EXPERIMENT NO.

6
PERFORMANCE TEST OF REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

I. INTRODUCTION
Water when made into a solid mass by the application of cooling is known as ice. It is
one of the essential medium for short term preservation of highly perishable commodities such as marine
foods, fresh meat and poultry products, dairy products and fruit and vegetables.
Ice is a well known product from several decades and the commercial ice is made in the ice plant
while the ice can be prepared at homes also in the refrigerators. Only the water is filled in trays and
these trays are kept in refrigerators. After a certain period the water will freeze and ice can be obtained.
The method of refrigeration of water into ice is almost similar on commercial seal refrigeration are mostly
used for the production of ice. Medium and small scale freezing equipments are used in conjunction with
the large capacity refrigerators.
Ice is produced and marketed usually in the form of block ice which may be either crystal-clear or
opaque , the latter is considered to be inferior. The opaqueness is due to the presence of minute babbles
of air released during the cooling process and unless cooling is effected gradually and under agitation it is
not possible to obtain transparent blocks. The water employed for ice making should be preferably free
from dissolved solids. Formerly when steam was used as a source of powers for driving refrigeration
machines the exhaust steam was condensed after filtration and the distilled water so obtained was
frozen into In this experiment, testing of capacity and performance of the CPU-DOST Mini Ice plant is
conducted to evaluate the current condition of the said ice plant.

II. OBJECTIVES

 Design an experiment for the test of capacity and economy of a refrigeration plant.
 Conduct an experiment for the test performance of a Refrigeration System.

a) COP of Mini Ice Plant

b) Tons of Refrigeration of Mini Ice Plant

III. Theory

All refrigeration equipments are made of four key components; the evaporator, the condenser,
the compressor and the throttle valve. Ice machines all work the same way. The function of compressor
is to compress low-pressure refrigerant vapor to high-pressure vapor, and deliver it to the condenser.
Here, the high-pressure vapor is condensed into high-pressure liquid, and drained out through the
throttle valve to become low-pressure liquid. At this point, the liquid is conducted to the evaporator,
where heat exchanging occurs, and ice is created. This is one complete refrigeration cycle.

Ice plants are usually classified by the type of ice they produce; hence there are block ice plants,
flake ice plants, tube, slice or plate ice plants and so on. Block ice is the most popular type of ice sold for
a variety of reasons. It melts more slowly than other types of ice and thus lasts longer. It can be placed in
open truck with only a tarpaulin to protect it from the elements and shipped to a location of four hours
away. Its rectangular shape makes it easy to stack of up to 15 meters and store large amounts. Block ice
has merits of easy to transport and separate as well. Other types of ice have the tendency to freeze into a
solid mass, making it difficult to work with.

LAYOUT OF A BLOCK ICE PLANT

WORKING PRINCIPLE

Performance testing of a refrigeration system for use as experimental apparatus for

demonstrating vapour compression refrigeration cycle and basic concepts of thermodynamic
principles. The apparatus shows the visual observation of all-important processes. The
experimental data were analysed using the first and second laws of thermodynamics to
determine the refrigerating effect, the net heat rejected from the system, the compressor work
input and coefficient of performance (COP).

Ice cans are placed in can grids and moved to beneath the filling tank which automatically fills
each can with proper level of pre-cooled water and then stop. Potable water must be used to make
ice intended for human consumption.
The cans are then hoisted and carried to the brine tank and immersed inside. The
brine, which is a calcium chloride solution kept at a temperature of -10℃, is constantly circulated
by agitator in order to keep the temperature consistent throughout the tank.
Air is blown into the center of the can to induce a swirling motion. This causes any
impurities and air bubbles in the water to be collected in the center of cans. Prior to finish
freezing, this core is removed by a suction pump and replaced with fresh pre-cooled water.
 The time required for the water to be frozen varies according to the size of cans being
used, 150lbs. block requires 24 hours, 300 lbs. Takes 48 hours.
When the ice has completely formed, the grids are lifted up from the brine tank and moved to
place in the thawing tank. Using the warm water heats the can, until the ice allowed to be slid out.
The block ice is then removed from the can by a can dumper. In POF 150 block per day are going
manufactured and mass of each block is 50KG. The capacity of that plant is 3.5 TONS, installed
on1981.
The empty cans are returned to filling tank for next ice making cycle. The ice is moved to
ice storage and stacked by an ice stacker, or it can be delivered to customer right away upon
requested.

IV. FORMULAS AND PRINCIPLES USED IN PERFORMANCE TESTING

1. Heat Added in Evaporator, QA

QA = mw [ c pw ( t w −0 ° C ) + LF +c pice ( 0 ° C−t ice ) ]

where: mw = mass of water in ice cans (kg)

cpw = specific heat of water = 4.1868 kJ/kg°C
cpice = specific heat of ice = 2.0934 kJ/kg°C
LF = latent heat of fusion of water = 335 kJ/kg
tw = temperature of fresh water in ice cans, °C
tice = temperature of produced ice, °C

2. Work Input, Wnet

Wnet = (pf)(VA)(10-3) KW

where: pf = power factor = 0.8

V = Voltmeter reading (Volts)
A = Ammeter reading (Amperes)

3. Coefficient of Performance of Ice Plant (COP)

QA mw [ c pw ( t w −0 ° C ) + LF +c pice ( 0 ° C−t ice ) ]
COP= =
W net (t ) W net (t)

where: mw = mass of water in ice cans (kg)

cpw = specific heat of water = 4.1868 kJ/kg°C
cpice = specific heat of water = 2.0934 kJ/kg°C
LF = latent heat of fusion of water = 335 kJ/kg
tw = temperature of fresh water in ice cans, °C
tice = temperature of produced ice, °C
t = time of operation (s)
 4. Tons of Refrigeration, TR
QA mw [ c pw ( t w −0° C ) + LF+ c pice ( 0 ° C−t ice ) ]
TR= =
3.517 t 3.517 t

where: mw = mass of water in ice cans (kg)

cpw = specific heat of water = 4.1868 kJ/kg°C
cpice = specific heat of water = 2.0934 kJ/kg°C
LF = latent heat of fusion of water = 335 kJ/kg
tw = temperature of fresh water in ice cans, °C
tice = temperature of produced ice, °C
t = time of operation (s)

5. Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER)

EER= Refrigerating Effect(Btu/hr) / Power input (Watt)

IV. EQUIPMENT

1. CPU-DOST Mini Ice Plant

2. Hydrometer
3. Thermometer
4. Beaker
5. Meter Stick/Ruler

V. PROCEDURE

1. Check the brine tank for correct level of brine.

2. Using the hydrometer, determine the density of brine. Add salt or water until the specific
gravity of brine is 1.2.
3. Start the plant.
4. Run the unit, without filling water in ice cans. Set the evaporator temperature to -10°C and
wait until the brine in the tank reaches temperature below 0°C.
5. Fill the ice cans with fresh water and keep them in the brine tank. Measure the mass of fresh
water used.
6. Note the temperature of fresh water and reading of voltmeter and ammeter in the refrigerating
unit panel.
7. Let the unit run till pressures and temperatures get stabilized.
8. Note the pressures and temperatures at various locations.
9. Run the plant for sufficient time till in all cans, solid ice is formed.
10. Take the final reading of temperature of ice.
VI. DATA AND RESULTS

TABLE I - OBSERVED RESULTS TABLE

Evaporator Temperature(°C)
Time (s)
Mass of Water (kg)
Temperature of Water(°C)

Temperature of Ice (°C)

Voltmeter Reading
Ammeter Reading

TABLE II - DERIVED RESULTS TABLE:

QA (kJ)
Wnet (kW)
COP
Tons of Refrigeration

VII. CALCULATIONS

VIII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

IX. REFERENCES
 http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0713E/T0713E06.htm
 http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5940e/x5940e01.htm
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icemaker
 http://www.mechanicalduniya.com/2015/02/refrigeration-system-construction-working-ice-
plant.html