EFFECT OF REDUCED EVAPORATOR AIR-FLOW ON THE HIGH-TEMPERATURE PERFORMANCE OF AIR-CONDITIONERS

Two residential sized air conditioners were tested in psychrometric ro oms at reduced evaporator airflows ranging from Oto 50% below that rec ommended by the manufacture of each of the units. Outdoor temperatures ranged from 35 to 49 degrees C, One of the units used a thermal expan sion valve for flow control while the other unit used a short tube ori fice. Performance of the units was quantified by the capacity, power, coefficient of performance, and sensible heat ratio. Results at 35 deg rees C indicated that the reduction in air produced a larger drop in c apacity and coefficient of performance for the orifice controlled unit than the thermal expansion valve controlled unit. The power showed le ss than a 4% reduction for either unit as the airflow was reduced by 5 0%.