VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE (HISTORY)

Artificial cooling is not a particularly new technology. The practice of using ice-storehouses and
iceboxes to preserve food dates back to the early 19 th century. Harvesting ice in areas like New
England for shipment to places like the American south and the Caribbean islands was big business
for much of the 19th century. However, the technology used to keep things cool has changed greatly
over the last hundred years. The main advancement was the development of vapor-compression cycle
refrigeration systems in the early 1900’s. This advancement in refrigeration and cooling had a huge
impact on life in the 20th century and beyond. Refrigeration changed the way we eat, where we live,
and the way our cities are built.
Vapor-compression refrigeration has dominated the industry since the early 20 th century. At
its core, the process is extremely simple: circulate a cold fluid around the object to be cooled,
allowing that fluid to absorb heat from the object and carry it away. Using this principle, you can
create a closed system that continuously creates cooled fluid to generate constant refrigeration. This is
the crux of the vapor-compression cycle. The system uses a compressor to pressurize a vaporized
refrigerant (which nowadays is usually R-134a in the U.S., which replaced Freon in the 1990s after
Freon was found to be degrading the ozone layer). The refrigerant is pumped through a condenser,
were it is converted from a high pressure, high temperature vapor into a high pressure liquid. Heat is
generated from the phase change, which the condenser dissipates. The high pressure liquid is then run
through an expansion valve to create a pressure drop, which greatly reduces the temperature of the
refrigerant. The last step in the process is to send the cold refrigerant through the evaporator coils,
where the refrigerant returns to vapor form while absorbing heat from the surrounding areas, cooling
them.
While R-134a is much safer and has lower ozone depletion potential than previous
refrigerants (e.g. ammonia and Freon), the environmental impact is not zero. Therefore, methods of
cooling without relying on a vapor compression cycle are very desirable, and research into these
methods represent a growing technological field.
Yet another way to cool an area without the use of a refrigerant is with a thermoelectric cooler
(also called a Peltier cooler). Thermoelectric coolers work by running a direct electric current between
two parallel semiconducting plates. As the current travels between the plates, it carries heat from one
side to the other. If the “cold” side is connected to an area to be cooled (say, the inside of a
refrigerator), and the “hot” side is connected to a heat sink, then this system can produce results
similar to a traditional vapor compression system. (Schmidt et al., 2002)
THE VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE:
The vapor compression cycle is the most important refrigeration cycle from the standpoint of
commercial acceptance. It is one in which a fluid alternately evaporates and condenses, with one of
the intervening processes being a compression of the vapour.

BENEFITS OF VCC:

-Allows cooling to below ambient temperatures, increasing performance, reliability, and allowing
operation in higher temperatures.

-High COP (around 2 to 3).

-Ability to remove very large heat loads.

-Widely available; compressor and fan only moving parts, stable, and reliable. (moran, 2001).

-Low mass flow rate of refrigerant needed.

-Ability to transport heat away from its source.

-COP up to 3 times greater than thermoelectric coolers or more. (Peeples, 2001)

DISADVANTAGES OF VCC:

-The cost of employing the cooling system may be 10-20% of the cost of the entire system.

-Large space and input power.

-The disadvantages of the cooling system has to be weighed with the large advantages. A lot of times,
traditional methods of cooling like air cooling is not feasible so a VCC is required.

-However, if the cooling requirements can be satisfied with traditional techniques, the traditional
technique are the preferred cooling method (Moran, 2001).

FOUR COMPONENTS OF VAPOR COMPRESSION SYSTEM

- Evaporator:

The evaporator in a refrigeration system is a heat exchanger which transfers heat from the substance
being cooled to a boiling refrigerant. The purpose of the
refrigeration system is to remove heat from air, water, or some
other substance, this removal is performed by the evaporator.

- Compressor

Compressor is the heart of the vapor compression system. This is where the
compression takes place to raise the temperature and refrigerant pressure.

- Condenser:

Condenser receives superheated refrigerant from the compressor,

remove the superheat and then liquefy the refrigerant. It is the
ultimate point of heat rejection from the refrigeration system.

- Throttle (Expansion) valve:

Acts as a regulator which separates he high pressure

and low pressure side.

The purpose of the expansion device is twofold: (1) it

must reduce the pressure of the liquid refrigerant, and (2) it
must regulate the flow of the refrigerant to the evaporator.

WORKING FLUIDS OFF VCC

When making a decision as to which refrigerant to use and under what pressures to operate
the VCR, consideration of the refrigerant’s temperature of vaporization and condensation should be
considered. If the temperature of the refrigerant doesn’t reach the vaporization point (at the operating
pressure) the VCR will not work properly. To ensure a proper heat transfer rate a 5 to 10 degree
Celsius temperature difference should be maintained between the evaporator and the condenser with
the refrigerant.(Peeples, 2001)
Heydari (2002) performed a simulation with a miniature VCR which included a miniature compressor
to cool a computer system.
The figure shows ammonia has the highest COP relative to the other refrigerants. However, when the
refrigerant’s cost, environmental impact (ozone depletion and global warming potential), and safety
issues were considered, Heydari concluded the optimal refrigerant to use is R134a.

Refrigerant COP
Ammonia
R718
Refrigerant

R134a
R-22
R-407c
R507a
0 1 2 3 4
COP
When it comes to the performance of refrigerants in miniature VCRs, Phelan et. Al. (2004)
performed experimental analysis comparing three refrigerants: ammonia, R-134a, and R-22 to
determine which of the three produce the highest COP for a miniature VCR under various conditions.
The factors tested were the evaporator and condenser temperatures, as well as, the efficiency of the
compressor which was predicted to decrease as the size of the compressor decreased. The results are
shown on the table below. (Phelan et al, 2004)

For each condition, ammonia has the highest COP. The higher COP values are due to ammonia’s
greater latent heat of vaporization. However, due to ammonia’s greater adverse environmental and
physiological effects, R-134a is more predominantly used. Ammonia is typically used only with a
secondary loop due to its toxicity. (Phelan et al, 2004)
PROCESSES OF THE STANDARD VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE:

Process 1-2: reversible and adiabatic compression

from the saturated vapor to the condenser pressure.
Process 2-3: reversible rejection of heat at constant pressure desuperheating and condensation
Process 3-4: irreversible expansion at constant enthalpy from the saturated liquid to the evaporator
pressure.
Process 4-1: reversible addition of heat at constant pressure in evaporation.

RECENT ADVANCES IN VAPOR COMPRESION CYCLE

TECHNOLOGIES
In some applications the heat rejection demands (efficiency or amount) are
higher than what can be handled by a vapor compression cycle running on a
regular cycle. In these cases, modifications of the cycle must occur. Modifying
the TH/TL to get them as low as possible will increase performance but larger
modifications may need to be made. (Cengel and Boles, 2002)

REFRIGERATION WITH LIQUID SUBCOOLING

Basically there are three methods of subcooling in

vapor compression refrigeration system, i.e. liquid
suction (Figure-1), dedicated and integrated. Liquid
suction subcooler is using a heat exchanger, the heat
exchange of the liquid line (output condenser) to
suction (compressor inlet). Dedicated subcooling is
to use a separate refrigeration system with the main
system. The additional refrigeration system capacity
is much smaller than the primary refrigeration
system, and function just lower the output
temperature of the condenser. While integrated subcooling is using two refrigeration machines but
only with a single condenser. Liquid-suction subcooling typically used on systems with small to
medium capacity, while a dedicated and integrated subcooling applied to systems with moderate-to-
large capacity.

From the scheme in Figure-1, Figure-2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the cycle refrigeration
system with and without subcooling in the diagram T-h.
Referring to Figure-2, the percentage decline in the evaporator temperature (% T-evap) with liquid-
suction subcooler cycle.

REFRIGERATION WITH SUBCOOLING & SUPERHEATING

Reversed Carnot Cycle doesn’t work in practical cases. The reversed Carnot Cycle consists of two
isentropic and isotherm process. Theoretical Carnot cycle is completely reversible. It is not possible
because of the losses that occur in the condensers, evaporators, and compressors. As a result, a more
practical and realistic Rankine cycle is introduced consisting of two isobaric processes, one isentropic
compression, and one adiabatic expansion. The Rankin Cycle incorporates some inevitable
irreversibilities consequently the COP of Rankin cycle is below the COP of Carnot cycle. To increase
the COP of the whole system subcooling and superheating is done. These two concepts are difficult to
visualize but very import issue for the VCRS.

WHAT IS SUPERHEATING

Superheating is the incident where a liquid is heated above its boiling point. After the liquid
is leaving the evaporator and heading towards the compressor there should not be any hint of
liquid present in the vapor.  A tiny amount of liquid can damage the compressor.

WHAT IS SUBCOOLING

Subcooling is a process where a liquid cooled down below its condensing temperature (The
temperature at which vapor turns in to liquid). Suppose a refrigerant is cooled and turned in
to liquid but the cooling will not stop. I will be continued to cool. Without subcooling, the
refrigerant flow will not continue and it will not head towards the expansion device.
Process 7-1: Evaporation of the liquefied refrigerant (coming from the condenser) taking
place at a constant temperature. The process is isothermal. (T1 = T7)

Process 1-2: The vapor coming from the evaporator is superheated and gains the temperature
T2 from T1 at constant pressure PL. The process is isobaric.

Process 2-3 The superheated working fluid is compressed. Pressure rises from  PL  to PH

And the temperature rises from T2 to T3

Process 3-4 The superheated vapor is cooled to the saturated temp T3.

Process 4-5  Isothermal condensation of the saturated vapor at high-pressure PH. and T4=T5

Process 5-6  The liquid refrigerant is subcooled to the temperature T6 from T5 at high-
pressure PH.

Process 6-7 The expansion of the refrigerant takes place at constant enthalpy.
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Cengel and Boles, 2002, Yunus A., Boles, Michael A. (2002). Thermodynamics: an Engineering
Approach. New York: NY: McGraw-Hill.
Chiriac, Florea; &Chiriac, Victor (2005). An alternative Method for the Cooling of Power
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Heydari, Ali. (2002). Miniature Vapor Compression Refrigeration System for Active Cooling of High
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Moran, Mathew E. (2001). Micro-Scale Avionics Thermal Management. 34th International
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