Commercial and industrial AC systems: A comprehensive guide

Commercial and industrial air conditioners (AC) are both used in areas where a large volume of air needs to be processed, with the difference being the degree of processing that needs to happen.

Commercial AC systems are designed for large public spaces and commercial buildings like malls, airports, offices, and similar structures. The AC is required to cool or heat the air as necessary and to refresh the air by filtering out dust particles, pollutants, and even microorganisms to a limited extent.

Industrial AC systems, on the other hand, have to process the air in factories, workshops, and other industrial environments. The air in such places is more severely polluted and could even contain toxic elements like harmful gases, fine particulates that shouldn’t be breathed in, chemicals, and more. These ACs are more complex and are often tailored to specific environments or industrial applications.

These tailored solutions are essential for improving the energy efficiency of the operation. In industrial applications, tailored AC systems tend to be safer as they’re designed to process a particular type of pollutant that the industry in question generates (eg. toxic fumes in resin factories).

Components of commercial and industrial AC systems

Commercial and industrial AC systems share a lot of design similarities. Some of the common equipment includes:

Rooftop units: Also called RTUs, this is just an umbrella term for all the components of a commercial or industrial AC that are mounted on the rooftop of a commercial or industrial building. These components include the compressors, coolers, air filtration systems, evaporators, blowers, and more.

Chillers: Chillers or coolers are the components responsible for cooling the air. The system used for cooling is similar to what is used in a split AC system in that a refrigerant is compressed to allow more efficient heat dissipation, then expanded to cool it down and thus, cool the air. This happens at a much larger scale here of course, with industrial chillers tending to be much larger than commercial ones owing to the hotter air that is generally involved.

Air handlers: Air handling units (AHU) are the components responsible for processing the air that needs to be treated. These units are very large and are responsible for filtering and cleaning the air, heating or cooling it as needed, recirculating it, etc. They’re usually mounted near the compressors for added efficiency.

Ductwork and vents: Since commercial and industrial AC units are a type of central air conditioning, all the heating, cooling, and processing happens at a central location, usually on the roof of the structure. The processed air then needs to be distributed through the building, and this happens via ducts and vents. These ducts and vents also draw out the exhaust and either vent it or send it to the AHUs for processing.

In addition to these parts, you’ll find various smaller filtration units for localised filtering, fans for better air distribution, thermostats to track temperature, and more.

Types of commercial and industrial AC units

There are essentially three types of commercial and industrial ACs:

Chilled Water System (CW): Chilled Water systems are very large and are especially effective at cooling a large volume of air. As the name suggests, a CW system uses water to cool the air. The water is first cooled to a very low temperature and is then circulated through the AHU. Here the water absorbs the heat from the air and is sent back out for cooling. The cold air is pumped back into the building to cool it.

Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF): A relatively modern design, VRF is used to better optimise cooling in commercial and industrial spaces. While the basic design of the AC system is similar to any other central AC system, VRF uses a combination of pumps and electronics to distribute the refrigerant to the various evaporators and condensers on demand. This allows for different rates of cooling to different areas, optimising energy consumption and cooling based on demand.

Other AC systems are based on a standard split AC or central AC model where the indoor unit works to distribute air while the outdoor unit cools and processes it.

Installation considerations

Three factors must be considered when designing an AC system for a building. These are:

Load calculations: For determining the total cooling capacity required, its distribution. This will determine the kind of cooling system needed and the total space needed for installation.

Ductwork design and installation: Air needs to circulate in the building, and the best way to distribute it is via ducts and vents. The design and layout of these components needs to be carefully planned based on load calculations 

Accessibility for maintenance: Commercial and industrial systems cannot afford downtime, which means they require regular maintenance for optimal operations. Designing the systems to be easily accessible will go a long way towards ensuring longevity and uptime.

Advantages of commercial and industrial AC systems

– Specialised, energy efficient design that ensures clean air for the people in that space

– Long-term cost savings vs regular AC systems

– Ease of maintenance and service as the systems are designed with uptime in mind

– Easier to troubleshoot issues as most of the working components are centrally located and managed

Energy efficiency strategies

The main reason for using a commercial or industrial-grade AC is energy efficiency. With proper calculations for load and cooling, the centralised nature of the design leads to inherent, long-term cost savings. These come in the form of

– High-efficiency equipment specialising in a certain kind of air processing,

– Building automation systems that use sensors and AI-based computing to optimise energy use

– At such large scales and with modern control systems, various energy management strategies can be implemented to track and optimise the load and cooling

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on commercial AC systems

1) What are the best AC solutions for large office buildings?
A commercial, central AC system would be best since specialised AHUs are not required.

2) How do rooftop units differ from traditional AC systems?
Traditional AC systems are designed for small to medium spaces while rooftop systems are designed for large spaces and high-capacity workloads.

3) What maintenance tasks should be prioritised for commercial AC units?
Since uptime and longevity is the focus, it’s important to maintain a regular maintenance schedule as per the manufacturer’s specifications. These will vary depending on the kind of AC unit being used.

Commercial and industrial air conditioners are specialised AC systems designed not just for large spaces, but also for specific tasks such as scrubbing out toxic chemicals and more effectively filtering out a higher volume of dust. They’re large and expensive, but they’re also flexible and scalable solutions that can be tailor-made to suit a particular space. Be sure to consult with experts before settling on a design that works best for your space, be it industrial or commercial.