Refrigeration & Air-

Conditioning

Presented by
Group - II
Group Members

 Akhil Choudhary – 15UME006

 Akshat Agnihotry – 15UME007
 Ankit Sharma – 15UME008
 Anubhav Dubey – 15UME009
 Bibek Kumar Jha – 15UME010
Outline

 Refrigeration
 Solar Refrigeration
 Cooling Methods
 Sorption Technology
 Defrosting – Introduction
 Frost Formation
 Methods of Defrosting
 Conclusion
 References
What is Refrigeration ?
 “It is the science of providing and maintaining temperatures below that of
surroundings atmosphere.”
 This is mostly accomplished by Vapour compression and absorption system.
 The performance of a refrigeration system is indicated by its COP
(Coefficient of Performance).
Schematic representation of a Vapour compression cycle
Need of some Renewable Source

 Increase in demand for energy due to

 Economy
 Population
 Pollution
 Per Capita Energy Consumption
 Thus, Solar Energy has been proposed as a solution by many researchers in
the late 20th century.
 Also, harnessing the solar energy is major concern. India is founder member
of ISA (International Solar Alliance).
Solar Energy

 It is the result of electromagnetic radiation released from the sun by the

thermonuclear reactions occurring inside its core.
 Light radiation are visible, infrared and ultraviolet.
 The sun actually transmits a vast amount of solar
energy to the surface of the earth.
 The term “solar constant (Sc)” signifies the radiation influx of solar energy.
 Choudhury et al. calculated a mean solar constant value equal to 1368
W/m2.
 As per IMD, Annual average direct normal irradiance of Jaipur is 5.56
kWh/m2/day
Solar Refrigeration System

 It is operated using electricity directly produced from solar radiation using

photovoltaic cell or using radiant heat from the sun collected by the
different types of solar collectors.
 It is expected that this type of refrigeration system will be used more and
more with the decrease of conventional energy sources and the increase
of environmental pollution in future.
 It can be used in freezers, refrigerators, building air conditioning systems,
food preservation, maintaining and storing crops, ice-making, cooler etc.
Advantages of Solar Refrigeration

 Electrical power is saved and causes less pollution.

 It is a clean source of energy unlike fossil fuels and nuclear power.
 Additional power from the collector can be used for other domestic
purposes.
Solar Cooling Technologies
Cooling Methods

 Cooling can be achieved through two basic methods.

 Solar Mechanical Refrigeration System :- In this type of refrigeration system,
required compressor power to drive the compressor in refrigeration cycle is
provided by a solar Rankine cycle. Sunlight strikes the solar panel which
drives a Rankine cycle and produces work in the turbine.
 PV (Photovoltaic) :– based solar energy system, where solar energy is
converted into electrical energy and used for refrigeration.
 Solar Absorption Refrigeration System :- In this system, low grade energy as
heat from solar panel is used as input for chilling purpose.
Solar Mechanical Refrigeration Cycle

Schematic of Solar Mechanical Refrigeration Cycle

Either electricity can be produced first and then used to run the compressor or
the compressor could directly be coupled to the turbine.
Solar Photovoltaic Cooling Systems
 PV Cell – A solid-state semiconductor device that converts light energy into
electrical energy.
 Output of a PV cell – Direct current (DC) while most domestic and industrial
electrical appliances use Alternating Current (AC).
Components

 The PV modules :- The PV cells produce electricity by converting light

energy (from the sun) into DC electrical energy
 The battery :- It is used for storing DC voltages at a charging mode when
sunlight is available. A battery charge regulator can be used to protect the
battery from overcharging.
 The inverter :- It converts the DC electrical power into AC and then delivers
the electrical energy to the AC loads.
 The AC unit :- The vapor compression AC unit is actually a conventional
cooling or refrigeration system that is run by the power received from the
inverter
Solar Thermal cooling systems

 It is preferred to PV-based cooling systems because it can utilize more

incident sunlight than a PV system.
 Most of the total solar energy converts into heat, and a very small portion
produces electricity in a PV system, with 65% of the incident rays converted
into heat energy.
 A thermal solar collector directly converts light into heat.
 Otanicar et al. described a thermal system that is capable of absorbing
more than 95% of incident solar radiation, depending on the medium.
Sorption Technology

 It is utilized in thermal refrigeration techniques; the cooling effect is

obtained from the chemical or physical changes between the sorbent and
the refrigerant.
 It can be classified as :-
 Open sorption systems
 Closed sorption systems
 Absorption Refrigeration
 Adsorption Refrigeration
Absorption Refrigeration

 Absorption is the process in which a substance assimilates from

one state into a different state.
 The increase of heat in a solution can reverse the process.
 The first evolution of an absorption system began in the 1700s. It was
observed that in the presence of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid), ice can be made
by evaporating pure H2O (water) within an evacuated container.
 In 1810, it was found that ice could be produced from water in a
couple of vessels connected together in the presence of sulfuric
acid.
Important Criteria for Working Pairs

 The pair of working fluids plays a crucial role in absorption

cooling system. The COP of an absorption system depends on both
the physical and chemical properties of the system.
 The working pair should be pollution-free, non-corrosive and
cost-effective.
 The boiling points between the mixture and pure refrigerant
should have a large differential under a constant pressure.
 To maintain the low circulation rate of the refrigerant, it should
have a high concentration and latent heat within the absorbent.
 The thermal conductivity, viscosity and diffusion coefficient
should be favorable.
 Volatility should be low.
 Solution should be chemically stable, non-toxic and non-explosive.
Types of Solar Absorption Cycle

 Single Effect :- A solar FPC or an ETC with hot water is used to implement these
systems with LiBr/water pair.
 Half Effect :- The primary feature of the half-effect absorption cycle is the
running capability at lower temperatures compared to others.
The name “half-effect” arises from the COP, which is almost half
that of the single-effect cycle.
 Double-effect:- Two single-effect systems effectively form a double-effect
absorption cooling system; therefore, the COP of a double-effect system is
almost twice that of the single-effect absorption system. In the past few years,
the COP of double-effect absorption systems has reached values of 1.1–1.2 by
using gas-fired absorption technology.
The cycle starts at the absorber. The absorber receives the
vapor-refrigerant from the refrigerator and creates a rich-mixture.
The pump forwards this mixture to the generator or the high
pressure zone (desorber). In the generator, the refrigerant is then
separated from the absorbent by the heat provided by the solar
collector. Using a pressure-relief valve, the weak-solution then
returns to the absorber. A SHX (solution heat-exchanger) is in
place to recover the internal heat.
The cycle begins with generator-I providing heat to generator II. The
condenser rejects the heat and passes the working fluid
towards the evaporator; within this step, the required refrigeration
occurs. Then, the fluids pass through the heat-exchangers (HX-I
and HX-II) from the absorber to generator-I by means of a pump.
Through this process, HX-II can pass the fluids to generator-II and
then generator-II passes to HX-I. The complete cycle follows three
different pressure levels: high, medium and low
Solar Adsorption Cooling Technologies
 Faraday first introduced vapor adsorption technology in 1848,
using a solid adsorbent. Adsorption cycles were first used in
refrigeration and heat pumps in the early 1990s.
 The disadvantages of liquid–vapor systems were overcome by using solid–vapor
cycles; this technology was first marketed in the 1920s.
 Adsorption refrigeration technology has been used for many
specific applications, such as purification, separation and thermal
refrigeration technologies.
 Difference :- The adsorption process differs from the absorption process in the following
ways:-
 Absorption is volumetric phenomenon, whereas adsorption is a surface phenomenon.
 It has zero ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential).
 Advantages of Solar Adsorption
Cooling over Absorption Cooling
 Adsorption technology can system. For example, to design an
accommodate high temperature absorption system with a
heat sources without corrosion, H2O/NH3 working pair, extra
whereas corrosion equipment (dephlegmate) is
occurs above 200 C in absorption required because the boiling points
technology. of water and ammonia
are very close.
 Adsorption technology is better
equipped to handle vibration
issues in a cooling system than
absorption technology.
 An adsorption system is simpler to
design than an absorption
Research Studies Conducted
 Solar energy can easily be used in the adsorption cooling systems. The
performance of the solar adsorption cooling systems was reported by several
researchers.
 The activated carbon/ammonia pair has the same adsorption heat, it is more
preferable than the activated carbon/methanol pair because it has larger
working pressure (16 bar).
 Tchernev, Pons, Guilleminot, and Grenier et al. reported the COP values of 0.10–
0.12 with the solar powered adsorption systems using zeolite/water, and Critoph
reported the COP value of 0.05 using activated-carbon/ammonia.
 Wang et al. developed a prototype of solar adsorption cooling system with
activated-carbon/water. They concluded that the prototype system with a 2
m2 solar collector was capable to making 60 kg of hot-water at 90 ◦C and
producing 10 kg ice per day. Henning and Glaser conceived a pilot adsorption
cooling system, in which the solar heat produced by vacuum tube collectors
with a surface area of 170 m2 was utilized to power the system using silica
gel/water. The reported COP varied between 0.2 and 0.3.
 Luo et al. used a solar adsorption cooling system for low temperature grain
storage with silica gel/water. They reported a COP value ranging from 0.096 to
0.13. Sumathy et al. provided literature reviews of the solar adsorption cooling
technologies using various adsorption pairs and their performances.
Adsorbents and working pairs
 In an adsorption refrigeration technique, the working pair plays
a vital role for optimal performance of the system. The best
performance is achieved if the adsorbent demonstrates the following
characteristics:
a. A large adsorption ability.
b. The ability to change capacity with the variation of temperature.
c. A flatter isotherm.
d. Excellent compatibility with the refrigerant.
 Examples of Working Pairs:-
(i) silica gel/water,
(ii) activated-carbon/methanol,
(iii) activated-carbon/ammonia,
(iv) zeolite/water,
(v) activated carbon granular and fiber adsorbent,
Categorization of Working Pairs

 Solar physisorption cooling systems

In physisorption technology, the adsorbate molecules form a van
der Waals interaction with surface molecules within a vacuum and
clean environment instead of forming a chemical bond. Therefore,
the adsorption pair remains unchanged in terms of their chemical
compositions.
 Solar chemisorption cooling systems
Chemisorption is a process in which the adsorbate and the
adsorbent atoms form a complex compound by sharing their
electrons in a chemical reaction process. A valence force is created
that is stronger than the van der Waals interaction described in
the physisorption process.
Properties of Working Pairs
Typical COP values for Working Pairs
Methods of defrosting
Introduction

 Frost formation is a common and detrimental phenomenon in

refrigeration, air conditioning and other cryogenic fields.
 When the surface temperature is below both water freezing temperature and air
dew point temperature, the frost will start to form. In other words, the frost starts to
form when the contact happens between the cold surface of the heat
exchanger (HX) and the near water vapor in the air due to the temperature
difference.
 Normally the frost growth rate is comparatively slow when
RH is less than 40%. But when RH is high with high-temperature
difference amid the cold surface and the surrounding air, the growth rate will
appreciably increase.
 Frost formation easily to occurs on the cold surface of fin-tube evaporator when
the environment temperature is between –
15.0 °C and 6.0 °C and RH > 60%, and the heating capacity can decrease by 30–
57%
Problem associated with frosting
 Frost layer can block fin gaps, causing air flow and heat transfer to
decrease.
 This eventually decreases the operating efficiency of refrigeration
equipments.
 Besides, frost formation will lead to considerable energy consumption. On
the one hand, the electricity consumption of refrigeration equipments
increases when running with frosting; on the other hand, defrosting will
consume a lot of energy to melt frost layer and evaporate frost melting
water.
Frost formation

 Understanding the process and mechanism of frost layer growth on

a cold surface is the prerequisite to explore effective anti-frosting
technology.
 According to the growth characteristics of frost layer, frosting process can
be divided into
1. frost nucleation period,
2. frost layer growth period and
3. frost layer fully growth period.
 Frosting process generally begins with formation and freeze of condensate droplets.
 Then frost crystals formed on the surfaces of freezing droplets, which finally developed into
macroscopic frost layer,
as shown in Fig. 1.
 The frosting process can be described as follows:
 The water vapor in local air firstly forms condensate
nucleus on the cold surface (i) and the nucleus grow to condensate
droplets (ii-iii). As the temperature of the condensate droplet decreases, it gradually
freezes. Then, frost crystals grow on its surface (iv-viii). Frost crystals continue to grow,
and gradually form frost layer (ix).
 The frost layer growth continues until the supercooling degree of the
frost layer surface approach zero.
 Then, the frost layer stops growing in thickness and the diffusion of water
vapor into the porous medium leads to the increase of frost layer density.
 In conclusion, the frost formation is a phase change process of water
vapor in air by means of cold surface.
Parameters affecting frost layer growth

 air velocity,
 air temperature and humidity ratio,
 surface temperature and
 surface characteristics.
Methods of defrosting
 According to the influence parameters on frost formation, researchers have
put forward various anti-frosting techniques, including air dehumidification
by solid/liquid desiccant, external electric/magnetic field, ultrasonic
vibration, surface treatment, etc.
 In particular, with the development of various new materials in recent
years, the study of surface treatment on restraining frost formation has
become a hot topic focused on by researchers worldwide.
1. Dehumidification of heat exchanger inlet air by solid/
liquid desiccant

 Humidity ratio of local air is one of the most important parameters affecting frost
formation, and frost mass increases greatly with the increase in humidity ratio.

 Experimental study showed that the frost mass of a fin-tube heat exchanger
increased from 170 g to 270 g when the humidity ratio of the inlet air increased
from 60% to 80%.

 Solid desiccant significantly reduced the frost growth rate of evaporator but only
for a limited time, if desiccant regeneration system is not used.

 In order to dehumidify the inlet air continuously, methods for desiccant

regeneration must be developed.
2. External electric and magnetic fields
 Since water molecule has strong polarity and frost formation is a
water molecule transfer process, electric field should have strong
influence on frost formation.
 It was observed that the form of the frost crystal was whisker-like with a rapid growth in the
presence of high electric field.
 Experiments demonstrated that applied electric field decreased the saturation pressure at
the frost crystal surface, which then increased the driving force of sublimation.
 The water molecules would be attracted in the direction of applied electric field since the
electric field polarized the water molecules. So the frost crystal are long and thin, as
shown, which were easy to break under the action of self-weight .
3. Applied ultrasonic vibration

 Ultrasonic technology has been used in the field of heating,

ventilation and air conditioning system to improve the performances
of HVAC equipments.

 Adachi et al. observed the frosting process on the surface of an aluminum plate (20 mm ×
92.6 mm) vibrating by ultrasonic with frequency of 37 kHz in environment with 2 °C and RH
= 100%.

 The experimental result showed that the ultrasonic vibration with amplitude of 3.1 µm
decreased the frost accumulation by 60%.
• Ultrasonic vibration shows good anti-frosting
performance on single flat plates.

• However, it is difficult to use in large or

medium sized heat exchanger. With the
size of the heat exchanger increases, the
size and rating power of corresponding
ultrasonic equipment also increases, which
results in large equipment investment and
energy consumption.
4. Surface characteristics modification by surface treatment

 Surface treatment is a method which modifies the fin surface

characteristics of heat exchanger to achieve the purpose of frost
suppression.

 There are various methods and techniques to modify

the surface characteristics. Surface geometrical morphology and chemical
properties of prepared materials are different depending on
preparation methods.

 Thus, macroscopical surface characteristics,

including wettability, adhesion and surface energy, should be described
by some parameters. The parameters, surface contact angle θ and
contact angle hysteresis Δθ, are usually used to describe the surface
characteristics. According to the surface contact angle, the solid surface
is divided into hydrophilic, hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces.
 As shown in figure, the contact angle of hydrophilic surface is
smaller than 90°, while the contact angle of superhydrophobic surface is bigger than 150°.
 The contact angle characterizes the wetting property of fin surface, and big contact
angle means weak surface wettability. The phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis
happens on inclined or vertical surface.
 The phenomenon of contact angle hysteresis happens on
inclined or vertical surface. Fig. shows the contact angle
hysteresis of a water droplet on inclined or vertical surface, in which
the bigger angle is called advancing angle θa and the smaller angle is
called receding angle θr.
• The difference value between the two
angles is contact angle hysteresis Δθ.

• The contact angle hysteresis is the

measurement of surface adhesion, and
small contact angle hysteresis means
weak surface adhesion.

• In addition, surface with big contact angle

and small contact angle hysteresis also
means low surface energy.
4.1. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface for anti-frosting
 Hydrophilic surface was earlier used for anti-frosting than hydrophobic surface. Highgate
et al. revealed two anomalous effects of hydrophilic polymeric materials on water
freezing. The hydrophilic materials inhibited the normal freezing process, by both
interfering with the ice crystal formation and immobilizing part of the water molecules.

 Liu et al. developed a new kind of hydrophilic paint and tested its anti-frosting
performance. By coating the hydrophilic paint on a cold copper surface, the frost
formation was delayed at least 15 min and the frost thickness was reduced by more than
40% with that on the uncoated copper surface.

 In summary, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces all exhibit anti-frosting capacity
compared with bare surface, but there are yet some disadvantages during the
frosting/defrosting process.

 There is considerable water retention on the hydrophilic surface after frost melting due to
the strong surface wettability and adhesive force. It will take considerable time and
energy to evaporate the retained water.
 If the retained water is not evaporated completely, it will freeze into ice layer in the next
frost period.

 Therefore, the frost melting water retention has an adverse influence on both frosting and
defrosting. For hydrophobic and general superhydrophobic surfaces with microstructures,
the hydrophobicity will be changed by water vapor at the early stage of frosting process.

 Since some condensation nucleus form and grow in the gaps of microstructures,
the final condensate droplet will wet the micro-structured surface, which produces a
wetting Wenzel state.

 He et al. found that the contact angle of a superhydrophobic surface changed from
153.5° to 72° because of the condensate wetting.

 The method to deal with this problem is to make the final droplet spontaneously transform
from Wenzel state into Cassie state, as shown in Fig.
Conclusion

 When the surface temperature is below both the dew point of air and
freezing point of water, frost formation will happen on the fin-tube
evaporator surface in refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

 Frost layer heavily impacts on the operating efficiency of equipments, and leads to
considerable energy consumption for defrosting. To ensure the efficient operation of the
equipments and reduce the energy consumption caused by frosting, it is significant to
develop effective anti-frosting technology.
References – Solar Refrigeration
[1] Refrigeration and Air Condition – CP Arora
[2] Review of solar thermal air conditioning technologies A Al-Alili, Y Hwang, R
Radermacher International journal of refrigeration 39, 4-22
[3] A review of solar thermal refrigeration and cooling methods KR Ullah, R
Saidur, HW Ping, RK Akikur, NH Shuvo Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews 24, 499-513
[4] Review of solar refrigeration and cooling systems I. Sarbu, C. Sebarchievici
Energy and Buildings 67(12):297-308
[5] Vapor compression refrigeration cycle for electronics cooling–Part I:
Dynamic modeling and experimental validationJ Catano, T Zhang, JT Wen, MK
Jensen, Y Peles International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 66, 911-921
[6] Solar powered combined ejector-vapour compression cycle for air
conditioning and refrigeration DW Sun Energy Conversion and Management
38 (5), 479-491
References – Method of Defrosting
[1] Research of anti-frosting technology in refrigeration and air conditioning
fields: A review - Feng Wanga, Caihua Liangb, Xiaosong Zhang
[2] Review of defrosting methods - Mohammed Amer, Chi-Chuan Wang
THANK YOU