Refrigeration cycles
Refrigeration is cooling of system below surroundings.
Melting of ice is the earliest method of refrigeration, here ice absorbs latent heat of fusion from surroundings.
Solid carbon dioxide (CO2) can also be used for refrigeration. Solid CO2 when exposed to atmosphere, it sublimates
(solid to vapor) by absorbing the latent heat of fusion.
Refrigeration by both ice and CO2 are non-cyclic processes.
Reversed Heat engine cycle
Heat is received from lower temperature and discharged to high temperature by receiving
inflow of work. The objective of a refrigerator is to maintain the refrigerated space at a low
temperature by removing heat from it. The objective of a heat pump, however, is to maintain a
heated space at a high temperature.
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡
𝐶𝑂𝑃 =
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑄1 𝑄1
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 = =
𝑊 𝑄1 − 𝑄2
𝑄2 𝑄2
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = =
𝑊 𝑄1 − 𝑄2
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 = 𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 + 1
Reversing the cycle does also reverse the directions of any heat and work interactions. The result is a cycle that
operates in the counterclockwise direction on a T-s diagram, which is called the reversed Carnot cycle. A
refrigerator or heat pump that operates on the reversed Carnot cycle is called a Carnot refrigerator or a Carnot
heat pump.
𝑄𝐻 𝑄𝐻 𝑇𝐻 1
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 = = = =
𝑊𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑄𝐻 − 𝑄𝐿 𝑇𝐻 − 𝑇𝐿 1 − 𝑇𝐿⁄
𝑇𝐻
𝑄𝐿 𝑄𝐿 𝑇𝐿 1
𝐶𝑂𝑃𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = = =
𝑊𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑄𝐻 − 𝑄𝐿 𝑇𝐻 − 𝑇𝐿 𝑇𝐻⁄ − 1
𝑇𝐿
3
Analysis of cycle
1. 𝑊𝑐 = 𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 = ℎ2 − ℎ1
2. 𝑄𝐻 = 𝑄𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 = ℎ2 − ℎ3
3. ℎ3 = ℎ4
4. 𝑄𝐿 = 𝑄𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 = ℎ1 − ℎ4 = ℎ1 − ℎ3
Refrigeration effect is the amount of heat absorbed in evaporator.
𝑄𝐿 ℎ1 − ℎ3
𝐶𝑂𝑃 = =
𝑊𝑐 ℎ2 − ℎ1
4
1
𝑃2 𝑛𝑒
𝜂𝑣𝑜𝑙 = 1−𝐶+𝐶( )
𝑃1
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑚̇ · 𝑣1
𝜂= =
𝑉𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝜋 𝐷2 · 𝐿 · 𝑁 · 𝐾 · 1
4 60
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝒎̇ = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝒗𝟏 = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡
𝑫 & 𝑳 → 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 & 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑵 → 𝑅𝑃𝑀, 𝑲 → 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠
Use of Flash chamber in Vapour compression cycle
The state of refrigerant when entering evaporator is in wet region. It is the liquid refrigerant that absorbs heat
from storage space. Therefore, flash chamber is used before evaporator, it separates liquid from vapour
refrigerant and allows only liquid refrigerant to pass through evaporator decreasing the size of evaporator.
There is no change in COP, RE and Winput when flash chamber is used.
5
The primary purpose of using heat exchanger is to sub-cool the refrigerant which results in the increase of
refrigerant and refrigerant gets superheated results in dry compression.
ℎ6 − ℎ5
𝐶𝑂𝑃 =
ℎ2 − ℎ1
Applying steady flow equation, heat lost is equal to heat gain.
ℎ1 − ℎ6 = ℎ3 − ℎ4
𝑐𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 (𝑇1 − 𝑇6 ) = 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 (𝑇3 − 𝑇4 )
→ 𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 = ℎ2 − ℎ1 = 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇2 − 𝑇1 )
→ 𝑄𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 = ℎ2 − ℎ3 = 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇2 − 𝑇3 )
→ 𝑊𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 = ℎ3 − ℎ4 = 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇3 − 𝑇4 )
→ 𝑄𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 = 𝑅. 𝐸 = ℎ1 − ℎ4 = 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇1 − 𝑇4 )
𝑅. 𝐸
→ 𝐶𝑂𝑃 =
𝑊𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 − 𝑊𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝑐𝑝 (𝑇1 − 𝑇4 ) (𝑇1 − 𝑇4 )
→ 𝐶𝑂𝑃 = =
𝑐𝑝 (𝑇1 − 𝑇2 ) − 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇3 − 𝑇4 ) (𝑇1 − 𝑇2 ) − (𝑇3 − 𝑇4 )
1 1 1
→ 𝐶𝑂𝑃 = = = 𝛾−1
𝑇 −𝑇 𝑇
( 𝑇2 − 𝑇3 ) − 1 𝑇3 − 1 𝑟 𝛾 − 1
1 4 4 𝑝
𝛾−1 𝛾−1 𝛾−1
𝑇3 𝑃3 𝛾 𝑃2 𝛾
{ =( ) =( ) = 𝑟𝑝 𝛾 }
𝑇4 𝑃4 𝑃1
COP of gas refrigeration cycle depends on compression ratio or pressure ratio (r p).
With increase in pressure ratio, the work input increases and COP decreases.
If throttling is used in gas refrigeration cycle instead of isentropic expansion as the working fluid is an ideal gas
and during throttling enthalpy remains constant, temperature after throttling remains same and can’t absorb
heat from storage space.
Actual cycle
1 − 2𝑠 − 3 − 4𝑠 ⟹ 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒
1 − 2 − 3 − 4 ⟹ 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒
ℎ2𝑠 − ℎ1 𝑇2𝑠 − 𝑇1
→ 𝜂𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 = =
ℎ2 − ℎ1 𝑇2 − 𝑇1
ℎ3 − ℎ4 𝑇3 − 𝑇4
→ 𝜂𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 = =
ℎ3 − ℎ4𝑠 𝑇3 − 𝑇4𝑠
9
Refrigerants
Desirable properties of a refrigerants or selection of a refrigerant
The properties of refrigerant are broadly classified into
1. Thermodynamic
2. Chemical
3. Physical
Thermodynamic properties
Critical temperature
The critical temperature of a refrigerant must be high as possible. The critical temperature of CO2 and ethylene are
undesirable because their critical temperature is less than ambient summer temperature.
Refrigerant H2O NH3 R-12 R-22 R-134a CO2 Ethylene
Critical
374.1 132 111.5 96.5 101.2 31 10.6
temperature (⁰C)
Desirable Undesirable
Specific Heat
𝑑𝑆
We know that 𝑐 = 𝑇 ( ), as the liquid refrigerant undergoes throttling and for lesser irreversibilities dS must be small.
𝑑𝑇
Therefore, specific heat of liquid refrigerant must be small.
As the vapour refrigerant is undergoing compression, the compression work must be small. For smaller compression work,
the degree of superheat (dT) must be small. Therefore, the specific heat of vapour refrigerant must be high.
Enthalpy of vaporization
Refrigerant with large enthalpy of vaporization (RE) is preferred because the larger the enthalpy of vaporization, lesser is
the mass flow rate for a given refrigeration capacity.
Refrigerant H 2O NH3 R-22 R-12 R-134 a
Enthalpy of vaporization
2261 1369 234.7 16.7 197.3
(kJ/kg)
Psychrometry
At temperatures below the critical temperature, the gas phase of a substance is frequently referred to as a
vapor. The term vapor implies a gaseous state that is close to the saturation region of the substance, raising the
possibility of condensation during a process.
Air in the atmosphere normally contains some water vapor (or moisture) and is referred to as atmospheric
air. By contrast, air that contains no water vapor is called dry air. Composition of dry air remains relatively
constant, but the amount of water vapor changes as a result of condensation and evaporation. Although the
amount of water vapor in the air is small, it plays a major role in human comfort. Therefore, it is an important
consideration in air-conditioning applications.
Dry air can be treated as an ideal gas with a constant cp value of 1.005 kJ/kg·K.
11
𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝐽
ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝑐𝑝 · 𝑇 ℎ𝑎 = 𝑐𝑝 · 𝑇 = 1.005 · 𝑻 𝐾 = 1.005 · 𝑻 ⁄𝑘𝑔
𝑘𝑔 · 𝐾
𝛥ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝑐𝑝 · 𝛥𝑇
Water vapor in air behaves as ideal gas and obeys the ideal-gas relation Pv = RT.
Then the atmospheric air can be treated as an ideal-gas mixture whose pressure is the sum of the partial
pressure of dry air Pa and that of water vapor Pv
𝑃 = 𝑃𝑎 + 𝑃𝑣
The partial pressure of water vapor is usually referred to as the vapor pressure. It is the pressure water
vapor would exert if it existed alone at the temperature and volume of atmospheric air.
Since pv is very small, the saturation temperature of water vapor at that pressure is less than atmospheric
temperature. So, it exists in a superheated state.
The enthalpy of water vapor in air can be taken to be equal to the enthalpy of saturated vapor at the same
temperature.
Taking 0⁰C as the reference temperature, the enthalpy and enthalpy change of dry air can be determined.
The enthalpy of water vapor at 0⁰C is 2500.9 kJ/kg. The average cp value of water vapor in the temperature
range -10⁰C to 50⁰C can be taken to be 1.88 kJ/kg·⁰C.
ℎ𝑣 = ℎ00𝐶 + 𝑐𝑝 · 𝑇 = 2500.9 + 1.88 · 𝑇
Specific Humidity (ω)
It is the mass of water vapor present in a unit mass of dry air.
𝑚𝑣 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝜔= =
𝑚𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑃𝑣 · 𝑉
⁄𝑅 · 𝑇 𝑃 𝑅 𝑃𝑣 𝑀𝐻 𝑂 𝑃𝑣 18 𝑃𝑣
𝑣 𝑣 𝑎
𝜔= = × = × 2 = × = 0.622 ×
𝑃𝑎 · 𝑉
⁄𝑅 · 𝑇 𝑃𝑎 𝑅𝑣 𝑃𝑎 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑃𝑎 29 𝑃𝑎
𝑎
𝑃𝑣 𝑃𝑣
𝜔 = 0.622 × = 0.622 ×
𝑃𝑎 𝑃 − 𝑃𝑣
Dry air contains no water vapor, and thus its specific humidity is zero.
Relative Humidity (ϕ)
Amount of moisture the air holds (mv) relative to the maximum amount of moisture (mvs) the air can
hold at the same temperature is relative humidity.
𝑚𝑣 𝑃𝑣
𝜙= =
𝑚𝑣𝑠 𝑃𝑣𝑠
𝑃𝑣 · 𝑉
𝑚𝑣 ⁄𝑅 · 𝑇 𝑃𝑣
𝑣
𝜙= = =
𝑚𝑣𝑠 𝑃𝑣𝑠 · 𝑉⁄ 𝑃𝑣𝑠
𝑅𝑣 · 𝑇
𝑃𝑣𝑠 · 𝜙 𝜔·𝑃
⟹ 𝜔 = 0.622 × ⟹ 𝜙=
𝑃 − 𝑃𝑣𝑠 · 𝜙 (0.622 + 𝜔) · 𝑃𝑣𝑠
The relative humidity ranges from 0 for dry air to 1 for saturated air.
Relative humidity is generally expressed in percentage.
The amount of moisture air can hold depends on its temperature. Therefore, the relative humidity of air
changes with temperature even when its specific humidity remains constant.
12
The total enthalpy (an extensive property) of atmospheric air is the sum of the enthalpies of dry air and the water
vapor,
𝐻 = 𝐻𝑎 + 𝐻𝑣
𝐻 = 𝑚𝑎 · ℎ𝑎 + 𝑚𝑣 · ℎ𝑣
Dividing it by ma gives,
𝐻 𝑚𝑣
= ℎ𝑎 + · ℎ ⟹ 𝒉 = 𝒉𝒂 + 𝝎 · 𝒉𝒗 → ℎ = ℎ𝑎 + 𝜔 · ℎ𝑣𝑠 (ℎ𝑣 = ℎ𝑣𝑠 )
𝑚𝑎 𝑚𝑎 𝑣
𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒊𝒓
𝒉→
𝒌𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒊𝒓
Ordinary temperature of atmospheric air is frequently referred to as the dry-bulb temperature.
Dew point temperature (Tdp)
The dew-point temperature Tdp is defined as the temperature at which condensation begins when
the air is cooled at constant pressure.
Tdp is the saturation temperature of water corresponding to the vapor
pressure.
As the air cools at constant pressure, the vapor pressure P v remains
constant, the vapor in the air (state 1) undergoes a constant-pressure cooling
process until it strikes the saturated vapor line (state 2). The temperature at this
point is Tdp, if the temperature drops any further, some vapor condenses out. As a
result, the amount of vapor in the air decreases, which results in a decrease in Pv.
The air remains saturated during the condensation process and thus follows
a path of 100 % Relative humidity (the saturated vapor line). The ordinary
temperature and the dew-point temperature of saturated air are identical.
Adiabatic Saturation and wet-bulb temperature
One way of determining the relative humidity is to determine the dew-point
temperature of air. Knowing the dew-point temperature, we can determine the
vapor pressure Pv and thus the relative humidity. This approach is simple, but not
quite practical.
Another way of determining the absolute or relative humidity is related to
an adiabatic saturation process, shown schematically and on a T-s diagram.
Unsaturated air which has specific humidity ω1 and T1 passes over liquid
water, as the air flows over the water, some water evaporates and mixes with the
airstream. Water vapor content increases and temperature decreases during the
process. If air flows long enough air becomes fully saturated at T2 and that
temperature is called Adiabatic saturation temperature.
If makeup water is supplied to the channel at the rate of evaporation at
temperature T2. The adiabatic saturation process described above can be
analyzed as a steady-flow process.
→ 𝑚̇𝑎1 = 𝑚̇𝑎2 = 𝑚̇𝑎 (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡)
→ 𝑚̇𝑣1 + 𝑚̇𝑓 = 𝑚̇𝑣2 (𝑚̇𝑓 → 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)
→ 𝜔1 · 𝑚̇𝑎 + 𝑚̇𝑓 = 𝜔2 · 𝑚̇𝑎 ⟹ 𝑚̇𝑓 = 𝑚̇𝑎 × (𝜔2 − 𝜔1 )
13
Energy balance,
𝐸𝑖𝑛 = 𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡
→ 𝐻1 + 𝐻𝑓 = 𝐻2
→ 𝑚̇𝑎 · ℎ1 + 𝑚̇𝑓 · ℎ𝑓2 = 𝑚̇𝑎 · ℎ2 ⟹ 𝑚̇𝑎 · ℎ1 + 𝑚̇𝑎 × (𝜔2 − 𝜔1 ) · ℎ𝑓2 = 𝑚̇𝑎 · ℎ2
𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑦 𝑚̇,
→ ℎ1 + (𝜔2 − 𝜔1 ) · ℎ𝑓2 = ℎ2
→ (𝑐𝑝 · 𝑇1 + 𝜔1 · ℎ𝑣1 ) + (𝜔2 − 𝜔1 ) · ℎ𝑓2 = (𝑐𝑝 · 𝑇2 + 𝜔1 · ℎ𝑣2 )
𝑐𝑝 · (𝑇2 − 𝑇1 ) + 𝜔2 · ℎ𝑣𝑓2
𝜔1 =
ℎ𝑣1 − ℎ𝑓2
𝜔1 · (ℎ𝑣1 − ℎ𝑓2 ) − 𝑐𝑝 · (𝑇2 − 𝑇1 ) 0.622 · 𝑃𝑣2
→ 𝜔2 = 𝜔2 = (𝜙2 = 100%)
ℎ𝑣𝑓2 𝑃2 − 𝑃𝑣2
The adiabatic saturation process discussed above provides a means of determining the absolute or relative
humidity of air.
A more practical approach is to use a thermometer whose bulb is covered with a cotton wick saturated with
water and to blow air over the wick, as shown in. Temperature measured in this manner is called the wet-bulb
temperature Twb.
Chemical Dehumidification
Some substances like silica gel and activated alumina have great
affinity for water vapour. They are called adsorbents.
When air passes through a bed of silica gel, water vapour molecules
get adsorbed on its surface. Latent heat of condensation is released. So,
the temperature of air is increased.
17