best options to start eliminating your carbon footprint. Their major focus lies on naturally cooling a house using heat pumps, water, and an underground piping system. They exchange heat with the ground and no use of refrigerant there, which makes it highly environment friendly.

During cold weather conditions, the heat from the ground is absorbed and then transferred into a building on the other hand in summer the heat is transferred to the ground after being absorbed from the building. Geothermal systems are very expensive to implement but they deliver double to four times the efficiency of other environmentally friendly systems.

Dual Fuel Heat Pump Technology:

The recent technology of dual fuel heat pump is one of the best systems for homes in areas where the electricity rates are not very high and during winter the temperature does not go down below the freezing point. This recent air conditioning technology utilizes a combination of a gas furnace along with a heat pump to provide efficient, cost-effective air conditioning.

If the outer temperature in the atmosphere is above 35 -40 degrees, the heat pump consumes electricity to pull in heat from the outside air. This is very cheap as compared to firing up the furnace. Although, as soon as temperatures are below 35, gas is used to create heat for higher efficiency.

In cold weather conditions, such as in spring, the dual fuel heat pump comes in handy to circulate air. Even during hot weather conditions, the heat pump circulates the refrigerant through the furnace's air conditioning coil to blow cold air. This system has a high cost but this can be recovered through energy savings over the next few years.

Air Conditioning Energy Analysis Software – Make Informed Decisions

The most famous recent trend regarding air conditioning systems is Energy analysis software. It can be very useful in helping users or constructors to implement the most efficient and less costly HVAC system. With the help of this software, users can analyze and predict a building’s lifetime energy use and calculate savings in comparison to other air conditioning systems.

Furthermore, in olden day AC users had to keep a check on their energy bills, energy consumption, and other related data manually. It was quite hectic but with the advancement of air conditioning technology, analytical software helps users to stay on top of any data related to your AC system. Through various dedicated software, user can cross-check their energy consumption and track the efficiency of an AC system. This is greatly helping consumers make educated decisions related to their AC system and cut down on energy costs.

 

Presented By:

40. Varad Naik (11910061)

43. Amey Nandrekar (11911314)

49. Prathmesh Nikte (11911297)

50. Vaibhav Nipunage (12020170)

51. Ashvini Nirmal (12020014)

Guided By:

Prof. S.P. Komble 

Prof. L.D. Mangate