Refrigeration

Chap 11
section 11.1 – 11.4
 Refrigeration
• Heat flows in the direction of decreasing
temperature, that is, from high temperature
regions to low temperature regions.

• This heat transfer process occurs in nature

without requiring any devices.

• The reverse process, however, cannot occur by

itself.

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 Refrigeration
• The transfer of heat
from a low temperature
region to a high
temperature one
requires special device
called refrigerators.

• Refrigerators are
cyclic devices

• Working fluid used in

the refrigerator is called
3
Refrigerant.
 Refrigeration
• QL is the magnitude of
heat removed from the
refrigerated space at TL

• QH is the magnitude of
heat rejected to the
warm space at
temperature TH

• Wnet, in is the net work

input to the refrigerator.
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 Heat Pump
• Another device that
transfer heat from a low
temperature medium to
a high temperature is
called heat pump.

• Refrigerators and heat

pumps are the same
devices but they differ
in their objectives only.

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Refrigerator and Heat Pump

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 Heat Pump
• Objective of a refrigerator is to maintain the
refrigerated space at low temperature by
removing heat from it.

• Discharging this heat to a higher temperature

medium is merely a necessary part of the
operation, not the purpose.

• Objective of a heat pump is to maintain a

heated space at a high temperature.

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 Coefficient of Performance
• Performance of refrigerators and heat pumps is
expressed in terms of coefficient of Performance.
Desired output Cooling effect QL
COPR   
Required input Work input Wnet ,in
Desired output Heating effect QH
COPHP   
Required input Work input Wnet ,in

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 Coefficient of Performance

COPR = QL = TL . …(1)
QH – QL TH – TL

COPHP = QH = TH . . . (2)
QH – QL TH – TL
(1) – (2) 
COPHP = COPR + 1

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 Tons of refrigeration
• The cooling capacity of a refrigeration system is the rate of heat
removal from the refrigerated space
• The capacity of a refrigeration system that can freeze 1 ton (2000
lbm) of liquid water at 0degC (32F) into ice at 0degC in 24 h is
said to be 1 ton
• One ton is equal to the amount of heat required (288,000 Btu) to
melt one ton of ice in a 24-hour period. A one-ton air conditioner is
rated at 12,000 Btu per hour (288,000/24)
*BTU - it is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 pound of water
1°F at sea level
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*1kW = 3412.142 BTU/hr
 Reversed Carnot Cycle

Carnot Cycle is a reversible cycle. All four processes

of Carnot Cycle can be reversed. A refrigerator or heat
pump that operates on the reversed Carnot cycle is
called a Carnot Refrigerator or Carnot Heat Pump.

Reversed Carnot Cycle consists of four processes :

• Isothermal addition of heat
• Adiabatic Compression
• Isothermal heat rejection
• Adiabatic expansion

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Carnot Refrigerator and Heat Pump

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 Limitations of Reversed Carnot Cycle
In Reversed Carnot Cycle, the two isothermal heat
transfer processes i.e. 1-2 and 3-4 are not difficult to
achieve in practice since maintaining a constant
pressure automatically fixes the temperature of the
two-phase mixture at the saturation value.
However, reversed carnot cycle cannot be
approximated closely in practice because of 2-3 & 4-1.
Process 2-3 involves compression of a liquid-vapour
mixture, which requires a compressor which will
handle two phases.
4-1 involves the expansion of high-moisture-content
refrigerant in a turbine
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Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle

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Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle
It consists of four processes.

Process Description
1-2 Isentropic compression

2-3 Constant pressure heat rejection in the

condenser

3-4 Throttling in an expansion valve

4-1 Constant pressure heat addition in the

evaporator

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 Vapour Compression Refrigeration
• It is the most widely used cycle. It consists of four
processes:
• Process 1-2: Isentropic compression in a
compressor. The refrigerant enters the compressor as
vapor and is compressed. Temperature of refrigerant
increases during this process well above the
temperature of surrounding medium.
• Steady Flow energy equation
𝛿𝑄 𝛿𝑊 𝑣22 𝑣12
− = ℎ2 + + 𝑔𝑧2 − ℎ1 + + 𝑔𝑧1
𝛿𝑚 𝛿𝑚 2 2
0 – (-W/m) = h2 – h1
Win/m = h2 - h1
Work done on the refrigerant = h2 - h1
Change sign in lec 2, 3 slide 16
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration
• Process 2-3 : Constant Pressure Heat
Rejection in a Condenser. It is converted to
liquid by removal of heat.
𝛿𝑄 𝛿𝑊 𝑣32 𝑣22
− = ℎ3 + + 𝑔𝑧3 − ℎ2 + + 𝑔𝑧2
𝛿𝑚 𝛿𝑚 2 2
-QH/m – 0 = h3 – h2
QH/m = h2 – h3

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 Vapour Compression Refrigeration

• Process 3-4 : Expansion in expansion

valve. Liquid refrigerant passes through the
expansion valve where its temperature drops.
𝛿𝑄 𝛿𝑊 𝑣42 𝑣32
− = ℎ4 + + 𝑔𝑧4 − ℎ3 + + 𝑔𝑧3
𝛿𝑚 𝛿𝑚 2 2
0 – 0 = h4 – h3

 h3 = h4 in throttling process

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 Vapour Compression Refrigeration
• Process 4-1 : Constant Pressure Heat
Absorption in an evaporator. Low temperature
refrigerant enters the evaporator. The temperature in
the evaporator is low enough so that heat can be
absorbed from refrigerated space. The refrigerant
leaves the evaporator and enters the compressor,
completing the cycle
𝛿𝑄 𝛿𝑊 𝑣12 𝑣42
𝛿𝑚
− 𝛿𝑚
= ℎ1 + 2
+ 𝑔𝑧1 − ℎ4 + 2
+ 𝑔𝑧4
QL/m – 0 = h1 – h4
QL /m= h1 - h4
Refrigeration Effect = h1 - h4

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Process Description
1-2 Isentropic compression
Win = h2 - h1

2-3 Constant pressure heat

QH = h 3 - h 2 rejection in the condenser

3-4 Throttling in an expansion

h3 = h4 valve

4-1 Constant pressure heat

QL = h 1 - h 4 addition in the evaporator

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 Practice Problem 1
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
A refrigerator uses refrigerant 134a as the working
fluid and operates on an ideal vapor compression
refrigeration cycle between 0.14 and 0.8 MPa. If the
mass flow rate of the refrigerant is 0.05 kg/s,
determine
(a) The rate of heat removal from the refrigerated
space and the power input to the compressor
(b) The rate of heat rejection to the environment and
(c) The COP of the refrigerator

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Solution:
• Assumptions 1 Steady operating
conditions exist. 2 Kinetic and potential
energy changes are negligible
P1 = 140 kPa  h1 = hg @ 0.14 MPa = 239.19 kJ/ kg
s1 = sg @ 0.14 MPa = 0.94467 kJ/kg ·K

Constant pressure line @

140kPa

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P2 = 0.8 MPa
h2 = 275.40 kJ/kg
s2 = s1 = 0.94467 kJ/kg ·K

s1 = s2

Interpolation
(h1-h2)/(hf-h2) = (s1–s2)/sN-s2)
(267.34-276.46)/(hX-276.46) =
(0.9185-0.9481)/(0.94467-
0.9481)
 hX=275.40kJ/kg

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P3 = P 2
P3 = 0.8 MPa  h3 = hf @ 0.8 MPa = 95.48 kJ/kg
h4 = h3 (throttling)  h4 = 95.48 kJ/kg

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(a) The rate of heat removal from the refrigerated space
and the power input to the compressor are determined from
their definitions:
𝑸𝑳ሶ =𝒎ሶ 𝒉𝟏 − 𝒉𝟒 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝟐𝟑𝟗. 𝟏𝟗 − 𝟗𝟓. 𝟒𝟖 = 𝟕. 𝟏𝟗𝒌𝑾
ሶ =𝒎ሶ 𝒉𝟐 − 𝒉𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝟐𝟕𝟓. 𝟒𝟎 − 𝟐𝟑𝟗. 𝟏𝟗
𝑾𝑰𝑵
= 𝟏. 𝟖𝟏𝒌𝑾
(b) The rate of heat rejection from the refrigerant to the
environment is:
𝑸𝑯ሶ =𝒎ሶ 𝒉𝟐 − 𝒉𝟑 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝟐𝟕𝟓. 𝟒𝟎 − 𝟗𝟓. 𝟒𝟖 = 𝟗 𝒌𝑾
or, 𝑸𝑯ሶ =𝑸𝑳ሶ + 𝑾𝑰𝑵 ሶ = 𝟕. 𝟏𝟗 + 𝟏. 𝟖𝟏 = 𝟗𝒌𝑾
(c) The coefficient of performance of the refrigerator is
𝑸𝑳ሶ 𝟕. 𝟏𝟗
𝑪𝑶𝑷𝑹 = = = 𝟑. 𝟗𝟕 25
𝑾ሶ 𝟏. 𝟖𝟏
 Discussion (Homework)
Discussion It would be interesting to see what happens if
the throttling valve were replaced by an isentropic turbine.
The enthalpy at state 4s (the turbine exit with P4s = 0.14
MPa, and s4s = s3 = 0.35408 kJ/kg·K) is 88.95 kJ/kg, and
the turbine would produce 0.33 kW of power. This would
decrease the power input to the refrigerator from 1.81 to
1.48 kW and increase the rate of heat removal from the
refrigerated space from 7.19 to 7.51 kW. As a result, the
COP of the refrigerator would increase from 3.97 to 5.07, an
increase of 28 percent. 26
ACTUAL VAPOR-COMPRESSION
REFRIGERATION CYCLE
An actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle differs from the ideal one owing
mostly to the irreversibilities that occur in various components, mainly due to fluid
friction (causes pressure drops) and heat transfer to or from the surroundings.
The COP decreases as a result
of irreversibilities. DIFFERENCES
Non-isentropic compression
Superheated vapor at evaporator exit
Subcooled liquid at condenser exit
Pressure drops in condenser and evaporator

Schematic and
T-s diagram for
the actual
vapor-
compression
refrigeration 27
cycle.
 Practice Problem 2
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
Refrigerant 134a enters the compressor of a
refrigerator as superheated vapor at 0.14 Mpa and -
10 deg C at a rate of 0.05 kg/s and leaves at 0.8 Mpa
and 50 deg C. The refrigerant is cooled in the
condenser to 26 deg C and 0.72 Mpa and is throttled
to 0.15 Mpa. Disregarding any heat transfer and
pressure drops in the connecting lines between the
components, determine
(a) The rate of heat removal from the refrigerated
space and the power input to the compressor
(b) The isentropic efficiency of the compressor
(c) The COP of the refrigerator
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Solution:

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• m

30
 s
h

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32
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle

Compression refrigeration cycles take advantage of

the fact that highly compressed fluids at a certain
temperature tend to get colder when they are allowed
to expand.

Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle has four

components:

• Compressor
• Condenser
• Expansion valve
• Evaporator 33
 Parts of Refrigerator
Compressor : The low pressure vapor from
evaporator is drawn into the compressor.
Compressor compresses the refrigerant to high
pressure and high temperature.
Types of Compressor. There are four most
common types of refrigerant compressors:

(a) Reciprocating
(b) Screw
(c) Centrifugal
(d) Vane
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 Parts of Refrigerator
Condenser: It consists of mainly coils of a good
conducting material like copper in which high
pressure and high temperature vapors are cooled
and condensed after liberating heat to
atmosphere. The condenser is normally installed
at the back of the refrigerator. Some distance
must be maintained between walls and the
condenser to facilitate better cooling.

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 Parts of Refrigerator
Expansion Devices: The function of the
expansion device is to reduce the pressure of
liquid refrigerant coming from condenser by
throttling process.

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 Parts of Refrigerator
Evaporator : In the evaporator the liquid vapor
refrigerant coming from the expansion device
picks up heat from the area to be cooled and thus
evaporates to vapor phase again. The evaporator
is generally placed inside the cabinet of the
refrigerator at top.

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 Absorption
Refrigeration
System

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 Third Law of Thermodynamics
“The entropy of a perfect crystal is zero when the
temperature of the crystal is equal to absolute zero (0 K).”

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