See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/289910132

DEFROSTING Industrial Refrigeration Evaporators

Article  in  Ashrae Journal · August 2009

CITATIONS READS

2 11,210

2 authors, including:

Douglas T. Reindl
University of Wisconsin–Madison
92 PUBLICATIONS   2,506 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

HVAC Optimization View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Douglas T. Reindl on 09 December 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

This article was published in ASHRAE Journal, August 2009. Copyright 2009 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, Inc. Posted at www.ashrae.org. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper form without permission
of ASHRAE. For more information about ASHRAE Journal, visit www.ashrae.org.

Defrosting
Industrial  Refrigeration  Evaporators
By Douglas T. Reindl, Ph.D, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE; and Todd B. Jekel, Ph.D., P.E., Member ASHRAE

T
terrupting the coil’s normal cooling mode
 his article discusses techniques for removing accumulated frost on air-
operation to allow warming of its surfaces
to melt accumulated frost.
cooling evaporators in industrial refrigeration applications. Although we
Electric defrost uses resistance heating
review alternative approaches to defrosting coils, our primary focus is on the use elements interlaced throughout the coil
to warm the coil surfaces sufficiently to
of hot-gas for defrost, including valve group arrangements and their sequences melt accumulated frost. For evaporators
operating in spaces with air temperatures
of operation. Due to past incidents, particular emphasis is placed on valve group above freezing (e.g., a cooler or dock area
maintained at 38°F [3.3°C]), an off-cycle
designs that offer enhanced plant safety. The article concludes with a discussion defrost can be accomplished by shutting
off the refrigerant feed for an extended
of the parasitic energy effects associated with the defrost process with an eye period of time while continuing to oper-
ate the fans. The heat from the relatively
toward using this information to enhance the energy performance of defrosting. warmer room air heat melts the accumu-
lated frost on the unit. A secondary fluid
The accumulation of frost on forced- use of a defrost process. There are a defrost relies on the use of a separate fluid
circulation air coolers1 or air-cooling number of alternative means available circuit within the evaporator. In this case,
evaporators leads to a continual decrease for defrosting coils including: electric,
in cooling capability; thereby, requiring off-cycle, secondary fluid, water, hot-gas, About the Authors
the periodic removal of accumulated frost and continuous defrost through the use Douglas T. Reindl, Ph.D., P.E., is a professor
and director and Todd B. Jekel, Ph.D., P.E., is
to avoid a complete loss of refrigeration of sprayed liquid desiccants. With the assistant director at the University of Wisconsin-
capacity. The removal of frost from an exception of the liquid desiccant option, Madison’s Industrial Refrigeration Consortium in
evaporator is accomplished through the all of these defrost strategies require in- Madison, Wis.

30 ASHRAE Journal a s h r a e . o r g August 2009

 Defrost
Applications Advantages Disadvantages
Approach
Increased safety risks due to hydraulic ham-
mering from condensation-induced shock
Able to achieve effective defrost. and vapor-propelled liquid slugs if defrost
Widely used in most Uses lower grade of energy (waste sequences are not properly managed and
industrial and some heat from the refrigeration system). proper piping practices not implemented.
Hot-Gas
commercial refrigeration Can be effective at scavenging and Extremely high working pressures required
systems (direct refrigerant). returning oil that may have for some refrigerants such as CO2.
accumulated in an evaporator. Can lead to increased parasitic energy con-
sumption with improper valve group design
and poorly adjusted defrost sequence times.

Used in some commercial Poor use of high grade primary

refrigeration systems and in
industrial refrigeration systems
Electric
where CO2 is used as a cascade
refrigerant or secondary loop
phase change fluid.
Used in industrial and
commercial refrigeration systems
Off-Cycle for spaces operating above
freezing point (typically >38°F
[3.3°C]).
Decreased risk of damage from events
energy (electricity).
such as hydraulic hammer.
High maintenance due to frequent failure of
Minimizes parasitic load.
resistance heating elements.
Avoid extreme refrigerant-side
Not effective at removing oil accumulation
pressure (CO2 refrigerants).
from evaporators.
Efficient means of defrost. Not relevant in applications where space
Simple implementation. temperatures are below freezing.
Inherently safe. Not effective at removing oil accumulation
Lower capital and maintenance costs. from evaporators.

Difficult to apply for “defrost on the fly”

Found in some lower-temperature
refrigeration systems. This form
Water of defrost can also be inte-
grated into the normal sanitation
operations.
An alternative to electric defrost
Secondary
in CO2 cascade and secondary
Fluid (Indirect)
phase change systems.
Applies heat directly to the
accumulated frost.
The defrost process can be integrated
into a normal sanitation cycle.
Able to achieve fast defrost.
Efficient means of defrost.
Conceptually simple.
Avoids risks of hydraulic hammering
on refrigerant-side of coil.
(freeze) if the secondary fluid concentration
during operation for low temperature
applications.
Not effective at removing oil accumulation
from evaporators.
Increases plant water use.
Additional secondary fluid system and
circuiting, which makes the coil larger,
heavier, and more costly.
Not effective at removing oil accumulation
from evaporators.
Secondary fluid circuit in the coil can fail
is not properly maintained.

Table 1: Advantages and disadvantages of various defrost alternatives.

a warm secondary fluid is circulated through the defrost coil to
raise the evaporator’s surface temperature and melt accumulated
frost. Water can also be used for defrosting evaporators. With
water defrost, the refrigerant feed to the coil is interrupted and
water is sprayed directly on the external surfaces of the coil to
melt the frost.
A hot-gas defrost process redirects a portion of the high pres-
sure discharge gas from the outlet of high stage compressors
to the evaporator and a heating circuit embedded in its defrost
condensate drain pan. As the high pressure gas flows to the
unit, it desuperheats and condenses giving up both sensible
and latent heat of condensation as it warms the surfaces of the
evaporator and the drain pan. The warm evaporator coil causes
the accumulated frost to melt and the warm drain pan permits
the water to drain out of the unit without refreezing. The liquid
refrigerant condensed during the defrost process is returned to
a protected lower suction pressure through a re-seating pres-
sure relief regulator. This pressure of the regulator is set in the
range of 70 to 90 psig (4.8 to 6.2 bar), which corresponds to a
refrigerant saturation (condensing) temperature of 47°F to 58°F
(8°C to 14°C). For industrial refrigeration systems, hot-gas is
the most widely used technique for defrost.
Although there are other defrost techniques such as the use
of a warm liquid refrigerant, these do not find widespread use
in industrial systems so their coverage is not included here. Ad-
vantages and disadvantages of the above-mentioned industrial
refrigeration system defrost strategies are highlighted in Table 1.
Because of its widespread use in industrial refrigeration
systems, our focus in this article is on the use of hot-gas for
coil defrosting. Let’s first look at the steps involved in a typical
defrost sequence. Then, we explore energy considerations as-
sociated with the entire cooling and defrost processes.
Defrost Sequence of Control
Due to its simplicity, a time clock is the most common method
used to initiate and terminate the defrosting of individual units.
With a time clock, a defrost sequence is initiated a prescribed
fixed intervals in time. In attempts to improve the efficiency of

August 2009 ASHRAE Journal 31

plants, some practitioners have explored [Closed] Bleed Hand
Solenoid Suction Stop Pilot
alternative methods to determine when Valve
Solenoid [Closed]
Plot Pressure Mode Valve(s) Position
a particular unit requires defrost includ- Regulator
Suction Stop Valve Open
ing: timers that accumulate liquid feed Suction Stop
Pilot Solenoid Closed
solenoid open time, frost sensors, air Suction Stop Valve [Open]
Wet Suction Return Bleed Solenoid Closed
pressure drop sensors, and others. The Pump
Liquid Feed Solenoid Out Liquid Feed
[Closed] Solenoid
Closed
accumulated liquid feed solenoid open
Pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Closed
time can be effective since it is somewhat Soft-Gas Solenoid Liquid Supply Hot-Gas Solenoid
[Closed] Closed
adaptive to the coil’s load (sensible and Hot-Gas Solenoid [Evaporator Fans – On ]
[Closed]
latent). The other sensors mentioned pre-
Regulated Hot Gas
viously have not proven suitably robust to
find significant penetration in industrial Defrost Return (Medium Pressure)
applications. Once it has been determined s
Fan
that a coil requires defrosting, a control Defrost Condensate t or
p ora
sequence is triggered to initiate and com- Defrost Relief Recirculated Liquid/ Eva
Regulator Vapor Return
plete several steps in a defrost sequence.
n]
The following individual steps are typi- Recirculated Liquid Supply [O
n
cal of the sequences used for defrosting Defrost Hot-Gas Supply Pa
forced air circulation evaporators.
Figure 1: Valve positions and fan operation during pump-out for a typical liquid overfed coil.
Step 1: Pump-Out
The pump-out period is used to prepare the coil for receiving the coil as possible prior to supplying hot-gas to the coil. By
hot-gas. The purpose of the pump-out period is to evaporate as removing residual liquid refrigerant, the hot-gas will more
much of the residual cold liquid refrigerant contained within quickly and effectively warm the coil to melt accumulated frost.

www.info.hotims.com/25207-34
32 A S H R A E J o u r n a l August 2009
www.info.hotims.com/25207-6
 The pump-out period begins by de- 30
energizing (closing) the evaporator’s
liquid feed solenoid valve while the
25
suction stop valve remains open, and the
unit’s fans operate as shown in Figure

Evaporator Capacity (ton)

1. Heat from the fan motors and room 20
(or product) causes the residual liquid
refrigerant within the coil to evaporate
with the refrigerant vapor returning to 05

the engine room via the wet suction

return (also referred to as recirculated 10
suction).
The amount of time scheduled for
pump-out varies from an extremely 5
short duration, more typical for gravity
flooded recirculation and direct-expan-
0
sion unit designs (zero to five minutes), 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Pump-Out Dwell Time (min)
to a longer period for liquid overfed unit
designs (10 to 15 minutes 2). A short Figure 2: Coil capacity decrease during pump-out.6
pump-out period for a gravity flooded
evaporator is made possible because the low refrigerant-side design requires a short pump-out period because its normal
pressure drop of the coil allows any residual liquid refrigerant liquid refrigerant inventory within the unit during cooling
(and liquid condensate) to be readily cleared when hot-gas mode operation is low. Liquid overfed coil designs require
is supplied to the coil for defrost. The direct-expansion coil a longer pump-out period due to a combination of effects.

www.info.hotims.com/25207-35
34 A S H R A E J o u r n a l August 2009
First, the liquid refrigerant inventory [Closed] Bleed Hand
within the coil is higher compared to Solenoid Valve Suction Stop Pilot
Solenoid [Open]
Plot Pressure Mode Valve(s) Position
a direct-expansion evaporator. Second, Regulator
Suction Stop Valve Closed
the refrigerant-side coil pressure drop Suction Stop
Pilot Solenoid
Open
is relatively high due to the presence Suction Stop Valve [Closed]
Wet Suction Return Bleed Solenoid Closed
of button orifices located within each Liquid Feed Solenoid Soft-Gas Liquid Feed
[Closed] Solenoid Closed
circuit on the refrigerant feed-side of the
Pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Open
coil (typical for mechanically pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Liquid Supply Hot-Gas Solenoid
[Open] Closed
overfed designs). Hot-Gas Solenoid [Evaporator Fans – Off ]
[Closed]
Because a longer pump-out period is
Regulated Hot Gas
required for overfed coil designs, it is
natural to ask “how long of a pump-out Defrost Return (Medium Pressure)
period is sufficient?” The pump-out s
Fan
period should be long enough to evapo- Defrost Condensate
r a tor
po
rate the majority of residual liquid in Defrost Relief Recirculated Liquid/ Eva
Regulator Vapor Return
the coil but not too long that parasitic
Recirculated Liquid Supply ff ]
heat load effects to the space become [O
P an
significant. The parasitic heat load ef- Defrost Hot-Gas Supply
fects during pump-out arise because the
supply of liquid refrigerant to the coil Figure 3: Valve positions and fan operation during soft-gas period for typical liquid overfed coil.
has been interrupted; the evaporator’s
fans continue to run; it is heat from [Closed] Bleed Hand Suction Stop Pilot
Solenoid Valve
the fans that are a parasitic space load. Solenoid [Open]
Plot Pressure Mode Valve(s) Position
In addition, longer pump-out periods Regulator
Suction Stop Valve Closed
extend the time the unit is unavailable Suction Stop
Pilot Solenoid
Open
to meet space loads. Suction Stop Valve [Closed]
Wet Suction Return Bleed Solenoid Closed
Aljuwayhel, et al.,3 reported exten- Liquid Feed Solenoid Hot Gas Liquid Feed
[Closed]
Solenoid Closed
sive data collected on a field-installed Pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Closed
evaporator unit located in a penthouse Soft-Gas Solenoid Liquid Supply
[Closed] Hot-Gas Solenoid Open
for a low temperature holding freezer. Hot-Gas Solenoid [Evaporator Fans – Off   ]
[Open]
The coil in this particular unit has a
Regulated Hot Gas
rated capacity of 37 tons (130 kWt) with
five fans that deliver 60,000 cfm (102 Defrost Return (Medium Pressure)
000 m3/h) of air during cooling mode s
Fan
operation, but that result in approxi- Defrost Condensate a t or
r
po
mately 5 tons (17.6 kWt) of parasitic Defrost Relief Recirculated Liquid/ Eva
Regulator Vapor Return
heat load during fan operation. Data
ff ]
were collected on the unit’s refrigera- Recirculated Liquid Supply [O
n
tion capacity during the pump-out pe- Defrost Hot-Gas Supply Pa

riod and the unit’s decrease in capacity

over five separate pump-out cycles is Figure 4: Valve positions and fan operation during hot-gas period for typical liquid overfed coil.
shown in Figure 2. At the end of the 20
minute pump-out period, the coil’s capacity has decreased Step 2: Soft-Gas
to a level approaching a break-even capacity to just meet The use of a soft-gas step in the defrost sequence is recom-
the fan heat gain. mended for evaporator coils with 15 tons (53 kWt) of capacity
A pump-out period longer than 20 minutes is usually not or greater.2,4,5 The soft-gas period of the defrost sequence
required. Shorter pump-out periods should be validated by begins by shutting off the evaporator fans and energizing the
observing the frost melt pattern on the coil during the hot-gas pilot solenoid for the suction stop valve. The pilot solenoid
supply period of the defrost sequence. Assuming the coil is applies hot-gas pressure to the top of the suction stop valve’s
top-fed with hot-gas (typical), an adequate pump-out period is piston, forcing this normally open valve closed.
likely established when the bottom rows of the coil completely With the coil now isolated from the system’s suction pressure,
release their frost during the hot-gas dwell period and when no a small ported (e.g., 0.5 in. [13 mm]) soft-gas solenoid valve is
audible effects of hydraulic hammering are observed on the coil opened to allow a low flow rate of hot-gas into the coil—usu-
and its connected piping during the early part of the hot-gas ally after flowing first through the drain pan warming circuit;
supply period. slowly raising the pressure of refrigerant in the coil. The soft-

August 2009 ASHRAE Journal 35

gas cycle is intended to reduce the risk of Cooling Interval 24 Hours Cooling Interval 48 Hours
hydraulic hammer that can occur on the 40 No Frost (Experiment Data – 6.5 min) No Frost (Experiment Data – 10.5 min)
coil or connected piping by reducing the 35 No Frost (Model Prediction – 6.0 min) No Frost (Model Prediction – 10.8 min)
pressure difference between the coil and 30 Run #224h Run #448h
Run #324h Run #548h
the hot-gas main. The reduced pressure 25

Penthouse Air Temperature (°C)

difference will decrease the rapid in-rush 20
of hot-gas when the larger main hot-gas 15

solenoid opens. Briley5 recommends siz- 10

5
ing the soft-gas solenoid at 20% to 25%
0
of the main hot-gas solenoid valve.
–5
Figure 3 shows the valve positions and –10
the evaporator fan state during the soft- –15
gas period. The the soft gas dwell time is –20
generally set to last for a period ranging –25
Hot-Gas Dwell = 40 min Bleed
from five to 10 minutes.4 Soft-gas dwell –30 10 min
periods up to 20 minutes may be required –35
for larger liquid overfed evaporators or in –40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
applications having large operating pres- Time (min)

sure differences between the hot-gas main Figure 5: Measured and predicted average penthouse air temperatures during hot-gas
and the evaporator. The soft-gas dwell defrost and bleed periods.6
time period should be field-adjusted
to raise the evaporator pressure to ap- [Open] Bleed Hand Suction Stop Pilot
Solenoid Valve
proximately 35 to 40 psig (2.4 to 2.8 Solenoid [Open]
Plot Pressure Mode Valve(s) Position
bar) before moving to the next mode in Regulator
Suction Stop Valve Closed
the sequence of defrost operation. Not Suction Stop
Pilot Solenoid Open
all evaporators have a soft-gas solenoid. Suction Stop Valve [Closed] Wet Suction Return
Bleed Solenoid Open
While it is beneficial for all evaporators, Liquid Feed Solenoid Bleed Liquid Feed
[Closed] Solenoid Closed
it is more common on larger capacity, Pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Closed
low-temperature evaporators. Soft-Gas Solenoid Liquid Supply
[Closed] Hot-Gas Solenoid Closed
Hot-Gas Solenoid [Evaporator Fans – Off  ]
Step 3: Hot-Gas [Closed]
Regulated Hot Gas
Thus far, the individual segments of
the defrost sequence have focused on Defrost Return (Medium Pressure)

preparing the coil to receive hot-gas s

Fan
to melt the accumulated frost. In this Defrost Condensate a t or
r
po
portion of the defrost sequence, the Defrost Relief Recirculated Liquid/ Eva
Regulator Vapor Return
larger hot-gas solenoid opens to deliver ff]
Recirculated Liquid Supply [O
hot-gas first through the coil’s drain pan n
Defrost Hot-Gas Supply Pa
and then the evaporator coil, as shown
in Figure 4. During the hot-gas supply
period, the smaller soft-gas solenoid can Figure 6:Valve positions and fan operation during the bleed period for a typical liquid overfed coil.
either remain open or closed since the
majority of gas flow will occur through the main hot-gas valve. ally 70 to 90 psig (4.8 to 6.2 barg) (equivalent to a saturation
As high-pressure superheated refrigerant vapor flows first temperature of 47°F to 58°F [8°C to 14°C] for ammonia). The
through the piping in the drain pan circuit and then into the coil, defrost relief regulator will modulate to maintain the evapora-
the high-pressure vapor condenses as it gives up its latent heat tor at the regulator’s pressure setting and it will fully reseat at
to warm both the drain pan and the evaporator coil surfaces. the conclusion of the hot-gas dwell period. A check valve is
A warm drain pan will help prevent re-freezing of the water required on the outlet of the defrost relief regulator when the
draining from the coil to the pan. As the coil surfaces warm, the defrost condensate return is piped to a suction pressure higher
accumulated layer of frost will begin to melt—flowing by grav- than the evaporator’s normal operating pressure.
ity down the coil and into the drain pan before leaving the unit How long should the hot-gas supply period be set? The dwell
through a defrost condensate drain line. The condensed liquid period of the hot-gas supply must be sufficient to allow all the
refrigerant is directed from the coil to a lower pressure level in accumulated frost on the coil to melt but not excessive to avoid
the plant through a defrost relief regulating valve. The defrost creating a parasitic heat load external (to the space) and internal (to
relief regulator is factory set at a user-specified pressure—usu- the refrigeration system) by returning uncondensed hot-gas back to

36 ASHRAE Journal a s h r a e . o r g August 2009

 KEEP GROWING
YOUR LEED ACCREDITATION
SETS THE COURSE FOR
TRANSFORMING YOUR PRACTICE.

www.gbci.org

www.info.hotims.com/25207-39
suction through the defrost relief regulator. [Open] Bleed Hand
Solenoid Suction Stop Pilot
Aljuwayhel6 collected data on a penthouse- Valve
Solenoid [Closed]
Plot Pressure Mode Valve(s) Position
mounted evaporator during both cooling Regulator
Suction Stop Valve Open
mode and defrost mode of operation. For Suction Stop
Pilot Solenoid Closed
the evaporator defrost control as-found, the Suction Stop Valve [Open]
Wet Suction Return Bleed Solenoid Open
hot-gas dwell period was 40 minutes. Liquid Feed Solenoid Re-Chill
Liquid Feed
[Open] Solenoid Open
Figure 5 shows model-predicted and
Pumped Soft-Gas Solenoid Closed
field-measured average air temperatures Soft-Gas Solenoid Liquid Supply
[Closed] Hot-Gas Solenoid Closed
within the penthouse during the hot-gas Hot-Gas Solenoid [Evaporator Fans – Off  ]
and subsequent bleed periods of the [Closed]
Regulated Hot Gas
defrost sequence for two cases. The first
case allowed the evaporator to operate Defrost Return (Medium Pressure)
for 24 hours before initiating a defrost s
Fan
cycle. Once hot gas flowed to the coil, Defrost Condensate t or
p ora
all the frost had melted in a period of Defrost Relief Recirculated Liquid/ Eva
less than seven minutes. The second case Regulator Vapor Return
allowed the evaporator to operate for 48 ff ]
Recirculated Liquid Supply [O
n
hours before initiating a defrost cycle. Defrost Hot-Gas Supply Pa
In this situation, the coil was completely
cleared of accumulated frost in less than Figure 7: Valve positions and fan operation during re-chill period for typical liquid overfed coil.
11 minutes during the hot-gas supply.
This suggested that a 40 minute hot-gas A
dwell period was excessive.
Within 15 minutes of the main hot-gas D

valve opening, the average penthouse air Coil Initial

temperature reached a balmy 68°F (20°C) Condition B
(No Frost)
and that temperature was maintained for
Coil Capacity
25 of the 40 minutes, which suggests that Decreases As Frost
Evaporator Capacity

the continued supply of hot-gas to the coil Continues to Form

was not resulting in the full condensing of
Coil Capacity Drops Rapidly as Refrigerant
the refrigerant vapor. Rather, a significant Flow is Stopped and the “Pump Out” Process
portion of the hot-gas was flowing back to Proceeds, Preparing the Coil for Defrost
suction and creating a parasitic load (in-
Time
ternal) on the compressors. The parasitic
effect of excessive hot-gas dwell periods Parasitic Energy is Attributed to Warming
the Coil Mass and Both Sensible and Latent Coil Transitions from a
presents an opportunity for improving the Losses to the Space Temperature Warmer Than the
system’s energy efficiency by simply re- Space to a Temperature Cooler
ducing the scheduled hot-gas dwell period. Than the Space, So Useful
C Refrigeration is Now Restored
Hot-Gas Defrost Terminates and Coil Begins to Cool Down
Step 4: Bleed
At the conclusion of the hot-gas dwell Figure 8: An illustration of the time-dependent energy flows for cooling mode and defrost
period, a bleed or equalize sequence is mode of operation (note: this graphic is not to scale in either capacity or time).9
initiated. During the bleed period, the
hot-gas solenoid valve (and soft-gas solenoid if open) is closed for hydraulic hammering to the coil and the connected suction
and a small bleed solenoid valve opens to slowly depressurize piping. The bleed period also prevents rapid swings in suction
the coil by relieving the pressure in the coil back to suction. The pressure and compressor loading that would normally result as
bleed solenoid valve is typically three to four sizes smaller than the engine room responds to maintain a constant suction pres-
the main suction stop valve but not less than 0.5 in. (13 mm).7 sure. The duration of the bleed period is installation-dependent
An optional hand valve in the bleed line can be used to field and should be adjusted so no audible hammering occurs and the
adjust the rate of coil depressurization as shown in Figure 6. time is sufficient to decrease the coil pressure to within 5 to 10
The bleed period is necessary, particularly on large coils psid (0.3 to 0.6 bar) of the normal cooling mode evaporator pres-
(with coil volumes greater than 8 ft3 (0.23 m3) or suction pip- sure.4 Generally, the bleed period will last five to 10 minutes.
ing greater than 2½ in. (65 mm),2 to prevent what would be a At the conclusion of the bleed period, the suction stop pilot
very rapid depressurization of the coil when the suction stop solenoid is de-energized allowing the main valve to open. As
valve opens. Rapid coil depressurization increases the potential configured in the evaporator schematics, the pilot pressure

38 ASHRAE Journal a s h r a e . o r g August 2009

regulator located in a branch line taken from the
Defrost Number
suction side of the coil will hold the main suction 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09
100
stop valve for the coil closed until the set pres-
sure of the pilot regulator is reached. This pilot 98
96

Overall System Efficiency (%)

regulator should be set to a pressure difference no
greater than 10 psid (0.6 bar). The addition of this RH = 80%
94
valve (and other valve designs that provide simi- 92
lar function) is a critical safety measure to avoid RH = 85%
90
hydraulic hammer that is likely to occur from a
88
rapid opening of the suction stop valve when the
coil is under pressure. It is important to note that 86
RH = 90%
Maximum System Efficiency
if the bleed period is too short, the coil pressure 84
will remain high and the suction stop valve will 82
continue to be held closed by the pilot pressure 80
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 375 300 325 350
regulator bleeding pressure from the coil to the top Total Mass of Condensed Water (kg)
of the suction stop valve’s piston. If the suction
stop valve does not open, it becomes impossible Figure 9: Net cooling optimization results.6
to prepare the coil for re-chilling.
At first glance, it appears that this regulator is redundant capacity by removing the accumulated frost. This fact raises the
since the bleed solenoid provides the slow depressurization of question: What is the appropriate balance between tolerating the
the coil to within 10 psid (0.6 bar) or less of normal evaporator capacity loss for accumulated frost and the parasitic load effects
pressure. This is true under normal circumstances; however, the attributable to the defrost cycle? Figure 8 is an illustration of
rapid opening of the suction stop valve will occur if the coil is the time-dependent energy flows associated with the operation
in the hot-gas dwell period and a power outage occurs causing of a forced air circulation evaporator for both cooling mode and
all solenoids to go to their normal positions. In this situation, defrost mode operation. The operation of the coil from Point A
the suction stop pilot solenoid (which is holding the suction stop to B is reflective of the diminishing cooling capacity of the unit
valve closed by pressurizing the top of the valve’s piston) will due to frosting during normal cooling mode operation. At Point
close; allowing the suction stop valve to rapidly open as it returns B the pump-out period begins, and the unit’s capacity drops
to its normal position. The net result is an increased likelihood rapidly as the coil is starved and the residual refrigerant within
of hydraulic hammering with the risk of failure of the evaporator the coil is removed by evaporation. Following the pump-out
or connected piping. period, the coil’s capacity actually becomes negative (it is heat-
ing rather than cooling) as hot-gas is supplied to warm the coil
Step 5: Re-Chill and melt accumulated frost. After the hot-gas flow is terminated
Once the coil is depressurized and the suction stop valve open, (Point C), the coil will gradually cool down during re-chill until
the unit is ready to return to refrigeration mode. In the re-chill it reaches the point at which it can begin normal cooling mode
mode, the liquid feed solenoid is opened to allow cold liquid operation (Point D).
refrigerant to flow into the coil. Early in the re-chill period, the The concept of net cooling optimization introduced by Alju-
cold liquid supply will more rapidly evaporate as it absorbs heat wayhel aims to maximize the integrated heat removal capability
from the coil mass as it reduces the coil temperature. The fans of the evaporator during an entire operational cycle: cooling
on the unit will usually remain off. Some plants short-cycle (i.e., mode to defrost and back to cooling mode. This integrated heat
bump) the fans on and off to allow any remaining water on the removal capacity is represented by the blue shaded region in
external surfaces of the coil to re-freeze while preventing the Figure 8. A part of maximizing the heat removal capability of
carryover of liquid water into the space that would normally an evaporator involves minimizing the parasitic effects of the
occur if the fans were allowed to run at their full flow. Figure defrost sequence. The red hatched area above the operating
7 shows the valve positions during the re-chill period, which capacity line represents the integrated cooling deficit below
generally lasts three to five minutes. the coil’s rated capacity due to both frost accumulation and
Now that we have discussed the sequences of operation as- that the coil is unavailable during the defrost sequence. The
sociated with initiating defrost of an air-cooling evaporator, let’s red shaded portion of the illustration below the line of zero coil
look at the energy consequences of this process. capacity represents the parasitic effects of the coil heating the
space during the hot-gas dwell period. Aljuwayhel6 explored
Energy Impacts and Net Cooling Optimization the prospect of optimizing the entire cooling and defrost mode
As discussed in the article on coil frosting,8 the accumulation operation, i.e., maximizing the blue-shaded portion under the
of frost on a coil progressively decreases its cooling capacity; cooling curve shown in Figure 8.
necessitating a defrost cycle. The defrost cycle is a source of To nondimensionally characterize the frost loading of a coil,
efficiency loss to the system but necessary to restore the coil’s Aljuwayhel defined a dimensionless defrost number as:

August 2009 ASHRAE Journal 39

 Vcondensate (1)
Defrost number = [–] representative volume before initiating a defrost sequence. As an
Amin × Ld
where Vcondensate (ft3 or m3) represents the volume of water con-
densate produced at the conclusion of a defrost cycle, Amin (ft2 or
m2) represents the minimum area available for air to flow through
the coil (coil face area minus the fin face area and the tube projected
area of all circuits for a single row) and Ld (ft or m) represents
the depth of the coil in the direction of airflow. Aljuwayhel found
that a defrost number of 0.03 yielded a maximum in net cooling
capacity. Figure 9 shows the net cooling optimization results using
overall system efficiency as a figure of merit over a range of space
latent loads represented by the three separate curves indicating the
space relative humidity (RH) ranging from 80% to 90%.
Aljuwayhel defines the overall system efficiency as the ratio of
the actual integrated evaporator coil cooling capacity to the ideal
cooling capacity during an entire operational cycle. The actual
integrated evaporator cooling capacity includes the performance
degrading effects of frost accumulation, as well as the defrost
process. The ideal cooling capacity assumes that the coil’s clean
cooling capacity is maintained during the entire cycle. Aljuway-
hel found that the defrost number was a useful figure-of-merit
because it scales the volume of water condensate a coil produced
during defrost to the volume of frost the coil is capable of hold-
ing. The finding of net cooling optimization for a defrost number
of 0.03 translates to a coil accumulating approximately 3% of a
www.info.hotims.com/25207-4
40 A S H R A E J o u r n a l August 2009
example, consider a coil with a face area of 45 ft2 (4.18 m2), three
fins per inch (one fin per 1.1 cm), 7/8 in. (22 mm) OD tubes in the
first row, and a coil depth of 30 in. (0.76 m). A defrost number of
0.03 results in approximately 23 gallons (88 l) of water drained
from the coil. Interestingly, the defrost number was found to be
independent of the coil’s latent load as shown in Figure 9.
Conclusions
In this article, we review the basic sequences of operation for
defrosting forced-air cooling evaporators. The most common defrost
sequence involves five steps including: pump-out, soft-gas, hot-gas,
bleed, and re-chill modes. Some of these steps may be omitted from
defrost sequences based on the coil’s refrigerant feed configuration
or size. A key consideration in field-tuning defrost sequence time
settings is obtaining an effective defrost without audible hammering
of the coil or its connected piping. We also introduced some key
features relating to the function of the suction stop valve to prevent
its rapid opening when there is greater than a 10 psid (or lower)
(0.6 bar) pressure difference between the evaporator and suction.
There is an opportunity to improve the energy performance of
many defrosting evaporators. One of the easiest adjustments to
consider for improving the efficiency of the defrost process is the
adjustment of the hot-gas dwell period. Coils with hot-gas dwell
periods in excess of 15 minutes may be candidates for efficiency
improvement by decreasing the hot-gas dwell period. The concept
of net cooling optimization is introduced. Net cooling optimization
aims to maximize the time-dependent heat extraction capability
of an air-cooling evaporator during both cooling mode operation
and defrost. Aljuwayhel defined a defrost number as an appropri-
ate metric for optimizing the combined cooling mode and defrost
mode operation of an evaporator. A defrost number of 0.03 yielded
optimum performance—independent of the coil’s latent load.
References
1. 2006 ASHRAE Handbook—Refrigeration, Chapter 42.
2. IIAR. 1992. Bulletin 116 Guidelines for: Avoiding Component Fail-
ure in Industrial Refrigeration System Caused by Abnormal Pressure or
Shock, International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration, Arlington, Va.
3. Aljuwayhel, N.F., D.T. Reindl, S.A. Klein, G.F. Nellis. 2008.
“Experimental investigation of the performance of industrial evapora-
tor coils operating under frosting conditions.” International Journal
of Refrigeration 31(1):98 – 106.
4. IIAR. 2000. Ammonia Refrigeration Piping Handbook. Arlington,
Va.: International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration.
5. Briley, G.C. 2004. “Optimizing defrost systems, part 3.” Process
Cooling and Equipment (1).
6. Aljuwayhel, N.F. 2006. “Numerical and Experimental Study of the
Influence of Frost Formation and Defrosting on the Performance of Indus-
trial Evaporator Coils,” Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
7. Hansen. 2006. “Collection of Instructions.” Burr Ridge, Ill.:
Hansen Technologies Coporation. p. 78.
8. Reindl, D.T. and T.B. Jekel. 2009. “Frost on air-cooling evapora-
tors.” ASHRAE Journal 51(2):27 – 33.
9. Aljuwayhel, N.F. 2006. “Optimizing Air-Cooling Evaporators.”
Presented at the IRC Research and Technology Forum, Madison, Wis.
COMMITTED TO PROVIDING
HOT WATER AND STEAM BOILER SOLUTIONS WITH THE
HIGHEST EFFICIENCY AND LOWEST EMISSIONS

Whatever your boiler application, hot water or steam, from

0.5 MMBtu/hr to over 500 MMBtu/hr thermal output, Cleaver-Brooks
offers one source responsibility. Our extensive line of Boilers,
Burners, Controls and Auxiliary Equipment provides you with a
seamless, integrated solution for new or retrofit applications.

Upgrade your commercial, institutional or industrial boiler today with

a C-B Boiler Room Energy Improvement Plan to reduce fuel cost
and lower greenhouse gas emissions.


r

cleaver-brooks.com
www.info.hotims.com/25207-12

View publication stats