Air conditioning vs evaporation

When the outside air temperature reaches 30 - 35°C, the air temperature in a poorly insulated building can rise up to 50 ° C. At this temperature, working conditions become uncomfortable for employees and their productivity drops dramatically. The solution is evaporation, in another words, adiabatic cooling, which is an increasingly popular way to make working conditions in production more bearable even at maximum outdoor temperatures. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages. Look at these numbers and make the right decision; this is a comparison of an evaporative unit and an air conditioner with similar performance.

Atmospheric conditions	temperatura (T) 30°C, humidity (rH) 60 %		temperatura (T) 30°C, humidity (rH) 40 %
Type of cooling	evaporation unit	air conditioning	evaporation unit	air conditioning
Electricity consumption, kWh	1,1	7,8	1,1	12,5
Water consumption, l	36,44		49,9
Total costs - electricity + water per hour, €	0,42	2,63	0,44	4,21
Total costs - electricity + water per week, €	71,10	441,18	74,39	707,03

Comparison of evaporation and air conditioning

But clients need to know if consumption will subsequently ruin their wallet. We made accurate measurements. The temperature of the blown air was measured about 60 cm from the blowing grilles. The measurement started at 09:00 in the morning at an outdoor temperature of 27 ° C and ended at 16:15 at an outdoor temperature of 33 ° C. In 7.5 hours, the ADRIAN-AIR EV18 cooling unit consumed 10.5 l of water. The cooling unit blew all day at the weakest output, ie it consumes a little more water at the highest output. The maximum difference between intake and blown air was 8 ° C. When we realize that electricity consumption is 1 kWh, we must understand that it is the cheapest way to comfortably spend a hot summer at work.

Imagine a building, a production hall, with an area of 500 m², 4 m high, with a medium level of insulation. To achieve a comparable air cooling effect, you would need 8 evaporating units with a maximum air flow of 18,000 m³ / h / pc, with a total electricity consumption of 12 kWh. On the other hand, to achieve the same effect, you would need 16 air conditioning units with a cooling capacity of 12 kW / pc, with an electricity consumption of 61 kWh.

Advantages of evaporative cooling units

At an intake air temperature of, for example, 35 ° C and a RH of 35% and an air flow of 10,000 m³ / h, the evaporator unit can supply a cooling capacity of 25 kW and at the outlet of the device we can reach a blown air temperature of 25 ° C. Due to the volume of blown air, the expected air exchange in the building and other factors, it can be said that one evaporation unit can, under ideal conditions, effectively reduce the air temperature by 10 ° C on an area of about 100-150 m². However, operating costs are incomparably lower than in the case of standard air conditioning.

Why evaporation and not air conditioning

the presence of a professional chiller technician is not required when installing adiabatic cooler,
no costly technology of compressors and refrigerants is needed,
adiabatic cooling requires minimal maintenance and cleaning costs,
no revisions required during evaporation,
you will not have a problem with disposal of hazardous mixtures, replacement of cartridges and repairs,
the air cooling system does not produce freons and does not burden the environment,
used water can be reused, if necessary,
Air conditioning refrigerants are dangerous and require professional care with authorization.