Experimental study on the effect of condensate water on the performance of split air conditioning system

Abstract A method of using condensate water to reduce the airflow temperature around the air conditioner condenser and improve the performance of air conditioner is presented in this study. The structure of traditional split air conditioner is adjusted by changing the installation direction of fan and adding disk-type atomization cooling element (ACE) in the outdoor unit. The performance of the air conditioner under four modes is tested in different environment temperatures. Four modes were named, i.e. the original unit without ACE, original unit with ACE, blowing mode without condensate water and blowing mode with condensate water. The blowing mode with condensate water is used to pre-cool the incoming airflow, and the maximum temperature reduction at the air outlet surface of the condenser is up to 2.2 °C in 35 °C. With the environment temperature increasing, the refrigerating capacity of four modes decreased, and the power consumption increased, leading to the decrease of EER. However, owing to the cooling effect of condensate water, the performance of blowing mode with condensate water was greatly improved compared with the original unit without ACE. The variation rates of refrigerating capacity, power consumption and EER at environment temperature of 43 °C were 8.1%, -9.5% and 20%, respectively. The unit with condensate water could greatly improve the performance of air conditioning in high environment temperatures.