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Rani 2017
Rani 2017
zuradzman@unimap.edu.my
Abstract. The main objective of this study is to analyse and design an optimum cooling system
for macro compartment. Current product of the refrigerator is not specified for single function
and not compact in size. Hence, a refrigeration system using refrigerant R134a is aimed to
provide instant cooling in a macro compartment with sizing about 150 × 150 × 250 mm. The
macro compartment is purposely designed to fit a bottle or drink can, which is then cooled to a
desired drinking temperature of about 8°C within a period of 1 minute. The study is not only
concerned with analysing of heat load of the macro compartment containing drink can, but also
focused on determining suitable heat exchanger volume for both evaporator and condenser,
calculating compressor displacement value and computing suitable resistance value of the
expansion valve. Method of optimization is used to obtain the best solution of the problem.
Mollier diagram is necessary in the process of developing the refrigeration system. Selection of
blower is made properly to allow air circulation and to increase the flow rate for higher heat
transfer rate. Property data are taken precisely from thermodynamic property tables. As the
main four components, namely condenser, compressor, evaporator and expansion valve are
fully developed, the refrigeration system is complete.
1. Introduction
Due to the warm weather, especially in Malaysia, it had become a common practice to go for a cold
drink under the hot weather. Thus, cold drinks are preferable by people and the demand for them never
ceases since this is a good way to cool the body temperature down [1]. Therefore, there are people
starting to commercialize them and looking for a better solution to prepare cold drinks in shortest time
either designing new approaches in chilling [2] or developing high efficiency cycle in refrigeration [3].
However, the refrigerator, chiller and freezer available at electrical shops are in standard size, not
having much variation, usually in big size and designed to perform combined tasks. Their volume and
cooling capacity are the reason why those refrigerators are not suitable to provide an immediate
cooling to a size of drink bottle or can for people. For normal cases, once a drink can is placed into the
freezer, the cooling process may take up about 15 to 20 minutes, in order to lower the temperature of
the drink to the desired temperature, which is about 8°C for good tasting [4]. An alternative that
people are still practicing is to go to a nearby shop or vending machine to purchase. However, this is
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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
still inconvenient for consumers to go out only to get a bottle or can of cold drink. At present, there are
some mini fridge available with storage capacity of approximately 0.3 m3 to 0.5 m3 or in other words,
it could store up to 12 bottles or drink cans and able to provide cooling in a few minutes to reach the
desired temperature of cold drink. In this research, developing a macro compartment refrigeration
system of size about of 150 × 150 × 250 mm is concerned, which will be able to cool a single bottle
or drink can in only 1 minute as illustrated in Figure 2.
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
4. Methodology
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
shown in Figure 3, the pressure difference between condenser and evaporator (point 3 and 4), ∆P is
regulated by temperature sensor and pressure sensor in the expansion valve. The expansion device
regulates the mass flow rate of refrigerant and removes pressure from the liquid refrigerant to allow
expansion from liquid to vapour in the evaporator. Table 2 summarizes essential equations that were
utilized during refrigeration system analysis for macro compartment by using refrigerant R134a.
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
Figure 4. Copper coil design at evaporator. Figure 5. Copper tube design at condenser.
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
(a) (b)
Besides of redesigning the evaporator by spring helical shape as illustrated in Figure 8 (d), the
rate of heat transfer also could be improved by adding shaker or rotator mechanism at the platform
where the drink can is placed. An artificial induced convection current circulation is created once the
can is shaken or rotated. This situation will help the drink can to achieve equilibrium heat transfer and
cool the drink can faster at all corners. If this method is proven to be successful, the macro
compartment will take shorter time to cool down the drink bottle or drink can.
The heat load of drink can determines the cooling capacity of the refrigeration system. As
higher heat load is accumulated, higher cooling capacity is required for the refrigeration system to be
designed. The heat load produced by drink bottle or drink can in macro compartment was calculated to
be 62.805 kJ, where the water becomes the reference drink. The mass flow rate of the refrigerant
depends on the cooling capacity and enthalpy difference. By obeying the 1st law of thermodynamic
(law of conservation energy), the mass flow rate of the refrigerant R134a needs to be calculated
precisely since it is kept constant throughout the system. The evaporator coil was designed with spring
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
helical shape to fit the geometry of drink bottle or drink can. The diameter of cooling coil of
evaporator was determined to be 0.07 m with 14 turns and height approximately 0.18 m. The wire
diameter of copper tube used for both evaporator and condenser is 6.35 mm. Meanwhile, the copper
tube used for condenser was designed to be double layers, with 20 turns alternately and a length of
0.11 m for better heat transfer to the outdoor ambient air. Fins were added to allow mix flow of the
heat exchangers for effective heat transfer. The pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of
expansion valve was determined to be 1.0251 MPa. All design parameters of refrigeration system by
using refrigerant R134a for macro compartment are summarized in Table 3.
6. Conclusion
An optimum refrigeration system for macro compartment that fits a single drink bottle or drink can is
possible to be developed in compact approach. The heat load of drink can and cooling capacity of
macro compartment determine the design of the four main components in refrigeration cycle, i.e.,
compressor, condenser, expansion valve and evaporator. The compressor converts the liquid
refrigerant into refrigerant vapour by regulating the refrigerant’s pressure. As heat exchanger,
evaporator and condenser allow heat transfer to occur between refrigerant and air. Thus, a suitable
volume of heat exchanger is important to optimize the efficiency of the heat transfer process. In the
macro compartment, the evaporator coil is designed with spring helical shape to fit the geometry of
drink bottle or drink can. The condenser coil is designed with double layer to maximize the heat
transfer rate to the outdoor ambient air to provide effective cooling to the refrigerant. The expansion
device decreases the pressure of the liquid refrigerant to allow expansion from liquid to vapour in the
evaporator.
7. Acknowledgments
Authors wish to acknowledge School of Mechatronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis for the
lab facilities. Special thanks to those who contributed to this project directly or indirectly.
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ICADME 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1234567890
908 (2017) 012054 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/908/1/012054
8. References
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[3] M. Yang, C. W. Jung, and Y. T. Kang, “Development of high efficiency cycles for domestic
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[5] S. Kasera and S. C. Bhaduri, “Performance of R407C as an Alternate to R22: A Review,”
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Edition. 2015.
[9] HITACHI, Basic knowledge of room air conditioner. HITACHI, 1996.
[10] E. PAPST, “EBM PAPST DC axial fans Series 420 J,” 2014.