Resfriamento evaporativo e condicionamento de ar convencional: estudo experimental comparativo / Evaporative cooling and conventional air conditioning: a comparative experimental study

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2006

RESUMO

This experimental research aims to compare the evaporative cooling with the conventional air conditioning in terms of levels of humidity, reduction in indoor air temperature, and energy consume. The experiment was conducted in three purpose-built test cells, similar in structure, which were exposed to the same climatic conditions and showed the same indoor air volume rates. Each equipment was installed in one of the test cells, and the remaining cell had no cooling appliances, thus being used as reference standard. The evaporative cooling technique consists of an electrical-mechanical system of forced ventilation which introduces outdoor air into the indoor environment, across a humidifier pad made of cellulose. The forced ventilation spread small drops of water into the indoor environment and the water’s contact with the dry-warm air accelerates the evaporation process. Thus, the air loses sensible heat and the water evaporates. As a result, the air temperature decreases, and the relative humidity increases inside the environment. The conventional air conditioning system, comprises of an evaporator, a compressor and a condenser, cools the air by compressing and expanding Freon gas. The data from each cell was automatically collected by using a Datalogger CR10X. Both dry and wet bulb temperature was measured by using thermocouples type T (Copper-Constantan). The evaporative cooling technique was shown to provide higher levels of human comfort during warm-dry climate, thereby demonstrating that it can be effective in humidifying and constantly replenishing indoor air. This work therefore suggests that the evaporative cooling can be an alternative for improving the conditions of purpose-built environments with lower levels of energy consume when compared with the conventional air-conditioning systems.

ASSUNTO(S)

evaporative cooling eficiência energética de edifícios energetic efficiency in buildings conforto ambiental environmental comfort resfriamento evaporativo

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