Refrigeration

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Refrigeration
Refrigeration is the removal of heat from a
material or space, so that its temperature is
lower than that of its surroundings.

When refrigerant absorbs the unwanted heat,

this raises the refrigerants temperature
(Saturation Temperature) so that it changes
from a liquid to a gas it evaporates. The
system then uses condensation to release the
heat and change the refrigerant back into a
liquid. This is called Latent Heat.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Properties of a
good refrigerant

Thermodynamic Physical Safe working Other

Properties Properties Properties Properties

1. Boiling Point 1. Specific Volume 1. Toxicity 1.COP

2. Freezing Point 2. Specific heat 2.Flammability 2. Odour
3. Evaporator & 3.Viscosity 3. Corrosiveness 3. Leak
Condenser 4. Chemical 4. Action with
Pressure stability Lubricating oil

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Desirable properties of a refrigerant
Boiling point: An ideal refrigerant must have low
boiling temperature at atmospheric pressure.

Freezing point: An ideal refrigerant must have a very

low freezing point because the refrigerant should not
freeze at low evaporator temperatures.

Evaporator and condenser pressure: In order to avoid

the leakage of the atmospheric air and also to enable
the detection of the leakage of the refrigerant, both
the evaporator and condenser pressures should be
slightly above the atmospheric pressure.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Desirable properties of a refrigerant
Latent heat of evaporation: the latent
heat of evaporation must be very high
so that a minimum amount of
refrigerant will accomplish the desired
result, in other words, it increases the
refrigeration effect.
Specific volume: The specific volume of
the refrigerant must be very low. The
lower specific volume of the refrigerant
at the suction of the compressor
reduces the size of the compressor.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Desirable properties of a refrigerant
Specific heat of liquid and vapour: A
refrigerant must have low specific heat
when it is in liquid state and high
specific heat when is vaporized. The low
specific heat of the refrigerant helps in
sub cooling of the liquid and high
specific heat of the vapour helps in
decreasing the superheating of the
vapour. Both these desirable properties
increase the refrigerating effect.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Desirable properties of a refrigerant
Viscosity: The viscosity of a refrigerant at both the liquid
and vapour states must be very low as it is improves the
heat transfer and reduces the pumping pressure.

Toxicity: The refrigerant should be non toxic, because any

leakage of the toxic refrigerant increases suffocation and
poisons the atmosphere.

Corrosiveness: The refrigerant should be non corrosive to

prevent the corrosion of the metallic parts of the
refrigerators.

Chemical stability: An ideal refrigerant must not

decompose under operating conditions.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Desirable properties of a refrigerant
Coefficient of performance: The coefficient of
performance of a refrigerant must be high so that the
energy spent in refrigeration will be less.

Odour: The refrigerant must be odourless, otherwise

some food stuff such as meat, butter, etc. loses their
taste.

Leakage tests: The refrigerant must be such that any

leakage can be detected by simple tests.

Action with lubricating oil: The refrigerant must not

react with the lubricating oil used in lubricating the
parts of the compressor.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 List of commonly used refrigerants
The most commonly used refrigerants are

Ammonia Used in vapour absorption refrigerator.

Carbon dioxide Used in marine refrigerators.

Sulphur dioxide- Used in household refrigerators.

Methyl chloride-Used in small-scale refrigeration and domestic

refrigerators.

Freon -12 Used in domestic vapour compression refrigerators.

Freon-22 Used in air conditioners.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Principle of refrigeration:
In refrigeration, the heat is to be removed
continuously from a system at a lower
temperature and transfer it to the surroundings
at a higher temperature.
This operation according to the Second Law of
Thermodynamics can only be performed by the
aid of the external work.
Therefore in a refrigerator, power is to be
supplied to remove the heat continuously from
the refrigerator cabinet to keep it cool at a
temperature less than the atmospheric
temperature.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Refrigeration effect and unit of refrigeration:
In a refrigeration system, the rate at which the heat is
absorbed in a cycle from the space to be cooled is
called refrigerating effect.
The capacity of a refrigeration system is expressed in
tons of refrigeration which is the unit of refrigeration.
A ton of refrigeration is defined as the quantity of
heat absorbed in order to form one ton of ice in 24
hours when the initial temperature of the water is 00 c.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

Refrigeration effect and unit of refrigeration:
Here it should be noted that one American ton
(2000 pounds) is taken as the standard in the
refrigeration practice.
In S.I System
1 ton of refrigeration = 210 kJ/min
= 3.5 kW

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Coefficient of performance:
The performance of a refrigeration system is
expressed by a factor known as the coefficient
of performance (COP).The COP of a
refrigeration system is defined as the ratio of
heat absorbed in a system to the work
supplied.
If Q = Heat Absorbed or Removed, kW
W = Work supplied, kW
COP = Q/W

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

Parts of a Refrigerator

Evaporator

Compressor Expansion
(or) Pump Device

Refrigerant
Condenser

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Parts of Refrigerator
1. Evaporator: It consists of metal tubing which
surrounds the freezing & cooling compartments to
absorb heat and to evaporate the refrigerant.
2. Circulating system (Compressor or pump): It
consists of mechanical devices powered by an
electric motor which increase the pressure of the
refrigerant and helps to circulate the refrigerant.
3. Condenser: Here, the latent heat is rejected from
the refrigerant to atmosphere and it returns to
liquid state and re circulated.
4. Expansion device: It is a device used to reduce the
pressure and temperature of the liquid before it
passes to the evaporator.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Types of Refrigeration systems
1. Vapour Compression Refrigeration
2. Vapour Absorption refrigeration
Vapour compression refrigeration makes use of
mechanical energy supplied by the compressor
to circulate the refrigerant.
Vapour absorption refrigeration makes use of the
ability of a absorbent to absorb large volumes of
vapour when cold & give off its vapours when
heated.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Evaporator Freezing
coiled tubes compartment

refrigerant
vapour at
low pressure
Liquid refrigerant
partly vapour at low
Dry refrigerant
tempr & pressure
vapour at high
pressure
Throttle Valve

Compressor Liquid refrigerant at

unit Motor high pressure &
room tempr

Condensor

Vapour Compression
P R Venkatesh, Refrigeration
Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Condenser

High Pr Vapour

Air

Receiver Low Pr
(Liquid vapour
refrigerant)
Expansion
Valve Compressor
Evaporator

Vapour Compression Refrigeration

Refrigerated space
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Vapour Compression Refrigeration
The refrigerant in the form of vapour at low
temperature & pressure enters the compressor and
gets compressed to high temperature & pressure.
The compressed vapours then enter the condenser
where heat is transferred to a cooling medium such
as air or water. The refrigerant is condensed to liquid
form.
The refrigerant then enters the expansion valve
which reduces the pressure and temperature by
throttling process.(to about -100C)
It finally passes on to the evaporator where it
absorbs heat from surroundings and becomes low
pressure dry vapour, and the cycle is repeated.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
Freezing Evaporator
compartment Coiled tubes
Liquid ammonia
at low tempr &
Dry ammonia pressure
vapour at low
pressure Expansion
Valve

Absorber High Pressure

Ammonia liquid

Strong ammonia
solution at low
pressure Heater-Seperator
Heating
Weak Coil
ammonia
Circulation solution
Pump warm strong solution
at high pressure
Heat exchanger

Vapour Absorption
P R Venkatesh, Refrigeration
Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration

Condenser
Strong
Generator
Solution

Air
Heater
Expansion
Valve Heat
Exchanger
weak ammonia
solution
Evaporator Valve
Pump

Absorber

Refrigerated spaceMech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

P R Venkatesh,
 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration
The low pressure ammonia vapour leaving the evaporator
is readily absorbed in the cold water in the absorber and
becomes strong ammonia solution.
The strong ammonia solution is pumped to the heat
exchanger and the vapour gets separated due to high
pressure & temperature.
The ammonia vapours then pass to the condenser where
it gets condensed into liquid after rejecting heat to
atmosphere.
The high pressure ammonia liquid is then expanded in the
throttle valve to get low pressure & temperature liquid.
The low pressure & temperature ammonia liquid then
enters the evaporator where it extracts the heat and gets
vapourized. The cycle then repeats itself.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Comparison between Vapour compression & Vapour
Absorption Refrigeration

Vapour Compression Vapour Absorption

Requires mechanical energy for compression of Requires heat energy to separate the vapours
vapour. from absorbent.

Maintenance is more Less maintenance required.

The operation of the machine is noisy due to Quiet in operation due to absence of
compressor compressor
High operating cost due to requirement of electrical Less operating cost due minimum consumption
energy to the compressor by the pump

Freon-12 is used as a refrigerant Ammonia is used as refrigerant

The design capacity is limited to 1000 tons Design capacity can be above 1000 tons.

Chances of Leakage of refrigerant is more No leakage of refrigerant

Charging of refrigerant is simple Charging of refrigerant is difficult

Poor performance (COP) at part loads System is not affected by variations in load
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Air Conditioning
Air conditioning is defined as a process of
providing cool and congenial indoor atmosphere
for human comfort or for industrial purposes.
Air conditioning involves artificial cooling,
humidifying or dehumidifying, cleaning and re
circulating the surrounding air.
An air conditioner mainly consists of an
evaporator, condenser, compressor, two fans &
capillary tube.
It is generally mounted on a window such that
the evaporator unit is inside the room and the
condenser part projecting outside the building.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Air Conditioner
Wall Refrigerant
vapour at
Inside Outside high tempr

Cool
air out

Motor
Air
Conditioned
Space

Condenser
Fan
Condenser
Filter Compressor
Evaporator Capillary
Fan tube
Liquid refrigerant
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
Air Conditioner

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Air Conditioning
The high pressure, low temperature liquid refrigerant
from the condenser is passed to the evaporator coils
through the capillary tubes where it undergoes expansion.
The evaporator fan continuously draws air from the
interior space through an air filter by forcing it to pass
over the evaporator coils.
The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air, gets
evaporated and then compressed in the compressor.
The high pressure & high temperature refrigerant vapour
passes through condenser coils where it gets cooled by air
drawn by the condenser fan from the atmosphere.
This condensed refrigerant once again enters the capillary
tube & the process repeats itself.

P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore

 Humidity & its control in Air Conditioning
Humidity is defined as the moisture present in
the atmospheric air.
Absolute humidity is the weight of water vapour
contained in given volume of air & is expressed
as gm/m3 of air.
Specific humidity is the weight of water vapour
to the total weight of air volume of air & is
expressed as gm/kg of air.
Relative humidity is the ratio of actual vapour
content of air to the vapour content of saturated
air at the same temperature.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Humidity & its control in Air Conditioning
When a controlled atmosphere is required in air
conditioning, the humidity of air is varied.
When dry air is required, it is usually
dehumidified by passing the air through
adsorptive chemicals such as silica jel.
On the other hand, air is humidified by
circulation through water baths or sprays.
The level of discomfort is high when the
atmosphere is saturated with water.
Psychrometry is the study of properties of air &
water vapour mixture.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Central Air Conditioning
Central air conditioning, is an air conditioning
system that uses ducts to distribute cooled and/or
dehumidified air to more than one room, or uses
pipes to distribute chilled water to heat exchangers
in more than one room, and which is not plugged
into a standard electrical outlet.
With a typical split system, the condenser and
compressor are located in an outdoor unit; the
evaporator is mounted in the air handler unit.
With a package system, all components are located
in a single outdoor unit that may be located on the
ground or roof.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore
 Advantages of Central air conditioning
When the air handling unit turns on, room air is
drawn in from various parts of the building through
return-air ducts.
This air is pulled through a filter where airborne
particles such as dust and lint are removed.
Sophisticated filters may remove microscopic
pollutants as well. The filtered air is routed to air
supply ductwork that carries it back to rooms.
Whenever the air conditioner is running, this cycle
repeats continually.
Because the condenser unit (with its fan and the
compressor) is located outside the home, it offers a
lower level of indoor noise than a free-standing air
conditioning unit.
P R Venkatesh, Mech Dept, RVCE, B'lore