The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, June, 2002. © Copyright 2002 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in
paper form without permission of ASHRAE.
100 Years of Air Conditioning
By Bernard Nagengast, Member ASHRAE
n 1902, heat and humidity was ruining a publication being printed in
color in Brooklyn, N.Y. At that time, the art and science of air conditioning was just beginning to evolve. Solving this printing problem lead
to the start of industrial process air conditioning, as nurtured by a young
engineer named Willis Haviland Carrier.
I
Carrier had recently graduated from
Cornell University and was working at
Buffalo Forge Company, a manufacturer
of fan-type heating systems. He was busy
with heating system and fan design problems but soon realized that data for fan
and steam heater sizing was inadequate,
inaccurate or non-existent.
Research in this area began to consume
his spare time, which was limited because
his job required him to work ten hours a
day, six days a week. Carrier convinced
Buffalo Forge management that accurate
data meant saving money by reducing the
amount of “cut and try” engineering. They
allowed him to assemble a small research
facility to do experimental engineering.
Carrier’s experimental facility was
hardly operational when he was asked
to solve a unique engineering problem.
The Sackett-Wilhelms Printing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, N.Y., was
known for its high quality color printing, which involved feeding paper
through printing presses multiple times,
each color printed separately. If the heat
and humidity changed during the process, the paper size changed slightly,
causing some colors to print slightly off
the mark, resulting in “off-registry.”
Off registry caused much waste, and
sometimes the presses couldn’t be run at
all on very humid days. Sackett-Wilhelms
asked consulting engineer William Timmis
if he could solve the printing problem.
Timmis recognized that the answer was
to accurately control the humidity within
certain limits. Since this had never been
done before, he contacted J. Irvine Lyle
at the New York sales office of Buffalo
Forge. Lyle realized that a solution to
accurate humidity control would open
up a sales opportunity in industrial applications. Lyle asked Carrier to find the
answer.
Carrier later recalled the uniqueness
and difficulty of his task, “We went at
the subject backwards. A more normal
approach, the front way, would have been
to humidify the air and control its moisture content at a level higher than in outdoor air. But here we were, designing a
system to hold the moisture content at a
specified level that was lower than in air
out of doors. We started the hard way.”1
Carrier set up experiments to see what
would result in effective humidity control. First, he tried using calcium chloride brine as a hygroscopic agent.
“I rigged up a burlap cloth on two rollers. A fan pulled air through the cloth.
The cloth was wetted continuously with
About the Author
Bernard Nagengast is a consulting engineer
in Sidney, Ohio. He is a member of the ASHRAE
Historical Committee and is co-author of
ASHRAE’s centennial history book: Heat & Cold:
Mastering the Great Indoors.
Timeline of Air-Conditioning History
m
En to “ 1
pr co sp 1
“a te 19
Re Fri syn 19
in nt ra 90
N ach 192
gi th Ra 91
ir xt 0
d
2
t
s
tin ro y- 2
e
t
1
n
h
g
6
8
ea
co ile :
w ine 8:
ee e A ion : C
g l s ty : W
rc idai esiz : Th
nd en Stu
Yo b Ele
rs m al ar
pl ys pe
h
r
e
o
rk y ct
i
.
e
i
g
a
P
r
t
t
e
an e t lli
L
i
m
C
i
r
i
s
r
e
o
.
a
ab
Ve ric
ica yc r
t. m em s C
ni nee t C
t t FC as
p
.
nd all
h
n
fo pe ar
n
ra
h
r
r
M
r
r
g
,
e
e ef i
r a ra rie
So om se
om y r
.” co me
G
d
r
cie et nt
in r,
en ige gle
Br tur r d
et efri
s
s
r
a
t
er ge
oo e es
i
r
e
y
c
y
t
h
a
ra n a
he No
of Fo is
kl an ign
Co ra
l M ts nd
yn d
rm pa
te rth
s
M
rp ted
f
hu a
o
rm C
o
p
o
u
ec la e
or v
th
to r
m
r
a
h
,
at en
e
r
e
ro
s
an ,”
id
rs
io di
lin
ity
ica
n ng
a
of
l
44
June 2002|ASHRAE Journal
Air Conditioning
a saturated solution of calplaced side by side. The
cium chloride brine. Everysupply ducts were provided
thing except the fan was
at the base with mixing
manually operated. As I
dampers and connected to
thought the tests would not
a divided horizontal duct
take more than four or five
forming two distinct ducts
days…. Manpower was
for two supplies of differcheaper for a short test; a man
ent characteristics of temto dip brine from a barrel and
perature. The vertical repour it over the cloth, and a
turn flue or ducts all conman to turn the rollers.”1
nected to one main return
Although the test reduct and thence ran to a
vealed some new relationfore-cooler chamber and
ships to Carrier, the experifrom there to the chambers
ment was suspended when First air-conditioning plant at Brooklyn, N.Y., printing company. in which the cooling coils
Carrier realized that the exwere placed.”
iting air was dehumidified, but contained of the printing plant, where the
Timmis performed tests in September
minute salt spray droplets, an unwelcome multicolor printing presses were located. 1904 that showed a reduction in relative
contaminant in a printing plant.
The cooling plant was retrofitted to an humidity from 86 to 63%.3
Next, Carrier constructed an appara- existing “hot blast” or fan-type heating
The Carrier archive records at Cornell
tus to cool the air below its dew point. system, and was supposed to maintain University indicate that the dehumidifiAir was fan-induced over a cast iron 80°F (27°C) and 55% relative humidity cation plant did not work as well as exsteam heater. Cold Lake Erie water was in summer.
pected, possibly because of circulation
substituted for steam. Using weather buTo reach the design condition, Carrier problems in the pipe coils and airside
reau data, Carrier decided on a dew point installed galvanized pipe coils before the problems. Apparently, these drawbacks
to obtain the humidity level he wanted, fan. The coils were designed to provide could not be addressed satisfactorily and
and designed a system, through experi- 60 tons (211 kW) of cooling, half from the system was removed. The Sackettmentation, specifying the amount of de- cold well water and half from mechani- Wilhelms system is not featured in
humidifying surface, its operating tem- cal refrigeration.
Carrier’s first air-conditioning catalog isperature, the quantity of air and the reAt first, well water was used alone, the sued in 1908, although other printing
sulting air temperature.
refrigerating plant not being installed plant installations are featured.
Carrier turned over the design to Lyle, until 1903.2
who convinced Sackett-Wihelms to
Timmis, who initiated the printing The Significance of Sackett-Wilhelms
buy the system, which was the first sys- plant job, described the airside of the
Carrier said later that he “realized that
tem designed to maintain a constant hu- system, “Circulation of the air was by the design was not the final answer for
midity level.
means of an engine-driven plate fan de- controlling the moisture content of the
signed to give an air change every 15 air, so began working toward a design that
The Dehumidification Plant
minutes. The system was arranged for would be the answer.”4 He continued to
Carrier’s dehumidification plant was recirculation by means of vertical flues theorize and experiment, which led him
intended to condition the second floor and the supply and return ducts were to develop successful dew-point control
Air-Conditioning History (1930 – 1950)
C
an lo l 1
pe a t 1
co h Ca 19
of &C 193
d ng ivin 95
rso ir- he 94
u
n
r
4
m
c
ha e g 0:
o
di
H Ke 0:
na on ins 2:
lin 8:
i
t
ou lv F
d
ve r in in M
W
i
t
o
l
d
i
T
a
a
i
t
i
e
ni y
co iti lla ar
st na rst
m su air ajo
ng co ove xti
on to c
m on tio tim
or m -c r
fo in n e
nd r le w
.
r C ar
e m on st
a
g
r
s
a
le er d ud
b
i
t
o
O
. T sy r
o. ir
ar tio tre ork
isu ,
it y
r
m
d
c
n
s
g
he ste a e
fo o
e
s
re enj ion sh
s
a
f
r
r
,
r J nd
i
u
n
s
m
n
o
ed ow
m
L
b
t
l
u
i
s
y
im
oh iti
an s s fa -3
ng a te tr
ki m ik
e. the ho s fa
ol ctu 8 b
n on
i
i
n
s
e
s
H ed
su g pe in
ir me m
lif ely re an
am b
fo s ili
e. air rat N
te fo o s
od sle es
d
fn
ur o
m y
r
r
in
an
e
t
ew
m ep
h
an
19
or
Jr.
d
e
45
.
ASHRAE Journal|June 2002
45
as a means of accurately controlling humidity levels in air. He had achieved this
by 1905, and received a patent on the
apparatus. By 1906, Carrier had published the first psychrometric chart in a
Buffalo Forge fan catalog.
Carrier later commented on his 1902–
03 experience in designing the dehumidification system for the printing
plant, “These early experiments,
prompted by a problem based upon a
comparatively small printing establishment, started the trend of investigation
through which many of the fundamental
laws of evaporation, of humidity control
and of heat transfer were established...”5
Commenting upon the experiments
with calcium chloride to dehumidify air,
Carrier said, “...when calcium chloride,
or any other substance, absorbed moisture out of the air an exactly corresponding amount of latent heat was released in
the form of sensible heat. ... the observation of this one phenomenon led to a
train of thought, which eventually was
to become important. This experiment
disclosed the inter-relation of latent and
sensible heat in the air when its moisture
content was altered without the addition
or subtraction of external heat. It also led
to complimentary experiments upon the
process of evaporation of water into air
and, finally, into the development of the
principles upon which air conditioning
was founded.”6
The Sackett-Wilhelms installation
has been touted as “the first scientifically designed air-conditioning system” or even “the first air-condition-
The SackettWilhelms
Printing and
Publishing
Company in
Brooklyn, N.Y.
ing system.” However, the true significance of Carrier’s first air-conditioning
job is that it started his thought and
experimentation process that ultimately resulted in his greatest accomplishments: perfection of dew point
control and development of the psychrometric chart.
As Carrier said, “...I worked on the first
problem of air conditioning, that of humidifying and dehumidifying a lithographic plant in Brooklyn. I then tried
cooling coils and calcium chloride in
laboratory experiments which, although
giving a great deal of fundamental data
with reference to moisture in the air and
its general pervasiveness, resulted tangibly only in ruining two perfectly good
pairs of expensive shoes worn by my two
assistants just out of college.
“In 1906, however, four years later, the
first real air-conditioning installations
were installed based on practically the
same principles of equipment and operation used today.”7
References
1. Ingels, M. 1950. “Willis Carrier, the father of air conditioning.” Typed manuscript at
Department of Manuscripts and Archives,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Accession 2511, p. 59.
2. Lewis, L. 1964. “Sacket-Wilhelms Printing and Publishing Co. 1902, A technical review of some heretofore unpublished
information.” Accession 2511, Department of
Manuscripts and Archives, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y.
3. Anonymous. 1914. “New York (ASHVE)
chapter discusses control of atmospheric conditions in printing establishments.” The Heating
and Ventilating Magazine 11(1):48.
4. Ingels, M. 1949. Letter to Samuel Fletcher,
Vice President, Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Corp., November 14. Accession 2511, Department of Manuscripts and Archives, Cornell
University, Ithaca, N.Y.
5. Carrier, W. H. 1929. “Air conditioning —
its phenomenal development.” Heating and Ventilating, 26(6):116.
6. Carrier, W. H. 1936. “Progress in air conditioning in the last quarter century.” ASHVE
Transactions. 42:323.
7. Carrier, W. H. 1934. “Bright future of air
conditioning.” Heating and Ventilating,
31(5):24.
Air-Conditioning History (1969 – 1999)
ay
St
ica
er
Am
re
w A 1
pr 1
su fo e 1
Re an th
ve tem pu 19
19
ith ld 96
od 99
bs r sta 98
fri d e
rs p m 7
r
99
9
ta th bl 7
5
u
N
ed er ps 7:
lif in
g
t
:
ct : C
er he at
:
nc e ish : M
e w N
a
N
i
t
o
r
a
i
e
t
o
a
su l
es ph in o
ef ur o ew
tio Ai on ex
n hlo
pp k o il A
rig es p
nt
.
g
r
a
a
i
n -C l hi
n ro
se in re
or n rm
er w era tec
th flu
In on Bu bit
ou te al
at h te hn
t a th st
st d ild ru
e
o
r
i
t
r
P
i
na r
r
itu it in n
on le
U
nd e m on
o
o
o
a
.S ca
f o tio oto
he t l log
te ion g s e
g
c
o
.
o
rb
co on an
yc at w y
zo na co
e
ar ing Mu igh
o
n
i
l
a
ol
e. ng er ll
ne l c l is
e
ds n
in in d B
o
sp and seu t m
o
(
o
.
on u w
g sp uz
CF
de op sig
m on
on
s
t
sy ac z
pl er ne
C)
. A th
th do he
so
st e
et at d
e or at
em su
SH s a
rs
in io
.
g
RA t
n
s. its
E
g
in
on
iti
nd
Co
ir
!A
ol
Co
in
46
June 2002|ASHRAE Journal