Home Air Conditioning

Home air conditioning - Experiments on heat exchange

Buying an air conditioner or air conditioner has its acquisition and installation cost a bit high, but ... and if we do it?

In this experiment you will learn how to make a simple but effective home air conditioner. As a result, you will have a flow of fresh air that not only cost you almost nothing, but also is totally portable and you can place it and direct it to where you want.

Materials:

• Small electric fan.
• 3 meters of copper pipe.
• Small waste basket (with lid).
• Submergible water pump.
• Seals.

Submersible pumps are available in veterinarians, among other places, as they are used for large aquariums (also called aquariums), or even for small water sources (do not confuse it with the aerator, which pumps air into the tank).

Process:
What you have to do first is measure the depth of your trash basket, and mark it on the copper spout. By matching that mark with the base of the fan, you begin to wind the pipe, as shown in the video, and you tie it with the seal.

When you finish screwing a good amount of pipe, it's time to make the descent into the basket. You have to make two holes in the lid, so that the pipes can pass and the fan is supported on it.

Finally, you stick the submersible water pump on one end of the pipe and make a small cut so that you can pass the cable through the top of the basket.

Ready!!! You already have your home air conditioner. Now you put some cold water and better still a few ice cubes, turn on your fan, the water pump and enjoy the fresh air.

¿How does it work?
It seems a bit unnecessary to explain how it works, but let's try to make it interesting.

Obviously, the pump circulates the cold water (at a lower temperature than the ambient air) through the pipe. Not coincidentally, the pipe material is made of copper. This is an excellent conductor of heat (in addition to electricity).
It would seem that water "gives cold" to the air, but it is not like that. What really happens is that water absorbs heat from the air, a process in which two different mechanisms of heat transfer are involved. On the one hand we have the convection, which is first between the air and the outer surface of the copper pipe, and then between the inner surface of the pipe and the water. This mechanism is typical when fluids intervene. On the other hand, there is the conduction, which is the mode in which the heat is transmitted through the tube walls (typical in solids).

The laws of thermodynamics tell us that heat can only flow from a source of higher temperature, to another of lower temperature. So that as long as the water temperature is lower than that of the ambient air, it can absorb heat from it. But when the temperature of the fluid equals the latter, our air conditioner will only function as an ordinary fan.

Important!
If the climate where you live is humid, it is likely that small droplets of water will condense on the pipes. If so, these could fall on the fan motor, which is not advisable at all. What you should do in that case, is just roll copper pipe in the front of it, so that the drops of condensed water can not reach the engine or the ignition switch.