Design of the Outdoor Environmental Chamber of a Room Air Conditioner Test Facility

Abstract

This document describes the design of the outdoor environmental chamber of a test facility for the collection of room air conditioner performance data over a wide range of psychrometric conditions. A key component of this design work is the design of a power measurement system to accurately determine the capacity and power consumption of room air conditioners. The conceptual design of this system is presented, along with the description of a system that has been implemented temporarily for the determination of room air conditioner power. The other key component of this design work is the design of systems which produce and maintain the wide range of temperature and humidity conditions required in the outdoor environmental chamber. Current information indicates that the selected control scheme produces excellent temperature control of the outdoor chamber but does not provide an acceptable level of independent humidity control.