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Introduction to
Refrigeration
and
Air-conditioning

Presentation by

Dr. Subhasis Maji

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110 068
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Application of Refrigeration
Preserving fresh food
To store medicines, vaccines, blood
plasma
To store cut flowers to preserve.
Ice Plants use refrigeration machines.
Industries use refrigeration for producing
frozen fruit juice, ice creams, chemicals.
Manufacturing industries use refrigeration.
Refrigeration is used for chilling oil to
remove wax in oil refineries.
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Refrigerants
The common refrigerants available at
reasonable costs are ammonia,
carbon di-oxide and freon 12.
Freon 12 condenses at moderate
pressure and under normal
atmospheric temperature conditions.
This property makes the refrigerant
suitable for most refrigeration
application.
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Refrigerant
Desirable properties:
High latent heat of vaporization - max cooling
Non-toxicity (no health hazard)
Desirable saturation temp (for operating pressure)
Chemical stability (non-flammable/non-explosive)
Ease of leak detection
Low cost
Readily available

Commonly use FREON (R-12, R-114, etc.)
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Type of Refrigeration
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
Type of refrigerant
Refrigerant determined by the
required cooling temperature
Chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs)
or freons: R-11, R-12, R-21, R-22
and R-502
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Type of Refrigeration
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
Choice of compressor, design of
condenser, evaporator determined by
Refrigerant
Required cooling
Load
Ease of maintenance
Physical space requirements
Availability of utilities (water, power)
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Type of Refrigeration
Vapour Absorption Refrigeration
Condenser Generator
Evaporator
Absorber
Cold
Side
Hot
Side
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Air Conditioning
The process of conditioning
the surrounding air
according to the human
comfort and desire is called
as Air-Conditioning.
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Application of Air Conditioning
Restaurants, Hotels, Home, Hospitals,
Airplanes, Offices etc.
Air conditioning helps control moisture in
printing press.
In business and industry, air conditioning
improves efficiency.
Manufacturing of Tools and Instruments.
Textile Mills.
Pharmaceutical, Chemical Plants and Food
industries.
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Working of a Air Conditioning system
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Advantages of the Window Air Conditioner
A separate temperature control is provided
in each room in which the unit is installed.
Ducts are not required for air distribution.
Disadvantages of the window Air
conditioner
The unit has a fixed air quantity.
The installation must be made only on the
outside wall.
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Introduction
How does
it work?

High Temperature Reservoir

Low Temperature Reservoir
R
Work Input
Heat Absorbed
Heat Rejected
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Introduction
AC options / combinations:
AC Systems
Air Conditioning (for comfort /
machine)
Split air conditioners
Fan coil units in a larger system
Air handling units in a larger
system
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Introduction
Small capacity modular units of direct
expansion type (50 Tons of Refrigeration)
Centralized chilled water plants with
chilled water as a secondary coolant (50
250 TR)
Brine plants with brines as lower
temperature, secondary coolant (>250 TR)
Refrigeration systems for industrial
processes
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Types of Refrigeration
Vapour Compression
Refrigeration (VCR): uses
mechanical energy
Vapour Absorption
Refrigeration (VAR): uses
thermal energy
Refrigeration systems
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Type of Refrigeration
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
Two advantages
Lot of heat can be removed (lot of
thermal energy to change liquid to
vapour)
Heat transfer rate remains high
(temperature of working fluid much
lower than what is being cooled)
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It is the rate at which heat can be extracted
from cold body, (i.e.) the rate at which
refrigeration can be produced.
It is defined as the Quantity of Heat removed
( refrigerating effect) to freeze one ton of
water at 0
0
C to ice at 0
0
C in 24 hours.
One ton of refrigeration = 12,600 kJ /hr.
= 210 kJ / min.
= 3.5 kJ / sec.

Capacity of refrigerator
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Coefficient of Performance
COP of a refrigeration system is
defined as the ratio of heat extracted
in a given time (refrigerating effect)
to the work input to the system.
done Work
extracted Heat
COP =
work Compressor
effect ing Refrigerat
COP =
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Refrigerator
Q
1
!
S

Evaporator
Exp. Device
Condenser
Compressor W
C
Q
2
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Type of Refrigeration
Vapour Compression Refrigeration
Refrigeration cycle
Condenser
Evaporator
High
Pressure
Side
Low
Pressure
Side
Compressor
Expansion
Device
1
2
3
4
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Generic Refrigeration Cycle
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Thermodynamic Cycle
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Typical
Refrigeration
Cycle
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Components
Refrigerant
Evaporator/Chiller
Compressor
Condenser
Receiver
Thermostatic
expansion valve
(TXV)
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Evaporator/Chiller
Located in space to be refrigerated
Cooling coil acts as an indirect heat exchanger
Absorbs heat from surroundings and vaporizes
Latent Heat of Vaporization
Sensible Heat of surroundings
Slightly superheated (10F) -
ensures no liquid carryover into
compressor

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Compressor
Superheated Vapor:
Enters as low press, low temp vapor
Exits as high press, high temp vapor
Temp: creates differential (AT)
promotes heat transfer
Press: T
sat
allows for condensation at
warmer temps
Increase in energy provides the driving force
to circulate refrigerant through the system
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Condenser
Refrigerant rejects latent heat to
cooling medium
Latent heat of condensation
(LHC)
Indirect heat exchanger: seawater
absorbs the heat and discharges it
overboard
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Expansion Device
Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TXV)
Liquid Freon enters the expansion valve at
high pressure and leaves as a low pressure
wet vapor (vapor forms as refrigerant enters
saturation region)
Controls:
Pressure reduction
Amount of refrigerant entering evaporator
controls capacity
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Air Conditioning
Purpose: maintain the atmosphere of an
enclosed space at a required temp, humidity
and purity
Refrigeration system is at heart of AC
system
Heaters in ventilation system
Types Used:
Self-contained
Refrigerant circulating
Chill water circulating
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W Q =
C
W Q Q =
2 1
C
W
Q
2
f Re
) COP ( =
Or
Coefficient of Performance
Calculations
C
W Q Q = +
2 1
) (
) COP (
2 1
2
f Re
Q Q
Q

=
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Heat Pump
( )
2 1
1 1
hp
) COP (
Q Q
Q
W
Q
C

= =
f hp
COP COP
Re
) ( 1 ) ( + =
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4 1
h h Q
2
=
1 2
W h h =
4 3
h h =
( )
( )
1 2
4 1
h
h
) (
h
h
COP

=
( )
( ) ( )
4 1 3 2
4 1
h h h h
h h


=
P
H
P
L
T
H
T
L
T

1

2

3

4

s

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T
H
T
L
P
H
P
L
P

1

2

3

4

h

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Refrigerating Effect
( )kj/kg h h effect Ref.
4 1
=
Capacity of the VCRS
( ) kW h h Capacity
4 1
.
=m
Compressor Power
( ) kW h h Power
1 2
.
= m
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Heat Engine
Direct Heat Engine
t
!
E

W

t
2
t
!
> t
2
Q
!
Q
2
t
!
E

W

t
2
Q
!
Q
2
Reversed Heat Engine

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Exercise
A reversible heat engine is operating
between 13
0
C and 37
0
C. Find its COP as
(a) heat pump and (b) refrigerator.
T
2
T
1
Q
2
Q
1
1 2
1
1 2
1 1
f Re
) COP (
T T
T
Q Q
Q
W
Q

= =
W

E

2 . 5
50
260
) COP (
f Re
= =
2 . 6 1 2 . 5 ) COP (
. p . h
= + =
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Exercise
An ideal wet compression refrigeration
cycle, with R 12 as the refrigerant,
operates between an evaporator
temperature of 10
0
C and a condenser
temperature of 40
0
C. Calculate the
following: Refrigerating effect,
Compressor work, and COP.
kg / kJ 05 . 203 h
2
=
kg / kJ 53 . 74 h h
3 4
= =
kg / kJ 53 . 74 h
3
=
kg / kJ 9 . 177 h
1
=
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Refrigerating Effect
( ) kg / kJ 37 . 103 h effect . f Re
4
= =
1
h
Compressor Work
( ) kg / kJ 15 . 25 h work . Comp
1 2
= = h
Coefficient of Performance
11 . 4
15 . 25
37 . 103
work . comp
effect . ref
COP = = =
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Vapour absorption refrigerators
COP
(

=
E O
E
G
O G
G
E
T T
T
T
T T
Q
Q
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Exercise
What is the maximum COP of an absorption
refrigeration system, if it has to maintain an
evaporator at 3
0
C, while having heat transfer
from a high temperature reservoir at 127
o
C at a
place where the ambient temperature is 27
0
C?.
K 400 T
G
= K 300 T K, 270 T
o E
= =
(

=
E O
E
G
O G
T T
T
T
T T
COP
25 . 2
270 300
270
400
300 400
COP =
(

=
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Dr. Subhasis Maji
Professor in Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering & Technology
IGNOU, Maidan Garhi,
New Delhi 110 068

E-mail : subhmaji@hotmail.com
subhasis@ignou.ac.in

Telephone/Fax : 91-11-2953 4808
Contact us
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Thank You !