cations best know for its use in the airconditioning of buildings and in the treatment, ation, and preservation of foods and beverages. It also finds largeneris industrial ssaptjon. for example, in the se racture of ice and the dehydration of gases. Applications fre pewoleum industry include lubricating-coil purification, low-temperature reactions, and » ation of volatile hydrocarbons. A closely related Process is gas liquefaction, which has yaant commercial applications. Lie purpose of this chapter is to present a thermodynamic anal jiefaction processes. However, the details of equipment design are left to specialized books,! the maint The word refrigeration impli tenance of a temperature below that of the sur- rundings. This requires continuous absorption of heat at a low temperature level, usually complished by evaporation of a liquid in a steady-state flow process. The vapor formed may teeumed fits original liquid state for reevaporation in either of two ways, Mest commonly, iissinply compressed and then condensed. Alternatively, it may be absorbed by a liquid of low ‘olatility, from which it is subsequently evaporated at higher pressure. Before treating these pactcal refrigeration cycles, we consider the Carnot refrigerator, which provides a stardland of comparison. pele lysis of refrigeration and JA THE GARNOT REFRIGERATOR lnacontinuous refrigeration process, the heat absorbed at a low temperature is continuously ‘jected to the Surroundings ata igher temperature. Basically, a refrigeration cycle is a Te- ‘esed heat-engine cycle. Heat is transferred from a low temperature level t0-a@ higher-one; “cording to the second law, this r ecordin fequires an extemal source of energy. The ideal reftigerator, lke the ideal heat engine (Sec. 5. 2), operates on a Carmot cycle, consisting inthis case of two al steps in which heat | Qc| is absorbed at the lower temperature Tc and heat \Onlis ‘ected at the higher temperature Ty, and two adiabatic steps. The cycle requires the addition UASHRAE Hendboo ks Pietions, 1991; Americ M8 Handbook of Ai Refrigeration, 1994; Fundamentals, 1993; HVAC Systems and Equipment, 1992; HVAC ican Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Condi Engineers, Inc., Atlanta; Shan. r Conditioning and Refrigeration, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993. 317CHAPTER 9. R 318 _ kW to the system. Because AU of the working fluid is zero for the eycle, the fgg of net work W £0 ris written aS 6 ee W =|0u|-12cl 1 ,e measure of the effectiveness of a refrigerator is its coefficient of performance iy _ Thi ae heat absorbed athe lower temperature _ Ie) a oP net work fe a Equation (9.1) may be divided by |Qc| and then combined with Eq. (5.7): wo _ Tn n— Tc W _ lawl, ae ‘ i@cl 1@cl I@cl_ Te Equation (9.2) becomes (93) “This equation applies only to a refrigerator operating on & 1 Camot cycle, and it gives the maxi. mum possible value of w for any refrigerator operating Betweeh given values of Ty and Tc. I Shows clearly thatthe refrigeration effect per unit of work decrease 6 the temperature OT heat absorption Tc decreases and as the temperature of heat rejection Ty increases. For refrigeration at a temperature level of 5°C (278.15 K) in a surroundings at 30°C (303.15 K), the value of w for a Carnot refrigerator is: 5+273.15 3.15) — (5 + 273.15) 11.13 o 30+ \A2 THEYAPOR-COMPRESSION CYCLE “The vapor-compression refrigeration cycle is represented in Fig. 9.1. Shown on the 7'S diagram are the four steps ofthe process. A liquid evaporating at constant pressure (line | —> 2) provides means for heat absorption at a low constant temperature. The vapor produced is compressed to a higher pressure, and is then cooled and condensed with rejection of heat at a higher temperature level. Liquid from the condenser returns to its original pressure by an expansion process, In principle this can be carried out in an expander from which work is obtained, but for practical reasons is usually accomplished by throttling through a partly open valve. The pressure drop in this irreversible process results from fluid friction in the valve. As shown in Sec. 7.1, the throttling process occurs at constant enthalpy. In Fig. 9.1 Tine T—> | represents this throttling process. The dashed line 2 — 3" is the path of isentropic compression (Fig. 7.6). Line 2 > 3, representing the actual compression process. slopes in the directsen of increasing entropy, reflecting inherent irreversibilities. ‘On the basis of a unit mass of fluid, the equations for the heat absorbed in the evaporator and the heat rejected in the condenser are lOcl = H2~ Mi and |Qn| = H3 -— Hs ‘These equations follow from Eq. (2.32) when the small changes in potential and kinetic energy are neglected. The work of compression is simply: W = H3 — Hp, and by Eq. (9.2), theEvaporator _esicient of performance 1S (9.4) odesign the evaporator, compressor, condenser, and auxiliary equipment one must know » ate of citculation of refrigerant ri. This is determined from the rate of heat absorption isi Se aporator by the equation: : 7 mi = 12cl os) Ha - Hy ° ‘The vapor-compression cycle of Fig. 9.1 is shown ona PH diagram in Fig. 9.2. Such dia- ans are more commonly used in the description of refrigeration processes than T $ diagrams, zeeause they show directly the required enthalpies. Although the evaporation and condensation rocesses are represented by cofistant-pressure paths, small pressure @fops do occur because of {uid friction. For given values of Tc and Ty, the highest possible value of w is attained for Camot- «qc refrigeration. The lower values for the vapor-compression cycle result from irreversible expansion in a throttle valve and irreversible compression. The following example provides an indication of typical values for coefficients of performance. Example 2.1 Arefrigerated space is maintained at —12°C (261.15 K), and cooling water is available at21°C (294.15 K). Refrigeration capacity is 35.2 kW. The evaporator and condenser “tn the United States refrigeration equipment is ‘commonly rated in tons of refrigeration; a ton of refrigeration is ‘Fad asheat absorption at the rate of 12.000 Btu h~! or 12 652.2.k) h-!. This corresponds approximately to the rate (val required to freeze 1 short ton [or 2000 (1b)] of water initially at 32(°F) per day or remove 3.5145 kW 20°C 273.15 K),. frigerant _ cine REE ope 32h pression step is reversible and adial tf Lael fo superheated Vapor at state 3! gest athe tines ir ; "atic (isentropic) from Saturated vapor S$ = 8 = 1.739219 kg" K-1 from Fig. G2 at this entroy - PY and ata pressure of 6.977 bar is about: HS = 420.33 kgo! _psineenbapy cbange i: (AH)s = Hy — Hp = 420,33 — 388.03 = 32.3 1g kg-! By Ea a for a compressor efficiency of 0.80, the actual enthalpy change for sep ae (AH)s _ 323 Hy — Hy = SO")8 _ 323 _ 7 0.80 = 40:38 pecause the throttling process of step 1 — 4 is isenthalpic, H, = coefficient of performance as given by Eq. (9.4) the coma et refore becomes: = Ha — Hy _ 388.03 — 236.83 Hs — Fa 403s = 3-74 and the HFC-134a circulation rate as given by Eq, (9.5) is: 1@cl 35.2 m= = — Hy — Hy ~ 388.05 — 236.83 ~ 92328 kgs“ 33 THE CHOICE OF REFRIGERANT— \s shown in Sec. 5.2, the efficiency of a Carnot heat engine is independent of the working nedium of the engine. Similarly, the coefficient of performance of a Carnot refrigerator is dependent of the refrigerant. However, the irreversibilities inherent in the vapor-compression ‘yole cause the coefficient of performance of practical refrigerators to depend to some extent on herefrigerant. Nevertheless, such characteristics as its toxicity, flammability, cost, corrosion voperties, and vapor pressure in relation to temperature are of greater importance in the choice. ‘freftigerant, So that air cannot leak into the refrigeration system, the vapor pressure of the ‘ftigerant at the evaporator temperature should be greater than atmospheric pressure. On the ‘her hand, the vapor pressure at the condenser temperature should not be unduly high, because {the initial cost and operating expense of high-pressure equipment. These two requirements imit the choice of refrigerant to relatively a few fluids. The final selection then depends on the ‘her characteristics mentioned.igeration opion Refneer a 3. rsa 3. a ‘a, methy! chloride, carbon dioxide, roca . ie Halogenated hydrocarbons came into common use as regents aia 308 n were the fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons, CCHF (trichlorofluoromethane 3 and CCHF: (dichlorodifluoromethane or CFC-19), These stable molecules persist C sphere for hundreds of years, causing severe ozone depletion. Their production has peat gg, Replacements are certain hydrochlorofluorocarby, ended Propane and other hy } and hydrofluoroca ‘ fe sand ome no onnce deplore \ydrofluorocarbons, which a z . Examples are CHCI>CE 10 EC CHF (1,1,1,2-1 el : HCFC-123). oe 7h1.2-tetrafluorocthane or HFC. 134a), and_C xa ethane ot HEC-TI5). A Pressurefenthalpy diagram for tetrafluoroethane (HEC™ (ge jown in Fig. G2; Table 9.1 provides Saturation data for the same tefrigerant. Tables 13a) rams fora Variety of other refrigerants are readily available # Pa efi placed on the Operating pressures of the ‘evaporator and condenser of a refrigeration _m also limit the temperature difference Ty — Te over which a simple vapor-compression jecan operate. With Ty fixed by the temperature of the cooling medium fe condenser, a et iit is placed on the temperature level of refrigeration, This can be overcome by the n of two or more refrigeration cycles emp! loying different refri; erants in a cascade. A oe cascade is shown in Fig. 9.3, 7 —_— posts Here, the two cycles operate so that the heat absorbed in the interch: sie bigher- temperature cycle 2 serves to condense the refrigerant inthe lower-temperature ig |. The two refrigerants are so chosen that atthe required temperature levels exch, cycle Seats at reasonable pressures. For example, assume the following operating temperatures (Fig 93): Ty = 303 K Te ‘anger by the refrigerant 255 K Th = 261K Te = 227K Iftetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) is the refrigerant in ¢ pressures for the compressor are about 1,45 barand 7.72 bar, and the pressure ratio is about 532. If propylene is the refrigerant in cycle 1, these pressures are about 1.1 bar and 4 bar, and the pressure ratio is about 3.64. These are all reasonable values, On the other hand, for asingle cycle operating between 227 K and 303 K with HFC-134a as reftigerant, the intake pressure to the condenser is about 0.4 bar, well below atmospheric pressure. Moreover, for a discharge pressure of about 7.72 bar the pressure ratio is 19.3, too high a value for a single-stage compressor. ycle 2, then the intake and discharge 94 ABSORPTION See ON In vapor-compression refrigeration the work of compression is usually supplied by an electric ‘motor. But the source of the electric energy for the motor is probably a heat engine (central *The abbreviated designation is nomenclature of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air- Conditioning Engineers, "s Chemica! Engineers* ‘ASHRAE Handbook: Fundamentals, Chap. 17, 1989; R. H. Perry and D. Green, Perry's Ens tendo, Ted, See 2, 997, NIST Standad Reference Daa Base 23, REFPROP, Ver & 2007. Extensive aa for ‘ammonia are given by L. Haar and J. S. Gallagher, J. Phys. Chem, Ref. Data, vol. 7. pp. 12, 1978,HAPTER 9. Refrigeratio a4 £ ———— 0.00 bisnuctyc » Figure 9.3: A two-stage cascade refrigeration system Evaporator at Tc power plant) used to drive a generator. Thus the work for refrigeration comes ultimately from heat at a high temperature level. This suggests the direct use of heat as the energy source for refrigeration. The absorption-refrigeration machine is based on this idea. ‘The work required by a Camot refrigerator absorbing heat at temperature Tc and rejecting heat at the temperature of the surroundings, here designated Ts, follows from Eqs. (9.2) and (9.3): Ts —Te w= To I@cl where |Qc| is the heat absorbed. If a source of heat is available at a temperature above that of the surroundings, say at 7, then work can be obtained from a Camot engine operating between this temperature and the surroundings temperature Ts. The heat required | Q | for the production of work |W] is found from Eq. (5.8): wl Ts Tu =1-— and =|Wi—— \Qnl=1 ly =I 7=—— iQul Ta Elimination of WIeives |u| = |Ocl-—2#_— 787 06) TH-Ts TeSt touedivngs mt Ty Condervenr Ss Wul { \ Heat added fron ‘ Het a | | eer | at incre ta | ‘ | | Regenerator Heat absorbed for Hoat discarded to stdrigoration at Ty aurtoundings at T, ch pomp Figure 9.4: Schematic diagram of an absorption-refrigeration unit spe vale of 1 u/\Qcl given by this equation is of course a minimum, because Carnot cycles ponot be achieved in practice, Aschematic diagram for a typical absorption refrigerator is shown in Fig. 9.4. The essen- jl difference between a vapor-compression and an absorption refrigerator is in the different means employed for compression, The section of the absorption unit to the right of the dashed fine in Fig, 9.4 is the Same as in a vapor-compression refrigerator, but the section to the left sccomplishes compression by what amounts to a heat engine, Refrigerant as vapor from the cvaporator is absorbed in a relatively nonvolatile liquid solvent at the pressure of the evapo- ralor and at relatively low temperature. The heat given off in the process is discarded to the sortoundings at Ts. This is the lower temperature level of the heat engine, The liquid solution fom the absorber, which contains a relatively high concentration of refrigerant, passes to a jump, which raises the pressure of the liquid to that of the condenser. Heat from the higher temperature source at Ty, is transferred to the compressed liquid solution, raising its temper- ature and evaporating the refrigerant from the solvent. Vapor passes from the regenerator to the condenser, and solvent, which now contains a relatively low concentration of refrigerant, returns to the absorber by way of a heat exchanger, which serves to conserve energy and adjust stream temperatures toward optimum values. Low-pressure steam is the usual source of heat for the regenerator. ‘The most commonly used absorption-refrigeration system operates with water as the refrigerant and a lithium bromide solution as the absorbent. This system is obviously limited to refrigeration temperatures above the freezing point of water. It is treated in detail by Perryvy AFTER. Heftigemton sn yey and Green.* For jower temperatures ammonia can serve as refrigerant with w; An alternative eysiem uses methanol as refrigerant and polyglycolethers ax Consider refrigeration at a temperature level of —10°C (Te = 26.15 K. o (Ty = 373.15 K = 303,15 K), the minimum possible "AEE 8 the , abrotbeng ty 373. (= soe aon 373.15 — 303.15 263.15, — For an actual absorption refrigerator, the value would be on the order of three times this resule 5S THE HEAT PUMP ‘The heat pump, a reversed heat engine, is a device for heating houses and commercial buildings uring the winter and cooling them during the summer. In the winter it operates so as to sory heat from the surroundings and reject heat into the building, Refrigerant evaporates coi placed underground or in the outside air; vapor compression lowed by condensation, heat being transferred to air or water, which iS used To Tear the buitdimg—Compiession tint bet fl & pressure such that the condensation temperature of the refrigerant is higher than the requicg temperature level of the building. The operating cost of the installation is the cost of electric Power to run the compressor. Ifthe unit has a coefficient of performance. |OcVW = 4 the heat available to heat the house |Q_| is equal to five times the energy input to the compressor, Any economic advantage of the heat pump as a heating device depends on the cost of electricity in comparison with the cost of fuels such as oil and natural gas. The heat pump also serves for air conditioning during the summer. The flow of refrigerant is simply reversed, and heat is absorbed from the building and rejected through underground coils or to the outside air. Example 9.2 A house has a winter heating requirement of 30 kd s~! and a summer cooling require- ment of 60kJs~'. Considera heat-pump installation to maintain the house temperature at 20°C (293.15 K) in winter and 25°C (298.15 K) in summer. This requires circulation of the refrigerant through interior exchanger coils at 30°C (303.15 K) in winter and 5°C (278.15 K) in summer. Underground coils Provide the heat source in winter and the heat sink in summer. For a year-round ground temperature of 15°C (288.15 K), the heat-transfer characteristics of the coils necessitate refrigerant temperatures of 10°C (283.15 K) in winter and 25°C (298.15 K) in summer. What are the minimum power fequirements for winter heating and summer cooling? SR. Perry and D. Green, op. cit, pp. 11-88-11-89.ution ; imum power requirements are Provided by a i fears Camot he . she Ting, the house coils are at the higher tem; e’ leat pump. For eating, oa - ‘MPerat ely, eet su =30K3 s-!. Application of Eq, Sgn Ti. and the heat aul ° Te 10 +273.15 = 10nlae = 30 (104273.15 lech = lng, aes) = 28.021 sl isthe heat absorbed in the ground coils, By Bg, 9 sis (9.1), W = 12x ~1Qcl = 30 ~ 28.92 — 1.98 ky s-1 : i is 1.98 kw, the power requirement is , Ther summer cooling, |c} = 60 KJ s-!, an nperature level Tc. Combine Eqs. (9.2) a e id the house coils are at the lower- ind (9.3) and solve for W: Tu —Tec 298.15 ~ 278.1 w=l0cl = 60 (FES 27815 _ Te S+2Bis _) = 431s the power requirement here is therefore 4.31 kW. ot A GTEREE TION PROCESSES igefed gases are used for a variety of purposes. For example, liquid propane in eylinders gnesasa domestic fuel, liquid oxygen is carried in rockets, natural gas is liquefied for ocean saspor, and liquid nitrogen provides low-temperature refrigeration. Gas mixtures (e.g, ait) seliquefied for separation into their component species by distillation. Liquefaction results when a gas is cooled to a temperature in the two-phase region. This sxybe accomplished in several ways: 1. By heat exchange at constant pressure 2, By an expansion process from which work is obtained 3, By athrottling process The first method requires a heat sink at a temperature lower than that to which the gas cooled, and is most commonly used to precool a gas prior to its liquefaction by the other ‘wo methods. An external refrigerator is required for a gas temperature below that of the sutoundings, The three methods are illustrated in Fig. 9.5. The constant-pressure process (1) ap- aches the two-phase region (and liquefaction) most closely for a given drop in temperature, Te throttling process (3) does not result in liquefaction unless the initial state is at a low508 CHAPTER 9. Refrigeration ang Ligaen, tion Figure 9.5: Cooling processes on a TS diagram enough temperature and high enough pressure forthe constant-enthalpy process to cut into yg two-phase region. This is indeed the situation for an initial state at’, but notat where temperature is the same but the pressure is lower than at A. The change of state from 4 tot may be accomplished by compression of the gas to the pressure at B, and constant-preg cooling to ’.(Reference to a TS diagram for ait® shows that ata temperature of 167 f pressure must be greater than about for any liquefaction to occur along a path of stant enthalpy. Thus, if air is compressed to at least 90 atm and cooled below 167 K., partially liquefied by throsting3JAn efficient process for cooling the gayis by countercuey heat exchange with that portion of the gas whch does not liquefy in thethrottling process. Liquefaction by isentropic cxpasonatine process (2) occurs from lower pressures (fap given temperature) than by throttling. For ekamgfe, continuation oftocess (2) from int state A ultimately results in liquefiction, The throttling process (3) is Commonly employed in small-scale commercial liquefaction plants. The temperature of the gas must decrease during expansion, and this indeed occurs wh most gases at usual conditions of temperature and pressure. The exceptions are hydrogen and helium, which increase in temperature upon throttling unless the initial temperature is belo about 100 K for hydroggpand 20 K for helium. Liquefaction of these gases by throtling requires initial cooling to temperatures lower than obtained by method 1 or 2. D, The Linde iquefacton process, which depends solely’ on throttling expansion, i shom in Fig. 9.6. After compression, the gas is precooled to ambient temperature. Triiay be even further cooled by refrigeration. The lower the temperature of the gas entering the throttle valve, the greater the fraction of gas that is liquefied. For example, a refrigerant evaporating inthe cooler at —40°C (233.15 K) provides a lower temperature at the valve than if water at 21°C (294.15 K) is the cooling medium. ‘A more efficient liquefaction process would replace the throttle valve by an expander but operating such a device into the two-phase region is impractical. However, the Claude process, shown in Fig. 9.7, is based in part on this idea. Gas at an intermediate temperature is extracted from the heat-exchange system and passed through an expander from which it R. H. Perry and D. Green, op. cit, Fig. 2-5, p.2-213.Figure 9.6: Linde liquefaction process ts as a saturated or slightly superheated va passts exh is further cooled rotted through a valve to produce liquefacti oat por. The remaining g ion as in the Linde process. The unliquefied ‘on, which is saturated vapor, mixes with th oti. i expander exhaust and returns for recycle 4 the heat-exchanger system, ve xg energy balance, Eq, (2.30), applied to that Part of the process lying to the right of the gushed vertical line yields tho Ho + ris His — thgHs = Won ifthe expander operates adiabatically, Wow: as given by Eq, (7.13), is Wout = rit2(Hi2 ~ Hs) Moreover, by a mass balance, rit1s = rig — tity. The energy balance, after division by rit4, therefore becomes . oe - Oy A rg — Hy = ay Hs) ma ma mg With the definitions, z = ritg/rhs and x it12/1h4, solution of this equation for z yields x(Hi2 ~ Hs) + Hy ~ His z= eee ss (9.7) Ho — His Inthis equation z is the fraction of the stream entering the heat-exchan; at is liquefied, and ris the friction of this stream Thais drawn oWf betwesr ihe heat ee through the expander. This latter Eq, (9.7) can be solved for Eq. (9.7) reduces to tween the heat exchangers and passed quantity (x) is a design variable, and must be specified before z. Note that the Linde process results when x = 0, and in this event Ha — His He Hae = (9.8) Ho — Ais