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Air Conditioning
More About Components
Condenser:from a vapor back to a liquid
The condenser's primary job is to recondition the refrigerant from a vapor back to a liquid so it can be recirculated through the AC system. Located in front of the radiator, the condenser takes advantage of the forced air provided by the fan and the natural air flow when the vehicle is moving. Like the evaporator, the condenser is comprised of an inner tubing and surrounded by thin metal fins. The fins provide a large surface area for the cooling process to take place. As air circulates over the condenser, heat is dissipated from the condenser fins into the atmosphere. This process lowers the temperature of the refrigerant below its boiling point and transform the vapor back into a liquid.
Receiver-Drier
The receiver-drier has 3 primary functions:
1. Filter debris and contaminants from the refrigerant
2. Remove moisture and acid
3. Hold excess refrigerant
Expansion Valve
From the receiver-dryer, refrigerant returns to the evaporator unit via the expansion valve. The expansion valve acts as a transition point from the high pressure side of the AC system.
High pressure stream looses pressure when sprayed
expansion valve sprays liquid refrigerant into the evaporator. By spraying the liquid, it looses heat, expands and transitions from a liquid back to a gas. The liquid refrigerant expands from a liquid into a gas and cools. The pressure drop across the expansion valve actually causes the refrigerant to boil (when a liquid boils, it changes phase from a liquid into a gas and releases heat). |
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1. Air Conditioning
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