Refrigeration and Air-

Conditioning(MEng 5212)
Part –I, Refrigeration

By Yisfalign Demissie(MSc.)
Wolkite University
Nov. 2011 EC . 1
 PART-ONE
1. Refrigeration

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 1.1 Basic Concepts in
Refrigeration
 Objective:- To introduce students about the
basics of refrigeration

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 Introduction

I) Refrigeration
• Refrigeration - is a process used to cool the air and
also for removing moisture content from the air to
specific levels.
• Refrigeration - is the transfer of heat from a lower
temperature region to a higher temperature region.
• Refrigeration - is concerned with the production of cool
confinement absorbing heat from the space where
cooling is required 4
 Refrigeration may be defined as the process of
achieving and maintaining a temperature below
that of the surroundings,
 The aim being to cool some product or space to
the required temperature.
 One of the most important applications of
refrigeration has been the preservation of
perishable food products by storing them at low
temperatures.

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 The branch of science which deals with the
process of reducing and maintaining the
temperature of a space or material below
the temperature of the surrounding
 The heat is then rejected to some natural
sink such as:
 The atmospheric air
 Surface water
 Any external body lower in temperature
compared to the space

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II) A Refrigeration System
 A refrigeration system is a combination of
components, equipment and piping connected
in a sequence to produce the refrigeration effect
 Refrigeration system is also used extensively
for providing thermal comfort to human beings
by means of air conditioning.
 The rate at which heat is absorbed from space to
be cooled is termed as the refrigeration effect

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III) Refrigerator
• Device that produce refrigeration effect are
called refrigerators, and the cycle on which they
operate are called refrigeration cycle.
• We know from experience that heat flows
spontaneously or by itself from a high-
temperature region to a low-temperature region.
• But, the transfer of heat from a low-temperature
region to a high-temperature region is possible
only with the help of external work. Hence, this
requires a special type of device called a
refrigerator or a heat pump.

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 Refrigerators and heat pumps are
essentially the same devices; they differ in
their objectives only.
 The objective of a refrigerator is to
maintain the refrigerated space at a low
temperature by removing heat from it.
 Whereas the objective of a heat pump is to
maintain a heated space at a high
temperature.
 But, air conditioners are basically refrigerators
whose refrigerated space is a room or a building
instead of the food compartment.
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IV) Refrigeration Cycle
 Refrigeration Cycle: when a refrigerant undergoes a
series of processes like evaporation, compression,
condensation, throttling and expansion, it is said
to have undergone a refrigeration cycle.
 A cycle on which refrigerators operate.
 Thermodynamically closed cycle not open cycle.

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Closed cycle

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Open cycle

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The most frequently used refrigeration cycles
are:-
• Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle - in which
the refrigerant is vaporized and condensed
alternately and is compressed in the vapor phase.
• Gas-refrigeration cycle - in which the refrigerant
remains in the gaseous phase throughout the cycle.
•Vapor-absorption refrigeration - where the
refrigerant is dissolved in a liquid before it is
compressed.
•Thermoelectric refrigeration - where refrigeration
is produced by the passage of electric current
through two dissimilar materials.
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14
Principles of Refrigeration
REFRIGERATION SYSTEM COMPONENTS
The basic components of a refrigeration system are:
- Evaporator
- Compressor
- Condenser
- Expansion Valve
- Refrigerant; to conduct the heat from the product

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Evaporator
 The purpose of the evaporator is to remove
unwanted heat from the product
 Refrigerant contained within the evaporator is
boiling at a low-pressure. The level of this
pressure is determined by two factors:
- The rate at which the heat is absorbed from the
product to the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator
- The rate at which the low-pressure vapor is removed
from the evaporator by the compressor
 When leaving the evaporator coil the liquid
refrigerant is in vapor form.

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Compressor
 The purpose of the compressor is to draw the low-
temperature, low-pressure vapor from the
evaporator via the suction line.
 When vapor is compressed it rises in temperature.
 The compressor transforms the vapor from a low-
temperature vapor to a high-temperature vapor, in
turn increasing the pressure.

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Condenser
 The purpose of the condenser is to extract heat from the
refrigerant to the outside air.
 May be air cooled or water cooled
 Fans mounted above the condenser unit are used to
draw air through the condenser coils.
 The temperature of the high-pressure vapor determines
the temperature at which the condensation begins.
 As heat has to flow from the condenser to the air, the
condensation temperature must be higher than that of
the air.
 The high-pressure vapor within the condenser is then
cooled to the point where it becomes a liquid
refrigerant once more, whilst retaining some heat.

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Expansion Valve
 The expansion valve is located at the end of the
liquid line, before the evaporator. The high-
pressure liquid reaches the expansion valve,
having come from the condenser.
 The valve then reduces the pressure of the
refrigerant as it passes through the orifice, which
is located inside the valve.
 On reducing the pressure, the temperature of
the refrigerant also decreases to a level below the
surrounding air.
 This low-pressure, low-temperature liquid is
then pumped in to the evaporator.
 May be capillary tube/orifice
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 Need for Refrigeration
 The growth of microorganisms is temperature-
dependent, that growth declines as temperature
falls, and that growth becomes very slow at
temperatures below +10 °C
 Use of refrigeration to conserve foodstuffs and
natural ice came into use for this purpose

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Application of Refrigeration
 Foodstuff production, conservation and preservation
 Chemical processing industry
 Industrial and comfort air conditioning plants
 Drying plants, etc

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 Requirements of Refrigerant
 There are certain desirable characteristics which a fluid
used as a refrigerant should posses:
 non-poisonous
 Non-explosive
 Non-corrosive
 Non-inflammable
 Leaks should be easily detected
 Leaks should be easy to locate
 Should operate under low pressure
 Stable gas

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 Continued……..
◦ Parts moving in the fluid should be easy to lubricate
◦ Non- toxic
◦ Well balanced enthalpy of evaporation per unit mass
◦ Small relative displacement to obtain a certain
refrigerating effect
◦ A minimum difference between the vaporizing and
condensing pressure is desirable
 The standard comparison of refrigerants as used in
refrigeration industry is based on an evaporator
temperature of -15oC and condensing temperature of 30oC

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1.2 Refrigerants

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The specific objectives of this lecture are to:
1. Discuss the importance of selection of suitable
refrigerant in a refrigeration system.
2. Classify refrigerants into primary and secondary, and
discuss the important differences between primary
and secondary refrigerants.
3. Discuss refrigerant selection criteria based on
thermodynamic, thermo physical, environmental and
economic properties.
4. Describe the numbering system used for designating
refrigerants.
5. Present a comparison between different refrigerants.

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Introduction
 Refrigerant : is the primary working fluid used
for absorbing and transmitting heat in a
refrigeration system
 Refrigerants absorb heat at low temperature and
low pressure and release heat at a higher
temperature and pressure
 Most refrigerants undergo phase changes during
heat absorption (evaporation) and heat releasing
(condensation)

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 The thermodynamic efficiency of a refrigeration
system depends mainly on its operating
temperatures.
 However, important practical issues such as the
system design, size, initial and operating costs,
safety, reliability, and serviceability etc. depend
very much on the type of refrigerant selected
for a given application.
 Due to several environmental issues such as
ozone layer depletion, global warming and their
relation to the various refrigerants used, the
selection of suitable refrigerant has become
one of the most important issues in recent
times.
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 Replacement of an existing refrigerant by a completely
new refrigerant, for whatever reason, is an expensive
proposition as it may call for several changes in the
design and manufacturing of refrigeration systems.
 Hence it is very important to understand the issues
related to the selection and use of refrigerants. In
principle, any fluid can be used as a refrigerant.
 Air used in an air cycle refrigeration system can also
be considered as a refrigerant.
 However, in this lecture the attention is mainly
focused on those fluids that can be used as
refrigerants in vapor compression refrigeration
systems only.

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Classification of Refrigerants
Primary and Secondary Refrigerants
 Fluids suitable for refrigeration purposes can be
classified into primary and secondary refrigerants.
 Primary refrigerants are those fluids, which are
used directly as working fluids, for example in vapor
compression and vapor absorption refrigeration
systems.
 When used in compression or absorption systems,
these fluids provide refrigeration by undergoing a
phase change process in the evaporator.

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 As the name implies, secondary refrigerants are
those liquids, which are used for transporting
thermal energy from one location to other.
Secondary refrigerants are also known under the
name brines or antifreezes.
 Of course, if the operating temperatures are above
0oC, then pure water can also be used as
secondary refrigerant, for example in large air
conditioning systems.
 Antifreezes or brines are used when refrigeration is
required at sub-zero temperatures.
 Unlike primary refrigerants, the secondary
refrigerants do not undergo phase change as they
transport energy from one location to other.
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 Cooling Medium: is a working fluid cooled by the
refrigerant to transport the cooling effect between a
central plant and remot cooling units and terminals
 Chilled water, brine, and glycol are used as cooling
media in many refrigeration systems.
 The cooling medium is often called a secondary
refrigerant, because it reduces the extensive
circulation of the primary refrigerant

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 An important property of a secondary refrigerant is its
freezing point. Generally, the freezing point of a brine
will be lower than the freezing point of its constituents.
 The temperature at which freezing of a brine takes
place depends on its concentration. The
concentration at which a lowest temperature can be
reached without solidification is called as eutectic
point.
 The commonly used secondary refrigerants are the
solutions of water and ethylene glycol, propylene
glycol or calcium chloride. These solutions are known
under the general name of brines.

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Essential Properties of Refrigerants
 Chemical stability under conditions of use is the
most important characteristics
 Safety codes may require a nonflammable
refrigerant of low toxicity for most applications
 Cost, availability, efficiency, and compatibility
with compressor lubricants and materials with
which the equipment is constructed are other
concerns
 Latent heat of vaporization is another important
property

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Physical Properties

 The refrigerants are arranged in increasing order of

atmospheric boiling point, from air at -194.3 oC to
water at 100 oC
 The boiling point is most important because it is a
direct indicator of the temperature level at which a
refrigerant can be used

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Physical Properties of Selected
Refrigerants

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 CAUTION!!!
Some topics related to Refrigerants are
missing, like, Properties of Refrigerants, Refrigeration effect
and unit of refrigeration, Refrigerant selection criteria,
Thermodynamic and Thermo-physical Properties, Environmental
and Safety Properties, Economic properties, Designation of
refrigerants, Types of refrigerants…(…are to be covered by
assignment one).

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1.3 Applications of Refrigeration
and Air-Conditioning

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1.3.1 Objectives of the lesson:
The objectives of this lesson are to introduce the
students to:
 Applications of refrigeration in:
a. Food processing, preservation and distribution
b. Chemical and process industries
c. Special Applications such as cold treatment of
metals, medical, construction, ice skating etc.
d. Comfort air-conditioning
 Applications of air conditioning, namely:
a. Industrial, such as in textiles, printing,
manufacturing, photographic, computer rooms,
power plants, vehicular etc.
b. Comfort – commercial, residential etc. 40
1.3.2 Introduction
 Refrigeration deals with cooling of bodies or fluids to
temperatures lower than those of surroundings. This
involves absorption of heat at a lower temperature and
rejection to higher temperature of the surroundings.

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 In olden days,
 The main purpose of refrigeration was to produce ice,
which was used for cooling beverages, food preservation
and refrigerated transport etc.
 Now-a-days refrigeration and air conditioning find so many
applications that they have become very essential for
mankind, and without refrigeration and air conditioning the
basic fabric of the society will be adversely affected.
 Refrigeration and air conditioning are generally treated in a
single subject due to the fact that one of the most important
applications of refrigeration is in cooling and
dehumidification as required for summer air conditioning.
 Of course, refrigeration is required for many applications
other than air conditioning, and air conditioning also
involves processes other than cooling and dehumidification.
Figure above shows the relation between refrigeration and
air conditioning in a pictorial form. 42
 The temperature range of interest in refrigeration
extends down to about –100oC.
 Now-a-days refrigeration has become an essential part
of food chain- from post harvest heat removal to
processing, distribution and storage.
 Refrigeration has become essential for many chemical
and processing industries to improve the standard,
quality, precision and efficiency of many manufacturing
processes.

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 As mentioned before, air-conditioning is one of the
major applications of refrigeration.
 Air-conditioning has made the living conditions more
comfortable, hygienic and healthy in offices, work
places and homes.
 It involves control of temperature, humidity, cleanliness
of air and its distribution to meet the comfort
requirements of human beings and/or some industrial
requirements.
 Air-conditioning involves cooling and dehumidification
in summer months; this is essentially done by
refrigeration.
 It also involves heating and humidification in cold
climates, which is conventionally done by a boiler
unless a heat pump is used.
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1.3.3 Applications of Refrigeration
The major applications of refrigeration can be
grouped into following four major equally important
areas.
1. Food processing, preservation and
distribution
2. Chemical and process industries
3. Special Applications
4. Comfort air-conditioning

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 I) Application of refrigeration in Food processing,
preservation and distribution
 Storage of Raw Fruits and Vegetables: It is well-known
that some bacteria are responsible for degradation of
food, and enzymatic processing cause ripening of the
fruits and vegetables.
 The growth of bacteria and the rate of enzymatic
processes are reduced at low temperature.
 This helps in reducing the spoilage and improving the
shelf life of the food.

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Effect of storage temperature on
useful storage life of food products

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 In case of fruits and vegetables, the use of refrigeration
starts right after harvesting to remove the post-harvest
heat, transport in refrigerated transport to the cold
storage or the processing plant.
 A part of it may be stored in cold storage to maintain
its sensory qualities and a part may be distributed to
retail shops, where again refrigeration is used for short
time storage.
 Depending upon the size, the required capacity of
refrigeration plants for cold storages can be very high.
 Ammonia is one of the common refrigerants used in
cold storages.

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Cold storage Photograph of a typical
Ammonia based refrigeration cold storage
plant for a large cold storage

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Recommended storage conditions
for fruits and vegetables

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 Meat and poultry: These items also require
refrigeration right after slaughter during processing,
packaging. Short-term storage is done at 0oC. Long-
term storage requires freezing and storage at -25oC.
 Dairy Products: The important dairy products are milk,
butter, buttermilk and ice cream.
To maintain good quality, the milk is cooled in bulk milk
coolers immediately after being taken from cow.
Bulk milk cooler is a large refrigerated tank that cools it
between 10 to 15oC. Then it is transported to dairy
farms, where it is pasteurized.
Pasteurization involves heating it to 73oC and holding
it at this temperature for 20 seconds. Thereafter, it is
cooled to 3 to 4oC.
The dairies have to have a very large cooling capacity,
since a large quantity of milk has to be immediately
cooled after arrival.
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 Beverages: Production of beer, wine and concentrated
fruit juices require refrigeration.
The taste of many drinks can be improved by serving
them cold or by adding ice to them.
Juices can be preserved for a longer period of time
than the fruits. Also,
Fruit juice concentrates when frozen can be more
easily shipped and transported by road.
To preserve the taste and flavor of juice, the water is
driven out of it by boiling it at low temperature under
reduced pressure.
The concentrate is frozen and transported at –20oC.

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Processing and distribution of frozen food:
Many vegetables, meat, fish and poultry are frozen to
sustain the taste, which nearly duplicates that of the
fresh product.
Freezing retains the sensory qualities of color, texture
and taste apart from nutritional qualities.
The refrigeration systems for frozen food applications
are very liberally designed, since the food items are
frozen in shortest period of time.
Ready-to-eat frozen foods, packed dinners and bakery
items are frozen and stored at temperatures of –25 to -
20 oC for distribution to retail stores during peak
demands or off-season demands.

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II) Applications of refrigeration in chemical and
process industries
 The industries like petroleum refineries, petrochemical
plants and paper pulp industries etc. require very large
cooling capacities.
 The main applications of refrigeration in chemical and
process industries involve the following categories.
1. Separation of gases: In petrochemical plant,
temperatures as low as –150oC with refrigeration
capacities as high as 10,000 Tons of Refrigeration
(TR) are used for separation of gases by fractional
distillation.
Some gases condense readily at lower temperatures
from the mixtures of hydrocarbon.
Propane is used as refrigerant in many of these plants.
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2. Condensation of Gases: some gases that are
produced synthetically, are condensed to liquid state by
cooling, so that these can be easily stored and
transported in liquid state. For example, in synthetic
ammonia plant, ammonia is condensed at –10 to 10oC
before filling in the cylinders, storage and shipment. This
low temperature requires refrigeration.
3. Dehumidification of Air: Low humidity air is required
in many pharmaceutical industries. It is also required
for air liquefaction plants.
 This is also required to prevent static electricity and
prevents short circuits in places where high voltages
are used.
 The air is cooled below its dew point temperature, so
that some water vapor condenses out and the air gets
dehumidified. 55
III) Special applications of refrigeration
 In this category we consider applications other than
chemical uses. These are in manufacturing processes,
applications in medicine, construction units etc.
1. Cold Treatment of Metals: The dimensions of
precision parts and gauge blocks can be stabilized by
soaking the product at temperature around – 90oC.
The hardness and wear resistance of carburized steel
can be increased by this process.
 Keeping the cutting tool at –100oC for 15 minutes can
also increase the life of cutting tool.
In deep drawing process the ductility of metal
increases at low temperature.
Mercury patterns frozen by refrigeration can be used
for precision casting.
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2. Medical: Blood plasma and antibiotics are
manufactured by freeze-drying process where water
is made to sublime at low pressure and low
temperature.
 This does not affect the tissues of blood.
 Centrifuges refrigerated at –10oC, are used in the
manufacture of drugs.
 Localized refrigeration by liquid nitrogen can be used
as anesthesia also.

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3. Construction: Setting of concrete is an exothermic
process.
If the heat of setting is not removed the concrete will
expand and produce cracks in the structure.
Concrete may be cooled by cooling sand, gravel and
water before mixing them or by passing chilled water
through the pipes embedded in the concrete.
Another application is to freeze the wet soil by
refrigeration to facilitate its excavation.
4. Desalination of Water: In some countries fresh
water is scarce and seawater is desalinated to obtain
fresh water.
Solar energy is used in some cases for desalination.
An alternative is to freeze the seawater. The ice thus
formed will be relatively free of salt. The ice can be
separated and thawed to obtain fresh water.
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5. Ice Manufacture: This was the classical application
of refrigeration.
Ice was manufactured in plants by dipping water
containers in chilled brine and it used to take about 36
hours to freeze all the water in cans into ice.
The ice thus formed was stored in ice warehouses.
Now that small freezers and icemakers are available.
 Hotels and restaurants make their own ice, in a
hygienic manner. Household refrigerators also have
the facility to make ice in small quantities.
The use of ice warehouses is dwindling because of
this reason.
Coastal areas still have ice plants where it is used for
transport of iced fish.

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Refrigeration systems are also required in remote and
rural areas for a wide variety of applications such as
storage of milk, vegetables, fruits, food grains etc., and
also for storage of vaccines etc. in health centers.
 One typical problem with many of the rural and remote
areas is the continuous availability of electricity.
Since space is not constraint, and most of these areas
in tropical countries are blessed with alternate energy
sources such as solar energy, biomass etc., it is
preferable to use these clean and renewable energy
sources in these areas.
Thermal energy driven absorption systems have been
used in some instances.
Vapour compression systems that run on photovoltaic
(PV) cells have also been developed for small
applications. Figure shows the schematic of solar PV
cell driven vapor compression refrigeration system for
vaccine storage. 60
Solar energy driven refrigeration system for vaccine storage
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1.3.4 Application of Air-
Conditioning:

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I) Industrial Air-Conditioning- the main
purpose of industrial air conditioning system is to
provide conducive conditions so that the required
processes can be carried out and required products
can ne produced.
The following are the applications to name a few

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II) Comfort Air-Conditioning:
 Energy of food is converted into chemical energy for
functioning of brain, lungs, heart and other organs and
this energy is ultimately rejected to the surroundings.
 Also the internal organs require a temperature close
to 35oC for their efficient operation, and regulatory
mechanisms of human body maintain this temperature
by rejecting appropriate amount of heat.
 Human beings do not feel comfortable if some extra
effort is required by the body to reject this energy.
 The air temperature, humidity and velocity at which
human body does not have to take any extra action, is
called comfort condition.

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68
 Restaurants, theatres and other places of amusement
require air-conditioning for the comfort of patrons.
 All places where, a large number of people assemble
should have sufficient supply of fresh air to dilute CO2 and
body odors emitted by persons.
 In addition, people dissipate large quantities of heat that
has to be removed by air-conditioning for the comfort of
persons.
 These places have wide variation in air-conditioning load
throughout the day.
 These have large number of persons, which add a lot of
water vapor by respiration and perspiration.
 The food cooked and consumed also adds water vapor.
This vapor has to be removed by air-conditioning plant.
Hence, these buildings have large latent heat loads.
Infiltration of warm outdoor is also large since the large
number of persons enter and leave the building leading to
entry of outdoor air with every door opening.
 Ventilation requirement is also very large. 69
Exercise

1. What do you understand by a cold chain for food

products?
2. Explain the importance of cold storage
3. What are important issues to be considered in the
design of refrigeration systems?
4. What is the relation between refrigeration and air
conditioning?

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 1.4 Vapour-
Compression
Refrigeration Cycle

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The Specific Objectives of the Lesson:

This lesson discusses the most commonly used refrigeration

system, i.e. Vapour compression refrigeration system.

The following things are emphasized in detail:

1. The Carnot Refrigeration Cycle & its Practical Limitations.

2. The Ideal(Standard) Vapour Compression Refrigeration
System.
3. The Actual Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Cycle
4. Analysis of Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration
System.
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1.4.1 Application Areas of Thermodynamics
The main application areas of thermodynamics are presented as follows:

Main application areas

of
Thermodynamics

Power cycles Refrigeration cycles

• Refrigerators
• Heat pumps
Vapor power Gas • Air Conditioners
cycles power cycles
• Gasoline (Otto cycle) engines
• Steam power plants
• Diesel (Diesel cycle) engines
• Nuclear power plants
• Gas turbines (Brayton cycle) 73
1.4.2 Comparison Between Gas Cycles and Vapor Cycles

 Thermodynamic cycles can be categorized into gas cycles

and vapour cycles.
 In a typical gas cycle, the working fluid (a gas) does not
undergo phase change.
 In gas cycles, heat rejection and refrigeration take place as
the gas undergoes sensible cooling and heating.
 In a vapour cycle the working fluid undergoes phase change
and refrigeration effect is due to the vaporization of refrigerant
liquid.
 Since the refrigeration effect is produced during phase
change, large amount of heat (latent heat) can be transferred
per kilogram of refrigerant at a near constant temperature.
 Vapour cycles can be subdivided into vapour compression
systems, vapour absorption systems, vapour jet systems etc.
Among these the vapour compression refrigeration systems
are predominant.
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1.4.3 Vapour Compression Refrigeration Systems

 As mentioned, vapour compression refrigeration systems

are the most commonly used among all refrigeration
systems.
 In a vapour compression refrigeration system, refrigeration
is obtained as the refrigerant evaporates at low
temperatures.
 The input to the system is in the form of mechanical energy
required to run the compressor. Hence these systems are
also called as mechanical refrigeration systems.
 The actual vapour compression cycle is based on Evans-
Perkins cycle, which is also called as reverse Rankine
cycle.
 Before the actual cycle is discussed and analyzed, it is
essential to find the upper limit of performance of vapour
compression cycles. This limit is set by a completely
reversible cycle(Carnot cycle).
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 The vapor-compression refrigeration cycle
Main application areas of the Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Cycle is in the
design and operation of vapor-compression Refrigerators and Heat pumps.

Vapor-Compression Vapor-Compression
Refrigerator Heat pump
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Refrigerators and Heat pumps…

77
 The vapor-compression refrigeration cycle…
We know from experience that heat flows spontaneously or by itself from a
high-temperature region to a low-temperature region. But, the transfer of heat
from a low-temperature region to a high-temperature region is possible only
with the help of external work. Hence, this requires a special type of device
called a refrigerator or a heat pump.
Refrigerators and heat pumps are essentially the
same devices; they differ in their objectives only.
The objective of a refrigerator is to maintain
the refrigerated space at a low temperature
by removing heat from it, whereas the
objective of a heat pump is to maintain a heated
space at a high temperature.
The performance of refrigerators and
heat pumps is expressed in terms of
the Coefficient Of Performance (COP), defined as;

78
Refrigerators and Heat pumps

Note:- Air conditioners are basically

refrigerators whose refrigerated space
is a room or a building instead of the
food compartment.

79
Refrigerators and Heat pumps…

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Refrigerators and Heat pumps…

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Refrigerators and Heat pumps…

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Refrigerators and Heat pumps…

Class work:-
Show that

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 1.4.4 The Carnot Vapor Cycle and The
Carnot Refrigeration Cycle

I) The Carnot Vapor Cycle

 The Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle operating between
two specified temperature limits. Thus it is natural to look at
the Carnot cycle first as a prospective ideal cycle for vapor
power plants.
 Consider a steady-flow Carnot cycle shown on a T-s diagram
below. The fluid is heated reversibly and isothermally in a
boiler (process 1-2), expanded isentropically in a turbine
(process 2-3), condensed reversibly and isothermally in a
condenser (process 3-4), and compressed isentropically by a
compressor to the initial state (process 4-1).
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The Carnot efficiency
 The thermal efficiency of the Carnot cycle is a
function of the sink and source temperatures only
and is given by,

86
II) The Carnot Refrigeration Cycle
 It is also called the Reversed Carnot Vapour Cycle
 The Carnot cycle is a totally reversible cycle that consists of two reversible
isothermal and two isentropic processes. It has the maximum thermal
efficiency for the given temperature limits, and serves as a standard cycle
against which actual power cycles can be compared. If the Carnot vapor
power cycle is reversed, then the cycle becomes a Carnot refrigeration or
heat pump cycle.

87
 The Reversed Carnot Vapour Cycle…
The coefficients of performance of Carnot refrigerators and heat pumps are
expressed in terms of temperatures as,

From these relations, it is observed that the COP can be increased by

increasing TL and/or by decreasing TH.

But, the reversed Carnot cycle cannot represent

actual cycles. Why ? Explain.

However, the reversed Carnot cycle can serve as

a standard cycle against which actual refrigeration
cycles are compared.

88
 As shown in Fig.10.1(a), the basic Carnot refrigeration system
for pure vapour consists of four components: compressor,
condenser, turbine and evaporator.
 The cycle involves two isothermal heat transfer processes
(processes 4-1 and 2-3) and two isentropic work transfer
processes (processes 1-2 and 3-4).
 Heat is extracted isothermally at evaporator temperature Te
during process 4-1, heat is rejected isothermally at condenser
temperature Tc during process 2-3.
 Work is supplied to the compressor during the isentropic
compression (1-2) of refrigerant vapour from evaporator
pressure Pe to condenser pressure Pc, and
 Work is produced by the system as refrigerant liquid expands
isentropically in the turbine from condenser pressure Pc to
evaporator pressure Pe.
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 All the processes are both internally as well as
externally reversible, i.e., net entropy generation for the
system and environment is zero.

Applying first and second laws of thermodynamics to the

Carnot refrigeration cycle,

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 Thus the COP of Carnot refrigeration cycle is a
function of evaporator and condenser temperatures
only and is independent of the nature of the working
substance.
 The Carnot COP sets an upper limit for refrigeration
systems operating between two constant temperature
thermal reservoirs (heat source and sink).
 From Carnot’s theorems, for the same heat source and
sink temperatures, no irreversible cycle can have COP
higher than that of Carnot COP.

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 Practical Difficulties With Carnot
Refrigeration System:
It is difficult to build and operate a Carnot refrigeration system
due to the following practical difficulties:

i. During process 1-2, a mixture consisting of liquid and

vapour have to be compressed isentropically in the
compressor.
 Such a compression is known as wet compression due to the
presence of liquid.
 In practice, wet compression is very difficult especially with
reciprocating compressors.
 This problem is particularly severe in case of high speed
reciprocating compressors, which get damaged due to the
presence of liquid droplets in the vapour.
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 Since reciprocating compressors are most widely used in
refrigeration, traditionally dry compression (compression of
vapour only) is preferred to wet compression.

ii. During process 3-4, the second practical difficulty

with Carnot cycle is that using a turbine and extracting
work from the system during the isentropic expansion of
liquid refrigerant is not economically feasible, particularly
in case of small capacity systems.
 This is due to the fact that the specific work output (per
kilogram of refrigerant) from the turbine is given by:

96
 Since the specific volume of liquid is much smaller compared
to the specific volume of a vapour/gas, the work output from
the turbine in case of the liquid will be small.
 In addition, if one considers the inefficiencies of the turbine,
then the net output will be further reduced.
 As a result using a turbine for extracting the work from the
high pressure liquid is not economically justified in most of
the cases.
 One way of achieving dry compression in Carnot
refrigeration cycle is to have two compressors – one
isentropic and one isothermal as shown in Fig.10.4.

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 As shown in Fig.10.4, the Carnot refrigeration system with dry
compression consists of one isentropic compression process (1-
2) from evaporator pressure Pe to an intermediate pressure Pi
and temperature Tc, followed by an isothermal compression
process (2-3) from the intermediate pressure Pi to the
condenser pressure Pc.
 Though with this modification the problem of wet compression
can be avoided, still this modified system is not practical due to
the difficulty in achieving true isothermal compression using
high speed compressors.
 In addition, use of two compressors in place of one is not
economically justified.

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 From the above discussion, it is clear that from practical
considerations, the Carnot refrigeration system need to be
modified.
 Dry compression with a single compressor is possible if the
isothermal heat rejection process is replaced by isobaric heat
rejection process.
 Similarly, the isentropic expansion process can be replaced by
an isenthalpic throttling process.
 A refrigeration system, which incorporates these two changes is
known as Evans-Perkins or reverse Rankine cycle.
 This is the theoretical cycle on which the actual vapour
compression refrigeration systems are based.

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1.4.5 The Rankine Cycle and The Ideal(Standard)
Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Cycle
I) The Rankine Cycle
The Rankine cycle is the ideal cycle for vapor power cycles. Many of the
impracticalities associated with the Carnot cycle can be eliminated by
superheating the steam in the boiler and condensing it completely in the
condenser, as shown in the figure below.
The ideal Rankine cycle consists of four processes: isentropic compression in
pump (1-2), constant pressure heat addition in a boiler (2-3), isentropic
expansion in a turbine (3-4), and constant pressure heat rejection in a
condenser (4-1).

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 II)The Ideal(Standard) Vapor-Compression
Refrigeration Cycle(VCRS)
• It is also called Reversed Rankine Cycle.
• Many of the impracticalities associated with the reversed Carnot cycles can
be eliminated by vaporizing the refrigerant completely before it is
compressed and by replacing the turbine with a throttling device, such as an
expansion valve or capillary tube. The cycle so obtained is called the ideal
vapor-compression cycle, and it is shown in the figure. The vapor-
compression cycle is a modified reversed Rankine cycle.
• The vapor-compression refrigeration cycle is the most widely used cycle for
refrigerators, heat pumps, air-conditioning systems. It consists of four
processes:
• Process (1-2), Isentropic compression of saturated vapour in
compressor
• Process (2-3), Isobaric heat rejection in condenser
• Process (3-4), Isenthalpic expansion of saturated liquid in
expansion device
• Process (4-1), Isobaric heat extraction in the evaporator
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 By comparing with Carnot Refrigeration Cycle, it can be seen
that the standard vapour compression refrigeration cycle
introduces two irreversibilities:
 1) Irreversibility due to non-isothermal heat rejection (process
2-3) and
 2) Irreversibility due to isenthalpic throttling (process 3- 4).
 As a result, one would expect the theoretical COP of standard
cycle to be smaller than that of a Carnot system for the same
heat source and sink temperatures.
 Due to these irreversibilities, the cooling effect reduces and
work input increases, thus reducing the system COP.
 This can be explained easily with the help of the cycle diagrams
on T s charts.
 Figure 10.6(a) shows comparison between Carnot and standard
VCRS in terms of refrigeration effect.
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 The heat extraction (evaporation) process is reversible for
both the Carnot cycle and VCRS cycle. Hence the
refrigeration effect is given by:
For Carnot refrigeration cycle (1-2’’-3-4’):

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 For VCRS cycle (1-2-3-4):

 Thus there is a reduction in refrigeration effect when

the isentropic expansion process of Carnot cycle is
replaced by isenthalpic throttling process of VCRS
cycle, this reduction is equal to the area d-4-4’-c-d
(area A2) and is known as throttling loss.
 The throttling loss is equal to the enthalpy difference
between state points 3 and 4’, i.e,

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 It is easy to show that the loss in refrigeration effect increases
as the evaporator temperature decreases and/or condenser
temperature increases. A practical consequence of this is a
requirement of higher refrigerant mass flow rate. The heat
rejection in case of VCRS cycle also increases when compared
to Carnot cycle.


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 As shown in Fig.10.6(b), the heat rejection in case of Carnot
cycle (1-2’’-3-4’) is given by:

 Hence the increase in heat rejection rate of VCRS compared to

Carnot cycle is equal to the area 2’’-2-2’ (area A1). This region is
known as superheat horn, and is due to the replacement of
isothermal heat rejection process of Carnot cycle by isobaric
heat rejection in case of VCRS.

 Since the heat rejection increases and refrigeration effect

reduces when the Carnot cycle is modified to standard VCRS
cycle, the net work input to the VCRS increases compared to
Carnot cycle. The net work input in case of Carnot and VCRS
cycles are given by:
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As shown in Fig.10.6(c), the increase in net work input in VCRS
cycle is given by:

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 To summarize the refrigeration effect and net work input of
VCRS cycle are given by:

 The COP of VCRS cycle is given by:

 If we define the cycle efficiency, ηR as the ratio of COP of VCRS

cycle to the COP of Carnot cycle, then:

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 The Ideal(Standard) Vapor-Compression
Refrigeration Cycle…
Another diagram frequently used in the analysis of vapor-compression
refrigeration cycles is the p-h diagram shown in the figure.

All four components of associated with the vapor-

compression refrigeration cycle are steady-flow
devices, and all four processes that make up the
Cycle can be analyzed as steady-flow processes.
The kinetic and potential energy changes of the
refrigerant are usually small relative to the work and
heat transfer terms, and hence can be neglected.
H = U + pV
The stead-flow equation on a unit-mass basis is given by,

The condenser and the evaporator do not involve any work, and the
compressor can be assumed as adiabatic. Then COP can be expressed as,

112
 1.4.6 The Actual Vapor-Compression
Refrigeration Cycle
• An actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle differs from the
ideal one in several ways, owing mostly to the irreversibilities
that occur in various components.
• Two common sources of irreversibilities are fluid friction
(causes pressure drops) and heat transfer to or from the
surroundings.
• The T-s diagram of an actual vapor-compression refrigeration
cycle is shown in Fig. 11–7.
• In the ideal cycle, the refrigerant leaves the evaporator and
enters the compressor as saturated vapor.
• In practice, however, it may not be possible to control the state
of the refrigerant so precisely. Instead, it is easier to design the
system so that the refrigerant is slightly superheated at the
compressor inlet. 113
 This slight overdesign ensures that the refrigerant is completely
vaporized when it enters the compressor.
 Also, the line connecting the evaporator to the compressor is
usually very long; thus the pressure drop caused by fluid
friction and heat transfer from the surroundings to the
refrigerant can be very significant.
 The result of superheating, heat gain in the connecting line,
and pressure drops in the evaporator and the connecting line is
an increase in the specific volume, thus an increase in the
power input requirements to the compressor since steady-flow
work is proportional to the specific volume.
 The compression process in the ideal cycle is internally
reversible and adiabatic, and thus isentropic. The actual
compression process, however, involves frictional effects, which
increase the entropy, and heat transfer, which may increase or
decrease the entropy, depending on the direction.
114
 Therefore, the entropy of the refrigerant may increase (process
1-2) or decrease (process 1-2’) during an actual compression
process, depending on which effects dominate.
 The compression process 1-2’ may be even more desirable than
the isentropic compression process since the specific volume of
the refrigerant and thus the work input requirement are smaller
in this case.
 Therefore, the refrigerant should be cooled during the
compression process whenever it is practical and economical to
do so. In the ideal case, the refrigerant is assumed to leave the
condenser as saturated liquid at the compressor exit pressure.
 In reality, however, it is unavoidable to have some pressure drop
in the condenser as well as in the lines connecting the
condenser to the compressor and to the throttling valve.

115
 Also, it is not easy to execute the condensation process with
such precision that the refrigerant is a saturated liquid at the
end, and it is undesirable to route the refrigerant to the
throttling valve before the refrigerant is completely condensed.
 Therefore, the refrigerant is subcooled somewhat before
it enters the throttling valve. We do not mind this at all,
however, since the refrigerant in this case enters the evaporator
with a lower enthalpy and thus can absorb more heat from the
refrigerated space.
 The throttling valve and the evaporator are usually located very
close to each other, so the pressure drop in the connecting line
is small.

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1.4.7 Analysis of Standard Vapour
Compression Refrigeration System
 A simple analysis of standard vapour compression refrigeration
system can be carried out by assuming a) Steady flow; b)
negligible kinetic and potential energy changes across each
component, and c) no heat transfer in connecting pipe lines.
The steady flow energy equation is applied to each of the four
components.


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