HRAC-112

Cooling Cycle
Fundamentals

School of Engineering Technology & Applied Science

(SETAS)

Pressure, Heat and

States of Matter
Week #2

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Learning Objectives
 Pressure
 Units of pressure
 Atmospheric pressure
 Vacuum measurement
 Pressure-temperature relationships and saturation tables

 Thermal energy and the change of state

 Heat transfer
 Direction of flow
 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation
 Rate of heat flow

•  Heat transfer air and water medium.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Learning Objectives
• Insulation
• Iypes of insulation
• Insulating values
• Vapour barrier

• States of matter
• Solid
• Liquid
• Gas
• Intensity of heat
• Temperature sensation
• Temperature scales
• Types of temperature measuring instruments
•  British Thermal Units (BTU)

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 Units of Pressure

• Pressure is defined as force per unit of square are. In the

refrigeration and air conditioning trade this is normally
expressed in pounds (weight) per square inch (area).
• The abbreviation for this is lb/sq.in or lb/in2.

Source: Delmar Learning

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Units of Pressure

• One cubic foot of water equals 62.4 lbs. This would be a

cube of water 12 in. X 12. in X 12 in. What would the
pressure be for 1 square inch?
• One foot ( 1 ft.) equals twelve inches (in.).
• If you were diving 30 feet below the surface of the water,
what pressure would be?

Source: Delmar Learning

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Atmospheric Pressure

We live in a sea of air. The air has weight and this weight
pushes down on us. The weight of air at sea level is agreed
as 14.7 lb/sq. in.

0 psi

Source: Delmar Learning

4.49 psi
Source: University of Oregon

14.7psi
Water boils at 250⁰F at 15
psig.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Atmospheric Pressure
• If you are reading pressure from a gauge, the pressure is
referred to as gauge pressure as it is referenced to the
pressure where it is at.
• Some calculations require the absolute pressure which
requires that the atmospheric pressure be added to the
gave pressure. If you have a 10 lb. guage pressure, what
pressure would the absolute pressure be?

Source: Delmar Learning

Source: Delmar Learning

Back of gauge open to atmostphere.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Vacuum Measurement
Vacuum is measured in inches of mercury. This is to allow
bigger numbers to be used as the fractions of a pound
pressure are very low. There are thrity-nine point nine five
inches (31.95”) of mercury in a pound of pressure.
30” of mercury is considered to be a good vacuum in
refrigeration for evacuation purposes.

Source: Delmar Learning

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Vacuum Measurement
• Service gauges are very inaccurate,
especially when you are doing evacuation
(making a vacuum in the system).
• Today, vacuum is also expressed in
“microns”.
• There are one million microns
(1,000,000µ) in one meter. This gives a
better interpretation of the quality of
vacuum.
• Many manufacturers require a minimum

Source: CPS Products

vacuum of 350µ for R134a and 500µ for
R410a systems.
• Vacuum is measured with a “micron
guage”

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Pressure-Temperature Relationships and
Saturation Tables

• There is a direct relationship

between temperature and
pressure to the boiling point
of a liquid.
• Water boils at 212⁰ F. (100⁰
C) at sea level. At the top
of Mount Everest it boils
at 156⁰ F. (60⁰ C).
Source: Delmar Learning

• Water will boil at 32⁰ F.

(0⁰ C) at 10” of vacuum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ViuQKqUQ1U8
Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Pressure-Temperature
Relationships and
Saturation Tables
• Refrigerant has the same
properties as water as the
boiling point changes with
temperature and pressure.
• If there is a cylinder with both
refrigerant liquid and vapour
present and is neither
evaporating (boiling) or
Source: DuPont Refrigerants

condensing (becoming
liquid), it is said to be in a
state of saturation.
• The chart on left shows the
pressure-temperature
relationship of saturation.
Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Thermal Energy

Thermal energy is the part of the total

potential energy and kinetic energy of
of matter that results in the system
temperature.
In the picture, the end of the metal has
been heated and is giving off light as
part of the thermal energy.

Energy always flows from the highest

level to the lowest (hot to cold).
Source: Wikipedia

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 The Change of State.

As we learned last week, matter has three main

states:
• Solid (ice)
• Liquid (water)
• Vapour (steam)
To change state from ice to water or liquid to
vapour, heat must be added.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-KvoVzukHo
To change state from vapour to liquid or liquid to
solid, heat must be removed.

Source: Wikipedia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsu3JoXN-qU

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Heat Transfer

Direction of flow:
Heat always flows from highest energy
level (hot) to lowest energy level
(cold).
Source: Wikipedia

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Heat Transfer
Heat travels by many means:
1. Conduction: The energy flows into a
molecule and excites it, then it bumps
into its neighbor, transferring energy.
It will flow from “hottest” to “coldest”.
Each material has a different
rate of transfer, some are
better, some are poorer.
What would you class:
Source: Delmar Learning

•Iron
•Copper
•Ceramic
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 Heat Transfer
2. Convection:
As a liquid or gas heat, it becomes less
dense (lighter). This will cause it to start to
rise. As it cools, it begins to fall. This
current is called CONVECTION.
Convection is also used to vent
some furnaces and when used
like this it is know as “natural
aspiration”.

Source: Delmar Learning

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Heat Transfer
3. Radiation:
Radiation is best explained by the sun. It is very
far away from earth, but you can feel the
intensity of the energy coming from it. It can
come from visible light, infrared and other
emanations.

You use the oven

broiler to produce
Source: Marley Water Heaters

searing heat that is

radiated to the food in
order to brown it.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Heat Transfer:
Air and Water Medium.
To efficiently transfer heat,
a medium is used as
heat transfer fluid. The
most common in
Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning is air and
water. Water is often
used in large buildings
and it does require as

Source: Delmar Learning

much volume of air to
transfer the same
amount of heat.
Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Insulation
Insulation is used to impede the transfer of heat.
The insulation will be selected based on the
purpose it is being used for and the amount of
resistance to heat that is required.
Common building
insulations inside an
apartment building in
Mississauga, Ontario.

http://
www.youtube.com/
Source: Wikipedia

watch?
v=58Oox90jRCQ
Centennial College - A.M.A.T.
 Insulation
Insulation is used to impede the transfer of heat.
Types of Insulation:
Insulation is used in many forms. This could be
rock wool for walls, foam cellular insulation for
pipes or ceramic based surfaces where there is
high temperature. Each material has its own
ability to resist the transfer of heat and is rated for
specific uses. These specifications may be in the
fire code, building code, mechanical codes or
others. Some insulations also do multiple
purposes as also providing vapour barriers and
resistance to weather.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Insulation
Insulating Values:
Each insulating material will be rated as to its
resistance to heat transfer.

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Insulation
Insulating values
vapour barrier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Oox90jRCQ

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.

 Intensity of heat including:

temperature sensation
temperature scales
types of temperature measuring
instruments
 Solve problems involving
temperature scale conversions.

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 quantity of heat including:

difference between intensity and

quantity

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define BTU

Centennial College - A.M.A.T.