Exergy study of a refrigeration cycle for vapor

compression
Augusto Cuevas Snchez
Sebastin Puentes Garrido
EPC criterion is defined as the ratio of production rate exergy irreversibility full (or loss rate of
availability). This analysis was carried out for a system of vapor compression refrigeration for
different refrigerants where, according to the results, the refrigerant R134a shows a poor
performance in terms of EPC among other refrigerants (R22 and R125). The effects of temperature
and pressure drop in the evaporator and the condenser and the ambient temperature on the
destruction of exergy and EPC for the components of the refrigeration system of a vapor
compression have been investigated in detail for the refrigerant R134a.
Keywords: Exergy, Vapour compression refrigerators, Performance analysis, R134a, Efficiency,
cycle.
Nomenclature

Exergy rate (kW)

h Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)
s Specific entropy (kJ/kgK)

Entropy rate (kW)

in Input
out Outpout
Mass flow rate of the refrigerant
(kg/s)
P Pressure drop (kPa)
T Temperature (C)
Exergy efficiency
Efficiency

Power (kW)

Rate of heat transfer (KW)

comp Compressor
cond Condenser
cs Cooled space
dest Destroyed
e Electrical
evap Evaporator
gen Generated
m Mechanical
valv Valve
0 Dead state
Introduction
A carrier gas refrigerant is not more than a
substance having the ability to transport and
heat exchange with the environment,
releasing heat to high temperature and
absorbing to low temperature. A good coolant
must meet multiple qualities, unfortunately
not all can be satisfied at once.
It becomes apparent that to the extent that
nature of the refrigerant is such that the P - T
condensation approximate those
environment, will need less energy to
compress and to cool it, and with it the
consumption indicator will be smaller
refrigeration unit . In turn, if it coincides its
latent heat difference (relative to atmosphere)
was high enough to transfer heat would
require less amount of refrigerant to execute
the job and thus less compression. Both
qualities are essential in the energy
consumption. In addition to other
characteristic of the chemical nature of the
coolant, which can provide cooling perform
the work more or less efficiency.
[1]
In this study, the principal objective is to
analize the theoretical performance of a
system of refrigeration based on exergetic
performance coefficient (EPC). Bringing will
be possible to find the best exergetic
performance conditions to a minimum loss
rate of availability.
Order to achieve carry out the foregoing will
be made a model based on the mass
balance, energy and exergy. after different
refrigerants (R22, R134A, and R125) were
analyzed to find the best coolant that gives
the highest EPC and finally, for each
refrigerant selected, measured the effects of
important parameters such as condenser
temperature, evaporator temperature,
pressure drop and heat exchange with the
surroundings.
Refrigerant gases information
Be detailed in a brief way the characteristics
of the refrigerants used for this study:
The R-134a (HFC-134a) has been developed
to become one of the substitute CFC and
HCFC refrigerants. R-134a is a substitute
long-term, environmentally safe and harmless
to the ozone layer. It can be used in domestic
and commercial refrigeration and air
conditioning in commercial and industrial.
It belongs to the group of HFCs, having no
chloro are not miscible with mineral oils, base
oil only used ESTER. Evaporates at -26 C
at atmospheric pressure and is the
permanent replacement for R-12. HFCs are
very hygroscopic and absorb a lot of
moisture.
[2]

The R-22 is an HCFC refrigerant at high
pressure works but with a minimum
compressor displacement. R-22 is used
especially in applications domestic,
commercial and industrial applications and
also is used as a means to produce
fluoropolymers and as a blowing agent in
foam applications rigid.
[3]
This refrigerant is HCFC group, was originally
designed for air conditioning but until recently
used to everything. Evaporated at -40.8 C at
atmospheric pressure, is miscible with the
mineral and synthetic oil, but in low
temperatures is recommended to use the oil
separator. Accepts little overheating because
otherwise too increase the discharge
temperature.
Product R 125 is an HFC refrigerant gas,
used as a component of refrigerant blends for
applications to high, medium and low
temperature.
[4]
to differentiate these refrigerants by its type
one considers that CFCs are refrigerants
whose molecules contain chlorine atoms,
fluorine and carbon while HCFC refrigerants
are gases whose molecules contain atoms
hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine and carbon. The
HFC refrigerants are gases whose molecules
hydrogen atoms, fluorine and carbon.
[5]
Development

The principles and thermodynamic analysis
methodologies are well established, mainly
for the case of thermal power
plants.
[6,7,8,9,10,11,12].

An additional difficulty in applying the method
to exergetic cooling cycles lies in the
definition of the reference temperature, data
necessary for calculating the irreversibility.
Some authors [13,10,14,15] take different
references for primary and secondary
coolant, for example for the primary
temperature and water inlet temperature to
the evaporator for the secondary.
As these systems operate interchangeably
with temperatures below and above the
environmental problem arises exergies
obtaining negative at some points, apparently
contradicts thermodynamic principle. Szargut
[16] solves this problem by adding to each of
the system streams exergy most negative
exergy obtained by changing the scale of the
reference drop and converting all exergy
negative currents in positive terms, a
procedure used in the present research.
Thermodynamic analysis for system
The cycle to analyze is the vapor-
compression refrigeration (VCR) and is
defined as a closed system in which the
process of absorption and release of heat is
performed by means of a coolant flowing in a
vapor compression cycle. To perform the
compression work performed by the cooling
system requires power consumption that will
be provided by an electric motor. In its
simplest form, a refrigeration system
comprises five components: Compressor,
Condenser, Evaporator, Expansion Device
and Pipeline.
The cycle operates between a heat source of
temperature Tcs (cooled space temperature)
and a heat sink of temperature T0 (warm
environment). The fluid enters the
compressors at state 1, where the
temperature is elevated by mechanical
compression (state 2). The vapour
condenses at this pressure, and the resultant
heat is dissipated to the environment. The
high pressure liquid (state 3) then passes
through an expansion valve through which
the fluid pressure is lowered. The low
pressure fluid enters the evaporator at state
4, where it evaporates by absorbing heat
from the cooled space and re-enters the
compressor. The whole cycle is repeated.




Fig1 Vapour compression refrigeration
system and its temperature specific
entropy diagram




Table 1 Base case model parameters for
simulation of VCR system

Parameters Unit Value
Mass flowrate of
refrigerant fluid
Kg/s 1
Condenser operating
temperature
K 300
Ambient temperature K 298
Ambient pressure kPa 101.325
Pressure loss in
condenser and
evaporator
kPa 15
Isentropic compressor
efficiency
% 75
Mechanical efficiency % 85
Electrical engine
efficiency
% 90
Evaporator operating
temperature
K 223
Temperature difference
between cooled space
and evaporator
K 10

To find the heat exchange of the condenser
and the evaporator will be used the following
formulates:

(1)

(2)
The electrical power input for the compressor
is given as

Where the compressor isentropic efficiency is
defined as the ratio of an isentropic power
and the actual power

(4)

Coefficient of operation
In the classical performance analysis of
refrigeration systems, the COP is used as a
major performance criterion. The COP gives
information about the necessary electrical
power input in order to produce a certain
amount of cooling load. From the first law of
thermodynamics, the COP is defined as the
ratio of cooling load to the electrical power
input for VCR cycle and given as

(5)
Using equations (1) and (3) into equation (4),
COP becomes:

(6)
To find Exergy flow (or current), we use the
following equation:

(7)
The general exergy balance can be
expressed in rate form as:

(8)
With this be graph the COP of the refrigerant
with respect to the condensation and
evaporation temperatures within a range of
:


(a)

(b)
Fig.2 variation in COP of VCR system for different refrigerants with (a) condenser
temperature and (b) evaporator temperature
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
15 20 25 30 35 40
C
O
P

condensation temperature (C)
Tcond vs COP
R 134a
R 125
R22
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
-65 -60 -55 -50 -45 -40 -35
C
O
P

evaporation temperature (C)
TEva vs COP
R 134a
R 125
R 22
Exergy destruction rate in system
components
The exergy destruction rate in each
component of the VCR system is obtained as
given below

(9)

(10)
Where the thermal exergy rate related with:

cond is zero.

(11)

(12)
Where

is the thermal exergy rate

related with:

and can be defined as:

(13)
Where the total exergy destruction of the
Vapour compression refrigeration system is
obtained as:

(14)

With this be graph the exergy percentage for
each device of the refrigerant with respect to
the condensation and evaporation
temperatures within a range of :



Fig.3 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R134a with
respect to a condenser temperature (a),(b),(c) and (d).


0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
25 35 45 55 65
%

e
x
e
r
g
y


d
e
s

condensation temperature (C)
Tcond vs exe des
ExeDes Val
ExeDes comp
ExeDes cond
ExeDes evap

Fig.4 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R134a with
respect to a evaporator temperature


Fig.5 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R22 with
respect to a condenser temperature
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
-55.00 -45.00 -35.00 -25.00 -15.00 -5.00 5.00
%

e
x
e
r
g
y


d
e
s

Evaporation temperature (C)
Tevap vs exe des
ExeDes Val
ExeDes comp
ExeDes cond
ExeDes evap
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
20 30 40 50 60 70
%

e
x
e
r
g
y


d
e
s

condensation temperature (C
Tcond vs exe des
ExeDes Val
ExeDes comp
ExeDes cond
ExeDes evap

Fig.6 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R22 with
respect to evaporator temperature

Fig.7 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R125 with
respect to a condenser temperature
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
-55.00 -45.00 -35.00 -25.00 -15.00 -5.00 5.00
%

e
x
e
r
g
y


d
e
s

evaporation temperature (C)
Tevap vs exe des
ExeDes Val
ExeDes comp
ExeDes cond
ExeDes evap
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
20 25 30 35 40
%

e
x
e
r
g
y

d
e
s
t
.

condensation temperature (C)
Tcond vs % Exe dest
% exe dest comp
% exe dest valv
% exe dest evap
% exe dest cond

Fig.8 variation in exergy destruction rate of VCR system and its components for R125 with
respect to evaporator temperature


The exergetic efficiency
The exergetic efficiency of the VCR
system is defined as

(15)
Where the exergy input is equal to the
electrical power input for the compressor:

(16)
And the exergy output is the exergy rate of
heat transferred to the evaporator from the
cooled space at temperature Tcs,

(17)
Using equations (16) and (17) in equation
(15), the exergetic efficiency becomes

(18)
With this be graph the exergy efficiency for
each device of the refrigerant with respect to
the condensation and evaporation
temperatures within a range of :


0
10
20
30
40
50
60
-62 -60 -58 -56 -54 -52 -50 -48 -46 -44 -42 -40
%

e
x
e
r
g
y

d
e
s
t


evaporation temperature (C)
Tevap vs % Exe dest
% exe dest comp
% exe des cond
% exe des valv
% exe dest evap

(a)

(b)

Fig.9 variation in exergetic efficiency of VCR system for different refrigerants with respect to
(a) condenser temperature and (b) evaporation temperature


0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
15 20 25 30 35 40
e
x
e
r
g
e
t
i
c

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

condensation temperature (C)
Tcond vs exergetic efficiency
R 134a
R 125
R22
0.23
0.24
0.25
0.26
0.27
0.28
0.29
0.3
0.31
0.32
0.33
0.34
-65 -60 -55 -50 -45 -40 -35
e
x
e
r
g
e
t
i
c

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

evaporation temperature (C)
TEva vs exergetic efficiency
R 134a
R 125
R 22
Exergetic performance coefficient
The EPC objective function for a VCR system
is defined as the ratio of exergy output to the
total exergy destruction (or loss rate of
availability):

(19)
Exergetic performance coefficient is related to
the COP and the exergetic efficiency :

Reducing it is like this:

(20)

With this be graph the EPC for each device of
the refrigerant with respect to the
condensation and evaporation temperatures
within a range of :



(a)
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
15 20 25 30 35 40
E
P
C

condensation temperature (C)
Tcond vs EPC
R 134a
R 125
R 22

(b)
Fig.10 Variation in EPC of system of VCR system for R134a with respect to (a) condensation
temperature and (b) evaporation temperature.


Fig.11 sankey diagram energy
0.3
0.31
0.32
0.33
0.34
0.35
0.36
0.37
0.38
0.39
0.4
0.41
0.42
0.43
0.44
0.45
0.46
0.47
0.48
0.49
0.5
0.51
-65 -60 -55 -50 -45 -40 -35
E
P
C

evaporation temperature (C)
TEva vs EPC
R 134a
R 125
R 22

Fig.12 sankey diagram exergy

Analysis and results
This analysis was performed using R134a,
R22 and R125. The VCR system
thermodynamic analysis was performed
based on the following assumptions:
steady state operation in all
components
chemical energy, kinetic and potential
energy of the omitted components
pressure drops in pipe networks are
neglected
heat transfer to from the compressor
and the expansion valve are
neglected
isenthalpic expansion of refrigerant
expansion valves.
Model parameters for the base case VCR
system simulation are chosen as shown in
Table 1.
The variation in the objective function of the
VCR system EPC different refrigerants with
respect to temperature and temperature
evaporator

condenser.
In fig.5 shows that R22 represents the
maximum among other refrigerants EPC for
all values

and

.
Also seen that the objective function EPC first
increases and reaches a maximum and then
decreases with increasing Tevap. Therefore,
there

an optimum value for a selected

set of operating parameters.
In Figure2 shows that the COP decreases as
the condensation temperature increases and
in turn increased when the evaporating
temperature is increased.
Therefore, in order to analyze the effects of

, temperature

and pressure
drops in the evaporator and condenser
(

) in exergy destruction and

EPCs for VCR system components, R134a
refrigerant was chosen as the model for
manual analysis
Data thermodynamic properties calculated for
each node of the refrigeration cycle, where
the performance results exergy VCR system
base and its components are given in Tables
2 and 3 respectively.
In Figures 3 and 4, it can be seen that the
rate of higher irreversibility in the system
occurs in the compressor section.
This is a consequence of the efficiencies
electrical, mechanical and isentropic
compressor. As irreversibility rate is higher in
the compressor, which is more than half of
the total rate of exergy destruction, much
interest should be given in the selection of the
compressor for a refrigeration system.
Also seen from Table 3 higher than the EPC
components occur in the condenser. This is
followed by evaporator, the compressor and
the expansion valve for the base case
condition.

Table 2 base case simulation results at each node of VCR system for refrigerant R134a

state Temp C P kPa h(kJ/kg) s(kJ/kgk)
quality
1
-59.15 22.78 219.4655 0.9829715
1
2
68.317 718.46 306.38 1.04729

3
26.85 703.46 89.0455 0.3333
0
4
-43.9169 37.78 89.0455 0.38858
0.41163





Table3Base case exergetic performance results of VCR system and its components for
refrigerant R134a


components or system
Exergy destruction rate
(kJ/s)
Exergy destruction ratio
%
compressor 47 59.76
condenser 4.26 5.42
valve 15.89 20.20
evaporator 11.5 14.62
system 78.65 100

In figure 2 VCR system performance
decreases with increasing temperature and
increases condensation when the
evaporation temperature increases
In Figures 3 and 4 observed:
1- the destruction of exergy in the
compressor decreases as the
condensation temperature increases
and more destruction of exergy when
the evaporation temperature rises. In
the compressor the refrigerant r125
is the most exergy is destroyed, the
r22 is the one that presents less
destruction and r134a is somewhere
in between.

2- Observed that exergy destruction
capacitor is proportional to the
condensation temperature and in
turn increased inversely proportional
to the evaporation temperature, the
change of the evaporation
temperature does not have
significant variations r125.

3- The expansion valve exergy
destruction rate increases as
temperature increases and
condensation is reduced by lowering
the temperature of the evaporator.

4- Observed that in the evaporator the
exergy destruction rate is inversely
proportional to the increase in
condensing temperature in which
R134a and R22 would be in similar
conditions.
The exergy destruction rate increases as the
evaporation temperature.
In Figure 9 can be seen that the exergetic
efficiency like the COP decreases with
increasing the condensation temperature,
and rises with increasing evaporation
temperature
In Figure 10 can be seen that the EPC like
the COP and exergetic efficiency decreases
with increasing the condensation
temperature, and rises with increasing
evaporation temperature

With Figures 11 and 12 represent the flow of
energy and exergy destruction of the system
respectively. With this method, which
improved the explanation of benefit and harm
flows our VCR

Conclusions

The irreversibility analysis by sample cycle
components most sensitive components are
the valve and the compressor, which reported
an incidence about 80% of the total
irreversibilitys of the system.
The best performing component exergy
(EPC) compared to the condensation
temperature and evaporation is the capacitor
due to the minimal exergy destroyed posing
in the process.
The COP improvement obtained by
increasing the evaporation temperature and
the condensation temperature decreases
while maintaining the constant pressures by
optimizing the energy consumption by the
compressor.

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3. http://www.construnario.com/ebooks/
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