z

Air Cycle
Refrigeration
System
z
What is an air refrigeration cycle?

 Refrigeration Cycle: Heat flows in direction of decreasing temperature,

i.e., from high-temperature to low temperature regions. The transfer of
heat from a low-temperature to high-temperature requires a
refrigerator and/or heat pump. Refrigerators and heat pumps are
essentially the same device; they only differ in their objectives. The
performance of refrigerators and heat pumps is expressed in terms of
coefficient of performance (COP): (COP)R
z
uses of air refrigeration cycle

 Mostly in aircraft, because of the need to also use air to pressurize the
cabin or cockpit. The COP of air cycle systems is generally about 10x
lower than for vapor compression cycles, meaning they require 10
times more energy input than vapor cycles. Thus, unless there is an
important reason to use an air cycle they are not used widely for
refrigeration. But, there are actually some valid reasons that outweigh
their poor efficiency - e.g. as when pressurization is required as noted
above, or no electric power is available (on aircraft they can be driven
by outside air at sufficiently high speeds), or when leakage of
refrigerant is catastrophic, etc.
z
 z
How does an air Cycle refrigeration
system works?

 The air cycle refrigeration system uses air as working

fluid/refrigerant. This system is working on reversed Brayton
cycle. Figure 6.18 shows a simple diagram of an air cycle
refrigeration system known as Bell-Coleman cycle.
z