First Air Conditioners systems
The actual process air conditioners use to reduce the ambient air temperature in a room is based on a very simple scientific principle.
The first modern air conditioning system was developed in 1902 by a young electrical engineer named Willis Haviland Carrier. It was designed to solve a humidity problem at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, N.Y. Paper stock at the plant would sometimes absorb moisture from the warm summer air, making it difficult to apply the layered inking techniques of the time. Carrier treated the air inside the building by blowing it across chilled pipes.
Early commercial applications of air conditioning were manufactured to cool air for industrial processing rather than personal coolness. In 1902 the first modern electrical air conditioning was by Willis Carrier in Syracuse, New York. Designed to improve manufacturing process control in a printing plant, his invention controlled not only temperature but also humidity. The low heat and humidity were to help maintain consistent paper dimensions and ink alignment.
Air conditioning equipment usually reduces the humidity of the air processed by the system. The relatively cold evaporator coil condenses water vapor from the processed air, much as a cold drink will condense water on the outside of a glass. The water is drained, removing water vapor from the cooled space and thereby lowering its relative humidity.
Some air conditioning units dry the air without cooling it. These work like a normal air conditioner, except that a heat exchanger is placed between the intake and exhaust. In combination with convection fans, they achieve a similar level of coolness as an air cooler in humid tropical climates, but only consume about one-third the energy.
The air cooled as it passed across the cold pipes, and since cool air can’t carry as much moisture as warm air, the process reduced the humidity in the plant and stabilized the moisture content of the paper. Reducing the humidity also had the side benefit of lowering the air temperature — and a new technology was born.
Carrier realized he’d developed something with far-reaching potential, and it wasn’t long before air-conditioning systems started popping up in theaters and stores, making the long, hot summer months much more comfortable .
The rest is achieved with the application of a few clever mechanical techniques. Actually, an air conditioner is very similar to another appliance in your home — the refrigerator. Air conditioners don’t have the exterior housing a refrigerator relies on to insulate its cold box. Instead, the walls in your home keep cold air in and hot air out.
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