Mechanical Cooling

# 32 Gas Laws

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Before we can examine the inner workings of cooling systems, it will help to have a basic understanding of how fluids and gasses behave under different conditions. Specifically we are concerned with how changes in , or will affect our cooling systems.

Pressure is defined as a force acting upon an area. Expressed mathematically

$\text{Pressure}=\dfrac{\text{Force}}{\text{Area}}$

Pressure is directly proportional to the , in (N) newton’s and inversely proportional to the , in (m2) square meters, upon which it acts. By changing either the force or the area, we can vary the pressure of a system.

Temperature is the contained by a material as its atoms collide with each other. It is a representation of kinetic energy. The hotter an object is, the more kinetic energy it atoms have, and the more collisions will occur.

It takes energy to heat something, and a hot object will slowly cool by dissipating its kinetic energy to the outside environment.

Temperature is measured in either degrees Celsius (C°) or degrees kelvin (K°) . Kelvin is the base unit of temperature in the SI system.

Volume represent the given space that something occupies. When describing gasses or liquids we often describe the volume that they take up. measured in cubic centimetres (cm3) or more commonly, (L) liters.

When compared, we find that the temperature of a system is directly proportional to its pressure and inversely proportional to the volume that it occupies.

Expressed mathematically:

$\text{Temperature}=\dfrac{\text{Pressure}}{\text{Volume}}$

This equation is a simplification of more complex gas laws, but will serve to illustrate the relationships that we wish to focus on.

In our DX cooling systems we will control the volume and pressure of a medium, the , to transfer heat from one place to another.