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Cooling Down by Evaporating
by Thomas Yoon Evaporator coils of air conditioning systems are sometimes called cooling coils. But cooling coils are also used in air-handling units. These contain chilled water. These are completely different from those used in direct expansion air cond units.So cooling coils is not an accurate word to use in small air cond units. Evaporator coils should be used instead. Evaporator tubes must contain refrigerant liquid that can evaporate to become gas. In an air conditioning system, when...
Splitting the Heat and the Noise
by Thomas Yoon The most common air conditioning units we see nowadays is the air-cooled split unit. It used to be the window unit many years ago. I guess it must be quietness of the split units that won the hearts of the users.In any air conditioning unit, there must be a process for absorbing heat from the indoors and discharging it to the outdoors. For air-cooled units, the heat is discharged directly to the atmosphere.What's the difference then between window units and split units?In the...
Condensers The Liquid Producers
by Thomas Yoon Some people call them capacitors. Others call them condensers. These components store electrical charges. Mechanical systems also have condensers. Condensers are found underneath steam turbines. Air-conditioning systems have condensers too.How this name came about is a mystery to me. Perhaps it is because the condenser is the place for converting vapor or gas into liquid - at least for mechanical systems.So it is a kind of heat exchanger. What is the cooling medium?For...
What to Look for Inside your Steam Boiler
? by Thomas Yoon A steam boiler is a pressure vessel with a difference. The vessel is subjected to heat stress of expansion and contraction, internal and external corrosion, as well as intense heating on some of its surfaces.If we are not careful, the steam pressure can rise up very high, and it can become a potential bomb!Because of this, steam boilers have to be built to certain regulatory codes, with regards to materials used in their construction, their design, and their installation.For...
Vacation Break for Electrical Machines
by Thomas YoonAre you overloaded? Have you become a part of the highly stressed modern working environment? You may need a break - a vacation, a change in environment, a change of pace...Similarly, machines can be overloaded too. Those that were designed for a particular system are often pushed to their limits when new requirements emerge.Just like the final straw that breaks the camel's back, electrical machines too, can reach their breaking point. If there is no vacation for them, they...
Burning Smells Indication of Trouble
by Thomas Yoon What's that Burning Smell?If you are running machinery, you will be asked this sooner or later. Machines produce heat. And heat produces burning smells. It's as simple as that! I am sure many of us can sense that something is not right when we smell burning. After all burning means overheating. Machines are not meant to overheat. But sometimes they do.Questions
questions
How to tackle this?Is it from the electrical source, or the mechanical source? Is there an overload in the...
Cooling Towers the Industrial Workhorses
by Thomas Yoon Industrial Processes usually produces a lot of heat. Air-conditioning also removes heat from the indoor areas through heat exchangers.Where does all the heat go?All these heat has to be removed. If you are not near the sea, you have to use cooling towers to cool down your warm water.Cooling towers make use of air currents to cool warm water. However, a basic rule has to be made when you want to extract heat from any object, including water. Heat has to be taken from a higher...
Steaming Manhole
by Thomas Yoon Boiler inspections are necessary in order to find out theeffectiveness of the boiler water chemical treatment. Itis also useful to detect any faults or potential weaknessin the steel structures, plates and shells so that accidentscan be avoided.However, even entering the boiler for inspection can be asafety hazard if you are not careful!Firstly, the heat, and the remaining steam. It is betterto cool the boiler sufficiently before entry. However,sometimes, inspections have to...
Simple But Powerful Centrifugal Chillers
by Thomas Yoon Centrifugal chillers are used for cooling large buildings in a centralized air conditioning system. There are other types of chillers using screw compressors and reciprocating compressors. These are usually smaller in size. Today's topic is about centrifugal chillers - the ultimate choice for any air conditioning installations higher than 500 RT (refrigeration tons)Basically, centrifugal chillers use centrifugal fans to move the refrigerant within the chiller circuit. As with...
Blow Away Your Soot
by Thomas Yoon A boiler that has been running for a long time is sure to have soot deposits on its tubes and furnace.This is especially prominent in boilers using heavy fuel oil for burning. Although the fuel will be heated and filtered before combustion, it still contains a lot of impurities. The by-products of combustion as well as imperfect combustion cause the soot to form. The soot is deposited on the heating surfaces.During the combustion of the fuel oil in a steam boiler, hot gases...
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