Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Simplified steady-state modelling of a single stage vapour

compression plant. Model development and validation
a,*
R. Cabello , J. Navarro a, E. Torrella b

a
Department of Technology, Campus de Riu Sec, University Jaume I, E-12071 Castellón, Spain
b
Department of Applied Thermodynamics, Camino de Vera, 14, Polytechnic University of Valencia,
E-46022 Valencia, Spain

Received 25 April 2004; accepted 29 October 2004

Available online 20 December 2004

Abstract

This paper proposes a simplified steady-state model of a single stage vapour compression plant. The
developed model is mainly based on well known physical equations and partially based on empirical
and parametrical correlations. As input data uses only the main operating variables: evaporating and con-
densing refrigerant temperatures and refrigerant total superheating degree, and returns as main values:
refrigerant mass flow rate, cooling capacity, compression power consumption and COP. In this way the
model allows to analyze easily the influence of the main operating variables on the energy performance.
Furthermore, the model results are validated using experimental data taken from a test bench in a wide
range of operating conditions and working with three refrigerants (R134a, R407C and R22). The agree-
ment between the model predictions and the actual values is found to be within ±5% for mass flow rate
and specific refrigerating effect and ±10% for the rest energy parameters.
Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Modelling; Refrigeration system; Vapour compression plant; Steady-state

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 964 728 197; fax: +34 964 728 106.
E-mail address: cabello@tec.uji.es (R. Cabello).

1359-4311/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2004.10.012
 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1741

Nomenclature

cp specific heat capacity at constant pressure (kJ/kg K)

GR total superheating degree (°C)
GST total subcooling degree (°C)
h specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)
m_ mass flow rate (kg/s)
N compressor rotation speed (r.p.m.)
NTU number of transfer units
P electrical power (kW)
p pressure (bar)
Q_ heat transfer rate (kW)
q specific heat transfer (kJ/kg)
RU superheating degree in evaporator (°C)
T temperature (°C)
t compression ratio
V_ volumetric flow rate (m3/s)
V volume (m3)
w specific work (kJ/kg)
v specific volume (m3/kg)

Greek symbols
D change, difference
gG global compression efficiency
gv volumetric efficiency

Subscripts
th theoretical
sl saturated liquid
sv saturated vapour
dis compressor discharge
G swept
k condenser
r actual
l liquid phase
o evaporator
suc compressor suction

1. Introduction

Vapour compression systems are commonly used in a wide range of commercial and indus-
trial refrigeration applications, representing a substantial portion of energy consumption. The
1742 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

extensive research in model development has been motivated by the need to reduce power con-
sumption and a better understanding of the influence of key parameters of the system on the en-
ergy performance.
A great number of models can be found in the literature. Some are centred on individual com-
ponents model development, evaporators [1–3], compressors [4–6], condensers [7], etc. Others pro-
pose a general model for the overall plant behaviour [8–15]. These models can be steady-state or
dynamic models, being most of the works focused on steady-state modelling, where the system
input/output parameters are constant over time. Furthermore, depending on the model proper-
ties, there are black-box and physical models, and grey-box models (combination of physical
and black-box models).
Aside from the theoretical base in which the models are founded, all they should comply with
some main characteristics to consider in its evaluation: simplicity, generality, accuracy and low
data requirement.
So merging all the factors quoted above has been developed the model proposed in this paper.
This model predicts the steady-state energy performance using physical characterisation and ther-
modynamic principles, being completed with a few empirical correlations for generality.
In this way, the proposed model can be applied to any single stage vapour compression plant
equipped with a volumetric compressor, being independent on the type of heat exchangers used.
Once the model is adapted to the facility, fitting the empirical correlations and using the appro-
priate working fluid thermodynamic properties, the model only uses as input variables the evap-
orating and condensing temperatures and the superheating degree at the compressor suction.
These operating variables are selected due to their availability in most of the plants, and further-
more the model has been simplified in order to avoid extra data requirement and difficult
evaluation.

2. Experimental plant and test procedure

The refrigeration test facility, Fig. 1, consists of three loops: the refrigerant loop, the condenser
water loop and the secondary coolant, water–glycol, loop. The refrigerant loop is a single-stage
vapour compression plant with: an open type reciprocating compressor, driven by a 4 kW electric
motor, with a theoretical swept volume of 681 cm3; a shell-and-tube evaporator (1–2), using a
water–glycol mixture as heat transfer fluid, with an external heat transfer area of 1.81 m2; a
shell-and-tube condenser (1–2) with an external heat transfer area of 2.87 m2, using water as cool-
ing fluid; and a thermostatic expansion valve. A lubricant POE type, compatible with the three
refrigerants employed, has been used to avoid retrofitting problems when the refrigerants were
changed.
The thermodynamic states of the refrigerant are obtained measuring pressure and temperature
at the inlet and outlet of each basic element of the facility with 14 K-type thermocouples and 8
piezoelectric pressure gauges and using an own software based on REFPROP [16] routines.
The pressure and temperature sensors are calibrated in our own laboratory using certified refer-
ences, obtaining a degree of uncertainty of 0.1 K, while the pressure transducers with a range of
0–700 kPa and of 0–3000 kPa have an uncertainty of ±0.1% of the full scale range.
 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1743

Fig. 1. Refrigeration test facility.

The refrigerant mass flow rate is on-line measured by a Coriolis-effect mass flow meter located
at the liquid line, with a certified accuracy within ±0.22% of the reading. The compressor power
consumption is measured using a digital wattmeter, with a calibration specified uncertainty of
±0.5%, and the compressor rotation speed is also on-line obtained using a capacitive sensor
(obtaining an uncertainty of ±1%). All the measurements are gathered by a data acquisition sys-
tem (HP34970A), and transferred to a personal computer.
Concerning the test performed for the model validation, three different set of experimental tests
are carried out at different compression ratios with each working fluid (R134a, R407C and R22).
Each set of experiments consists of three stationary periods of 40 min with a sample time interval
fixed to 2 min.
It has to be noted that, using the same compressor with the three working fluids, the rotation
speed has been adjusted for each refrigerant to obtain similar cooling capacities (R134a—50 Hz,
R407C—40 Hz, R22—38 Hz).

3. Model development and validation

The system is assumed to operate at steady-state and the refrigerant flow leaving one compo-
nent is the same as the one entering into the next one. The expressions are based on mass and
energy balances, and on the thermodynamic representation of the refrigeration cycle. These
expressions are completed with the thermodynamic properties of the working fluid from REF-
PROP and with empirical correlations from experimental or catalogue data. The steps involved
in the proposed model are given in the flow chart shown in Fig. 2.
The different energy parameters are modelled as a function of three basic operating variables
that are proved to be significant and easily available, that is, the evaporating and condensing tem-
perature and the superheating degree of the vapour at the compressor suction.
1744 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

Theoretical
Estimations

m
Input Q0
Parameters Model
Tk, To, GR PC
COP

Refrigerant
Properties

Fig. 2. Flow Chart of the model.

3.1. Mass flow rate

For predicting the mass flow rate of a volumetric compressor a model based on the volumetric
efficiency is used (1),
gv
V G
N
m_ ¼ ðkg=sÞ; ð1Þ
60
vsuc
where the volumetric efficiency, gv, and the specific volume of the suction vapour, vsuc, have been
expressed as a function of the basic operating variables.
So, the volumetric efficiency can be obtained as the ratio of the actual mass flow rate to the the-
oretical possible mass flow rate of the compressor,
V_ r m_
vsuc
gv ¼ ¼  a  b
t: ð2Þ
_V G V G
N
Coefficients a and b from expression (2) are particular for a given compressor and working
fluid, and can be obtained by way of experimental data [17], as in our case, or in terms of the clear-
ance factor, the polytropic exponent, and the compression ratio from catalogue data [18].
The compression ratio is defined as the ratio of discharge to compressor suction pressure. Here
the discharge pressure has been approximated to the condensing pressure, neglecting pressure
drops in discharge line for simplicity, since the influence of the pressure drops at the discharge line
are no significant in the compression ratio value. So, a simplified compression ratio (3) is used.
Pk Pk
t ¼ ; ð3Þ
P suc P o  DP suc
 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1745

As it can be observed in expression (3) the suction pressure has been obtained as the evaporating
pressure less the suction pressure drops. These pressure drops are correlated with the evaporating
temperature using empirical data (4) [19].
X
2
DP suc ¼ DP i
T io ; ð4Þ
i¼0

where the coefficients DPi (i = 0 to 2) are reported in Table 1 for the three working fluids.
Considering the expression (5) that relates the saturating pressure with its corresponding satu-
rating temperature,
P sat ¼ A
eB
T sat ; ð5Þ
the volumetric efficiency can be computed as indicated in expression (6), where the volumetric effi-
ciency is only under the influence of the evaporating and condensing temperature.


Pk
gv ¼ a  b
: ð6Þ
P o  um2i¼0 DP i
T io
The expression (6) has been validated with experimental data, with a predicting accuracy within
±5% for the three working fluids tested, as it is presented in Fig. 3.

Table 1
DPi (i = 0 to 2) coefficients from expression (4)
DP0 DP1 DP2
R134a 0.18 0.0017 5E05
R407C 0.057 0.0013 5E04
R22 0.0356 0.0049 7E05

0.95

0.9

0.85

0.8
ηv calculated

0.75

0.7

0.65

0.6 R134a
0.55 R22
R407C
0.5
0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
ηv measured

Fig. 3. Calculated versus measured volumetric efficiency.

1746 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

Expression (6) neglects the influence of the vapour superheating degree at the compressor suc-
tion. Nevertheless, it has been detected a minor increase of the volumetric efficiency with the
superheating degree, 2–3% for a GR of about 20 °C. This fact can be one of the causes of the dis-
crepancy between calculated and measured values presented in Fig. 2. Another source of discrep-
ancy can be the assumption of constant compressor rotation speed when the condensing and
evaporating temperatures are modified, being experimentally detected slight variations in this
variable.
The specific volume at the compressor suction is computed using expression (7), obtaining the
data from the REFPROP routines,

ov 0 X3
vsuc ¼ vsv ðT 0o Þ þ GR
ðT o Þ ¼ ðvsv i
T 0io þ GR
vGRi
T 0io Þ; ð7Þ
oR i¼0

where T 00 is the evaporating temperature (°C) corrected with the consideration of the pressure
drops at the suction line as
!!
0 1 1 X2
DP suc ¼ P o  P suc ¼ P o  A
eB
T o ) T 0o ¼
ln
Po  DP i
T io : ð8Þ
B A i¼0

Expressions (7) and (8) face the dependence of the specific suction volume on the evaporating
temperature and total superheating degree (from saturating conditions). The margin error
obtained when these expressions are applied to calculate specific volume it is ±5%.
Finally, using expressions (6) and (7) in expression (1), the refrigerant mass flow rate can be
evaluated from the total superheating degree, evaporating and condensing temperature (9) [17,19].


Pk
ab
P2
VG
N
P o DP i
T io
m_ ¼ P3 0i
i¼0
0i
: ð9Þ
i¼0 ðvsv i
T o þ GR
vGRi
T o Þ

The comparison between the values computed using Eq. (9) and the measured ones with the Cori-
olis-effect mass flow meter are presented in Fig. 4, evidencing a good accuracy of the predicted
mass flow rate values, within ±5% around the actual values in the 91% of the tests performed with
the three working fluids.

3.2. Cooling capacity

The actual cooling capacity can be calculated from the heat transfer rate given at the evapora-
tor evaluated from the refrigerant side (10), that is, the product of the refrigerant mass flow rate
(kg/s) and specific refrigerating effect at the evaporator (kJ/kg).

Q_ o ¼ m_
qo : ð10Þ
The refrigerating effect is evaluated as
qo ¼ hsv ðT o Þ  hsl ðT k Þ þ Dhsub þ DhRU ; ð11Þ
 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1747

Fig. 4. Accuracy of predicting mass flow rate.

being Dhsub the enthalpy difference due to liquid subcooling degree, DhRU the enthalpy difference
due to vapour superheat inside the evaporator, hsv(To) the saturated vapour enthalpy at the evap-
orating temperature, and hsl(Tk) the saturated liquid enthalpy at the condensing temperature.
The values of hsv(To) and hsl(Tk) are determined using expressions (12) and (13), respectively,
obtaining the coefficients hsv_i and hsl_i with the help of REFPROP.
X
2
hsv ðT o Þ ¼ hsv i
T io : ð12Þ
i¼0

X
2
hsl ðT k Þ ¼ hsl j
T jk : ð13Þ
j¼0

The enthalpy difference due to liquid subcooling degree, Dhsub, is computed using expression (14)
Dhsub ¼ C pL T k
GST : ð14Þ

The specific heat capacity is evaluated with expression (15).

X
2
cpL ¼ cpj
T jk : ð15Þ
j¼0

Here, it has to be noted that the variation of the specific heat capacity of the liquid with the sub-
cooling degree at constant pressure is neglected. The value of GST can be also neglected in the
facilities equipped with liquid accumulation, in other cases it can be obtained from experimental
data with a correlation (16), that shows GST expressed as a function of the evaporating and con-
densing temperatures, as it has been observed experimentally [17].
1748 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

Table 2
Coefficients dij
R407C R134a R22
d00 12.1206 61.1302 5.1547
d01 0.5716 2.3544 0.2797
d02 8.15e03 2.51e02 1.50e-03
d10 2.7388 4.5969 1.2397
d11 0.1184 0.1840 0.0400
d12 1.22e03 1.89e03 2.34e04
d20 0.1275 0.8763 0.0800
d21 5.04e03 3.54e02 2.39e03
d22 5.14e05 3.53e04 1.55e05

X
2 X
2
GST ¼ d ij
T io
T jk : ð16Þ
i¼0 j¼0

The coefficients, dij, of the expression (16) has been obtained for the three refrigerants tested,
Table 2.
The enthalpy difference caused by the superheating degree at the evaporator, DhRU, is approxi-
mately constant, and it can be evaluated as an average value from experimental data.
So, the refrigerating effect is calculated as a function of the evaporating and condensing tem-
peratures (17), and using this expression the predicted values show an accuracy within ±5%.

X
2 X
2 X
2 X
2 X
2
qo ¼ hsv i
T io  hsl j
T jk þ cp j
T jk
bij
T io
T jk þ D
hRU : ð17Þ
i¼0 j¼0 j¼0 i¼0 j¼0

Finally, the cooling capacity is then obtained as the product of the refrigerant mass flow rate (9)
and the refrigerating effect (17). Validating the calculated values with the actual ones, we can ob-
serve an accuracy of the predicted values within ±10%, Fig. 5. This error is a result of the accu-
mulated errors in predicting mass flow rate and refrigerating effect.

3.3. Compressor power consumption

The compressor power consumption is calculated using expression (18),

m_
wth
Pc ¼ ; ð18Þ
gG
where the compression global efficiency is a constant value obtained from experimental results for
each refrigerant, Fig. 6. Anyway, it can be also obtained fitting catalogue data using correlations
proposed in the literature [19].
The theoretical compression work, wth, is computed assuming polytropic process using expres-
sion (19) [4].
 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1749

Fig. 5. Predicted versus experimental values of the cooling capacity.

0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60

0.55
ηG

0.50

0.45

0.40
R407C
0.35 R134a
R22
0.30
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pdis /Psuc

Fig. 6. Compressor global efficiency (experimental data).

Z
1n !
dis
P suc
vsuc Pk n
wth ¼ p
dv ¼
1
suc 1n P suc
 P  P 0 !1n 1
P o  2i¼0 DP i
T io
3i¼0 ðvsv i
T 0io þ GR
vGRi
T 0io Þ Pk
n

¼
@ P2  1A:
1n P o  i¼0 DP i
T io
ð19Þ
1750 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752

6.5

6.0

5.5
Pc calculated (kW)

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5
R22
3.0 R134a
R407C
2.5
2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
Pc measured (kW)

Fig. 7. Predicted versus measured compressor power consumption.

Once the mass flow rate and the theoretical compression work are calculate, the compressor
power consumption can be predicted using expression (18). The predicted values are compared
with the actual ones (measured with a digital wattmeter) in Fig. 7, presenting accuracy within
±10%.
Lastly, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigeration facility will be obtained as the
ratio from the evaporator cooling capacity to the compressor power consumed, with an accuracy
of about the ±10% in the vast majority of the data (93%) (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. Predicted versus measured COP values.

 R. Cabello et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (2005) 1740–1752 1751

4. Conclusions

In this work a simplified steady-state model to predict the energy performance of a single stage
vapour compression plant is proposed. The model input variables are the total superheating de-
gree, evaporating and condensing temperatures (easily available in an industrial facility), and the
main model outputs are refrigerant mass flow rate, cooling capacity, compressor power consump-
tion and COP.
This model has been validated using experimental data obtained from a test bench using three
working fluids (R134a, R407C and R22).
The predicting accuracy of the refrigerant mass flow rate is within ±5%, while the predicting
accuracy of the rest of energy parameters are within ±5% for specific refrigerating effect and spe-
cific compression work and within ±10% for the rest of energy parameters.
Finally, the proposed model constitute a practical tool that can be easily used in an industrial
plant, fitting a few empirical correlations from experimental or catalogue data or using theoretical
considerations, being adequate for its simplicity and valid for analyzing the influence of the main
operating variables due to its structure.

Acknowledgement

The authors are indebted to the Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación
Cientı́ca for partial support under project DPI2001-2775.

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