2nd law of thermodynamics and

Refrigeration
CONTENTS

• Second Law of Thermodynamics

• Irreversible and Reversible Processes
• Heat Engine, Refrigeration & Heat
Pump
• Kelvin Temperature Scale
• Maximum Thermal Efficiency
• Carnot Cycle
• Absorption Refrigeration
OBJECTIVES
 To recognize the need for the second law of
thermodynamics in real processes.
 Introduction refrigerators and heat pumps
 Discuss how to refrigerators works
 Describe the reversed Carnot cyle in
refrigeration.
 Determine the expressions for the thermal
efficiencies and coefficients of performance
for heat pumps and refrigerators.
 Understand Vapor-compresssion refrigeration
cycle.
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND LAW
• Not every process are consistent with the principle of energy
conservation.
• Processes have a direction of change before reaching
equilibrium.
• An opportunity to develop work exits when there exists an
imbalance between two system. (How much work?)
• Ideal (theoretical) performance of engineering devices can be
identified.
• A development of a temperature scale which is independent
of the substance.
THERMAL RESERVOIR
• Thermal Energy Reservoir or Heat Reservoir - a body with large thermal
energy capacity that can supply or absorb finite amounts of heat
without undergoing any change in temperature.
• Source - a reservoir that supplies energy in the form of heat.
• Sink - a reservoir that absorbs energy in the form of heat
• Heat transfer is the ONLY interaction between the thermal reservoir
and its surroundings.
• The reservoir temperature remains uniform and constant during a
process.
• The heat transfer only results in a change in the internal energy of the
reservoir.
REVERSIBLE AND IRREVERSIBLE
Irreversible Process
A irreversible process is when the system and all parts of its
surroundings cannot be exactly restored to their respective
initial states after the process has occurred.

 Irreversibilities may be found within the system and

within its surroundings.
 Internal irreversibilities – irreversibilities within the
system.
 External irreversibilities – irreversibilities within the
surroundings.
REVERSIBLE AND IRREVERSIBLE
Reversible Process
A reversible process is when the system and all parts of its
surroundings can be exactly restored to their respective initial
states after the process has occurred.

 Reversible process has no internal or external

irreversibilities.
 Internal reversible – no irreversibilities within the
system.
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES
Thermodynamic Cycle
A thermodynamic cycle is defined as a closed system in which fluid
either undergoes a periodic cycle within a single piece of equipment or
passes continuously through a loop of steady-state equipment. In a
periodic cycle, the substance returned to its initial state at regular
intervals. Example: steam power cycle.
STATEMENTS OF THE SECOND LAW
Kelvin-Planck Statement of the Second Law
It is impossible for any system to operate in a
thermodynamic cycle and deliver a net amount of energy
by work to its surroundings while receiving energy by heat
transfer from a single thermal reservoir.

The statement suggests that:

• A cyclic device that produce a net
work output requires the exchange of
energy with a minimum of two thermal
reservoirs at different temperatures.
 HEAT ENGINES
Consider a rotating shaft:

 Mechanical work by shaft is converted

to heat
 BUT, heat transfer to the water will not
rotate the shaft

 UNLESS….. We use….

HEAT ENGINES
HEAT ENGINES
A heat engine – a device that operates in a cycle and produces
net positive work while heat transfer from a high temperature
source.
 Measurement of the performance for a heat engine is
known as the thermal efficiency and is defined as:
Wnet ,out
th 
Qin

Wcycle QH  QC
th  
QH QH
QC
th  1 
QH
STATEMENTS OF THE SECOND LAW
Clausius Statement of the Second Law
It is impossible for any system to operate any device in such
a way that the sole result would be an energy transfer by
heat transfer from a cooler body to a hotter body.

The statement suggests that:

• When heat transfer from a cooler
body to a hotter body occurs, there
must be some other effect within
the system accomplishing the heat
transfer.
REFRIGERATION AND HEAT PUMP
Devices that operate in a cycle and transferring heat from a low-
temperature body to a higher-temperature body.
The operation of the devices requires an input of work (or an
energy input) from another body.
Heat Engine: Steam power plant
Refrigerators and heat pumps
Refrigeration component
Carnot Refrigerator: reversed Carnot
cycle
Refrigeration cycle
Carnot Refrigeration cycle in P-V
diagram
Refrigerator: How does it work
Refrigerator: Coefficient of
performance
 REFRIGERATION AND HEAT PUMP
 Refrigerator – maintain the temperature of a space at a
lower temperature than the temperature of the environment.
 Heat pump – maintain the temperature of a space at a
higher temperature than the temperature of the
environment.
 Measurement of the performance for a refrigerator or a heat
pump is known as the coefficient of performance (COP) and
is defined as:

For a refrigerator For a heat pump

QC QC QH QH
COPR   COPHP  
Wcycle QH  QC Wcycle QH  QC
EXAMPLE
1. A steam power plant produces 50 MW of net work while burning
fuel to produce 150MW of heat energy at the high temperature.
Determine the cycle thermal efficiency and the heat rejected by
the cycle to the surroundings

Wcycle Wcycle = QH - QL
th 
QH QL = QH - Wcycle

50 MW = 150 MW - 50 MW
  0.333  33.3%
150 MW = 100 MW
EXAMPLE
2. A residential heat pump is used to provide heating during the
winter season to maintain a house temperature at 21oC. On a
typical day, the heat transfer to the house is 75 MJ/h when the
outside air temperature is –4oC. The heat pump has a COP of 3.7.
Determine the power required for the heat pump and the heat
transfer rate from the outside air.
QH
COPHP  Wcycle  QH  QL
Wcycle
QH QL  QH  Wcycle
Wcycle 
COPHP
75 MJ / h QL  75  20.27  54.73 MJ / h
Wcycle   20.27 MJ / h
3.7
Heat Pumps
Vapor-Compression Refrigeration cycle
V-C refrigeration cycle (cont’d)
V-C refrigeration cycle (cont’d)
V-C refrigeration cycle (cont’d)
Turbine versus Throttling Device
Turbine versus Throttling Device
V-C refrigeration cycle (cont’d)
V-C refrigeration cycle (cont’d)
Two-stage Cascade Refrigeration
Systems
Comparison
 Liquefaction
An important industrial process is the liquefaction of gases
such as natural gas to produce LNG, propane and
refrigerant gases
 Liquefaction
One way to liquefy a gas is to cool it below its boiling point-
temperature at the desired pressure.
However, this would require refrigeration equipment capable of
producing very low temperature. (a direct liquefaction is not used).

Normally, start with a gas at low pressure, compress it to high pressure

(which increases its temperature since work has been done on it),
Cool this high-temp gas at the constant high pressure and then expand
it to low pressure and low temperature, using a Joule-Thomoson
expansion, which produces a mixture of liquid and vapor.
 Liquefaction
In this way, cooling done at high temperature and pressure so that
low-temp refrigeration is not needed.
The vapor and liquid are than separated in a flash drum (an insulated,
constant-pressure container).
Efficiency of this process = amount of liquefied gas produced for each
unit of work done in the compressor, can be improved upon by better
engineering design.
 Liquefaction
Liquefaction results, when a gas is
cooled to a temperature in to the
two-phase region. This could be
done in several ways;
•By heat exchange at constant P
•An an expansion process
from which work is obtained
•By a throttling process.
 Method of liquefaction of gases
• (i) Linde's method : This process is based upon Joule-Thomson effect which states that
“When a gas is allowed to expand adiabatically from a region of high pressure to a region of
extremely low pressure, it is accompained by cooling.”

• (ii) Claude's method : This process is based upon the principle that when a gas expands
adiabatically against an external pressure (as a piston in an engine), it does some external
work. Since work is done by the molecules at the cost of their kinetic energy, the
temperature of the gas falls causing cooling.

• (4) Uses of liquefied gases : Liquefied and gases compressed under a high pressure are of
great importance in industries.
• (i) Liquid ammonia and liquid sulphur dioxide are used as refrigerants.
• (ii) Liquid carbon dioxide finds use in soda fountains.
• (iii) Liquid chlorine is used for bleaching and disinfectant purposes.
• (iv) Liquid air is an important source of oxygen in rockets and jet-propelled planes and
bombs.
• (v) Compressed oxygen is used for welding purposes.
• (vi) Compressed helium is used in airships.
It is desired to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG), which we consider
to be pure methane. From that gas at 1 bar and 280 K (conditions at
point 1 in fig.). Leaving the cooler, methane is at 100 bar and 210 K
(point 3). The flash drum is adiabatic and operates at 1 bar and the
compressor can be assumed to operate reversibly and adiabatically.
However, because of the large pressure change, a three-stage
compressor with intercooling is used. The first stage compresses
the gas from 1 bar to 5 bar, second stage from 5 bar to 25 bar and
the third stage from 25 to 100 bar. Between stages, the gas is
isobarically cooled to 280 K.

• Calculate the amount of work required for each kilogram of methane that
passes through the compressor in the simple liquefaction process.
• Calculate the fraction of vapor and liquid leaving the flash drum in the
simple liquefaction process of fig. and the amount of compressor work
required for each kilogram of LNG produced.
• Assuming that the recycled methane leaving the heat exchanger in the
linde process is at 1 bar and 200 K. calculate the amount of compressor
work required for each kilogram of LNG produced.
A heat pump with a coefficient of performance of 2.5 supplies energy to a
room at a rate of 63300 kJ/h. Determine:

a. The electrical power input to the heat pump, in kW.

b. The rate of heat absorption from the outside air, in kW.

Win = 7.03 kW, QL= 10.55 kW

A refrigeration cycle removes 18000 kJ/h of heat from the cold space
maintained at -30oC to the surrounding. The surrounding is at a
temperature of 20oC. The coefficient of performance of the refrigerator is
25% of that of a reversible refrigeration cycle.

a. What is the COP of the refrigerator?

b. Determine the power input to the refrigerator, in kW.

COPrev = 4.86, COPR= 1.215, Win = 4.11 kW

A heat engine with a thermal efficiency of 35 percent
produces 750 kJ of work. Heat transfer to the engine is from a
reservoir at 550 K, and the heat transfer from the engine to
the surrounding air is at 300 K.
a. Sketch a diagram to represent the heat engine
system.
b. Determine the heat transfer to and from the heat
engine.
c. If the heat engine is replaced by a Carnot heat engine
producing the same work output, determine the heat
transfer to and from the Carnot heat engine.

QH = 2142.9 kJ, QL= 1392.9 kJ, QH = 1650 kJ, QL = 900 kJ

9.4

A carnot refrigerator as tetrafluoroethane as the working fluid.

The cycle is the same as shown in Fig. 8.2, except the
direction are revered.
For Tc = 10 °F and Th = 100 °F
a. The pressures at states 1, 2, 3 and 4
b. Quality xv at states 3 and 4
c. Heat addition per Lbm of fluid.
d. Heat rejection per Lbm of fluid.
e. Mechanical power per Lbm of fluid for each of the four
steps.
f. Coefficient of performance for the cycle.
9.5

Vapor-compression cycle refrigerant system operates on the

cycle. The refrigerant is tetrafluoroethance (Table 9.1, Fig. G-
2).
For one of the following set of conditions, Determine
a. Circulation Rate of refrigerant
b. Heat transfer rate in the condenser
c. Power requirement
c. Coefficient of performance for the cycle.
d. Coefficient of performance of the Carnot refrigerator cycle
operating between the same temperature levels.

a. Evaporation t = 30 °F, condensation t = 80 °F, ŋ = 0.79,

refrigeration rate = 600 Btu/s