Chapter-Four

Vapor Compression Refrigeration systems

Standard Vapour compression refrigeration system
Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration System (VCRS)

The standard single stage, saturated vapour compression refrigeration

system consists of the following 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
By comparing with Carnot cycle, it can be seen that the standard vapour
compression refrigeration cycle introduces two irreversibilities:
Irreversibility due to non-isothermal heat rejection (process 2-3) and
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.

Fig. Comparison between Carnot and standard VCRS

Analysis of Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration System (VCRS)

• A simple analysis of standard vapour compression refrigeration system

can be carried out by assuming:
 Steady flow;
 Negligible kinetic and potential energy changes across each component, and
 No heat transfer in connecting pipe lines. The steady flow energy equation is
applied to each of the four components.
Evaporator: Heat transfer rate at evaporator or refrigeration capacity, is
given by:
• Where r is the refrigerant mass flow rate in kg/s, h 1 and h4 are the specific
enthalpies (kJ/kg) at the exit and inlet to the evaporator, respectively
• (h1 − h4 ) is known as specific refrigeration effect or simply refrigeration
effect, which is equal to the heat transferred at the evaporator per
kilogram of refrigerant.
• The evaporator pressure Pe is the saturation pressure corresponding to
evaporator temperature Te, i.e.,

Where h2 and h1 are the specific enthalpies (kJ/kg) at the exit and inlet to
the compressor, respectively.
(h2 − h1 ) is known as specific work of compression or simply work of compression,
which is equal to the work input to the compressor per kilogram of refrigerant.
Condenser: Heat transfer rate at condenser, is given by:

Where h3 and h2 are the specific enthalpies (kJ/kg) at the exit and inlet to the
condenser, respectively.
The condenser pressure Pc is the saturation pressure corresponding to condenser
temperature Tc , i.e.,

Expansion device:

The exit condition of the expansion device lies in the two-phase region, hence applying
the definition of quality (or dryness fraction), we can write:
Where x4 is the quality of refrigerant at point 4, hf,e, hg,e, hfg are the
saturated liquid enthalpy, saturated vapour enthalpy and latent heat of
vaporization at evaporator pressure, respectively.

The COP of the system is given by:

• Where is called as volumetric refrigeration effect ()of refrigerant)
• Use of Pressure-enthalpy (P-h) charts:

Fig. Standard vapour compression refrigeration cycle on a P-h chart

Actual Vapour-Compression Cycle

• An ideal, simple, reversible vapour-compression cycle is not a practical proposition. The

departure from reversibility arises from the irreversible nature of the throttling expansion
process, pressure losses in the evaporator, condenser and pipelines, heat transfer through
finite temperature differences and a measure of irreversibility in the compression process.

Fig. Simple saturation refrigeration cycle on a temperature-entropy diagram

• There is more than enough heat transfer
surface in the condenser to change the
refrigerant from a superheated vapour to a
saturated liquid. In this case the liquid is
sub-cooled to a temperature less than its
saturated temperature for the prevailing
pressure.

• A consequence of this is that any loss of

position head (because the condenser might
be at a lower level than the expansion
valve), or any frictional pressure drop in the
liquid line, is less likely to cause the liquid to Fig. Pressure-enthalpy diagram of a simple, actual,
flash to gas before it reaches the expansion vapour-compression cycle showing superheat at
valve. evaporator outlet and sub-cooling at condenser
outlet.
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 below:
Note: 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.
• 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.
• Thermostatic expansion valve is the most versatile expansion valve and is most
commonly used in refrigeration systems. A thermostatic expansion valve maintains a
constant degree of superheat at the exit of evaporator; hence it is most effective for dry
evaporators in preventing the slugging of the compressors since it does not allow the
liquid refrigerant to enter the compressor.

Fig. Schematic of a Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TEV)