Refrigeration Cycle 

By: VISHAL KUMAR VAISH

 Introduction

A major application area of thermodynamics is refrigeration,

which is the transfer of heat from a lower temperature region to a

higher temperature one.

Devices that produce refrigeration are called refrigerators, and the

cycles on which they operate are called refrigeration cycles.
 Types of Refrigeration cycle

There are two types of refrigeration cycle,

1) Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle.
2) Vapour Absorption Cycle.
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle

The Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle has four components:

compressor, condenser, throttle valve & evaporator. The most
widely used refrigeration cycle is vapour compression refrigeration
cycle. In an ideal vapour compression refrigeration cycle the
refrigerant enters the compressor as a saturated vapour and is cooled
to the saturated liquid state in the condenser. It is then throttle to the
evaporator pressure and vaporize as it absorbs heat from refrigerated
space.
 Fig :- 2

Fig :- 1 process 1-2 : isentropic compression

process 2-3 : constant pressure heat rejection
process 3-4 : isoenthalpic expansion
process 4-1 : constant pressure heat absorption
 Compressor

Refrigerant get highly compressed i.e

pressure and its temperature also becomes
very high. As it leaves the compressor the
refrigerant become in vapour form.
 Condenser

All the heat of refrigerant gets absorbed

from the substance at low temperature and
thrown out to the atm. Via .condenser and
temperature reduce but pressure remains
unchanged.
 Throttle valve

When high pressure and low temperature

refrigerant passes through expansion value
its pressure and temperature gets drastically
reduce refrigerant leaves the throttle valve
partially in liquid state and partially in
liquid state and partially in gaseous state.
 Evaporator

Freezer section is a evaporator section. When

low temperature and pressure refrigerant enters
into evaporator the heat is absorbed from room
and food items and area gets cooled and its
leaves in the form of vapour state then its
enters the compressor and process repeat
again.
 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration Cycle

It is heat operating device that is low grade energy. It is used where

waste heat available. In this liquid is pumped thus, work is small.
Its COP is low but used in aircraft because of low weight of
refrigerator per tonne of refrigeration.
 Reference

 Neptel
 Cengel, Y.A. and M.A Boles, Heat and Mass Transfer: An Engineering
Approach, McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1998.
Thank you