ASSIGNMENT ON

REFRIGERATION
Course name: Pharmaceutical Engineering
Course code: PHRM 414

SUBMITTED TO:
Meena Afroze Shanta
Lecturer
Department of Pharmacy
East West University

SUBMITTED BY:
Fariza Huq Oishi (ID: 2010-1-70-008)
Joynab Akhter Jolly (ID: 2010-1-70-016)
Jannat Mahal Rume (ID: 2010-1-70-048)
Zenifar Karim (ID: 2010-1-70-042)
Debasree Paul (ID: 2010-3-70-036)
Priyata Dey (ID: 2010-3-70-042)
Samiya Khondaker Rinta (ID: 2010-3-70-048)

Submission date: 6th April, 2014

 CONTENT

Refrigeration 1
Occurrence of Mechanical Refrigeration 1
Instrumentation: Internal Parts of the Domestic Refrigerator 1
Instrumentation: External Visible Parts of the Refrigerator 4
Mechanism of Action 5
Refrigerant 6
Current Application of Refrigeration 7
Reference 9
 REFRIGERATION

Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. It is
the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or from a substance for the purpose of
lowering the temperature (Trane, 1999).

This process keeps an item below room temperature by storing the item in a system or substance
designed to cool or freeze. The most common form of refrigeration is provided by systems (i.e.
refrigerators) that use a refrigerant chemical to remove heat from items stored inside the system.

The process of refrigeration is used for many day-to-day applications. It is used to chill water,
make ice and ice cream, keep the food fresh and a host of other purposes. It helps to preserve
fruits, vegetables and other food items. The food items get damaged at atmospheric temperature
because bacteria can easily survive in these conditions. At temperatures below 4 0C, the bacteria
cease to exist and hence the food items remain safe and fresh (Khemani, 2010).

The simplest form of refrigeration observed in daily life is the use of ice. Ice absorbs heat from
the surroundings and melts. During this process the surrounding air becomes cool due to the loss
of heat the capacity of refrigeration is expressed in tonne (Trane, 1999).

OCCURRENCE OF MECHANICAL REFRIGERATION

Mechanical refrigeration is the removal of heat from a material or space, so that its temperature
is lower than that of its surroundings. Refrigerant absorbs the unwanted heat from a material or
space and this raises the refrigerant’s temperature so that it changes from a liquid to a gas — it
evaporates. Thus it decreases the temperature of the material or space than that of the
surroundings.

The system then uses condensation to release the heat and change the refrigerant back into a
liquid. This is called “Latent Heat”. This cycle is based on the physical principle, that a liquid
extracts heat from the surrounding area as it expands (boils) into a gas. To accomplish this, the
refrigerant is pumped through a closed looped pipe system. The closed looped pipe system stops
the refrigerant from becoming contaminated and controls its stream. The refrigerant will be both
a vapor and a liquid in the loop (Rouse, 2012).

INTERNAL PARTS OF DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR

The internal parts of the refrigerator are ones that carry out actual working of the refrigerator.
The domestic refrigerator is one found in almost all the homes for storing food, vegetables,
fruits, beverages, and much more. Some of the internal parts are located at the back of the
refrigerator, and some inside the main compartment of the refrigerator.

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Figure 1: Front view of the internal parts of a refrigerator (Khemani, 2010)

Figure 2: Internal parts of a domestic fridge

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Some internal parts of the refrigerator are listed as follows:

1) Refrigerant: The refrigerant flows through all the internal parts of the refrigerator. It is the
refrigerant that carries out the cooling effect in the evaporator. It absorbs the heat from the
substance to be cooled in the evaporator (chiller or freezer) and throws it to the atmosphere via
condenser. The refrigerant keeps on recirculating through all the internal parts of the refrigerator
in cycle.

2) Compressor: The compressor is located at the back of the refrigerator and in the bottom area.
The compressor sucks the refrigerant from the evaporator and discharges it at high pressure and
temperature. The compressor is driven by the electric motor and it is the major power consuming
devise of the refrigerator.

3) Condenser: The condenser is the thin coil of copper tubing located at the back of the
refrigerator. The refrigerant from the compressor enters the condenser where it is cooled by the
atmospheric air thus losing heat absorbed by it in the evaporator and the compressor. To increase
the heat transfer rate of the condenser, it is finned externally.

4) Expansive valve or the capillary: The refrigerant leaving the condenser enters the expansion
devise, which is the capillary tube in case of the refrigerators. The capillary is the thin copper
tubing made up of number of turns of the copper coil. When the refrigerant is passed through the
capillary its pressure and temperature drops down suddenly.

5) Evaporator or chiller or freezer: The refrigerant at very low pressure and temperature enters
the evaporator or the freezer. The evaporator is the heat exchanger made up of several turns of
copper or aluminum tubing. The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the substance to be cooled in
the evaporator, gets evaporated and it then sucked by the compressor. This cycle keeps on
repeating.

6) Temperature control devise or thermostat: To control the temperature inside the refrigerator
there is thermostat, whose sensor is connected to the evaporator. The thermostat setting can be
done by the round knob inside the refrigerator compartment. When the set temperature is reached
inside the refrigerator the thermostat stops the electric supply to the compressor and compressor
stops and when the temperature falls below certain level it restarts the supply to the compressor.

7) Defrost system: The defrost system of the refrigerator helps removing the excess ice from the
surface of the evaporator. The defrost system can be operated manually by the thermostat button
or there is automatic system comprising of the electric heater and the timer.

8) Ventilation Fins: These are located on the back of the fridge and is responsible for releasing
the heat produced by the condenser (Honeywell Control Systems Ltd., 2004).

EXTERNAL VISIBLE PARTS OF REFRIGERATOR

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The external parts of the compressor are the parts that are visible externally and used for the
various purposes. The figure below shows the common parts of the domestic refrigerator.

Figure 3: External parts of refrigerator (Khemani, 2010).

Some the common parts are described as follows:

1) Freezer compartment: The food items that are to be kept at the freezing temperature are
stored in the freezer compartment. The temperature here is below 0 0C so the water and many
other fluids freeze in this compartment.

2) Thermostat control: The thermostat control comprises of the round knob with the
temperature scale that help setting the required temperature inside the refrigerator. Proper setting
of the thermostat as per the requirements can help saving lots of refrigerator electricity bills.

3) Refrigerator compartment: The refrigerator compartment is the biggest part of the

refrigerator. Here all the food items that are to be maintained at temperature 0 0C but in cooled
condition are kept. The refrigerator compartment can be divided into number of smaller shelves
like meat keeper, and others as per the requirement.

4) Crisper: The highest temperature in the refrigerator compartment is maintained in the crisper.
Here one can keep the food items that can remain fresh even at the medium temperature like
fruits, vegetables, etc.

5) Refrigerator door compartment: There are number of smaller subsections in the refrigerator
main door compartment. Some of these are egg compartment, butter, dairy, etc.

6) Switch: This is the small button that operates the small light inside the refrigerator. As soon
the door of the refrigerator opens, this switch supplies electricity to the bulb and it starts, while

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when the door is closed the light from the bulb stops. This helps in starting the internal bulb only
when required (Khemani, 2010).

MECHANISM OF ACTION

Figure 4: Domestic refrigerator details (Khemani, 2010).

The refrigerator is made up of the freezer compressor; the pipes as heat exchanging unit both
from inside and outside; the refrigerant; and the expansion valve. The entire process of
refrigeration has a whole lot to do with the freezer compressor. If the compressor goes wrong the
refrigerator will lose its freezing capacity. The basic mechanism behind the cooling process
evaporation of a liquid substance that in turn helps in absorbing the heated air. The entire process
begins in the freezer compressor.

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 Figure 5: Mechanism of Action of Refrigerator (MacIntosh, 2014).

Initially, the refrigerant at very low pressure and temperature enters the evaporator as a liquid.
The evaporator is the heat exchanger made up of several turns of copper or aluminum tubing.
The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the substance to be cooled in the evaporator, gets
evaporated and turned into a gas and it then sucked by the compressor.

The refrigerant is in the gaseous state and the compressor exerts pressure on it. Simultaneously
the pressure of the refrigerant gas increases along with its temperature. Now it is the turn of the
heat exchanging pipe attached in the outside position that helps in the transmission of heat under
the pressurized condition of the refrigerant.

Once the first level of the transfer of heat is complete the refrigerant gas condenses to liquid in a
condenser. The refrigerant liquid makes its path through the expansion valve inside the
refrigerator. The refrigerant leaving the condenser enters the expansion device. When the
refrigerant is passed through the capillary its pressure and temperature drops down suddenly.
Now the cycle is again ready to be repeated by entering into the evaporator coil and so on.

The refrigerator thus gets cool from inside. As this mechanism repeats over time starting from
the action of the evaporator coil, the refrigerator remains cold till it is on (MacIntosh, 2014).

REFRIGERANTS

Refrigerant is a liquid which readily absorbs heat when evaporated at a low temperature and
pressure and gives out heat on condensing at a higher temperature and pressure.

The choice of a suitable refrigerant depends upon many factors, although a few are mentioned
below:

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 1. The latent heat of vaporization should be large so that the desired cooling effect is
produced.
2. At normal temperature and pressure, refrigeration must be in vapour phase and on
compression and cooling it should be liquefied easily.
3. The pressure required to liquefy the vapour of the refrigerant in the condenser section must
be so as to maintain it usually at room temperature.
4. The vapour pressure of the refrigerant liquid in the evaporator section must be maintained
at about -15ºC greater than the atmospheric pressure.
5. The specific volume of refrigerant vapour should not be large (Andrew et al., 2003).

CURRENT APPLICATION OF REFRIGERATION

Most widely used current applications of refrigeration are for air conditioning of private homes
and public buildings, and refrigerating foodstuffs in homes, restaurants and large storage
warehouses.

Refrigerators are used in kitchens for storing fruits and vegetables has allowed adding fresh
salads to the modern diet year round, and storing fish and meats safely for long periods.
Refrigeration also helps keep fruits and vegetables edible longer.

Refrigeration is used to liquefy gases - oxygen, nitrogen, propane and methane, for example.
Synthetic ammonia plants condense ammonia gas with temperatures between – 20 0C to +100C
before storage or before shipment.

In compressed air purification, it is used to condense water vapor from compressed air to reduce
its moisture content.

In oil refineries, chemical plants, and petrochemical plants, refrigeration is used to maintain
certain processes at their needed low temperatures (for example, in alkylation of butenes and
butane to produce a high octane gasoline component).

Metal workers use refrigeration to temper steel and cutlery. The cutting tool can be increased
many folds by refrigerating the tool for 15 minutes at -100 0C. Magnetic strength and stability of
magnets can be improved by low temperature treatment at -800C for 8 hours.

In transporting temperature-sensitive foodstuffs and other materials by trucks, trains, airplanes

and seagoing vessels, refrigeration is a necessity. Dairy products are constantly in need of
refrigeration, and it was only discovered in the past few decades that eggs needed to be
refrigerated during shipment rather than waiting to be refrigerated after arrival at the grocery
store. Refrigeration can maintain quality and taste by preserving dairy products as follows:
i. Milk 2 to 50C
ii. Ice cream -250C
iii. Butter 00C
iv. Cheese 00C

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Meats, poultry and fish all must be kept in climate-controlled environments before being sold.
Meat and poultry products are refrigerated as follows:
i. -250C in the frozen state
ii. 10C for long storage
iii. Fish at -150C

Medical applications of refrigeration include:

i. Blood plasma and antibiotics are manufactured using a method called freeze drying
ii. Dead bodies are preserved at -700C for few days.

Preservation of thermolabile substances requires refrigeration. For example, insulin, ACTH,

pituitary hormones and vaccines are stored in refrigeration.

Refrigeration is used to control fermentation. Heat is generated during fermentation and must be
removed otherwise temperature will rise beyond control i.e. refrigeration maintains 5 to 10 0C
during the following processes:
i. In the manufacture of alcohol in a brewery
ii. In the manufacture of penicillin

Many chemical reactions are exothermic (as mentioned below) but these must take place at
temperatures below atmospheric temperature. Therefore refrigeration is required to remove the
heat of reaction.
i. In the manufacture of viscous rayon
ii. In the manufacture of cellulose acetate
iii. In the manufacture of synthetic rubber (Andrew et al., 2003)

REFERENCE

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Andrew D. Althouse, Carl H. Turnquist, Alfred F. Bracciano (2003) ‘Modern Refrigeration and
Air Conditioning’ 18th Edition. Goodheart-Wilcox Publishing.

Honeywell Control Systems Ltd. (2004) ‘THE REFRIGERATION SYSTEM: AN

INTRODUCTION TO REFRIGERATION’ Available from: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/
www.rfmaonline.com/resource/resmgr/crfp/honeywell_the_refrigeration_.pdf

Khemani, H. (2010) ‘Domestic Refrigerator Parts and their Working’ Bright Hub Inc. Available
from: http://www.brighthubengineering.com/hvac/66729-domestic-refrigerator-parts-and-their-
working/

MacIntosh, T. (2014) ‘Basic Mechanism of Freezer Compressor’ Street directory. Available

from: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/134797/technology/basic_mechanism_of_
freezer_compressor.html

Rouse, M. (2012) ‘mechanical refrigeration’ TechTarget

Trane (1999) ‘Refrigeration Cycle: Heat and Refrigeration’ American Standard Inc.