SP23 ME – 326 HVAC

Reversed Carnot & Vapor Compression

Refrigeration Cycle Part-I

Instructor: Dr. Waqas Khalid

Email: waqaskhalid@smme.nust.edu.pk
 Various Refrigeration Cycles/Systems

➢ The Reversed Carnot Cycle

➢ Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Cycle
o Ideal
o Actual
➢ Modified Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Systems
(Multi-pressure Systems)
o Multi-compression systems
o Multi-evaporator systems
o Cascade systems
➢ Gas Refrigeration Cycles
➢ Absorption Refrigeration Systems

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 Basic Refrigeration Cycle
Principal Components
Low P High P
Low T Med T

Low P High P
Med T High T

Evaporator

Condenser

Learn more: Compressor Expansion Valve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NwxMyqUyJw
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Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Components Layout

10-Feb-23
Refrigeration & Air Conditioning M.Umer Energy.org 4
 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Main Types of HVAC System
Central Unit System:
• It provides the most even cooling throughout the home.
• Its quiet, convenient to operate and more efficient than window units.
• Expensive to install

Room Unit System:

• A room unit can provide cooling to select spaces at an affordable cost.
• Inexpensive way to cool a room
• Improper installation can result in significant air leakage

Split Unit System:

• It can provide cooling as well as heating.
• Highly efficient, work in all climate zones
• Easy to install and avoids energy loss associated with ductwork.
• Expensive

Evaporative Unit System:

• Favored in an arid climate as the dry air passes through the wet pads.
• a cost-effective cooling option.
• Requires more frequent maintenance and is only suitable for areas with low
humidity.

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 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps

• The transfer of heat from a low-temperature Summer Winter

region to a high temperature requires special
devices called refrigerators/heat pumps.
• Refrigerators and heat pumps are essentially
the same devices; they differ in their
objectives only.
• In summers, we need cooling effect at a
desired location and the device operates as a
Refrigerator Fig (a).
• In winters, however, we desire to keep
ourselves warm, and the device operates as a
Heat Pump Fig (b).

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 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Performance Parameters
Coefficient of performance (COP) Summer Winter
• The coefficient of performance or COP of a heat
pump, refrigerator or air conditioning system is a ratio
of useful heating or cooling provided to work required.
• Higher COPs equate to lower operating costs.
• Thus for Refrigerator and Heat Pump, the COP is
defined as:

• Notice that both COPR and COPHP can be greater

than 1.
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝐻𝑃 = 𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑅 + 1 for fixed values of QL and QH
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 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Performance Parameters
Energy Efficiency ratio (EER)
• A room Air Conditioner's Efficiency is measured by the Energy Efficiency Ratio
(EER).
• EER is the ratio of output cooling energy (in BTU) to input electrical energy (in
watts) at a given operating point.
• The higher the EER rating, the more efficient the air conditioner.
• Mostly EER value is used for cooling purposes, its unit is Btu/Wh.
• EER is normally calculated with a 95 °F (35°C) outside temperature and an inside
(return air) temperature of 80 °F (26.7°C) and 50% relative humidity.
• Generally, an EER of 12 or above is considered energy efficient.
• However, when comparing two models, the one with the higher EER is more
energy efficient regardless of whether or not it is above 12.
• Some of the best devices can even reach more than 12 EER.
• The best mini split air conditioners have an extremely high 12+ EER rating.

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 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Performance Parameters
Energy Efficiency ratio (EER)
• Consider that 1 Wh = 3.412 Btu
• It means a device with COP = 1 removes 1
kWh of heat from the cooled space for each
kWh of electricity it consumes.
• Thus it will have an EER of 3.412.
• Therefore, the relation between EER and
COP is:
𝐸𝐸𝑅 = 3.412 𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑅 Theoretical EER
• Classification of energy consumption of
heating and cooling devices is determined
by COP and EER values.
• If the working conditions in practice are
continuously variable, COP and EER
constantly change in the values.
Source: https://learnmetrics.com/eer-rating/
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Energy efficiency ratio (EER) is used in the USA, and is defined as the system output
in Btu/h per watt of electrical energy. Coefficient of performance (COP) is the
equivalent measure using SI units, which is widely used in the UK. A COP of 1.0
equates to an EER of 3.4.

EER is mostly used for room air conditioners.

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 Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
Units of Refrigeration
• The Cooling Capacity of a refrigeration system - that is, the rate of heat
removal from the refrigerated space - is often expressed in terms of Tons of
Refrigeration (TR).

• 1 ton of refrigeration is the rate of heat removal required to freeze a metric ton
(1000 kg) of water at 0°C in 24 hours.

• Based on the heat of fusion being 333.55 kJ/kg:

• 1 ton of refrigeration = 13,898 kJ/h = 3.861 kW or 12,000 Btu/hr.
Estimation of a Room Cooling Load:
1. Find room’s square footage = length × width
2. Cooling load in BTU = square footage × 20
Note: US ton (907 kg)
Resulting 1 ton of refrigeration = 3.5 kW
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 The Carnot Cycle
Carnot and Reversed Carnot Cycles: Comparison

Carnot Cycle Reversed Carnot Cycle

Four reversible processes Four reversible processes

1-2 Isothermal Expansion 1-2 Isentropic Expansion
2-3 Isentropic Expansion 2-3 Isothermal Expansion
3-4 Isothermal Compression 3-4 Isentropic Compression
4-1 Isentropic Compression 4-1 Isothermal Compression

Note: Reversing the cycle does also reverse the directions of any heat and work
interactions.
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Carnot Efficiency

• Consider the Carnot Cycle shown that operates

using an ideal gas.
• The heat transfer for each of the four processes is as
follows:

• Hence the thermal efficiency

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 Carnot Efficiency

Note that during reversible-adiabatic processes (2 – 3)

and (4 – 1) on Ideal Gas:
and also

Thus we observe that:

Also note that:

Hence the Carnot Efficiency

can also be expressed as:

TL
th ,rev = 1−
TH

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