Performance Evaluation of an Evaporatively-Cooled Split-System Air Conditioner

Water cooled air conditioners have been around for several years and have an excellent performance rating out of the box, an EER of about 17. However, the experience has been that water-cooled condensers can become fouled in a very short time, circumventing their performance and become a maintenance. The technology involves a typical vapor compression refrigeration cycle with a water-cooled condenser instead of an air-cooled condenser. The primary objectives are to verify the energy and water performance of the units, and to evaluate/simulate performance in California climate zones.