Gas refrigeration system

( Air Refrigeration )
 Air Refrigeration
• Air refrigeration system - earliest systems of cooling -
air as the working substance.
• In olden days this system was usually employed due to
its cheapness, availability of air and having quite safe
properties.
• Air does not change its phase throughout cycle.
• It has a low heat carrying capacity - large amount of
air is required to produce a given amount of RE
• Air refrigeration has low COP and high operating
cost.
• AR had become obsolete in the past as more efficient
and sophisticated machines working on VCRS and
VARS were developed.
Due to advancement in aviation industry AC of
aircraft by AR system is being given a special status.
The system has proved quite effective because of
ready availability of high pressure air.
The advantage of AR system is its overall weight <
VCRS which is required in the air crafts applications
even through it has low COP.
Reversed Carnot Cycle working on gas
Although Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle
between given temperature limits, it has following
drawbacks when gas is used as a refrigerant;
Very large volumes involved for a given refrigeration effect
resulting in bulky.
Isothermal heat transfer to and from the gas is not possible
to achieve in practice.
The machine has to run at high speed (for adiabatic
process)during portion of the cycle and to run very slowly
during other portion of cycle (isothermal process).
 Reversed Carnot cycle employing a gas
Reversed Carnot cycle is an ideal
refrigeration cycle for constant
temperature external heat source and
heat sinks.
The four processes of Carnot cycle
are:
Process 1-2: Reversible, adiabatic
compression
Process 2-3: Reversible, isothermal
heat rejection
Process 3-4: Reversible, adiabatic
expansion
Process 4-1: Reversible, isothermal
heat absorption
Brayton or Joule or Bell Coleman cycle
• The two isothermal processes of the reversed Carnot
cycle are replaced by more practical isobaric processes.
• This modification results in increased work of
compression and decreased refrigeration effect.
• These two effects results in decreased COP.
• The schematic diagram & T-s diagram of air refrigeration
machine working on simple gas cycle in as shown
1-2 Repressible adiabatic compression process.
2- 3 Constant pressure cooling of air in the air cooler.
3-4 Reversible adiabatic expansion process.
4-1 Constant pressure refrigeration of space to be
cooled
Assuming isotropic compression
 1
T2 T p 
 3   2  

T1 T4  p1 
• Assuming air to be perfect gas and per unit mass of
air circulated
• RE  C P  T1  T4  HR  C P  T2 T 3 
 
From the above expression for COP the following conclusions can be made
Actual reverse Brayton cycle:
The actual reverse Brayton cycle differs from the ideal cycle
due to:
i. Non-isentropic compression and expansion processes
ii. Pressure drops in cold and hot heat exchangers
Due to the irreversibilities, the compressor work input
increases and turbine work output reduces.
The actual work transfer rates of compressor and
turbine are then given by
 Aircraft cooling systems
In an aircraft, cooling system is required to keep the cabin temp at a comfortable


level.
Even though outside temperature is low at high altitudes, still cooling of cabin is


required due to:

1. Large internal heat generation due to occupants, equipment etc.
2. Heat generation due to skin friction caused by the fast moving aircraft .
3. At high altitudes, the outside pressure will be sub-atmospheric. When air at
this low pressure is compressed and supplied to the cabin at pressures close to
atmospheric, the temperature increases significantly. (T 0= 0.2 bar T0=223 K (at
10000m altitude) compressed to 1 bar, T 2 =353 K. If the cabin is maintained at 0.8
bar, the temperature will be about 332 K. This effect is called as ram effect. This
effect adds heat to the cabin, which needs to be taken out by the cooling system.
4. Solar radiation
For low speed aircraft flying at low altitudes, cooling system may not be
required, however, for high speed aircraft flying at high altitudes, a
cooling system is a must.
Even though the COP of air cycle refrigeration is very low compared to
VCRS, it is still found to be most suitable for AR systems as:
i. Air is cheap, safe, non-toxic and non-flammable. Leakage of air is not
a problem
ii. Cold air can directly be used for cooling thus eliminating the low
temperature heat exchanger (open systems) leading to lower weight
iii. The aircraft engine already consists of a high speed turbo-
compressor, hence separate compressor for cooling system is not
required. This reduces the weight per kW cooling considerably.
Typically, less than 50% of an equivalent vapour compression system
iv. Design of the complete system is much simpler due to low
pressures. Maintenance required is also less.
Types of air Refrigeration systems
1. Open ARS- Air is directly led to the space to be cooled ,
allowed to circulate through the space then returned to the
compressor
2. Closed or dense ARS: The cold air after expansion passed
through pipes in the cold chamber and never comes in
contact directly with the room air.
Adv: (i) Higher pressure possible in the cooler than
surrounding, less volume handled more compact
(ii) Operating rP can be reduced hence higher COP
Air craft air conditioning is required t0
1. Maintain constant pressure inside the cabin as aeroplane
flies at high altitude where pressure is less.
2. To maintain constant temperature inside the cabin
Types of Air refrigeration used for air craft

1. Simple air cooling system

2. Simple evaporative cooling system
3. Boot strap air cooling system
4.Regenerative air cooling system
5. Boot strap with evaporative cooling system
6. Reduced ambient air cooling system
1. Simple Aircraft réfrigération cycle (open type)
Flow diagram for Simple Aircraft réfrigération cycle (open)
• Outside low pressure and low temperature air (state 1) is
compressed due to ram effect to state 2. During this
process its temperature increases from T1 to T2.
• Then air is compressed in the main compressor to state 3,
and is cooled to state 4 in the air cooler.
• Its pressure is reduced to cabin pressure in the turbine
(state 5), as a result its temperature drops from 4 to 5.
• The cold air at state 5 is supplied to the cabin. It picks up
heat as it flows through the cabin providing useful cooling
effect.
• The power output of the turbine is used to drive the fan,
which maintains the required air flow over the air cooler.
• This simple system is good for ground cooling (when the
aircraft is not flying) as fan can continue to maintain
airflow over the air cooler
2. Simple aircraft system with evaporative cooling
Evaporative cooler is provided
in the high pressure line before
air is passed to the cooling
turbine.
It will reduce the temperature
of air further hence more
cooling is available in the cabin
per unit mass of air.
3. Bootstrap system:

The term boot strap as used in air cycle refrigeration

systems, indicates a system in which the pressure of
working fluid is raised to a higher level than the main
compressor before being expanded in the cooling turbine.
The power required for the secondary compressor is taken
from the cooling turbine.
 It consists of two heat
exchangers (Instead of one
in simple system) and a
secondary compressor (run
by the cooling turbine)

Suitable for high speed aircraft

where the velocity of the aircraft is
sufficient to maintain air flow
through the two heat exchangers
and cooling turbine. Fan is not
required
Not suitable for ground cooling
(Usually done by external cooling).
 4. Regenerative cooling system

It is the modification of simple air cooling system.

In addition to primary heat exchanger an additional

regenerative heat exchanger is being used .

For regenerative cooling a part of cold air expanded in the

cooling turbine is being used and for the primary cooling the
rammed air is being used.
This will result in reduced amount of cold air available for

cabin cooling.
This type of the system is used for supersonic aircrafts and

rockets.
Ideal T-s diagram for Regenerative cooling
Actual T-S diagram for regenerative air cooling system

For  regenerative cooling,
Let T7 is the temperature of air going out of the cabin
m1 is the mass of air passing through the cabin
Then 3.5*T = mc*Cp*(T7-T6) so that we can find out mc
Let m1 is the mass of air taken from the main compressor,
m2 is the air bled from the cooling turbine for regenerative
heat exchanger, m1 = mc + m2
If the exit temperature of air used for regenerative cooling
in the regenerative cooler is T8 then
m2*Cp*(T8-T6)= m1*Cp*(T4-T5) 𝑚 =¿ ¿
 
2
Reduced Ambient Air Cooling System

It consists of Two cooling turbines:

 One for lowering the temperature of rammed air for cooling
compressed air in the main compressor
 The second one is to lower the temperature of already cooled
air in the heat exchanger which is supplied to the cabin
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