Refrigeration and air
conditioning
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Contents
• Refrigeration
• Refrigeration cycles
• Components/equipment in refrigeration cycle
Chapter One : Introduction
• Refrigeration is the process of cooling, technically by
moving heat from low temperature to high temperature.
• Refrigeration differs from cooling in a way that the
refrigerated object or space becomes colder than the
surrounding environment unlike cooling which can occur
spontaneously.
Heat Engine Refrigeration
• The science of refrigeration encompasses the knowledge of
Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer.
• The basic thermodynamic processes in refrigeration are heat
absorption, compression, heat rejection and expansion,
successively. It is a cyclic process, in which the working fluid is
usually termed as refrigerant.
• In refrigeration, the cooling effect is the heat absorbed by the
refrigerant from the refrigerated space, during evaporation
• Carnot’s insight about the nature of heat and thermodynamics laid
the basic theoretical model for both heat engine and refrigeration.
Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot
(1796-1832)
French scientist widely regarded
as the father of thermodynamics.
Applications of Refrigeration
• Food processing and preservation
• Chemical and process industries
• Comfort and industrial air conditioning (as a component)
• Preservation of medicines
• Liquefying gases (oxygen, nitrogen, propane, methane)
• Air craft pressurization and air conditioning
• Cryogenics for super conductivity in particle accelerators
• Refrigeration can be achieved by natural means or artificial
means. For example, if you bring ice from north pole and
use it to refrigerate some object or space, it is called
natural refrigeration. People used to harvest ice in the
winter to use it for refrigeration in summer.
• In an artificial refrigeration system external work is needed
to continue the refrigeration in a cyclic process.
Ice Harvesting for Refrigeration purpose
History of Refrigerators
The concept of mechanical refrigeration began
when William Cullen, a Scottish doctor,
observed that evaporation had a cooling effect
in the 1720s.
Oliver Evans, an American inventor, designed
but did not build a refrigeration machine that
used vapor instead of liquid in 1805.
Jacob Perkins, who worked with Evans,
received a patent for a vapor-compression
cycle using liquid ammonia in 1835,
Types of artificial refrigeration systems
• Refrigeration systems:
– Vapor compression
– vapor absorption
– gas cycle
– steam jet
– Thermoelectric: Peltier effect, in which current flows
between two junctions of dissimilar metals, it causes
one junction to heat and the other to cool.
– vortex tube and
– Magnetic refrigeration: Magneto caloric effect, in
which some materials change their temperature when
they encounter change in magnetic field.
• Heat pump works with the same principle as
refrigeration but, the purpose is opposite. For example,
if you expose the refrigerator space to the outdoor
environment and keep the condenser inside a room,
heat will be pumped from low temperature outdoor to
high temperature room.
• E.g.:- The oil pipe line from Alaska to U.S. is heated by
heat pumps to prevent the oil from solidifying.
Reversed Carnot Cycle
• A reversed Carnot cycle is an ideal cycle which contains
four processes: constant temperature heat addition,
Compression, constant temperature heat rejection and
Expansion.
• It is the most efficient idealistic vapor based refrigeration
cycle but is impossible to realize it in practice without some
modifications made on the system.
Fig 1: - The ideal reversed Carnot cycle (a) Circuit (b) temperature – entropy
diagram
Carnot COP
• Coefficient of performance is a measure of performance in
refrigeration cycles. It is the ratio of the refrigeration effect
to the net work input.
• Since the refrigeration cycle is a cyclic thermodynamic
process,
∮ =∮ , − = − =
= −∫ = ( − )
=∫ = ( − )
• Carnot COP, = =
( )
= =
( )
= and =
• Carnot COP is the maximum theoretically achievable value
for a refrigeration cycle operating between two constant
temperature reservoirs.
Limitations of Reversed Carnot cycle
• When reversed Carnot
cycle applied for vapor
cycle, it accompanies wet
compression which
damages the compressor.
• Extraction of work by expanding saturated liquid
in a turbine is not economically justified
• Dry compression can be possible by extending
point 1 to the superheated region and using two
compressors (isentropic and isothermal), but in
practice isothermal compression is not possible.
Reversed Brayton Cycle
• Used for ideally represent the gas refrigeration cycle.
It is represented by Isentropic and isobaric processes.
Fig 4 : - Schematic of an ideal reversed Brayton cycle
Fig 5 : - T – s diagram for ideal reversed Brayton cycle
Reversed Sterling cycle
• Sterling cycle is represented by Isothermal and
Isochoric processes. It can be operated as a heat
engine if external heat is used. It is called reversed
sterling cycle when external work is used to drive the
cycle. It has got application in cryogenics.
Isochoric heat rejection
Isothermal
compression
P
Isochoric
heat addition
V
Isothermal expansion
Refrigeration Compressors
• Compressors are very vital components in gas and
vapor refrigeration system. They compress the fluid to
the condenser pressure.
• Compressors define the performance and capacity of a
refrigerator.
• Major classification is positive and roto – dynamic
(turbomachine) compressors
• Positive displacement: Reciprocating, Rotary, Scroll,
Screw are the most common types.
– Reciprocating is the most common compressor in domestic
refrigeration system. but it is subjected to vibration due to
pulsating of the fluid.
– It can be double acting or single acting. And it can have
more than one cylinder (multi – cylinder).
• Roto – dynamic: Axial and radial compressors
• Compressors can also be classified as Open
type or Hermetic compressors.
– Hermetic compressors: Both the motor and the
compressor are housed in the same chamber and
sealed. No leakage but less efficient than open
type.
• Centrifugal compressors have advantage of
compact design for large systems, steady
refrigerant flow and less vibration and wear;
whereas, reciprocating compressors have
simpler construction and have good part load
performance.
Multi cylinder reciprocating
compressor
Screw compressor
Sliding Vane Compressor
Scroll compressor
Application range of refrigeration compressors for different
capacity
Condensers and Evaporators
• Both condensers and evaporators are heat exchanger
devices.
• In the evaporator the low pressure, low temperature
fluid extracts heat from the refrigerated space and gets
evaporated at constant temperature. The refrigeration
effect is the amount of heat extracted by the
refrigerant inside the evaporator from the refrigerated
space.
• The condenser reduces the temperature of the
refrigerant at constant pressure and brings it from gas
liquid state before it. Condenser load is the sum of
evaporator load and compressor power
Condenser load P-h diagram
• In condenser, the refrigerant gives of heat in a form of
both sensible heat and substantially latent heat.
• Condensers can be air cooled or water cooled
• Air cooled condensers
– Natural convection condensers can be used in which a
plain tube is exposed to ambient air and heat is transferred
by natural convection. E.g.:- Domestic refrigerators
– Forced convection is used for high capacity refrigeration or
air conditioning systems in which fan is used. Air has low
heat capacity,
• Water cooled condensers
– For smaller capacity concentric condenser can be
used
– For larger capacity, shell and tube condenser in
which water flows in the tubes, is usually used in
refrigeration and air conditioning
Shell and tube
Condenser
Double bundle shell
and tube condenser
• In the evaporator, the refrigerant absorbs
latent heat and gets superheated
• In the evaporator, the refrigerant flow pattern
can be of two types.
– The refrigerant flows continuously in the heat
exchanger and leaves as a superheated gas. This is
the most common type. Also called direct
expansion evaporator.
– Stays in a low pressure vessel until it evaporates
and gets superheated
• Evaporators can be air cooling or liquid cooling
Air cooling evaporators: Floor type (left) and ceiling type (right)
Liquid cooling evaporators: Shell and tube (left) and flooded tank (right)
Onda Shell and tube direct expansion evaporator
Expansion valves
• Reduces pressure of the refrigerant from the
condenser pressure to the evaporator pressure.
Also called metering device.
• Based on the type of control used it can be
Automatic or Thermostatic
Automatic EV Thermostatic EV
Refrigerants
• Refrigerants are the working fluids in a
refrigeration cycle having special physical
properties which makes the refrigeration process
possible. Normally many standard refrigerants
are those used in vapor refrigeration cycles.
In controlled tests, spray deodorants have been shown to cause temperature drops
of over 60 °C in a short period of time.
• The suitability of a refrigerant depends on the
following properties:
– High latent heat of vaporization
– High suction gas density
– Positive but not excessive pressure at evaporating and
condensing conditions
– Critical temperature and triple point well outside the
working range
– Chemically stable, compatible with construction
materials and miscible with lubricants
– Non corrosive, non toxic and non flammable
– High dielectric strength
– Environmentally friendly
– Low cost
History of Refrigeration
Properties of Refrigerants
