The surging that occurs in a centrifugal air...

🔍 Key Concepts

• Centrifugal compressor characteristics – how flow and pressure (head) relate, especially at low flow conditions • System load vs. evaporator/condenser pressure – what happens to evaporator and condenser pressures when the cooling load is low or high • Surging condition – unstable operation when compressor is developing more head than the system can use at the existing flow

💭 Think About

• Think about what happens to refrigerant flow and suction/discharge pressures when the air conditioning load is very low versus when it is very high. • In a centrifugal compressor, does surge tend to occur at high flow or very low flow? Connect that idea to which component (evaporator or condenser) sees low pressure at low flow. • For each option, ask: would these conditions push the compressor toward operating near its minimum stable flow, where surge is more likely?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear on whether low load usually produces higher or lower evaporator pressure and what it does to condenser pressure. • Recall that centrifugal compressor surge is associated with low mass flow and high head, not with high, stable flow. • Verify which side of the system (evaporator vs. condenser) is tied to the suction pressure of the compressor, since that strongly affects surge behavior.

The surging that occurs in a centrifugal air conditioning compressor is a result of what conditions?

low-pressure in the condenser at high load

low-pressure in the evaporator at low load

low-pressure in the condenser at low load

low-pressure in the evaporator at high load

🔍 Key Concepts

💭 Think About

✅ Before You Answer