Development of a method for calculating steady-state equipment sensible heat ratio of direct expansion air conditioning units

A complete set of calculation method for steady-state equipment sensible heat ratio (SHR) for a direct expansion (DX) cooling coil has been developed and reported. The method was based on the fundamentals of energy conservation and heat and mass transfer taking place in the DX cooling coil, and was experimentally validated using an experimental DX A/C rig. With the method developed, the effect of refrigerant evaporating temperature at fixed inlet air conditions on equipment SHR has been theoretically analyzed. The validated method can be useful in further studying the inherent operating characteristics of a DX air conditioning (A/C) unit and in developing suitable control strategies for achieving higher energy efficiency and better indoor thermal environment.