Refrigeration and Air

Conditioning
Group Members

Hafiz Mudassir Gulzar (07ME17)

Waqas Ali Tunio (07ME34)
Khalil Raza Bhatti (07ME40)
Ayaz Ali Tunio (07ME31)
Muhammad Raees (07ME16)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science &
Technology, Nawabshah - Pakistan
 Refrigeration

Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat

from one location to another. Refrigeration has many
applications these include but are not limited to; household
refrigerators, industrial freezers, cryogenics, air conditioning,
and heat pumps.
Cold is the absence of heat, hence in order to decrease a
temperature, one "removes heat", rather than "adding cold."
In order to satisfy the Second Law of Thermodynamics, some
form of work must be performed to accomplish this. The work
is traditionally done by mechanical work but can also be done
by magnetism, laser or other means.
 Refrigerant Cycle

The refrigeration cycle is a closed loop of gas which undergoes four stages. The first
stage is the compressor, which compresses the refrigerant to increase its
temperature. The gas is then routed through heat dissipation coils which release
heat outside the refrigerator. As it dissipates heat, the refrigerant cools and
recondenses into a liquid. This liquid then passes through a high-pressure/low-
pressure threshold, called an expansion valve, which causes it to expand and change
phases into a gas. The cold gas circulates into the refrigerator again, absorbing heat
from the inside, before being routed into the compressor again. The purpose of the
refrigeration cycle is to take heat from the inside of the refrigerator and transfer it to
the outside.
 Methods of refrigeration
Methods of refrigeration can be classified as non-cyclic, cyclic and thermoelectric.

Non-cyclic refrigeration
In non-cyclic refrigeration, cooling is accomplished by melting ice or by
subliming dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). These methods are used for
small-scale refrigeration such as in laboratories and workshops, or in
portable coolers.
Ice owes its effectiveness as a cooling agent to its constant melting point
of 0 °C (32 °F). In order to melt, ice must absorb 333.55 kJ/kg (approx.
144 Btu/lb) of heat. Foodstuffs maintained at this temperature or slightly
above have an increased storage life.
Solid carbon dioxide has no liquid phase at normal atmospheric pressure,
so sublimes directly from the solid to vapor phase at a temperature of
-78.5 °C (-109.3 °F), and is therefore effective for maintaining products at
low temperatures during the period of sublimation. Systems such as this
where the refrigerant evaporates and is vented into the atmosphere are
known as "total loss refrigeration".
 Cyclic refrigeration

This consists of a refrigeration cycle, where heat is removed from a low-temperature

space or source and rejected to a high-temperature sink with the help of external work,
and its inverse, the thermodynamic power cycle. In the power cycle, heat is supplied from
a high-temperature source to the engine, part of the heat being used to produce work and
the rest being rejected to a low-temperature sink. This satisfies the second law of
thermodynamics.
A refrigeration cycle describes the changes that take place in the refrigerant as it
alternately absorbs and rejects heat as it circulates through a refrigerator. It is also applied
to HVACR work, when describing the "process" of refrigerant flow through an HVACR unit,
whether it is a packaged or split system.
 Cyclic refrigeration

Heat naturally flows from hot to cold. Work is applied to cool a living space or storage volume by pumping
heat from a lower temperature heat source into a higher temperature heat sink. Insulation is used to reduce
the work and energy required to achieve and maintain a lower temperature in the cooled space. The operating
principle of the refrigeration cycle was described mathematically by Sadi Carnot in 1824 as a heat engine.

The most common types of refrigeration systems use the reverse-Rankine vapor-compression refrigeration
cycle although absorption heat pumps are used in a minority of applications.
Cyclic refrigeration can be classified as:
1. Vapor cycle, and
2. Gas cycle
Vapor cycle refrigeration can further be classified as:
3. Vapor-compression refrigeration
4. Vapor-absorption refrigeration
 Unit of refrigeration
Domestic and commercial refrigerators may be rated in
kJ/s, or Btu/h of cooling. Commercial refrigerators in
North America are mostly rated in tons of refrigeration,
but elsewhere in kW. One ton of refrigeration capacity
can freeze one short ton of water at 0 °C (32 °F) in 24
hours. Based on that: A much less common definition is:
1 tonne of refrigeration is the rate of heat removal
required to freeze a metric ton (i.e., 1000 kg) of water at
0 °C in 24 hours. Based on the heat of fusion being
333.55 kJ/kg, 1 tonne of refrigeration = 13,898 kJ/h =
3.861 kW. As can be seen, 1 tonne of refrigeration is 10%
larger than 1 ton of refrigeration.
Most residential air conditioning units range in capacity
from about 1 to 5 tons of refrigeration.
Characteristics of Refrigerant

Refrigerants perform an essential function

in both cooling cycle. As it evaporates,
refrigerant changes from a liquid to a gas
and decreases in temperature. Many
modern appliances, such as air
conditioners and refrigerators, harness
the cooling properties of refrigerants by
cycling the chemical compound from its
gaseous state to liquid and back again to
achieve constant cooling. The chemical
passes through a coil system that pulls hot
air in and cools it as it passes over the
coils.
 Characteristics of Refrigerant

Odor
Most refrigerants contain no odor in low concentrations. While having no odor
at low levels, some concentrations of refrigerants smell distinctly chemical and
refrigerant leakage is often identified by its chemical smell. In concentrations
above 20 percent by volume of air, the odor resembles carbon tetrachloride,
which smells sweet and is similar to the smell of cleaners used for dry cleaning.
 Characteristics of Refrigerant

Color and Stability

All pure refrigerants are colorless in both gaseous and
liquid forms. Color may be added for identification
purposes or may appear when mixed with other
chemical compounds. Many refrigerant compounds are
considered stable because of their ability to not
decompose while going through the physical change of
a gas to a liquid.
 Characteristics of Refrigerant

Boiling Point
The boiling point of refrigerants depends
on the atmospheric pressure. Many
refrigerants have a boiling point between
-45 and -33 degrees Celsius, with the
exceptions of R12 and R11 that have very
low boiling points of -29 and 9 degrees
Celsius, respectively. At normal
temperatures under average pressure,
most refrigerants remain in liquid form and
must reach their boiling point to become a
vapor.
 Characteristics of Refrigerant

Dangers and Benefits

Refrigerants with low boiling points may damage the eyes in their liquid states and protective
eyewear must be worn at all times. If the liquid refrigerant comes into contact with the eyes, the
tissues freeze. Most refrigerants don't contaminate foods and are nonpoisonous in both gas and
liquid forms, with the exception of ammonia, which is highly toxic. When mixed with air, vapor
forms of refrigerants cause no harm to the eyes, nose, throat or lungs if inhaled. Excessive
concentrations of refrigerant vapor causes unconsciousness and possible death because of a
lack of oxygen to the brain. It has solvent properties that reduce and remove particles of dirt
and oil within the cooling system. Most liquid and vapor forms of refrigerants will not corrode
metals in cooling systems. Some, such as ammonia and R290, are highly explosive or flammable.
 Characteristics of Refrigerant

Dangers and Benefits

Refrigerants with low boiling points may damage the eyes in their liquid states and protective eyewear
must be worn at all times. If the liquid refrigerant comes into contact with the eyes, the tissues freeze.
Most refrigerants don't contaminate foods and are nonpoisonous in both gas and liquid forms, with the
exception of ammonia, which is highly toxic. When mixed with air, vapor forms of refrigerants cause no
harm to the eyes, nose, throat or lungs if inhaled. Excessive concentrations of refrigerant vapor causes
unconsciousness and possible death because of a lack of oxygen to the brain. It has solvent properties
that reduce and remove particles of dirt and oil within the cooling system. Most liquid and vapor forms
of refrigerants will not corrode metals in cooling systems. Some, such as ammonia and R290, are highly
explosive or flammable.
 JazakALLAH-o-Khaira

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science &
Technology, Nawabshah - Pakistan