Instructor CD for

Commercial Refrigeration for A/C Technicians

Chapter 2
Evaporators
 Learning Objectives
• Describe the functions of an evaporator
• Explain evaporator temperature and
evaporator temperature difference (TD)
• Describe evaporator types and styles
• Explain latent heat, sensible heat, and
super heat
• Explain the relationship of coil temperature
difference (TD) and humidity
• Describe evaporator defrost methods

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 Refrigeration Evaporator

• The function of the refrigeration system:

– Transfer heat form one place to another
• The evaporator’s job:
– Absorb heat from the space

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 Forced Air Evaporator

Cool
air Warm air in
out

Courtesy of
Carrier Corp.
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 What is Evaporator Temperature?

• The temperature of the refrigerant inside

the evaporator tubing
• How do you measure evaporator
temperature?
1. Determine the suction pressure
2. Refer to the P/T chart for that refrigerant
3. Choose the temperature of the refrigerant at
that suction pressure

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 Pressure / Temperature (PT) Charts

• From the system pressure

– You can find its temperature
• If you know the evaporator temperature
– You can find the suction pressure

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Pressure Temperature
PSIG 134a 22 404A What is the suction
pressure if
48 52 24 14 the evaporator
49 53 25 15 temperature is:
50 54 26 16
52 56 28 17 25° for R22 Walk-in?
54 57 29 19 49 psig
56 58 31 20
58 60 32 22 25° for R404 Walk-in?
60 62 34 23 62 psig
62 63 35 25 What is the evaporator
64 65 37 26 temperature of R404,
66 66 38 27 if the suction pressure
68 68 40 29 is 50 psig? 16°
70 69 41 30
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 Using the Low Side Gauge

• Read suction pressure

• Read suction temperature
– Note: The evaporator temperature is the
same as the suction temperature when the
pressure is taken close to the evaporator

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Reading the Low Side Gauge
69 psig

40º (R22)

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 Reading the Low Side Gauge
49 psig

25º (R22)

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 How Evaporators Absorb Heat

• Refrigerant enters as liquid droplets

• Warm air causes droplets to boil
• Heat is absorbed into the refrigerant
This is called “latent” heat
• Refrigerant becomes “saturated” vapor
• Now it can only absorb “sensible” heat
This is called “superheat”

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Total Superheat
Evaporator section of R22 A/C

Evaporation Starts

Fully Evaporated
(Saturated)

Coil Superheat

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 Understanding Evaporator TD

Type Space Evaporator Evaporator

Refrigeration Temperature Temperature TD

Air Conditioning 75° 40° 35°

Reach-in Refrigerator 40° 20° 20°
Reach-in Freezer 0° -20° 20°
Walk-in Refrigerator 35° 25° 10°
Walk-in Freezer -10° -20° 10°

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 Slant Coil

UPFLOW OR HORIZONTAL
Courtesy of FLOW
DOWNFLOW
Carrier

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 Reach-in Evaporator

20° TD

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Multiple Evaporators in a Large Walk-in

10° TD

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 Meat Cutting Room
8° TD

Evaporators designed for

low air flow and to
maintain high humidity

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 Evaporator TD
(temperature difference)
Difference between space temperature and
evaporator temperature
The lower the TD, the higher the humidity
Type System Coil TD Humidity
A/C 35º 50%
Reach-in 20º 65%
Walk-in 10º 85%

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 Refrigeration and Humidity

Evaporators Dehumidify
Remove moisture from the refrigerated space
What effects humidity?
Temperature Difference (TD)
(TD = Entering air temperature - coil temperature)

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 How TD Affects Humidity
To condense moisture out of the air, the air must
be cooled below its dew point.
20° TD 35° TD

75º
Ambient
55º 40º
Water Water

No condensation
Condensation means moisture removal
 TD versus ∆T
TD (Temperature Difference) =
Air temperature entering the evaporator minus
refrigerant temperature inside the evaporator

∆T (Delta T) =
Air temperature entering the evaporator minus
air temperature leaving the evaporator

Note: ∆T used most in air conditioning

TD used most in commercial refrigeration

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 Typical A/C Evaporator
∆T=20o
TD=35o
75º 40º 55º

Humidity=50%

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 Commercial Refrigeration Evaporators
Walk-in Refrigerator R22 Walk-in Freezer R404A Low
Medium Temp Temp

35º  30º -10º  -15º

25º -20º
49 16
psig psig
TD=10º H=85% TD=10º H=N/A

Reach-in Refrigerator R22 Reach-in Freezer R404A

Medium Temp Low Temp

40º  30º 0º  -10º

20º -20º
43 16
psig psig H=N/A
TD=20º H=65% TD=20º
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 Heat Exchange Efficiency
• Liquid absorbs more heat than vapor
• Boiling of liquid droplets absorbs even more
– When water boils it absorbs 970 times more
heat than it can absorb in a liquid state at 212°
• Refrigerant in a DX (direct expansion)
evaporator vaporizes to absorb latent heat
• Saturated vapor can only absorb sensible
heat

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 Flow Effect on Heat Exchange
• Too much heat load boils refrigerant quickly
– Refrigerant molecules move faster
– Results in higher pressure and temperature
• Too little heat load decreases refrigerant
boiling
– Refrigerant molecules move slower
– Pressures and temperature drop

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 Distributor Tubes on Evaporators
• Location:
– Outlet of the metering device
• Application:
– Used on multicircuit evaporators
• Why needed?
– Refrigerant is a mixture of vapor & liquid
– Tends to feed liquid to the bottom circuits
– Proper distributor feeds evenly
• Sizing:
– Coil manufacturer determines proper distributor

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 Distributor

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 Distributor Section

Refrigerant from TEV Distributors

Courtesy of Sporlan

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 Improving Refrigerant Flow

Sometimes disks are used to make sure refrigerant

is fed evenly to each distributor tube

Courtesy of Sporlan

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 Refrigerant flow through distributors to the coil

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 Frosting of U-Bends
Walk-in freezer
evaporator

Most frost is
on first row
of tubing

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 Measuring Superheat
Superheat =
Coil outlet temperature - Evaporator temperature
Superheat too high :
• “Starving”
Superheat too low:
• “Flooding”
The following picture shows where to take the coil
outlet temperature.

Note: Chapter 6 - Metering Devices will cover superheat in

greater detail.

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Take suction line
Taking
temperature at thesuction line temperature
TEV sensing bulb

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 “Hot Pull Down”
When space temperature is above normal
there is a heavy load on the evaporator.
Following example: 35° box rises to 60°
• Pressure and TD relationship not valid
• Evaporator is starving
• Metering device performance is limited

Note: do not check superheat during hot pull down.

Space temperature should be within 5° of its design
conditions.

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Commercial Refrigeration System (40°)
High Heat Load
30º
20º
Refrigerant boils off at coil inlet
30º
Higher coil temperatures

Tstat won’t satisfy

Frost may start at inlet EVAPORATOR

20º

50º
30º

RETURN AIR 60o

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 Evaporator Troubleshooting
There are only 3 main problems:
1. Air flow:
A. Dirty filter, dirty or iced evaporator
B. Blower / ductwork problems
2. Refrigerant:
A. Metering device
B. Refrigerant charge (too little, or too much)
3. Load:
A. Too high
B. Too low (tstat set too low)
Note: Chapter 7, Refrigeration System Troubleshooting,
will cover this in more detail.
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 Commercial Refrigerator Air Defrost

• Medium temperature refrigerators will frost:

– If space temperature is 36° to 40°
– And evaporator temperatures are 15° to 25°
– Then coil frosting is normal
• Coil will defrost during its “off-cycle”

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 Commercial Refrigerator (40°)
Air Defrost
Slight frost is normal during refrigeration cycle 40º
20º

Refrigerator’s 20° coil builds frost

Tstat becomes satisfied
Compressor shuts off
Fans continue to run EVAPORATOR

Coil temperature rises to 40 ° 20º

40º
Frost melts
40º 40º
30º 25º

Coil clear, ready for next cycle

Space Temp. 40o
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 Commercial Refrigeration Defrost

• Medium temperature refrigerators use the

thermostat “off-cycle” to melt frost
accumulation
• Sometimes a time clock is needed to extend
the length of the “off-cycle”
• The following slide is a common wiring
arrangement for a walk-in refrigerator

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Walk-in Refrigerator with Pump-down Solenoid
Off-Cycle Defrost
Refrigerating Cycle
Thermostat
Satisfied
TS L
120V
Solenoid Opens N

Solenoid Closes

JUNCTION BOX

EVAPORATOR COIL

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 Common Time Clock

• Used for cycling outdoor lights, heaters, etc.

• Clock in the example has one set of
normally closed (NC) contacts
• It is cycling a refrigeration compressor for
an extended off-cycle

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 Trippers
“OFF” @ 2:00 AM

Dial
“ON” @ 4:00 AM Rotation

Time of Day

115 Volt Time

Clock
(1) NC Switch

L1 N
Load
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 Time Clock in Refrigeration

• “Planned” off-cycle defrost

• This gives the evaporator extra time to air
defrost
• The clock shuts off the compressor while
the evaporator fans continue to run

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 Defrost Clock on a Walk-in Refrigerator
“Planned” off-cycleCycle
Refrigerating defrost
Contacts
DEFROST CLOCK open
TIMER MOTOR Circuit
opens
Compressor off for 1-2 hours N 2 1
Change
Evaporator will air defrost wiring
TS L
120v
Solenoid Closes N

JUNCTION BOX

EVAPORATOR COIL

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 Low Temperature Evaporator Design
• Heaters
– A freezer requires some heat to help defrost
the evaporator
• Defrost termination and fan delay
– Controls are needed to return system to
freeze
• Heater Safety
– Prevents overheating of freezer
• A clock is needed to control defrost and
freeze cycles

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Electric Defrost Heaters Heater Safety

DTFD
(defrost termination / fan delay)

Wiring Terminal Board

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Defrost Clock (Back and Front)
SOLENOID

SLIDE

CONTACTS

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 Defrost Settings and Wire Terminals

• The clock on the next slide is scheduled

for 4 defrosts in 24 hours
– The “failsafe” setting is a backup to the
defrost termination switch
– If the defrost lasts too long (about 45 minutes
on the sample clock) the failsafe will put the
system back into freeze

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Time Clock
Paragon 8145-20 6

60
FAIL SAFE FAIL SAFE TIME
SET POINT

12
30

90
DEFROST
TRIPPERS
CLOCK TIME
6

3
FREEZE
4 X
DEFROST DEF. TERM.

1 2 N
COMMON
POWER

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 Setting the Time

• Sometimes a defrost clock has to be reset

for the proper time of day

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 Time 6
Clock
60

Time
Set

12
30

90
now
Timeset
for 6 pm
6

3 4 X

1 2 N

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 Defrost Clock and Wiring

• The following slide is a pictorial diagram

of the clock, the evaporator, and the
controls
– The color coded wiring as illustrated is
typical of most walk-in freezers
– The sample system is in the freeze cycle

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Wiring Diagram for W/I Freezer with Electric Defrost & Remote C.U.
DEFROST SOLENOID

CLOCK
MOTOR

3
↔
EVAP. FAN
SLIDE
4
DEFROST TERMINATION
FAN DELAY DEFROST
3 4 X X Brn HEATERS

R
N N Blk
1 2
THERMOSTAT
SOLENOID
LINE VOLTAGE TO CLOCK VALVE

DRAIN LINE HEATER

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 Defrost Clock and Heaters

• Defrost is “time initiated”

• The clock movement pushes the slide
bar on the rear of the clock
• The slide changes the switch contact
positions from freeze to defrost

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 Defrost Cycle and Termination
DEFROST SOLENOID
Start Defrost Cycle
CLOCK
MOTOR End Defrost Cycle
3
EVAP. FAN
4
DEFROST TERMINATION
FAN DELAY DEFROST
3 4 X X Brn HEATERS

1-3
1-3closed
open 2-4
2-4closed
open
R
N N Blk
1 2
THERMOSTAT
SOLENOID
LINE VOLTAGE TO CLOCK VALVE

DRAIN LINE HEATER

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Switching from Defrost Back Into Freeze

• When the defrost termination switch is

warm enough (usually 55°), the clock’s
defrost solenoid is energized
• The solenoid mechanically moves the slide,
switching the contacts out of defrost and
back into freeze
• The fan is delayed until the temperature of
the evaporator is down to approximately
25°

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 Return to Freeze Cycle
DEFROST SOLENOID
Energized solenoid moves slide
CLOCK
MOTOR Evap Cools, Fan Starts
3
EVAP. FAN
4
DEFROST TERMINATION
FAN DELAY DEFROST
3 4 X X Brn HEATERS

1-3
1-3closed 2-4closed
open 2-4 open
R
N N Blk
1 2
THERMOSTAT
SOLENOID
LINE VOLTAGE TO CLOCK VALVE

DRAIN LINE HEATER

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