Refrigeration

Outline
• Purpose of refrigeration
• Examples and applications
• Choice of coolant and refrigerants
• Phase diagram of water and CO2
• Vapor compression refrigeration system
• Pressure-enthalpy diagram for refrigerants
• Refrigerator, air conditioner, thermoelectric cooler, heat
pump
• Designation, choice, criteria for selection, and
characteristics of refrigerants
• Alternatives to vapor compression refrigeration system
• Heat transfer in refrigeration applications 2
 Purpose of Refrigeration
• To slow down rates of detrimental reactions
– Microbial spoilage
– Enzyme activity
– Nutrient loss
– Sensorial changes

Guideline: Generally, rates of reactions double for every 10 °C rise in temperature

3
 Examples/Applications of Cooling
• Cooling engine of a car
– Coolant/water
• Cooling food/beverage during prolonged period of
transportation in a car (vacation trip)
– Ice, dry ice in an insulated container
• Cooling interior of car
– Car AC unit
• Cooling interior of room/house
– Window AC unit
– Whole house unit (can it be used for heating also???)
• Cooling food in a refrigerator/freezer

4
 Cooling of Engine of Car

HOT Engine Head

Finned Radiator

Coolant
High cp
Low freezing pt.
Coolant Reservoir

Air flow from outside

Coolant/water is pumped through pipes to hot engine; coolant absorbs heat; fins on radiator results in
high surface area (A); as car moves, air flow and hence ‘h’ increases due to forced convection
Q = h A (∆T); high ‘A’ and high ‘h’ results in high Q or heat loss from engine to outside air
Note: During prolonged idling of car, engine can overheat due to low ‘h’ by free convection
5
Room (or Car) Air Conditioner

6
 Household Refrigerator

HEAT
Are there parts
Extracted from in a refrigerator
food inside where you can
refrigerator
get burnt?

Can you cool the kitchen by keeping Extracted HEAT

the refrigerator door open? Moved to the outside 7
Evaporative (Swamp) Cooler

Water

8
 Refrigerants/Coolants
• Cold water (at say, 0 °C)
– Heat extracted from product is used as sensible heat and
increases water temperature
• Ice (at 0 °C)
– Heat extracted from product is used as latent heat and melts ice
(λfusion = 334.94 kJ/kg at 1 atm, 0 °C); it can then additionally
extract heat from product and use it as sensible heat to increase
the temperature of water
• Dry ice (Solid CO2)
– Heat extracted from product is used as latent heat and
sublimates dry ice (λsublimation = 571 kJ/kg at 1 atm, -78.5 °C)
• Liquid nitrogen
– Heat extracted from product is used as latent heat and
evaporates liquid N2 (λvaporization = 199 kJ/kg at 1 atm, -195.8 °C)
Why does dry ice sublimate while “regular” ice melt under ambient conditions? 9
 Phase Diagram
Water CO2

Solid Liquid Gas Solid Liquid Gas

Pressure (atm)

Pressure (atm)
Melting point
1.0
Triple point Triple point
Boiling point
0.006 5.1

1.0

0.01 100 -78.5 -56.6

Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)
10
Drawback of Ice/Dry-Ice as Refrigerant
• Neither can be re-used
– Ice melts
– Dry-ice sublimates
• Expensive and cumbersome technique

11
 Alternatives to Ice/Dry-Ice
• Blue ice or gel packs (cellulose, silica gel etc)
– Low freezing point
– Though it isn’t “lost”, it has to be re-frozen
• Endothermic reaction (Ammonium nitrate/chloride and water)
• Evaporation of “refrigerant” Cooled Air (After λvap of refrigerant is
absorbed by the refrigerant from air)

Liquid Gaseous Refrigerant

Refrigerant

Warm Ambient Air

Fan

Can boiling/evaporation of water serve as a refrigeration method?

12
 Re-Utilization of Refrigerant
High Pr. Liq. High Pr. Gas
Condense the Gas

High Pr. Liq. High Pr. Gas

Cooled Air (after λvap of refrigerant is
Expand the Liquid absorbed by refrigerant from air) Compress the Gas
Low Pr. Liq.
Low Pr. Gas

Liquid Refrigerant Gaseous Refrigerant

Warm Ambient Air

Fan

13
Vapor Compression Refrigeration System Energy Output
d
Liquid
Condenser
c Vapor IDEAL CONDITIONS
b
High Pressure Side
Expansion Valve Compressor
Low Pressure Side
Energy Input

Evaporator Condensing: Constant Pr. (P2)

Liquid + Vapor e a
Vapor
Expansion: Constant Enthalpy (H1)
Energy Input Evaporation: Constant Pr. (P1)
Compression: Constant Entropy (S)
Critical Point

Saturated Liquid Line . Saturated Vapor Line

Constant Temperature Line
Condenser c b
Left of dome: Vertical
d
P2
~ 30 °C
Within dome: Horizontal
Expansion Valve
Compressor Right of dome: Curved down
~ -15 °C
P1
e Evaporator a
IDEAL CONDITIONS
SUB-COOLED SUPERHEATED
LIQUID + VAPOR
LIQUID VAPOR Refrigerant is 100% vapor at end of evap. AND
H1 H2 H3 Refrigerant is 100% liquid at end of condenser
Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 14
Vapor Compression Refrigeration System Energy Output
Liquid d c Vapor
Condenser
b
High Pressure Side
Expansion Valve Compressor
Low Pressure Side
Energy Input

Evaporator Condensing: Constant Pr. (P2)

Liquid + Vapor e a
Vapor
Expansion: Constant Enthalpy (H1)
Energy Input Evaporation: Constant Pr. (P1)
Compression: Constant Entropy (S)
Critical Point

Saturated Liquid Line . Saturated Vapor Line

Constant Temperature Line
d’ Condenser c b
Left of dome: Vertical
d b’
P2
~ 30 °C
Within dome: Horizontal
Expansion Valve
Compressor Right of dome: Curved down
~ -15 °C
P1
e’ e Evaporator a a’ Ideal: Solid line
SUB-COOLED
LIQUID + VAPOR SUPERHEATED Real/Non-ideal: Dotted line
LIQUID VAPOR (Super-heating in evaporator,
H1 H2 H3 sub-cooling in condenser)
Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 15
 Functions of Components of a Vapor
Compression Refrigeration System
• Evaporator
– Extract heat from the product/air and use it as the latent heat of
vaporization of the refrigerant
• Compressor
– Raise temperature of refrigerant to well above that of surroundings
to facilitate transfer of energy to surroundings in condenser
• Condenser
– Transfer energy from the refrigerant to the surroundings (air/water)
– Slightly sub-cool the refrigerant to minimize amount of vapor
generated as it passes through the expansion valve
• Expansion valve
– Serve as metering device for flow of refrigerant
– Expand the liquid refrigerant from the compressor pressure to the
evaporator pressure (with minimal conversion to vapor) 16
 Evaporator

Types: Plate (coil brazed onto plate)

Flooded (coil)
17
 Compressor
Types: Positive disp. (piston, screw, scroll/spiral)
Centrifugal

18
 Condenser

Types: Air-cooled, water-cooled, evaporative

19
 Expansion Valve
Types: Manual, automatic const. pr. (AXV), thermostatic (TXV)
For nearly constant load, AXV is used; else, TXV is used

20
Vapor Compression Refrigeration System
Condenser

Evaporator (5 °F)

Expansion
valve
Compressor

21
Industrial Refrigeration System

22
 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Constant Pressure Line
Horizontal
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 23

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Constant Enthalpy Line
Vertical
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 24

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Constant Temperature Line
Left of dome: Vertical
Within dome: Horizontal
Right of dome: Curved down
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 25

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Constant Entropy Line
~60 °angled line: North-Northeast
(superheated region)
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 26

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Constant Dryness Fraction
Curved (within dome)
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Dryness fraction (similar concept as steam quality) ranges from

0 on Saturated Liquid Line to 1 on Saturated Vapor Line

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 27

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Lines of Constant Values for
Various Parameters
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Sub-Cooled Liquid

Liquid-Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Const. Pressure
Const. Enthalpy
Const. Temp.
Const. Entropy
Const. Dryness Fraction

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 28

Pressure-Enthalpy Table for R-12
P-H Diagram for Ideal Conditions

H1 = hf based on temperature at ‘d’ (exit of condenser)

H2 = hg based on temperature at ‘a’ (exit of evaporator)

Note 1: If there is super-heating in the evaporator, H2 can not be obtained from P-H table
Note 2: If there is sub-cooling in the condenser, H1 can not be obtained from P-H table
Note 3: For ideal or non-ideal conditions, H3 can not be obtained from P-H table
(For the above 3 conditions, use the P-H Diagram to determine the enthalpy value)

29
P-H Diagram for Superheated R-12
Saturated Vapor Line

Liquid + Vapor Mixture Superheated Vapor

Constant Entropy Line

30
 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Ideal Conditions

Condenser Pressure
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Condensation
Expansion
Compression
Evaporation

Evaporator Pressure

Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 31

 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Real/Non-Ideal Conditions
Ideal Conditions
(Determination of Enthalpies)
Degree of sub-cooling

Condenser Pressure
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Animated
Condensation Slide
Expansion
Compression
(See next slide for static
Evaporation version of slide)
.
Evaporator Pressure Qe = m (H2 – H1)
.
Qw = m (H3 – H2)
Degree of super-heating Q = m.
c (H3 – H1)

Note: Qc = Qe + Qw

C.O.P. = Qe/Qw
H1 H2 H3 = (H2 – H1)/(H3 – H2)
Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 32
 Pressure-Enthalpy Diagram for R-12
Ideal Conditions
Real/Non-Ideal Conditions
Degree of sub-cooling

Condenser Pressure
Absolute Pressure (bar)

Condensation
Expansion
Compression
Evaporation

Evaporator Pressure
.
Qe = m (H2 – H1)
.
Qw = m (H3 – H2)
Degree of super-heating Q = m.
c (H3 – H1)

Note: Qc = Qe + Qw

C.O.P. = Qe/Qw
H1 H2 H3 = (H2 – H1)/(H3 – H2)
Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 33
 Processes undergone by Refrigerant
• Evaporation
– Constant pressure process
• Liquid + Vapor => Vapor
• Compression
– Constant entropy process
• Vapor => Vapor
• Condensation
– Constant pressure process
• Vapor => Liquid
• Expansion
– Constant enthalpy process (adiabatic process; Qtransfer = 0)
• Liquid => Liquid + Vapor
34
 P, T, H, and Phase changes in a Vapor
Compression Refrigeration Cycle
Ideal Conditions
Component Pressure Temperature Enthalpy Phase of Refrigerant
Inlet Outlet
Evaporator Constant Constant Increases Liquid + Vapor Vapor (On Dome)
Compressor Increases Increases Increases Vapor (On Dome) Vapor (Sup. Heat)
Condenser Constant Decreases Decreases Vapor (Sup. Heat) Liquid (On Dome)
Expansion Valve Decreases Decreases Constant Liquid (On Dome) Liquid + Vapor
Real Conditions (Super-heating in Evaporator, Sub-cooling in condenser)
Component Pressure Temperature Enthalpy Phase of Refrigerant
Inlet Outlet
Evaporator Constant Increases Increases Liquid + Vapor Vapor (Sup. Heat)
Compressor Increases Increases Increases Vapor (Sup. Heat) Vapor (Sup. Heat)
Condenser Constant Decreases Decreases Vapor (Sup. Heat) Liquid (Sub-Cool)
Expansion Valve Decreases Decreases Constant Liquid (Sub-Cool) Liquid + Vapor
35
Vapor Compression Refrigeration System Qc
Liquid d c Vapor Calculations
Condenser .
Qe = m (H2 – H1)
b .
Qw = m (H3 – H2)
Expansion Valve
High Pressure Side
Compressor .
Q = m (H – H )
Low Pressure Side c 3 1
Qw

Evaporator
Note: Qc = Qe + Qw
Liquid + Vapor e a
Vapor (Energy gained by
Qe
refrigerant in evaporator &
compressor is lost in
Critical Point condenser)
Saturated Liquid Line . Saturated Vapor Line
C.O.P. = Qe/Qw
d Condenser c b
= (H2 – H1)/(H3 – H2)
P2
~ 30 °C
Expansion Valve
Compressor Qe: Cooling load rate (kW)
Qw: Work done by compressor (kW)
~ -15 °C
P1
e a
C.O.P.: Coefficient of performance
Evaporator
SUB-COOLED SUPERHEATED
LIQUID LIQUID + VAPOR
VAPOR
H1 H2 H3
Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
36
 Cooling Load Rate (Qe)
• Useful cooling effect takes place in evaporator

• Units of Qe: kW or tons

• 1 ton refrigerant = Power required to melt 1 ton

(2000 lbs) of ice in 1 day
= (2000*0.45359 kg) (334.94 x 103 J/kg) / (24 x 60 x 60 s)

(2000 lb/ton)*(0.45359 kg/lb) λfusion (ice) (24 hr/day)*(60 min/hr)*(60 s/min)

= 3516.8 Watts
37
 Household Refrigerator

HEAT
Extracted from
food inside

Are there 2 vapor compression systems to maintain Extracted HEAT

refrigerator and freezer at different temperatures? Moved to the outside
38
 Household Refrigerator as Room AC?
Critical Point

Saturated Liquid Line . Saturated Vapor Line

d Condenser c b
P2
~ 30 °C
Expansion Valve
Compressor
~ -15 °C
P1
e Evaporator a

SUB-COOLED SUPERHEATED
LIQUID LIQUID + VAPOR
VAPOR
H1 H2 H3
Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
.
Qe = m (H2 – H1)
.
Qw = m (H3 – H2)
.
Qc = m (H3 – H1)

If you leave the refrigerator door open, Qe

Can you cool the kitchen by keeping
the refrigerator door open?
will be the energy the system will remove
from the room/air and Qc will be the energy
the system will release into the room/air.
Since Qc > Qe, the room will actually heat up
by an amount, Q = Qc – Qe = Qw (Qw = power
from AC mains) instead of cooling down. 39
 Thermoelectric Cooling
• Principle
– Peltier effect (converse of Seebeck effect)
• When a voltage is applied across the junctions of two dissimilar
metals, a current flows through it, and heat is absorbed at one end and
heat is generated at the other end
• Can be used for heating too
Cooled Surface

Dissipated Heat
USB adapter
Cigarette lighter adapter
Seebeck effect (in Thermocouples): When two dissimilar metals are joined in a loop and their
junctions are kept at different temperatures, a potential difference is created between the ends,
and a current flows through the loop. This can be used to generate energy from waste heat. 40
 Heat Pump (Heating Cycle in Winter)
Q: When does the heat pump become ineffective in heating the house?
A: When the outside temp. becomes so low that not much transfer of energy can take place
from outside air to the refrigerant in the evaporator (Q = h A ∆T; if ∆T between outside air
and refrigerant in evaporator is low, Q is low)

Evaporator 85 °F Duct

Heat loss
32 °F Expansion
5 °F Valve 190 °F
Qc

Qe 65 °F
Condenser
Qw
Compressor
41
 Heat Pump (Cooling Cycle in Summer)
Q: When does the heat pump become ineffective in cooling the house?
A: When the outside temp. becomes so high that not much transfer of energy can take place
from the refrigerant in the condenser to outside air (Q = h A ∆T; if ∆T between refrigerant in
condenser and outside air is low, Q is low)

Condenser 65 °F Duct

Heat gain
100 °F
Expansion
190 °F Valve 5 °F
Qe

Qc 85 °F
Qw Evaporator

Compressor
42
 Designation and Choice of Refrigerants
• Designation of a refrigerant derived from a
hydrocarbon CmHnFpClq is R(m-1)(n+1)(p)

• Choices of refrigerants
– R-11 (CCl3F), R-12 (CCl2F2), R-13 (CClF3), R-14 (CF4),
R-22 (CHClF2), R-30 (CH2Cl2), R-113 (C2Cl3F3), R-114,
R-115, R-116, R-123, R-134a (CF3CH2F), R-401A, R-
404A, R-408A, R-409A, R-500, R-502, R-717 (NH3), R-
718 (water), R-729 (air), R-744 (CO2), R-764 (SO2)

Suffix: a, b, c indicate increasingly unsymmetric isomers

R-400 Series: Zeotropic blends (Boiling point of constituent compounds are quite different)
R-500 Series: Azeotropic blends
43
 Criteria for Selection of Refrigerant
• High latent heat of vaporization
• High critical temperature
• High chemical stability
• High miscibility with lubricant (except when oil separator is used)
• Low vaporization temperature
• Low condensing pressure
• Low freezing temperature
• Low toxicity
• Low flammability
• Low corrosiveness
• Low cost
• Low environmental impact (ozone depletion potential, global warming potential)
• Easy to detect leaks
• Easy separability from water 44
 Characteristics of Refrigerants
NH3 R-12 R-22 R-134a
λvap at -15 °C (kJ/kg) 1314.2 161.7 217.7 209.5
Boiling point at 1 atm (°C) -33.3 -29.8 -40.8 -26.16
Freezing point at 1 atm (°C) -77.8 -157.8 -160.0 -96.6
Compression ratio (-15 to 30 °C) 4.94 4.07 5.06 4.65
Flammability Yes No No At high pr.

Pr. to inc. b.p. to 0 °C (kPa) 430.43 308.61 498.11 292.769

Corrosiveness Use steel Low No Low
Not Cu
Toxicity High No No No
Environmental impact ODP: 0 ODP: 1 ODP: 0.05 ODP: 0
(Ozone Depletion Potential, Global Warming Potential) GWP: 0 GWP: 8100 GWP: 1700 GWP: 1300

45
Alternative to Vapor Compression Refrigeration
• Absorption refrigeration
– Evaporation
• Same as in vapor compression refrigeration system
– Absorption
• Refrigerant dissolves in absorbent (eg. NH3 in H2O with H2 for pr.)
– Regeneration
• Separation of refrigerant by heat

– No compressor (no moving parts), no power needed

– Used where electricity is expensive, unavailable or unreliable
(rural areas, recreational vehicles)

Variation: Water spray absorption refrigeration system

46
 Water Cooled Condenser
• A water cooled condenser is a double tube heat
exchanger (co- or counter-current) with the refrigerant
in the inside tube and cold water in the outer annulus
• It is used when
– Temperature of refrigerant in condenser is not much higher
than the ambient air temperature
(In this case, refrigerant can not lose much energy to outside air)
OR
– Additional cooling of refrigerant is desired (beyond cooling
capacity of ambient air)

. .
Q condenser = m refrigerant (H 3 − H1 ) = m cold water c p ( cold water ) (Tcold ( out ) − Tcold ( in ) )
47
 Heat Transfer in Refrigeration Applications
• What should be the rating of a room AC unit to maintain
room at 20 °C when it is 45 °C outside?
– Qe = ∆T/[(∆x1/k1A) + (∆x2/k2A)+(1/hiAi)+(1/(hoAo)+…..]
45 °C – 20 °C

• What should be the rating of a refrigeration system to cool

a product from 70 °C to 20 °C when it is flowing at a certain
rate in a double tube heat exchanger?
Q evaporator = Q e = m
 refrigerant (H 2 − H1 ) = m
 product c p ( product ) (Tproduct (in ) − Tproduct ( out ) )
70 °C 20 °C
OR
– Qe = U Alm ∆Tlm with 1/(UAlm) = 1/(hiAi) + ∆r/(kAlm) + 1/(hoAo)
• How long will it take to cool an object of mass ‘m’ from an
initial temperature of Ti to a final temperature of Tf?
– Qe = {m cp (∆T)}/{Time} with ∆T = Ti - Tf
48
Summary: Vapor Compression Refrig. System
Qc Condensing: Constant Pr. (P2)
Liquid d c Vapor Expansion: Constant Enthalpy (H1)
Condenser
Evaporation: Constant Pr. (P1)
b Compression: Constant Entropy (S)
High Pressure Side .
Expansion Valve Compressor Qe = m (H2 – H1)
Low Pressure Side
Qw .
Qw = m (H3 – H2)
.
Qc = m (H3 – H1)
Evaporator
Liquid + Vapor e a
Vapor Note: Qc = Qe + Qw
Ideal: Solid line Qe From P-H Table (For Ideal Conditions)
Real/Non-ideal: Dotted line (Sup. H1 = hf based on temp. at ‘d’ (exit of cond.)
Critical Point
heat in evap., sub-cool in cond.) H2 = hg based on temp. at ‘a’ (exit of evap.)
Saturated Liquid Line . Saturated Vapor Line C.O.P. = Qe/Qw
Degree of
sub-cooling = (H2 – H1)/(H3 – H2)
P2
d’ d Condenser c b b’ Qe: Cooling load rate (kW)
Expansion Valve
~ 30 °C
Compressor
Qw: Work done by compressor (kW)
~ -15 °C C.O.P.: Coefficient of performance
P1
e’ e Evaporator a a’

SUB-COOLED
LIQUID + VAPOR SUPERHEATED Degree of superheating
LIQUID VAPOR
H1 H2 H3
Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 49
 How, Will, Why, What, When, and Where?
• How are we able to maintain different temperatures in
the freezer and refrigerator compartments if you have
only 1 refrigeration system?
• Will a regular refrigerator work well in the garage
– During winter?
– During summer?
• Why does the temperature change when you turn the
knob of the AC unit in a car or room?
• What happens when the heat pump is set to
“Emergency/Auxiliary” Heat?
• When/why does ice build up on the outdoor coils
(evaporator) of a heat pump during heating in winter?
• Dehumidification occurs on heating or cooling? Why?
• Where and in what state is the refrigerant when the
compressor is not running? 50