Engineering and Technology college Mechanical Engineering Department

Lecture 1 Basic concepts in Refrigeration

By: Addisu Dagne

Introduction to Refrigeration
Definition: 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. The purpose of refrigerator is to transfer heat from a cold chamber which is at a temperature lower than that of its surroundings. The natural flow of heat from the surroundings back to the cold chamber can be resisted by insulating the chamber from the surroundings.
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Introduction to Refrigeration
The refrigeration

system (R) transfers heat from a cooler low-energy reservoir to a warmer highenergy reservoir (see figure 1).

Introduction to Refrigeration
Q: Which of the following can be called as a refrigeration process? a) Cooling of hot ingot from 1000oC to room temperature b) Cooling of a pot of water by mixing it with a large block of ice c) Cooling of human beings using a ceiling fan d) Cooling of a hot cup of coffee by leaving it on a table e) Cooling of hot water by mixing it with tap water f) Cooling of water by creating vacuum over it

Applications of Refrigeration
Modem refrigeration has many applications. The

first, and probably, still the most important is the preservation of food. Most foods kept at room temperature spoil rapidly. This is due to the rapid growth of bacteria. At common refrigeration temperatures of about 40oF (4oC). Bacteria grow quite slowly. Food at this temperature will keep much longer. Refrigeration preserves food by keeping it cold. Other important uses of refrigeration include air conditioning, beverage cooling, and humidity control. Many manufacturing processes also use refrigeration.

Refrigerators and Heat pumps

Naturally heat flows in the direction of decreasing

temperature, that is, from high-temperature regions to low-temperature ones. This heattransfer process occurs in nature without requiring any devices. The reverse process, however, cannot occur by itself. The transfer of heat from a low-temperature region to a high-temperature one requires special devices called refrigerators. Refrigerators are cyclic devices, and the working fluids used in the refrigeration cycles are called refrigerants
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Refrigerators and Heat pumps

A refrigerator is shown

schematically in Fig. QL is the magnitude of the heat removed from the refrigerated space at temperature TL , QH is the magnitude of the heat rejected to the warm space at temperature TH , and Wnet,in is the net work input to the refrigerator. QL and QH represent magnitudes and thus are positive quantities.

Refrigerators and Heat pumps

Another device that transfers heat from a low-temperature

medium to a high-temperature one is the 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. Discharging this heat to a higher-temperature medium is merely a necessary part of the operation, not the purpose. The objective of a heat pump, however, is to maintain a heated space at a high temperature. This is accomplished by absorbing heat from a low-temperature source, such as well water or cold outside air in winter, and supplying this heat to a warmer medium such as a house

Refrigerator and Heat Pump

There is no difference in

operation between a refrigerator and a heat pump. With the refrigerator the important quantity is the energy removed from cold chamber called the refrigerating effect, and With the heat pump it is the energy to be rejected by the refrigerant for heating purposes. The machine can be used for both purposes
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Refrigerator and Heat Pump

The performance of refrigerators and heat pumps

is expressed in terms of the coefficient of performance (COP), defined as

Notice that both COPR and COPHP can be

greater than 1. COPHP = COPR + 1 for fixed values of QL and QH. This relation implies that COPHP > 1 since COPR is a positive quantity.
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Introduction to Refrigeration
NEED FOR THERMAL INSULATION Heat will always migrate from a region of high temperature to a region of lower temperature, there is always a continuous flow of heat into the refrigerated region from the warmer surrounding. To limit the flow of heat into the refrigerated region to some practical minimum, it is usually necessary to isolate the region from its surroundings with a good heat-insulating material. THE REFRIGERATION LOAD The rate at which heat must be removed from the refrigerated space or material in order to produce and maintain the desired temperature conditions is called the refrigeration load, the cooling load, or the heat load.

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Introduction to Refrigeration
Sources of Cooling Load: a) The heat transmitted by conduction through the insulated walls. b) The heat that must be removed from the warm air that enters the space through opening and closing doors. c) The heat that must be removed from the refrigerated product to reduce the temperature of the product to the storage temperature; d) The heat given off by people working in the space and by motors, lights and other heatproducing equipment operating in the space.
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The cooling capacity of a refrigeration system

The cooling capacity of a refrigeration systemthat is, the

rate of heat removal from the refrigerated spaceis often expressed in terms of tons of refrigeration. One ton of refrigeration is defined as the quantity of heat removed to freeze one ton of water into ice at 0oC in 24 hours. One ton of refrigeration is equivalent to 211 kJ/min (3.5 KW)

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Refrigerant
It is substance, which is used as a working fluid in

refrigerators. The refrigerant has low boiling point, which means that it vaporizes at low temperature and takes away the heat from a substance. Properties of good refrigerant:

Have low freezing and boiling point Have high COP Be non toxic and non corrosive to metal Be non explosive Easily be liquefied

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Types of Refrigeration systems

The most widely used types of refrigeration

systems are
o Vapour compression Refrigeration system and o Vapor absorption Refrigeration system

The vapor compression refrigeration system is

the mainstay of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. Vapour Absorption refrigeration provides an alternative to the vapor compression approach, particularly in applications where a heat source is economical and readily available.
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Vapor Compression Refrigeration system:

This type of refrigeration system is the most commonly

used system in domestic refrigerators. In VCRS the vapor alternatively undergoes a change of phase from vapor to liquid and vice versa during a cycle. Vapor compression refrigeration system has the following components at its basic parts. 1. Compressor: The function of the compressor is to compress the input refrigerant of low pressure and low temperature. As a result the pressure and the temperature of the refrigerant increases. Generally reciprocating compressors are used in a refrigeration system. An external motor is used to drive the compressor.
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Vapor Compression Refrigeration system:

Condenser: The condenser is a coil of tubes, which are made of copper. This is used to condense the refrigerant which is in the form of vapor and convert into liquid. 3. Expansion Valve: this is otherwise called throttle valve. This valve is used to control the flow rate of refrigerant and also to reduce the pressure of the refrigerant.
2.
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Vapor Compression Refrigeration system:

4.

Evaporator: This is the part in which the cooling takes place. This is kept in the space where cooling is required. It is a coil of tubes made up of copper.

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Vapor Compression Refrigeration system:

Working Principle: The refrigerant, which is at low pressure and low temperature flows into the compressor. In the compressor the refrigerant is compressed and converted into a high pressure and high temperature refrigerant. This high pressure and high temperature refrigerant in vapor form then passes through the condenser where it is condensed into high pressure liquid refrigerant. The high pressure liquid refrigerant thus produced passes through the expansion valve. In the expansion valve the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant drops and it partly evaporates. It is the allowed to flow into the evaporator at a controlled rate. In the evaporator, the partly liquid and vapor refrigerant is mostly evaporated and converted into a low pressure vapor. During this process, the refrigerant absorbs its latent

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Vapor Compression Refrigeration system:

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Vapor Absorption Refrigeration system:

As the name implies, absorption refrigeration

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systems involve the absorption of a refrigerant by a transport medium. The most widely used absorption refrigeration system is the ammoniawater system, where ammonia (NH3) serves as the refrigerant and water (H2O) as the transport medium. Other absorption refrigeration systems include waterlithium bromide and waterlithium chloride systems, where water serves as the refrigerant. The latter two systems are limited to applications such as air-conditioning where the minimum temperature is above the freezing point of water.

Vapor Absorption Refrigeration system:

The vapour absorption refrigeration system looks

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very much like the vapor-compression system, except that the compressor has been replaced by a complex absorption mechanism consisting of an absorber, a pump, a generator, a and a rectifier. Once the pressure of NH3 is raised by the components in the box (this is the only thing they are set up to do), it is cooled and condensed in the condenser by rejecting heat to the surroundings, is throttled to the evaporator pressure, and absorbs heat from the refrigerated space as it flows through the evaporator. So,

Vapor Absorption Refrigeration system:

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Vapor Absorption Refrigeration system:

Ammonia vapor leaves the evaporator and enters the

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absorber, where it dissolves and reacts with water to form NH3 H2O. This is an exothermic reaction; thus heat is released during this process. The amount of NH3 that can be dissolved in H2O is inversely proportional to the temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to cool the absorber to maintain its temperature as low as possible, hence to maximize the amount of NH3 dissolved in water. The liquid NH3 + H2O solution, which is rich in NH3, is then pumped to the generator. Heat is transferred to the solution from a source to vaporize some of the solution. The vapor, which is rich in NH3, passes through a rectifier, which separates the water and returns it to the generator. The high-pressure pure NH3 vapor then continues its journey through the rest of the cycle. The hot NH3 + H2O solution, which is weak in NH3 , then passes through a regenerator, where it transfers some heat to the rich

Vapor Absorption Refrigeration system:

Generator: the generator receives the strong solution of

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aqua-ammonia from the absorber and heats it. Because of this heating, the aqua-ammonia solution gets separated into ammonia vapor at high pressure and hot weak ammonia solution which contains mostly water. Condenser: The condenser converts the high pressure ammonia vapor received from the generator into high pressure ammonia liquid. This condensation is done by means of circulating cool water. Expansion valve: This valve is otherwise called the throttling valve since the expansion, which takes place here, is throttling. While passing through this valve, the liquid ammonia gets expanded and gets converted into low pressure and low temperature ammonia. Evaporator: The evaporator is otherwise known as cold chamber. Here the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the material which is to be cooled and gets evaporated. It has many coils made of copper. Absorber: The absorber receives the low pressure ammonia vapor from the evaporator and the weak

VAR Working Principle

The working fluid in vapor absorption refrigeration

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system is normally ammonia. The ammonia vapor and water are mixed to form a strong solution of aqua-ammonia in the absorber This aqua-ammonia solution is then pumped into the generator. In the generator, this solution is heated. Because of heating, ammonia gets evaporated at high pressure and leaves behind the weak ammonia solution, which mostly contains water. The high pressure ammonia vapor produced by the generator is condensed in the condenser and it becomes ammonia liquid, which is at high pressure. This high pressure liquid ammonia is allowed to pass through the expansion valve or throttling valve where it expands and becomes a low pressure and low

VAR Working Principle

Ammonia at low pressure and low temperature

then passes through the evaporator where it absorbs the heat from the material which is to be cooled and gets evaporated. The evaporator is where the real cooling takes place. Because of the heat absorbed by ammonia, it gets evaporated and becomes low pressure ammonia vapor. The low pressure ammonia vapor is then sent into the absorber and the cycle is repeated.

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