Study on Flow Structure inside Room Air Conditioner Using Visualization Technique

가시화기법을 이용한 룸 에어컨 내부의 유동 구조에 관한 연구

Whole flow fields of a room air conditioner (RAC) have been visualized by a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique to analyze the flow structure with various inlet and outlet angles, and to control an eccentric vortex which affects an efficiency and noise of the RAC. A test model with 5 stages of a cross flow fan has been manufactured and a transparent acryl has been installed at the side of the test model for the PIV experiment. The inlet and outlet flows and the flow inside the cross flow fan have been analyzed by varying the inlet grill angles and outlet blade angles. The movement of the eccentric vortex has been investigated experimentally by developing the measurement technique for the inner flow field of the cross flow fan. From the visualization of the inner flows, the origins of the noise inside the RAC and the condensation points around the outlet parts of the cold air have been observed and the solution of the problems can be proposed in this study.