The ASHRAE Handbook is published in a series of four volumes, one of which is revised each year, ensuring that no volume is older than four years.
The Handbook can be purchased at the ASHRAE Bookstore by clicking on this link.
This TC is responsible for the following chapters in the HVAC Systems & Equipment Volume
Condensers
The condenser in a refrigeration system is a heat exchanger that rejects all the heat from the system. This heat consists of heat absorbed by the evaporator plus the heat from the energy input to the compressor. The compressor discharges hot, high-pressure refrigerant gas into the condenser, which rejects heat from the gas to some cooler medium. Thus, the cool refrigerant condenses back to the liquid state and drains from the condenser to continue in the refrigeration cycle. Condensers may be classified by their cooling medium as (l) water-cooled, (2) air-cooled, (3) evaporative (air- and water-cooled), and (4) refrigerant-cooled (cascade systems). The first three types are discussed in this chapter; see Chapter 48 in the 2010 ASHRAE Handbook—Refrigeration for a discussion of cascade-cooled condensers.
Cooling Towers
Most air-conditioning systems and industrial processes generate heat that must be removed and dissipated. Water is commonly used as a heat transfer medium to remove heat from refrigerant condensers or industrial process heat exchangers. In the past, this was accomplished by drawing a continuous stream of water from a utility water supply or a natural body of water, heating it as it passed through the process, and then discharging the water directly to a sewer or returning it to the body of water. Water purchased from utilities for this purpose has become prohibitively ex-pensive because of increased water supply and disposal costs. Similarly, cooling water drawn from natural sources is relatively unavailable because the ecological disturbance caused by the in-creased temperature of discharge water has become unacceptable. Air-cooled heat exchangers cool water by rejecting heat directly to the atmosphere, but the first cost and fan energy consumption of these devices are high and the plan area required is relatively large. They can economically cool water to within approximately 20°F (11 K) of the ambient dry-bulb temperature: too high for the cooling water requirements of most refrigeration systems and many industrial processes. Cooling towers overcome most of these problems and therefore are commonly used to dissipate heat from refrigeration, air-conditioning, and industrial process systems. The water consumption rate of a cooling tower system is only about 5% of that of a once-through system, making it the least expensive system to operate with purchased water supplies. Additionally, the amount of heated water discharged (blowdown) is very small, so the eco-logical effect is greatly reduced. Lastly, cooling towers can cool water to within 4 to 5°F (2 to 3 K) of the ambient wet-bulb temperature, which is always lower than the ambient dry-bulb, or approximately 35°F (19 K) lower than can air-cooled systems of reasonable size(in the 250 to 500 ton [880 to 1760 kW] range). This lower temperature improves the efficiency of the overall system, thereby reducing energy use significantly and increasing process output.
Comment on the Handbook: ASHRAE welcomes your comments on the Handbook or a specific Handbook chapter. To submit a comment about any aspect or part of the Handbook series, you can use the Handbook Comment Form.
Review a Handbook Chapter: To provide your feedback about a specific Handbook chapter, you can answer the brief survey questions on the Handbook Chapter Review Form.
