MODULE III REFRIGERATION CYCLE

Terminologies used in Refrigeration Engineering

1. Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle- is the widest manufacture type of refrigeration

unit applicable to both chilling and freezing process of the product being refrigerated. It
consists of four major components such as evaporator, compressor, condenser and
controlling expansion valve.
2. Absorption Refrigeration Cycle- use one or more refrigerant or solution that operates
with heat input to the generator of the refrigeration system. A good example are the
Lithium Bromine and the Aqua Ammonia Absorption Refrigeration Cycle.
3. Vacuum System Refrigeration Cycle- uses one of the several means of reducing
refrigerant pressure to near absolute zero.
4. Thermo electric refrigeration process- uses direct current flow through thermos couples.
5. Coefficient of Performance- The ratio of refrigerating effect to work of compression.
6. Work of Compression- is the energy rate to compress the refrigerant vapor allotted to
power input to the compressor.
7. Refrigerating Effect- it is the amount of heat absorb by circulating refrigerant in the
evaporator coil of a refrigeration system. By heat balance these amount of heat is the
same as the amount of heat removal from the concern space or product to be cold,
considering adiabatic heat transfer with proper insulation of the concern space.
8. Overfeed system- are those in which excess liquid is forced, mechanically or by gas
pressure through organized flow evaporators, separated from the vapor, and returned to
the evaporators.
9. High Side- the portion of vapor compression system that is under compressor discharge
and condenser pressure level.
10. Low Side- the portion of vapor compression system that is under evaporator pressure
level.
11. Performance Factor- a term applicable to the performance of Carnot Refrigeration Cycle
which is the ratio of the heat rejected from the cycle over the work required. The
performance factor Pf= COP+1 in most Carnot Refrigeration System.
12. Ton of refrigeration-is equivalent to the amount of heat required to melt one ton of ice
for a period of 24 hrs or one day.

1 ton 2000lb
1 ton of refrigeration=
24 hr( ton )( 144lbBTU )=12000 BTU
hr

For SI Unit of Measurement, a ton of refrigeration is:

1 ton 335 KJ hr
1 ton of refrigeration= ¿ )( )( )= 3.516KW
24 hr kg 3600 s
VAPOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

The vapor-compression uses a circulating liquid refrigerant as the medium which absorbs and removes
heat from the space to be cooled and subsequently rejects that heat elsewhere. Figure depicts a typical,
single-stage vapor-compression system. All such systems have four components: a compressor,
a condenser, a thermal expansion valve (also called a throttle valve or metering device), and an
evaporator.

HOW VAPOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION SYSTEM WORKS?

1. Circulating refrigerant enters the compressor in the thermodynamic state known as a  saturated
vapor and is compressed to a higher pressure, resulting in a higher temperature as well. The hot,
compressed vapor is then in the thermodynamic state known as a superheated vapor and it is at
a temperature and pressure at which it can be condensed with either cooling water or cooling
air.

2. That hot vapor is routed through a condenser where it is cooled and condensed into a liquid by
flowing through a coil or tubes with cool water or cool air flowing across the coil or tubes. This is
where the circulating refrigerant
rejects heat from the system and
the rejected heat is carried away by
either the water or the air
(whichever may be the case).

3. The condensed liquid refrigerant, in

the thermodynamic state known as
a saturated liquid, is next routed
through an expansion valve where
it undergoes an abrupt reduction in
pressure. That pressure reduction
results in the adiabatic flash
evaporation of a part of the liquid
refrigerant. The auto-refrigeration
effect of the adiabatic flash
evaporation lowers the
temperature of the liquid and vapor refrigerant mixture to where it is colder than the
temperature of the enclosed space to be refrigerated.
4. The cold mixture is then routed through the coil or tubes in the evaporator. A fan circulates the
warm air in the enclosed space across the coil or tubes carrying the cold refrigerant liquid and
vapor mixture. That warm air evaporates the liquid part of the cold refrigerant mixture. At the
same time, the circulating air is cooled and thus lowers the temperature of the enclosed space
to the desired temperature. The evaporator is where the circulating refrigerant absorbs and
removes heat which is subsequently rejected in the condenser and transferred elsewhere by the
water or air used in the condenser.

5. To complete the refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant vapor

from the evaporator is again a saturated vapor and is
routed back into the compressor.

Components of Vapor Compression Cycle

1. Compressor
a. The job of the compressor is to suck vapour
from the evaporator and force it into the
condenser. The most common type is the
piston compressor, but other types have won
acceptance, e.g. centrifugal scroll and screw
compressors. The piston compressor covers a
very large capacity range, right from small
single cylinder modeIs for household
refrigerators up to 8 to 12 cylinder modeIs
with a large swept volume for industrial
applications. In the smallest applications the
hermetic compressor is used, where
compressor and motor are built together as
a complete hermetic unit. For medium sized
plants one of the most common compressors
is the larger sizes of hermetic compressors in
either piston or scroll versions. The
applications are both air conditioning,
general commercial refrigeration and chillers. For larger plants the most common is
the semihermetic compressor. The advantage here is that shaft glands can be
avoided; these are very difficult to replace when they begin to leak. However, the
design cannot be used on ammonia plants since this refrigerant attacks motor
windings. Still larger HFC compressors, and all ammonia compressors, are designed
as “open” compressors, i.e. with the motor outside the crankcase. Power
transmission can be direct to the crankshaft or through a V-belt drive. For quite
special applications there is the oil-free compressor. But lubrication of bearings and
 cylinder walls with oil is normally always necessary. On large refrigeration
compressors oil is circulated by an oil pump.

2. Condenser
a. The purpose of the condenser is to remove the amount of heat that is equal to the
sum of the heat absorbed in the evaporator and the heat produced by compression.
There are many different kinds of condenser.
b. Shell and tube condenser. This type of condenser is used in applications where
sufficient cooling water is available. It consists of a horizontal cylinder with welded-
on flat end caps, which support the cooling tubes. End covers are bolted to the end
plates. The refrigerant condensate flows through the cylinder, the cooling water
through the tubes. The end covers are divided into sections by ribs. The sections act
as reversing chambers for the water so that it circulates several times through the
condenser. As a rule, the water becomes heated 5-10 °C when it has passed through
a condenser.
c. If it is desirable or necessary to cut down on the amount of water an evaporating
condenser can be used instead. This type of condenser consists of a housing in
which there is a condensing coil, water distribution tubes, deflection plates and
fans. The warm refrigerant vapour is led to the top of the condensing coil after
which it condenses and runs from the bottom of the coil as liquid.

Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Evaporating Condenser
 3. Expansion Valve
a. The main purpose of the expansion valve is to ensure a sufficient pressure
differential between the high and low pressure sides of the plant. The simplest way
of doing this is to use a capillary tube inserted between the condenser and
evaporator. A regulating valve must be used for this process, the most usual being
the thermostatic expansion valve, which consists of a valve housing, capillary tube
and a bulb. The valve housing is fitted in the liquid line and the bulb is fitted on the
evaporator outlet.

4.
Evaporator
a. Evaporator acts as a heat conductor between product and refrigerant. It absorbs the
heat from the load in the refrigerated space.

REFRIGERATING MACHINE AND REVERSED CARNOT CYCLE

CARNOT REFRIGERATION CYCLE

The Carnot Cycle is one whose efficiency cannot be exceeded when operating
between two given temperatures. The Carnot Cycle operating as a heat engine is
familiar from the study of thermodynamics. The Carnot Engine is shown schematically in
Fig 1, with the corresponding temperature entropy diagram. The carnot heat engine
receives energy at high level of temperature, converts a portion of the energy into work,
and discharges the remainder to a heat sink at a low level of temperature.
Figure 1

The Carnot Power Cycle consists of the following reversible processes:

Process 1-2 Isentropic Expansion

Process 2-3 Isothermal rejection of Heat
Process 3-4 Isentropic Compression
Process 4-1 Isothermal Heat supplied

 Qa = T1( S1-S4)
 Qr = T2(S2-S3)
= T2(S1-S4)
 W = Qa- Qr

=T1(S1-S4)-T2(S1-S4)
=(T1-T2)(S1-S4)
W (T 1−T 2)(S 1−S 4)
 E= Q = T 1(S 1−S 4)
 (T 1−T 2)
E=
T1

Where:

Qa= the heat added by the hot body

Qr= the heat rejected to the cold body

W= The work done

E= the thermal efficiency

T1= the temperature of the source of heat

T2= the temperature of the sink or receiver of heat

REVERSED CARNOT CYCLE

Refrigeration Cycle Heat flows in direction of decreasing temperature, i.e.,
from high-temperature to low temperature regions. The transfer of heat from a low-
temperature to high-temperature requires a refrigerator and/or heat pump.
Refrigerators and heat pumps are essentially the same device; they only differ
in their objectives. The performance of refrigerators and heat pumps is expressed in
terms of coefficient of performance (COP).
Reversing the Carnot cycle does reverse the directions of heat and work
interactions. A refrigerator or heat pump that operates on the reversed Carnot cycle is
called a Carnot refrigerator or a Carnot heat pump.
Process 1-2 Isentropic Compression
Process 2-3 Isothermal Heat Rejection
Process 3-4 Isentropic Expansion
Proces 4-1 Isothermal Heat Absorption

 Qa=T1(S1-S4)
 Qr =T2(S2-S3)

=T2(S1-S4)

 W = Qr-Qa

=T2(S1-S4)-T1(S1-S4)
=(T2-T1)(S1-S4)

Qa T 1(S 1−S 4) T1
 COP = = =
W (T 2−T 1)(S 1−S 4) T 2−T 1

Where

Qa= the heat absorbed from the cold body

Qr= the heat rejected to the hot body
W= work done
COP= the coefficient of performance
T1= the refrigeration temperature
T2= the temperature of heat rejection to the surroundings

Exercise Problem:

1. A certain refrigeration system maintains the cold room at -18C and can reject heat to the
atmosphere at 35C. If the refrigerating capacity is 100 Kw,
a. What is the COP of the system of refrigeration?
b. Determine the performance factor
c. What is the UA value in KW/K at ∆T= 5K?

2. A refrigerating system operates on the reversed Carnot Cycle. The higher temperature of
the refrigerant in the system is 120F and the lower is 10F. The capacity is 20 tons. Neglect
losses. Determine:
a. Coefficient of Performance
b. Heat Rejected from the system in BTU/min
c. Net work in BTU/min
 d. Horsepower

3. A refrigeration system operates on the reversed Carnot cycle. The minimum and maximum
temperatures are -25C and 72C respectively. If the heat rejected at the condenser is
6000Kj/min, draw the TS diagram and find,
a. The power input required
b. Tons of refrigeration developed

REVISIONS OF THE CARNOT CYCLE

WET COMPRESSION VERSUS DRY COMPRESSION
The compression process 1-2 in the figure is called wet compression because
the entire process occurs in the mixture region with droplets of liquid present. When a
reciprocating compressor is used, several factors discourage the practice of wet compression.
One is that liquid refrigerant may be trapped in the head of the cylinder by the rising piston,
possibly damaging the valves or the cylinder head. Even though the point at the end of the
compression shown as point 2 in the figure is

WET COMPRESSION

saturated vapor and thus should be free from liquid such is not the actual case. During
compression, the droplets of liquid are vaporized by an internal heat transfer process which
requires a finite amount of time. High speed compressors are susceptible to damage by liquid
because of the short time available for heat transfer. In a compressor that has a rotative speed
of 30r/s, for example, the compression takes place in 1/60s. At the end of compression, point 2
on the saturated vapor line represents only average conditions of a mixture of superheated
vapor and liquid. Another possible danger of wet compression is that droplets of liquid may
wash the lubricating oil from the walls of the cylinder, accelerating wear. Because of this
disadvantages, dry compression, which takes place with no droplets of liquid present, is
preferable to wet compression. If the refrigerant entering the compressor is saturated vapor, as
in figure, the compression from point 1 to 2 is called dry compression .

DRY
COMPRESSION
With dry compression the cycle loses the rectangular shape of the Carnot cycle. Compression of
a dry vapor results is a temperature at point 2 which is higher than the condensing
temperature. The refrigerant therefore leaves the compressor superheated. The area of the
cycle which is above the condensing temperature is sometimes called the superheat horn. On
the temperature entropy diagram it represents the additional work required for dry
compression.

The Ideal Vapor‐Compression Refrigeration Cycle

The vapor-compression refrigeration is the most widely used cycle for refrigerators,
airconditioners, and heat pumps.
Assumptions for Ideal Vapor-Compression Cycle

:  irreversibilities within the evaporator, condenser and compressor are ignored

 no frictional pressure drops

 refrigerant flows at constant pressure through the two heat exchangers (evaporator and
condenser)

 heat losses to the surroundings are ignored

 compression process is isentropic

Example Problem 1
A standard vapor compression cycle developing 100 KW of refrigeration using Ammonia
refrigerant operates with a condensing temperature of 36C and an evaporating temperature of
-20C. Calculate
a. Refrigerating Effect in Kj/kg
b. The circulation rate of refrigerant in Kg/sec
c. The power required by compressor in KW
d. The coefficient of performance
e. The volume flow rate measure at the compression suction lit/sec
f. The power per Kw of refrigeration
g. The compressor discharge temperature

2. A simple saturated refrigeration cycle for R-12 system operates at an evaporating

temperature of -5C and a condensing temperature of 40C. Determine:
a. The refrigerating effect per kg
b. The work per kg
c. The heat rejected at the condenser per kg
d. the COP
e. For a refrigerating capacity of 1kw, determine the total heat rejected at the
condenser.
f. the work
g. volume flow rate
4. A food freezing system requires 12 Ton of refrigeration at the evaporator pressure
268.63 KPA and a condenser pressure of 1276.3 KPA. The refrigerant ammonia is
subcooled 5.5C before entering the expansion valve and then the vapor is
superheated 6.6C before entering the compressor. A two cylinder double acting
compressor with stroke equal to 1.2 times the bore is to be used, operating at 8
revolution per sec. The clearance is 4% and the mechanical efficiency is 75%.
Determine the following:
a. The flow rate of refrigerant circulating the refrigeration system, kg/sec
b. The flow rate of cooling water at the condenser for a 8C increased in
temperature.
c. The bore and stroke of compressor in mm.
d. The power of driving motor in KW.
 5. A standard vapor compression cycle developing 50KW of refrigeration using
refrigerant 22 operates with a condensing temperature of 35C and an evaporating
temperature of -10C. Calculate:
a. The Refrigerating Effect in Kj/kg
b. The circulation rate of refrigerant in kilograms per second
c. The power required by the compressor in KW
d. The coefficient of performance
e. The volume flow rate at suction
f. Power per kilowatt of refrigeration
g. Compressor discharge temperature

Effects of Operating Conditions

A. Effects of Increasing the Vaporizing Temperature
1. The Refrigerating Effect per unit mass increases
2. The mass flow rate decreases
3. The volume flow rate decreases
4. The COP increases.
5. The work decreases.
6. The heat rejected at the condenser decreases.

Sample Problem:
A R-12 simple saturated refrigerating cycle operates at an evaporating temperature of -10C and
a condensing temperature of 40C. Show the effects of increasing the vaporizing temperature to
5C.

B. Effects of increasing the Condensing Temperature

1. The refrigerating effect per unit mass decreases.
2. The mass flow rate increases.
3. The volume flow rate increases.
4. The COP decreases.
5. The work increases.
6. The heat rejected at the condenser increases.

Sample Problem:
A simple saturated refrigerating cycle using R-12 as the refrigerant, operates at a condensing
temperature of 40C and an evaporating temperature of -10C. Show the effects of increasing the
condensing temperature to 50C.

C. Effects of superheating the Suction Vapor

When superheating produces useful cooling:
1. The refrigerating effect per unit mass increases.
2. The mass flow rate decreases.
3. The volume flow rate decreases.
4. The COP increases.
5. The work decreases.

When superheating occurs without useful cooling:

6. The refrigerating effect per unit mass remains the same.
7. The mass flow rate remains the same.
8. The volume flow rate increases.
9. The COP decreases.
10. The work increases.
11. The heat rejected at the condenser increases.

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
A simple saturated refrigerating cycle for R-12 system operates at an evaporating
temperature of -5C and a condensing temperature of 40C. Show the effects of
superheating the suction vapor from -5C to 15C.

EFFECTS OF SUBCOOLING THE LIQUID

1. The refrigerating effect per unit mass increases.
2. The mass flow rate decreases.
3. The volume flow rate decreases.
4. The COP increases.
5. The work decreases.
6. The heat rejected at the condenser decreases.

Sample Problem:
A simple saturated refrigerating cycle using R-12 as the refrigerant operates at an evaporating
temperature of -5C and a condensing temperature of 40C. Show the effects of subcooling from
40C to 30C before reaching the expansion valve.