What Is Ambient Heat? Importance & Role in Heat Exchangers
Ambient heat is a critical determinant of our comfort and the destiny of our planet. It assumes even greater significance in the urgent global challenge known as Global Warming. While the sun's radiant power stands as a primary source of ambient heat, it is imperative to acknowledge the role played by human activities.
We will particularly focus on the use and misuse of electrical appliances in contributing to this phenomenon. Appliances generate heat while operating, and industrial processes produce waste heat as a byproduct. The study of ambient heat requires a multi-disciplinary approach to engineering appliances, with the aid of recent developments in AI.
This article will delve into concepts related to ambient heating and air conditioner technology and introduce artificial intelligence simulation to improve sustainability with heating and air conditioning equipment optimized by engineers with the aid of AI.
What Is Ambient Temperature?
Ambient temperature refers to the thermal condition of the surrounding (ambient) environment. It can determine the comfort level, thermal properties, and behavior during the heating of various materials.
Thermal Effect on Humans
Elevated heat levels can cause us discomfort, perspiration, and a feeling of excessive warmth due to the heightened heat transfer between the body and the environment.
Thermal Effects on Machinery
Similarly, thermal factors play a pivotal role in industrial processes. Electronic devices and equipment generate thermal energy during operation, and their performance can be affected by excessive heat, resulting in a less efficient performance. Conversely, low temperatures can negatively impact the viscosity of lubricants or induce brittleness.
Thermal Effects on Materials
In addition, temperature significantly impacts the properties of different materials. When exposed to heat, metals expand and contract when cooled, affecting structures' stability and size. Polymers can also change their physical attributes, such as stiffness and flexibility, depending on their temperatures and the surrounding thermal conditions.
Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality services maintain a healthy and pleasant indoor environment for civil or automotive applications. These indoor air quality services encompass all air conditioning services, quality assessments and ventilation system maintenance.
Quality heating and air conditioning ensure that heating is properly maintained and calibrated for consistent warmth during colder seasons. Similarly, regular maintenance and effective cooling services ensure air conditioning systems deliver cool air during hot weather. This requires routine maintenance, such as cleaning or replacing filters, to ensure efficient and comfortable cooling. By incorporating indoor air quality, heating, and cooling services, engineers can maintain spaces that prioritize the well-being of individuals.
The Importance of Ambient Heating
Ambient heating is important for several reasons:
Comfort
Adequate ambient heating and air conditioning ensure that indoor spaces are warm enough during hot and cold weather, providing a pleasant environment for living or working.
Energy Performance
Ambient heating equipment saves energy when designed efficiently. Utilizing insulation, heat recovery, and intelligent control systems can optimize the heating process.
How Ambient Heating and Cooling Works
Heating and cooling systems operate based on the principles of heat transfer.
These types of equipment aim to maintain a desired thermal level.
Here's a brief overview of ambient heat, heating, and cooling work.
Heating
In ambient heating, common methods include using electric heaters, natural gas or oil-fired furnaces, heat pumps, or solar heating. The heat generated by the heat source is transferred to the air or water in the surrounding space through conduction, convection, or radiation.
Cooling
Cooling involves removing heat from the surrounding environment. An air conditioner, refrigeration equipment, or heat pumps are commonly used to cool down. They utilize a refrigerant that absorbs heat from the indoor air and releases it to the environment, heating or cooling the indoor space.
How HVAC Systems Work - Cooling Spaces
Let's focus specifically on how an air conditioner manages the heating and cooling of spaces. Air conditioning to cool air involves the following steps:
Air Conditioner: Refrigeration Cycle
The HVAC system uses a refrigerant, typically a chemical compound with a low boiling point, to absorb heat from the indoor air. The refrigerant circulates through a closed-loop system consisting of the compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator.
Air Conditioner: Evaporator Coil (First Passage)
The refrigerant enters the evaporator coil located in the indoor unit. As the warm air from the space passes over the heater coil, the refrigerant evaporates, absorbing heat energy from the air.
Air Conditioner Compressor
The refrigerant vapor is then compressed, raising its temperature and pressure.
Air Conditioner Condenser Coil
The hot refrigerant vapor flows into the condenser coil, and the refrigerant condenses, releasing the heat it absorbed earlier.
Air Conditioner Expansion Valve
The high-pressure liquid refrigerant passes through the expansion valve, undergoing a pressure drop, causing it to become a low-pressure and low-temperature mixture.
Air Conditioner Evaporator Coil (2nd Passage)
The refrigerant returns to the evaporator coil, repeating the cycle by absorbing more heat from the indoor air.
This continuous process of heat absorption and release helps to cool the indoor air in space.
HVAC Service and Air Conditioner Repair
Heating and air conditioning services are professional services provided to engineers for the effective maintenance, repair, and installation of air conditioners.
A combination of technical expertise, troubleshooting skills, and up-to-date knowledge is essential for technical engineers involved in air conditioner maintenance services and repair.
Regular air conditioners and heat pump maintenance are essential for optimal performance and energy optimization. It involves cleaning or replacing air filters, inspecting and cleaning condenser coils, etc.
Heat and Air Conditioning Design: Advantage of the AI Solution
CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamis) 3D simulation software is applied in the automotive, aerospace and civil engineering sectors to improve the design of HVAC systems.
Optimal design shapes fit the vehicle's geometrical constraints and guarantee energetic efficiency, reduce ambient noise, and maximize flow ventilation performance at the outlets (see figure illustrating the typical engineering simulation software results).
CFD requires, however, heavy IT infrastructure investments. By exploiting past design changes' layered history and corresponding CFD results, AI can learn from data with deep learning technology.
AI systems can provide, in real-time, outputs of complex fluid mechanics simulations to investigate and address energy loss and flow inefficiencies across the system in terms of flow distribution and pressure drop for a solution for a given design input, such as in the figure.
Conclusions
Ambient heat plays a crucial role in our comfort. Engineers can optimize the energy and performance efficiency of heating and air conditioning systems by employing a multidisciplinary approach and leveraging the advancements in artificial intelligence to produce more sustainable equipment for home, industry or car installation.
Integrating AI technology will facilitate communication between engineers at different levels of competence to enhance an HVAC system's design, maintenance, and repair, leading to improved energy optimization and the well-being of individuals and organizations.
Suggested Readings
An Introduction to Environmental Biophysics, Gaylon S. Campbell and John M. Norman; Springer (1997); ISBN 978-0-387-94937-6
Portal of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Deep Learning, Ian Goodfellow and Yoshua Bengio and Aaron Courville; MIT Press (2016),
