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ISSN 23203927
Original Article
FABRICATION AND ANALYSIS OF REFRIGERATOR CUM CHILLED
WATER DISPENSER
P.Dasthagiri1, H.Ranganna2, G. Maruthi Prasad Yadav3
1. PG Student, Mechanical Engineering Dept, St Johns College of Engg & Technology, Yemmiganur-518360, Kurnool
(Dist), AP
2 & 3.Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Dept, St Johns College of Engg & Technology, Yemmiganur-518360,
Kurnool(Dist), AP, maruthiprasadyadav@gmail.com.
Received 04 March 2015; accepted 20 March 2015
Abstract
The invention of refrigerator has changed the lifestyle of people. The refrigerator is used to store food items, medicines,
beverages and such other materials. The useful life of foods and other items can be lengthened due to storing at low
temperatures. Now a days refrigerator is not a luxury it has become part of requirements in every middle and lower middle
class households. The households refrigerator is also used for cool water and ice cubes. The consumption cold water
requires frequent opening of the refrigerator doors, this decreases the performance of the refrigerator as well as the food
item stored undergo sharp rise in temperatures around.
Hence providing a separate water cooler/chilling provision with in the refrigerator and providing a convenient water
outlet without opening the doors will be very advantageous for the performance of the refrigerator.
The Refrigerator consists of compressor, condenser coils, expansion devices and evaporator coils. In this system a
hermitically sealed compressor having capacity of about 120 watts, an air cooled condenser, an evaporator coil are
generally used.
In The present work a domestic refrigerator is modified to serve both the purposes as refrigerator and water dispenser.
Suitable design and operation conditions were modified with a view to save space, initial cost and maintenance costs.
2015 Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved
out at temperature higher than the surroundings. It is also
1. INTRODUCTION clear that the foodstuff placed inside the refrigerator is
Vapour-compression refrigeration is one of the many cooled by giving out their heat to the refrigerator which in
refrigeration cycles available for use. It has been and is the turn, so to say, absorbs heat q1, of course at lower
most widely used method for air-conditioning of large temperature than the surroundings. Every refrigerator is
public buildings, offices, private residences, hotels, supplied with energy wither in the form of heat or
hospitals, theaters, restaurants and automobiles. It is also electricity, that is, some work (w) is provided to it. The
used in domestic and commercial refrigerators, large-scale refrigerating device, thus is absorbing heat at lower
warehouses for chilled or frozen storage of foods and temperature and giving out at higher temperature; this is
meats, refrigerated trucks and railroad cars, and a host of usually not possible in our day to day life, since heat cannot
other commercial and industrial services. Oil refineries, flow from lower to higher temperature, but in case of a
petrochemical and chemical processing plants, and natural refrigerator this is achieved at the cost of energy supplied to
gas processing plants are among the many types of it. For the boundary total heat given out (q 2) is equal to the
industrial plants that often utilize large vapor-compression total energy input in the form of heat absorbed (q 1) and the
refrigeration systems. work absorbed (w) Balancing them.
Refrigeration may be defined as lowering the temperature For a refrigerator device, we are interested in how much
of an enclosed space by removing heat from that space and heat is extracted from food stuff and how little electrical
transferring it elsewhere. A device that performs this energy we spend, minimizing our power bill. The ratio of
function may also be called a heat pump. heat absorbed to the work input in the form of electric
Energy analysis of Refrigeration energy (w) is called coefficient of performance (COP). The
Consider a boundary enclosing a space in which a ratio should be as high as possible.
refrigerator is placed. It is clear that some heat q 2 is given C.O.P = 1/ = q1/(q2-q1)
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Theoretical COP is ratio of theoretical refrigerating it is cooled by the atmospheric air thus losing heat absorbed
effect (N), found from pressure heat content chart or by it in the evaporator and the compressor. To increase the
temperature -entropy chart to the theoretical compressor heat transfer rate of the condenser, it is finned externally.
work (W) or isentropic compressor work, found from the
chart.
Actual COP is the ratio of actual cooling effect, to
the actual energy supplied to the compressor known from
watt-hour reading.
Relative COP is the ratio of actual to the theoretical
COP. It is a pure number without any unit.
2. DOMESTIC REFRIGERATOR
Most domestic refrigerators are of two typeseither a
single door fresh food refrigerator or a two-door
refrigerator-freezer combination, with the freezer
compartment on the top portion of the cabinet, or a
vertically split cabinet (side-by-side), with the freezer
compartment on the left side of the cabinet. They are Fig 1 Internal parts of domestic refrigerator
completely self-contained units and are easy to install. 4) Expansive valve or the capillary: The refrigerant leaving
Most refrigerators use R-22 refrigerant, normally the condenser enters the expansion device, which is the
maintaining temperatures of -17oC in the freezer capillary tube in case of the domestic refrigerators. The
compartment and about 1.66oC to 7.22oC in the refrigerator capillary is the thin copper tubing made up of number of
compartment. The technician must be able to perform turns of the copper coil. When the refrigerant is passed
various duties in the maintenance and repair of domestic through the capillary its pressure and temperature drops
refrigerators, water coolers, and ice machines. This section down suddenly.
provides information to aid you in handling some of the 5) Evaporator or chiller or freezer: The refrigerant at very
more common types of troubles. But let us remind you that low pressure and temperature enters the evaporator or the
the information given here is intended as a general guide freezer. The evaporator is the heat exchanger made up of
and should, therefore, be used with the manufacturer's several turns of copper or aluminum tubing. In domestic
detailed instructions. refrigerators the plate types of evaporator is used as shown
2.1Domestic Refrigerator Parts and their Working in the figure above. The refrigerant absorbs the heat from
The domestic refrigerator is one found in almost all the the substance to be cooled in the evaporator, gets
homes for storing food, vegetables, fruits, beverages, and evaporated and it then sucked by the compressor. This
much more. This article describes the important parts of the cycle keeps on repeating.
domestic refrigerator and also their working. The parts of 6) Temperature control devise or thermostat: To control the
domestic refrigerator can be categorized into two temperature inside the refrigerator there is thermostat,
categories: internal and external. Let see these in details whose sensor is connected to the evaporator. The
along with their images. thermostat setting can be done by the round knob inside the
2.1.1 Internal Parts of the Domestic Refrigerator refrigerator compartment. When the set temperature is
The internal parts of the refrigerator are ones that carry out reached inside the refrigerator the thermostat stops the
actual working of the refrigerator. Some of the internal electric supply to the compressor and compressor stops and
parts are located at the back of the refrigerator, and some when the temperature falls below certain level it restarts the
inside the main compartment of the refrigerator. Some supply to the compressor.
internal parts of the domestic refrigerator are (please refer 7) Defrost system: The defrost system of the refrigerator
the figure1): helps removing the excess ice from the surface of the
1) Refrigerant: The refrigerant flows through all the evaporator. The defrost system can be operated manually
internal parts of the refrigerator. It is the refrigerant that by the thermostat button or there is automatic system
carries out the cooling effect in the evaporator. It absorbs comprising of the electric heater and the timer.
the heat from the substance to be cooled in the evaporator Those were the some internal parts of the domestic
(chiller or freezer) and throws it to the atmosphere via refrigerator; now let us see the external parts of the
condenser. The refrigerant keeps on recirculating through refrigerator.
all the internal parts of the refrigerator in cycle. 2.1.2 External Visible Parts of the Refrigerator
2) Compressor: The compressor is located at the back of The external parts of the compressor are the parts that are
the refrigerator and in the bottom area. The compressor visible externally and used for the various purposes. The
sucks the refrigerant from the evaporator and discharges it figure 2 shows the common parts of the domestic
at high pressure and temperature. The compressor is driven refrigerator and some them are described below:
by the electric motor and it is the major power consuming 1) Freezer compartment: The food items that are to be kept
device of the refrigerator. at the freezing temperature are stored in the freezer
3) Condenser: The condenser is the thin coil of copper compartment. The temperature here is below zero degree
tubing located at the back of the refrigerator. The Celsius so the water and many other fluids freeze in this
refrigerant from the compressor enters the condenser where compartment. If you want to make ice cream, ice, freeze
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the food etc. they have to be kept in the freezer Because you milk is colder than the room, heat energy
compartment. moves from the room into the milk. This movement of heat
2) Thermostat control: The thermostat control comprises of energy affects the objects involved, your supper or milk,
the round knob with the temperature scale that help setting changing their temperatures. This concept of moving heat
the required temperature inside the refrigerator. Proper has a direct bearing on our lives. In the winter, we move
setting of the thermostat as per the requirements can help heat from a fire, or a radiator, or an electric heater into our
saving lots of refrigerator electricity bills. house, changing its temperature. In summer, we want to do
3) Refrigerator compartment: The refrigerator compartment the opposite, move heat from our house to somewhere else
is the biggest part of the refrigerator. Here all the food (we dont really care where), again changing the
items that are to be maintained at temperature above zero temperature of our house.
degrees Celsius but in cooled condition are kept. The
refrigerator compartment can be divided into number of
smaller shelves like meat keeper, and others as per the
requirement.
4) Crisper: The highest temperature in the refrigerator
compartment is maintained in the crisper. Here one can
keep the food items that can remain fresh even at the
medium temperature like fruits, vegetables, etc.
5) Refrigerator door compartment: There are number of
smaller subsections in the refrigerator main door
compartment. Some of these are egg compartment, butter,
dairy, etc.
6) Switch: This is the small button that operates the small
light inside the refrigerator. As soon the door of the
refrigerator opens, this switch supplies electricity to the
bulb and it starts, while when the door is closed the light
from the bulb stops. This helps in starting the internal bulb
only when required.
Fig 3 Principle of refrigerator
2.3 Technical Data of a Typical Household Refrigerator
1. Compressor H.P.-1/8 to 1/6.
2. Capillary-0.82 mm in diameter.
3. Normal refrigerant charge-160 to 190 grams for 165
liters capacity but varies as per capacity.
4. Power consumption - 3 to 4 kW-hr for 286 liters capacity
refrigerator per day and 2 to 3 kWh for 165 liters capacity
unit.
5. Maximum running time- 40 to 60% of day time for small
refrigerator and 60 to 80% for bigger refrigerator.
6. Lower evaporator temperature-(-172)0 C.
7. Temperature in chill tray-0o C or below.
Fig 2 External parts of refrigerator
8. Suction pressure -0.7 to 1.6 bars.
2.2 Basic Refrigeration Principle 9. Discharge pressure-12 to 15 bars.
If you were to place a hot cup of coffee on a table and leave 3. WATER COOLERS
it for a while, the heat in the coffee would be transferred to The purpose of water coolers is to make water available at
the materials in contact with the coffee, i.e. the cup, the a constant temperature irrespective of ambient temperature.
table and the surrounding air. As the heat is transferred, the They are meant to produce cold water at about 7 oC to 13oC
coffee in time cools. Using the same principle, refrigeration for quenching the thirst of the people working in hot
works by removing heat from a product and transferring environment. The warm or normal water can serve the
that heat to the outside air. The principle involves the physical requirement of our system for the proper
transfer of heat. We could discuss entropy and the laws functioning of the body organs but it does not quench the
of thermodynamics, but were not going to do that. That thirst especially in hot summers.
isnt really necessary to understand this concept. It is one 3.1 Types of Water Coolers
that we are all familiar with, whether we have any interest The water coolers are two types i.e. the storage type and the
in science or not. If you take your supper off the stove but instantaneous type. In the storage type water coolers, the
dont eat it right away, it gets cold. If you leave the evaporator coil is soldered on to the walls of the storage
milk out on the counter, it gets warm. Actually, your supper tank of the cooler, generally on outside surface of the walls.
and your milk would become the same temperature, the The tank may be of galvanized steel or stainless steel
temperature of the room. Because your supper is hotter than sheets. The water level in the tank is maintained by a float
the room, heat energy moves from it into the room. valve. In this type of water cooler, the machine will have to
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run for long time to bring down the temperature of the mass waste water and the length of the pipe coil comprising of
of water in the storage tank. Once the temperature touches pre-cooler.
the set point of the thermostat, the machine cycle is The pre-cooled water then enters the storage chamber and loses its heat to
stopped. When the water is drawn from the cooler and an
equal amount of fresh water is allowed in the tank, the
temperature will rise up slowly and the machine starts
again. As such there is always a reservoir of cold water all
the time.
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The following diagrams illustrates the working
principle of present work
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V2 and V7 of the refrigerant cylinder are opened and Calculation Performance Parameters
then the compressor is started whenever the sufficient 1. Net Refrigerating Effect (NRE) = h1-h4 =
quantity of refrigerant is taken in to the system which 249.3-114.3 = 135 kJ/kg
will be noted in the pressure gauges. The compressor is 2. Mass flow rate to obtain one TR, kg/min.
stopped. The valves V7 and V5 are closed and valve V1 mr = 210/NRE = 210/135 = 1.555 kg/min.
is opened the refrigerant cylinder is disconnected from 3. Work of Compression = h2-h1 = 273-249.3
the system the pressure gauge is used to note the pressure = 23.67kJ/kg
during the charging the system. 4. Heat Equivalent of work of compression per TR
mr x (h2-h1) = 36.81 kJ/min
5. Theoretical power(compressor)= 0.6136 kW
6. Coefficient of Performance (COP) = h1-h4 / h2-h1 =
135/23.67 = 5.70
7. Heat to be rejected in condenser = h2-h3 = 158.7 kJ/kg
8. Heat Rejection per TR = (210/NRE) x (h2-h3) =
1.55X158.7 = 178.7 kJ/min
9. Compression Pressure Ratio =
= =4.152
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