ME 183: Refrigeration and Air Conditioning 20 August 2015, 5:00 PM

Problem Set # 1 First Semester, AY 2015-2016

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY PLEDGE: On my honor, I will not give nor receive inappropriate aid in this problem set.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Use only a blue or black ink pen.
2. Use only A4-sized papers as your answer sheets.
3. Make sure to have written your name and section on every answer sheet, as well as consecutive sheet numbers.
4. Start the solution to each problem on a new sheet; and put a box on your final answer/s.
5. Show clearly all pertinent solutions and state the assumptions made, if any.
6. Write the academic integrity pledge on the first page of your answer sheets.

PROBLEM 1
A house has a composite wall of wood, fiberglass insulation, and
plaster board, as indicated in the sketch. On a cold winter day, the
convection heat transfer coefficients are ho = 60 W/m2-K and hi =
30 W/m2-K. The total wall surface area is 350 m2. Knowing that the
thermal conductivity of fiberglass, plaster board and plywood are
0.038 W/m-K, 0.17 W/m-K, and 0.12 W/m-K respectively,
a) Determine a symbolic expression for the total thermal
resistance of the wall, including inside and outside convection
effects for the prescribed conditions.
b) Determine the total heat loss through the wall.
c) If the wind were blowing violently, raising ho to 300 W/m2-K,
determine the percentage increase in the heat loss.
d) What is the controlling resistance that determines the
amount of heat flow through the wall?

PROBLEM 2
An expander with 85% efficiency is used in an R-22 standard vapor compression system instead of an expansion valve.
The power produced by the expander is used in the system. The system operates at -30oC and 56oC with compressor
efficiency at 80%. Find the COP if the system is using wet compression wherein the state at the compressor outlet is
saturated vapor.

PROBLEM 3
An ammonia vapor compression ice plant operates at atmospheric pressure and 1.4 MPa. The system uses 10oC
superheating and the efficiency of the internal heat exchanger (IHX) is 75%. The rated power and isentropic efficiency of
the compressor are 10 kW and 85%, respectively.
a. Mass flow rate of the refrigerant
b. Degree of subcooling in the IHX
c. Refrigerating capacity
d. Heat released by the condenser
e. COP and HRR

PROBLEM 4
A vapor-compression refrigeration system using R-134a is to be operated at temperatures of -5C and 45C. The
compressor efficiency is 75%. Find the COP if
a. The system is a standard VCC.
b. An expander is used instead of an expansion valve in the setup of (a), and the power produced by the expander is
NOT recovered in the system.
c. An expander is used instead of an expansion valve in the setup of (a), and the power produced by the expander is
recovered in the system.