Industrial Air Conditioners

Tent Air Conditioner

Comfortable, controlled air wherever you pitch a tent, from a desert command post to a wedding marquee.

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A row of beige tent air conditioners with protective frames lined up in a hall

Product overview

A controlled climate for your temporary structures

Our tent air conditioner is a self-contained, transportable unit that cools, dehumidifies and, in heat pump or heater-equipped versions, heats the air inside tents, fabric shelters, field hospitals, inflatable structures and other temporary buildings.

It stands outside the structure and connects to it through flexible supply and return ducts, so the refrigeration machinery, its noise and its heat stay outside your occupied space. A fresh-air inlet can admit a set share of outdoor air to ventilate occupants and keep the tent slightly above ambient pressure.

Units are built for repeated transport and outdoor duty, and many are tested against MIL-STD-810 methods for high temperature, rain, sand and dust, and vibration. It runs from a mobile generator or a temporary grid connection, at 230 V single-phase or 400 V three-phase.

A tent air conditioner in its carrying frame being moved by a forklift
  • 12–16 °CSupply air leaving the evaporator
  • 230 V or 400 VSingle-phase or three-phase supply
  • MIL-STD-810Test methods many units are tested against
  • Year-roundCooling, dehumidifying, heating and ventilation

Benefits

The problems it solves

A single fabric layer has negligible thermal resistance, and a closed tent in a hot climate climbs above the outdoor temperature within hours of sunrise. Here is what that means inside, and how the unit deals with it.

  • Heat stress

    The problem

    When air temperature approaches skin temperature, about 35 °C, the body can only lose heat by sweating, and high humidity blocks that too.

    How it solves it

    Controlled temperature and humidity reduce the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke for your occupants, patients and workers.

  • Fabric that lets the heat in

    The problem

    With 35 °C outside and 23 °C inside, 100 m² of single-skin fabric conducts about 7.1 kW, before the sun on the roof adds more.

    How it solves it

    The unit removes that heat continuously, and cools and dries outdoor air before it reaches the space.

  • Wet bedding and stock

    The problem

    When the tent cools at night, water condenses on the inside of the fabric and drips onto bedding, equipment and stock.

    How it solves it

    The evaporator condenses the water out of the air and drains it away, so night-time condensation on the fabric is reduced.

  • Medicines and electronics out of range

    The problem

    Medicines, reagents and diagnostic kits commonly carry storage limits of 15–25 °C or below 30 °C.

    How it solves it

    Your electronics, medicines and stored products stay within their temperature limits.

  • No building services on site

    The problem

    Tents are pitched in deserts, disaster zones, event grounds and remote work sites, where no permanent air conditioning exists.

    How it solves it

    The unit arrives ready to run and connects with ducts and a power cable, with no refrigerant pipework or brazing on site.

  • Noise and lost floor space

    The problem

    Machinery inside a tent takes floor area and fills the space with compressor noise.

    How it solves it

    Compressor and condenser fan noise stay outdoors, and no machinery occupies space inside your tent.

Where it’s used

Wherever you need a room that is not a building

The unit arrives on a vehicle, plugs into a generator and connects to the structure by ducts, wherever it is pitched.

  • Military tents and vehicles pitched at the edge of a forest

    Defence

    Command posts, communications and radar shelters, briefing tents, accommodation, and maintenance tents for vehicles and aircraft in desert and tropical deployments.

  • Aerial view of a temporary camp with a large white hall tent

    Field hospitals and medical posts

    Operating theatres, wards and pharmacy tents that need stable temperature and humidity.

  • A large tent camp seen from above at dusk

    Disaster relief

    Emergency clinics, vaccination centres, coordination tents and shelters for vulnerable people in heatwaves, powered by generators.

  • An aisle between server cabinets

    Communications and IT shelters

    Temporary server racks, network switches and broadcast equipment, held within the ASHRAE TC 9.9 recommended 18–27 °C inlet air.

  • Guests dining under a lit marquee at night

    Events and hospitality

    Marquees for exhibitions, weddings, conferences, sports events and concerts, holding hundreds of people who each add about 100 W or more of heat.

  • Workers in hard hats among process plant pipework

    Industrial shutdowns

    Temporary workshops, rest shelters and control rooms that keep maintenance crews productive in refineries, power plants and steel works.

Also remote mining, oil and gas and construction camps, fabric hangars and aircraft maintenance shelters, temporary storage for food, electronics and pharmaceuticals, polling stations and temporary classrooms, film and broadcast locations, and field laboratories.

How it works

Cool outside, ducted inside

The refrigeration machinery stands outdoors. Only cool, dry air travels into your tent, through flexible ducts.

How a tent air conditioner works: the unit stands outside the tent. Return air drawn from low level passes a filter and the evaporator, where boiling refrigerant cools and dries it, and the fan blows it back through a duct into a perforated fabric duct along the ridge. The compressor pumps the heat to the condenser, whose fan rejects it to the outdoor air, and the expansion device returns the refrigerant to the evaporator. Tent 24 °C · 50 % RH Perforated fabric duct Sun on the fabric Indoor air sideOutdoor air side Heat out Outdoor air in Condenser CompressorExpansiondeviceCondensate out EvaporatorFilter 12–16 °C 10 kW 3.5 kW 13.5 kW out Fresh air 12345Warm tent or outdoor airCool, dry supply airCondensateHot refrigerantCold refrigerantHeat

  1. 1. Cool and dry the tent airReturn air drawn from low level passes the filter and the evaporator, whose fins run at roughly 5–10 °C, below the 12.9 °C dew point of tent air at 24 °C and 50 % RH. Water condenses and drains through the hose, and the air leaves at roughly 12–16 °C.

  2. 2. CompressThe compressor draws in the low-pressure refrigerant vapour and raises its pressure and temperature, so that it leaves hotter than the outdoor air.

  3. 3. Reject the heat outdoorsThe condenser fan drives outdoor air across the hot coil, and the refrigerant condenses back to liquid. A unit removing 10 kW from a tent while its compressor draws 3.5 kW must reject 13.5 kW through its condenser.

  4. 4. ExpandThe liquid passes through a capillary tube, fixed orifice or expansion valve. Its pressure falls, part of it flashes to vapour, and the mixture cools to the evaporating temperature.

  5. 5. Spread the air through the tentSupply air enters at high level through a perforated fabric duct along the ridge, mixing with the hottest air under the roof, and return air is drawn from low level. Supplying slightly more air than returns keeps the tent above outdoor pressure, so leakage runs outward.

Example figures for tent air at 24 °C and 50 % RH.

Get the full details

Our brochure covers it in detail, and our questionnaire tells us what we need to recommend the right one for your plant.

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