Introduction to vapour compression refrigeration

Learning outcomes
At the end of this lecture you should be able to :1. Describe the importance of refrigeration
2. Describe the components in the vapour compression refrigeration cycle and the
principle of operation
3. Describe some basic terms
4. Be able to describe the Ph chart and represent some basic terms on it.
Resources
Stoecker WF and Jones JW, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, McGraw Hill
1995
Trott AR and Welch TC, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Butterworth
Heinemann, 2000
Nicholls R, 2002, Low Energy Design, Published by Interface Publishing, 2002,
ISBN 0-9539409-2-6
Dossatt, RJ, Principles of Refrigeration, Published By Prentice Hall International,
A website with links see The Institute of Refrigeration http://www.ior.org.uk/
A
website
with
refrigerant
ph
charts
http://www.dupont.com/suva/emea/products/index.html
The Role of Refrigeration in Society
Refrigeration plays an important part in society. Worldwide, it makes a positive socio
economic impact in terms of people employed (approx 2million), equipment sold
(approx 200 Billion US Dollar per annum) and plays an important role in critical and
non-critical application. These include applications within the chemical and food
industry, medical (surgery and production/ storage of vaccines/ drugs), and the air
conditioning of buildings.
In contrast as covered later refrigeration has a conflicting contribution on the
environment as covered later on this course. CFCs and HCFC refrigerants were main
contributors to ozone depletion, 12.5 Billion kWh is consumed by refrigeration
compressor in the UK, and direct and indirect contribution of refrigerants to global
warming is equivalent to approximately 10% of the total radiative force. As a result
we must always reflect carefully on whether cooling is needed or not.
These notes take you through the fundamentals of applying active refrigeration
technology and it is hoped you will apply this for vocational purpose. It is hoped that
you also consider the necessity for refrigeration and minimise its use and its
environmental impact.
The General Principle
Most refrigeration systems use the principle of vapour compression and this is
covered mostly within these lecture notes. The general principle of vapour
compression systems is explained below.

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For any fluid there is a relationship between the temperature and pressure at which it
changes phase, that is either boils or condenses. The higher the pressure the higher
the temperature at which the phase change will take place.
When a fluid evaporates it absorbs heat from its surroundings and when it condenses
it releases heat to its surroundings. The vapour compression refrigeration cycle has
been devised to make use of these physical characteristics to transfer heat from one
place to another. When it is used for the purpose of cooling it is called a refrigerator
and when it is used to heat it is called a heat pump.
By using suitable compounds or refrigerants and varying the pressure of the
refrigerant, they can be used to absorb or reject heat at normal atmospheric
temperatures.
If as a low-pressure liquid the refrigerant will evaporate at around room temperature it
will extract heat from the room. It will of course have to become a gas which if then
pressurised it can be made to condense at a high outdoor temperature thus releasing
the heat to atmosphere. It can be then reduced to its original pressure and the
process is repeated.
The compression of gas is achieved by using a compressor and the reduction in the
pressure of the liquid is effected by passing it through a pressure-reducing valve
called an expansion valve.
An example
To reinforce the above concept consider the following example, which first considers
the evaporation process in the vapour compression cycle.
Suppose a cold store room is to
be maintained at 10oC. The
amount of heat entering the room
can be reduced by insulating the
walls floor and roof but some heat
will still get through.
To remove the heat from the
room a refrigerant at a lower
temperature would be required,
say 16oC. If refrigerant R134a
was used as the refrigerant, it
would need to boil at a pressure
of 1.5 bar abs. If R134a was
placed in a container with its
outlet restricted to maintain a
pressure of 1.5 bar abs then heat
would flow from the room at
10oC into the refrigerant providing
the latent heat to evaporate the
refrigerant at 16oC. This would
produce refrigeration until all the
R134a had evaporated.

Restriction

R134a boiling
at 16oC

Heat flowing into

container at 10oC

Figure 1. The evaporation process in a VC cycle

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Some temporary refrigeration systems use the refrigerant once to provide cooling,
however this is wasteful and damaging to the environment. Consequently, the
remainder of the refrigeration cycle is concerned with re-using the refrigerant, ie
removing the latent heat from the vapour, so that it condenses back into a liquid. To
condense, the refrigerant must reject heat to some heat sink. The most common heat
sinks are atmospheric water and air, which are normally at a much higher
temperature than the refrigerant in the evaporator. In this case we are rejecting heat
from the refrigerant to atmospheric air at around 25oC and this requires the R134a
refrigerant to condense at a higher temperature of say 40oC. To condense at this
temperature the R134a needs to be pressurized to approximately 10 bar abs.
Thus the escaping R134a is passed through a compressor which raises its pressure
to 10 bar abs and then into a condenser where air at 25oC is used a heat sink with
rejected heat from the refrigerant allowing the refrigerant to condense to a liquid state
at approximately 40oC. To reuse the refrigerant and thus make the cycle continuous it
must then be returned to the evaporating vessel. To maintain the difference in
pressure between the condensing and evaporating refrigerant and to match the
return of liquid to the rate at which the compressor pumps the vapour, the flow is
regulated by an expansion valve.
The 4 main components: the evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion
device are typically shown connected in Figure 2. The design parameters of each
component will vary according to the requirements of the particular application for
which they are designed. The temperatures and pressures around the cycle also
change to suit the temperatures of what is to be refrigerated and the temperature of
the condenser heat sink. The temperatures pressure relationships together with
properties of refrigerants for vapour and liquid at evaporating and condensing
conditions are listed in tables of refrigerant properties or shown graphically on charts.
Vapour R134a at 10 bar abs
Vapour R134a at 1.5 bar
R134a condensing at 39oC in
condenser

Liquid R134a at 1.5 bar abs

R134a boiling at
16oC

Heat rejected from R134a to

air at 25oC

Compressor

Liquid R134a at 10 bar abs

Expansion device
Heat flowing into container
at 10oC

Figure 2. The main components in a conventional Vapour compression refrigerator

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Some basic terms

Before investigating the principles of refrigeration it is necessary to understand
the terminology used.
Sensible heat: heat added/extracted which results in temperature change.
Latent heat: heat added/extracted which results in a change of state at constant
temperature.
Saturation temperature
When a liquid is heated sensibly there comes a point when it beings to boil,
when the heating becomes latent. The temperature at which this transition takes
place is called the Saturation Temperature. We call a liquid at its saturation
temperature a 'saturated liquid' and a vapour at its saturation temperature a
'saturated vapour'.
The Saturation Temperature: is defined as the temperature at which liquid
begins to boil or at which vapour beings to condense.
In refrigeration terms, this saturation temperature is also called the
EVAPORATION temperature and the CONDENSING temperature. The
saturation temperature is the Evaporation Temperature when adding heat.
Where as the Condensing Temperature is the saturation temperature when
extracting heat.
Saturation temperature varies with any fluid and is dependent on the pressure on the
fluid. In other words, the evaporation and condensing temperatures in a system can be
changed by varying the pressures.
Have a look at the graph in figure 3. It shows
the saturation temperature curves against pressure for different fluids, which are
commonly used in refrigeration systems.

Satuation temperature
Pressure
bar (abs) oC

25

20
Ammonia

R22

R134a

15

10

0
-80

-60

-40

-20

20

40

Saturation Pressure
Temperature
bar absC
Figure 3. Saturation Temperature for Ammonia, R22 and R134a
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60

Superheated Vapour - A vapour at any temperature above its saturation temperature is

known as a superheated vapour.
Degree of Superheat:
Superheat = Actual vapour temperature (thermometer) Saturation temperature
(pressure gauge)
Subcooled Liquid - A liquid at any temperature below its saturation temperature is
known as a Subcooled liquid.
Degree of Subcooling = Saturation temperature - actual liquid temperature
Thermodynamic Terms used in Refrigeration
The above thermodynamic terms used in Refrigeration can be illustrated using water to
illustrate various processes:

100

100% liquid/
saturated liquid

Temperature (oC)

100% vapour/
saturated vapour

50

Subcooled
liquid

0
Latent heat

sensible
heat

Latent heat

sensible heat

Enthalpy kJ/ kG

Figure 4. The phase change process illustrated with water.

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Rates of Cooling and Heating

So far we have considered the quantity of heat, but just as important is the rate
at which the cooling or heating is required. This eventually decides the size of
the plant. Calculating the rate of cooling involves the time needed to do the
amount of cooling and will be measure in kW (kJ/s) or Btu/h/
e.g. To cool 2000kg of water by 30K needs 251400kJ (quantity)
To cool 2000kg of water by 30K in 1 hour needs 69.8kW (rate)
To cool 2000kg of water by 30K in 1 minute needs 4190 kW (rate)
Enthalpy
Enthalpy in practice is defined as the total heat content of fluid. It is difficult to define
an absolute value for enthalpy, fortunately refrigeration and air conditioning involves
calculation associated with changes in enthalpy, which is much easier to define by
assuming a datum energy content at some state condition. When carrying out
calculations make sure you take enthalpy values from the same source with the
same datum value. Enthalpy is normally represented in heat content-per unit mass
(kJ/kg)
Entropy
Entropy is a more complex property. It is a measure of the order of the molecules
within a fluid and as you will see later is used to quantify the reversibility of the
compression process. Entropy is normally represented with units of kJ/kg K.
Thermodynamic Tables and Charts
Thermodynamic tables and charts enthalpy values are available from many sources.
Pressure/Enthalpy Or Mollier Charts
For refrigeration use, Enthalpy is one of the most important properties sought and
pressure and temperature two values that are easily measured. This makes the
Pressure/Enthalpy (P-h) or Mollier diagram of great use to the design engineer. Fig.5
shows a typical P-h chart for R134a, where as Figure 6 shows a diagrammatic p-h
diagram with the important properties and definitions shown.
The saturated liquid and vapour lines form the two phase "dome", within which
temperature lines are horizontal. The subcooled or compressed liquid region is to the
left of the saturated liquid line and in this region the temperature lines are practically
vertical. The temperature of the subcooled liquid therefore determines its enthalpy
and not the pressure. The superheated gas region is to the right of the saturated
vapour line and in this region temperature lines drop slightly to the right at first, then
vertically. Also in the superheat region are found lines of constant specific volume
and entropy. The entropy lines are not given values, but are used to predict the
increase in enthalpy as the pressure of the gas increases during isentropic
compression.

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Figure 5 Ph chart for R134a

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Subcooled liquid

Saturated liquid and gas

Superheated vapour
Constant Entropy
lines kJ/kg K

pressure

Constant
temperature lines

Saturated
vapour line

Saturated
liquid line

Enthalpy kJ/kg K

Figure 6. Actual refrigeration cycle on a pressure /enthalpy diagram

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Constant specific
volume lines m3/kg

The key to be able to analyse refrigeration cycles is to be able to represent them

accurately on a Mollier diagram and determine the relevant properties from the
state point around the cycle.
There are generally two ways of determining properties from a pH chart.
a. Known Pressure and Actual temperature
3. Find State point at intersection of
pressure and actual temperature

pressure

1. Find known
pressure

2. Find known temp

Enthalpy
b. Known Saturation Temperature and Actual Temperature
1. Find known
actual temp

3. Find
pressure

4. Find state point

at intersection of
pressure and actual
temp

2. Find known
saturation temperature

Enthalpy
Now for you to try some examples
1. R134a is at a pressure of 2 bar abs, what is its saturation temperature.
2. R134a is condensing at 40oC what is its saturation pressure
3. R134a boils at 10oC, what is its saturation pressure.
4. R134a is in a refrigeration system. At one point a pressure gauge reads 6 bar abs
and the fluid is measured at a temperature of 40oC, what state is the refrigerant.
5. R134a is at a pressure of 8 bar abs with 10K superheat, what are its saturation
and actual temperatures.
6. For R134a at 0oC saturation temperature and 10oC actual temperature
determine the enthalpy of the refrigerant.
7. For refrigerant R134a at 1 bar abs, 20K superheat, determine the enthalpy,
specific volume and entropy of the fluid.
8. What is the state of the refrigerant R134a at 3 bar abs and 240 kJ/ kg enthalpy.
9. What is the quality of the refrigerant in question 8.
10. For R134a at 0.5 bar abs and 20% quality determine the enthalpy and saturation
temperature.
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