COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF MILITARY

PURPOSE AIRCRAFT REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1
REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

BECHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
(MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)

SUBMITTED BY: UNDER GUIDANCE:

GURPREET SINGH (1508092) Dr. P.S BILGA

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GURU NANAK DEV ENGINEERING

COLLEGE, LUDHIANA
 1. Introduction

Air cycle refrigeration systems belong to the general class of gas cycle
refrigeration systems, in which a gas is used as the working fluid. The gas
does not undergo any phase change during the cycle, consequently, all
the internal heat transfer processes are sensible heat transfer processes.
Gas cycle refrigeration systems find applications in air craft cabin cooling
and also in the liquefaction of various gases.

1.1 Air Standard Cycle analysis

Air cycle refrigeration system analysis is considerably simplified if one

makes the following assumptions:
i. The working fluid is a fixed mass of air that behaves as an ideal gas
ii. The cycle is assumed to be a closed loop cycle with all inlet and
exhaust processes of open loop cycles being replaced by heat
transfer processes to or from the environment
iii. All the processes within the cycle are reversible, i.e., the cycle is
internally reversible
iv. The specific heat of air remains constant throughout the cycle

An analysis with the above assumptions is called as cold Air Standard

Cycle (ASC) analysis. This analysis yields reasonably accurate results for
most of the cycles and processes encountered in air cycle refrigeration
systems. However, the analysis fails when one considers a cycle
consisting of a throttling process, as the temperature drop during
throttling is zero for an ideal gas, whereas the actual cycles depend
exclusively on the real gas behavior to produce refrigeration during
throttling.
1.3. Aircraft cooling systems

In an aircraft, cooling systems are required to keep the cabin temperatures

at a comfortable level. Even though the outside temperatures are very low
at high altitudes, still cooling of cabin is required due to:
i. Large internal heat generation due to occupants, equipment etc.
ii. Heat generation due to skin friction caused by the fast moving
aircraft
iii. At high altitudes, the outside pressure will be sub-atmospheric.
When air at this low pressure is compressed and supplied to the
cabin at pressures close to atmospheric, the temperature increases
significantly. For example, when outside air at a pressure of 0.2
bar and temperature of 223 K (at 10000 m altitude) is compressed
to 1 bar, its temperature increases to about 353 K. If the cabin is
maintained at 0.8 bar, the temperature will be about 332 K. This
effect is called as ram effect. This effect adds heat to the cabin,
which needs to be taken out by the cooling system.
iv. Solar radiation

For low speed aircraft flying at low altitudes, cooling system may not
be required, however, for high speed aircraft flying at high altitudes, a
cooling system is a must.
Even though the COP of air cycle refrigeration is very low compared
to vapour compression refrigeration systems, it is still found to be most
suitable for aircraft refrigeration systems as:
i. Air is cheap, safe, non-toxic and non-flammable. Leakage of air is
not a problem
ii. Cold air can directly be used for cooling thus eliminating the low
temperature heat exchanger (open systems) leading to lower
weight
iii. The aircraft engine already consists of a high speed turbo-
compressor, hence separate compressor for cooling system is not
 required. This reduces the weight per kW cooling considerably.
Typically, less than 50% of an equivalent vapour compression
system
iv. Design of the complete system is much simpler due to low
pressures. Maintenance required is also less.
The Aircraft Refrigeration system generally used in case of military
aircrafts is Reduced Ambient Air refrigeration system(discussed below in
detail)
2.REDUCED AMBIENT AIR REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

Fig 1: System Diagram of Reduced Ambient Aircraft Refrigeration System

1, 1’, 2, 2’, 3, 3’, 4, 4’, 5 are the state points
C.C = Cooling Chamber
M.C = Main Compressor
G.T = Gas Turbine
H.E = Primary Heat Exchanger
A.T = Auxiliary Turbine
C.T = Cooling Turbine
F = Fan

Fig 2: T-S Chart of Reduced Ambient Aircraft Refrigeration System

P0 = Ambient Air pressure
P₁ = Isentropic Ram Air Pressure
P1’ = Actual Ram Air Pressure
P1’’’ = Actual Pressure of Air Leaving Auxiliary Turbine
P2 = Pressure of Air Leaving Main Compressor
P4’ = Pressure at exit of Cooling Turbine
P5 = Cabin Pressure

Formulas Used
𝑈𝑎2
1. T1 = T1ˊ = T0 + 2000×𝐶
𝑝

𝑃1´ −𝑃0
2. P1ˊ, ƞRam = 𝑃
1 −𝑃1

𝛾
𝑃1 ′ 𝑇 𝛾−1
3. T1”, = (𝑇1′ )
𝑃1 " 1"

𝑇1ˊ −𝑇1ˊ"
4. T1’’’, ȠAT = 𝑇1ˊ −𝑇1"
 𝛾−1
𝑇2 𝑃2 𝛾
5. T2 , = (𝑃 ˊ )
𝑇1ˊ 1

𝑇2 −𝑇1ˊ
6. T3ˊ, ƞMC = 𝑇 ˊ −𝑇 ˊ
2 1

7. P2 , P2 = (Given pressure ratio)×𝑃1ˊ

𝛾−1
𝑇4 𝑃4 𝛾
8. T4 , = (𝑃 )
𝑇3 3

𝑇3 −𝑇4ˊ
9. T4ˊ ƞCT =
𝑇3 −𝑇4

10. Mass flow rate of air supplied to cabin,

14000×𝑄
ma = 𝐶 ˊ Kg/h
𝑝 (𝑇5 −𝑇4 )

11. Mass flow rate of air passed over heat exchanger,

ma × cp(𝑇2ˊ − 𝑇3 ) = mr × cp(𝑇2ˊ − 𝑇1ˊ )
𝑚𝑎 (𝑇2ˊ −𝑇3 )
mr = (𝑇2ˊ −𝑇1ˊ )

14000𝘟𝑄
12. C.O.P = 𝐶 ′ ′
𝑝 (𝑇2 −𝑇1 )
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Effect of different parameters such as speed, Ramming Efficiency, compression
ratio of compressor, efficiencies of compressor and turbine, cooling load etc. on
the Performance and DART of the Reduced Ambient Aircraft Refrigeration System
was studied by using the results of the program. The graphs obtained from the
analysis brought out the ensuing results.

Case 1: When height of aircraft is varying

Variation of Reff. Eff. with respect to height

120
100
Reff. Eff.

80
60
40
Reff. Eff.
20
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

Height
 Variation of DART with respect to Height
240.0000

235.0000

230.0000

225.0000
DART

220.0000

215.0000 T4' (Dart)

210.0000

205.0000

200.0000
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

Height

Variation of COP with respect to Height

1.6000

1.4000

1.2000

1.0000
COP

0.8000

0.6000 COP
0.4000

0.2000

0.0000
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

Height
2: When velocity of aircraft is varying

Variation of Reff. Eff. with velocity

68.5000

68.0000

67.5000
Reff. Eff.

67.0000

66.5000

66.0000 Reff. Eff.

65.5000

65.0000

64.5000
350 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430

velocity
 Variation of DART with velocity of aircraft
236.0000

235.5000

235.0000

234.5000
DART

234.0000

233.5000 T4' (Dart)

233.0000

232.5000

232.0000
350 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430

Velocity

Variation of COP with Velocity

0.9400

0.9200

0.9000
COP

0.8800

0.8600
COP
0.8400

0.8200

0.8000
350 360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430

Velocity
Case 3: When Efficiency of main compressor is varying

Variation of DART with Efficiency

236.2000
236.0000
235.8000
235.6000
235.4000
DART

235.2000
235.0000
234.8000 T4' (Dart)
234.6000
234.4000
234.2000
234.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Compressor efficiency
 Variation of COP with compressor efficiency
1.0000
Compressor efficiency
0.9000
0.8000
0.7000
0.6000
0.5000
0.4000
COP
0.3000
0.2000
0.1000
0.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

COP

Reff. Eff.
66.2000

66.0000

65.8000

65.6000

65.4000
Axis Title

65.2000

65.0000 Reff. Eff.

64.8000

64.6000

64.4000

64.2000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
Axis Title
4: When Turbine efficiency is varying

Variation Of DART with Turbine Efficiency

250.0000

245.0000

240.0000
DART

235.0000

230.0000 T4' (Dart)

225.0000

220.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Cooling Turbine efficiency

 COP
1.2000
Turbine Efficiency
1.0000

0.8000

0.6000

COP
0.4000

0.2000

0.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

COP

Reff. Eff.
80.0000
70.0000
60.0000
50.0000
Axis Title

40.0000
30.0000 Reff. Eff.

20.0000
10.0000
0.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
Axis Title
Case 5: When Effectiveness of Heat Exchanger is varying

Variation of DART with Effectiveness of H.E

238.0000

236.0000

234.0000
DART

232.0000

230.0000 T4' (Dart)

228.0000

226.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Effectiveness of H.E
 Variation of COP with Effectiveness of H.E
0.9600

0.9400

0.9200

0.9000
C.O.P

0.8800

0.8600 COP

0.8400

0.8200

0.8000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Effectiveness of H.E

Reff. Eff.
74.0000

72.0000

70.0000
Axis Title

68.0000
Reff. Eff.
66.0000

64.0000

62.0000
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
Axis Title
Therefore, we have concluded that:
 On increasing the height of aircraft, refrigeration effect increases,
DART decreases and COP increases.
 On increasing the velocity of aircraft, ref. effect decreases, DART
increases and COP decreases.
 On increasing the efficiency of main compressor, ref. effect
increases, COP also increases but DART decreases.
 On increasing the cooling turbine efficiency, DART decreases
whereas COP and refrigerating effect increases.
 On increasing the effectiveness of heat exchanger, DART
decreases whereas COP and refrigerating effect increases.
REFERENCES

 https://nptel.ac.in/courses
 A textbook of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning by R.S. Khurmi
and J.K. Gupta
 http://engineering.myindialist.com
 Arora and Domkundwar, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning,
Dhanpatrai & Company