Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

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Vapor-Compression Refrigeration
Cycle
 Most common refrigeration cycle in use today

 There are four principal control

volumes involving these
components:
 Evaporator
 Compressor
 Condenser
 Expansion valve Two-phase
liquid-vapor mixture

All energy transfers by work and heat are taken as positive in the
directions of the arrows on the schematic and energy balances are
written accordingly.
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VCRS

 The processes of this cycle are

Process 4-1: Two-phase liquid-vapor
mixture of refrigerant is evaporated
through heat transfer from the
refrigerated space.
Process 1-2: Vapor refrigerant is
compressed to a relatively high
temperature and pressure requiring work
input. Two-phase
liquid-vapor mixture
Process 2-3: Vapor refrigerant condenses
to liquid through heat transfer to the
cooler surroundings.
Process 3-4: Liquid refrigerant expands to
the evaporator pressure.
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Standard VCRS: P-h & T-s diagrams

Standard VCRS cycle on a P-h chart Standard VCRS cycle on a T-s chart

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VCRS

 Engineering model:
 Each component is analyzed as a control volume at steady
state.
 Dry compression is presumed: the refrigerant is a vapor.
 The compressor operates adiabatically.
 The refrigerant expanding through the valve undergoes a
throttling process.
 Kinetic and potential energy changes are ignored.

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VCRS

 Applying mass and energy rate balances

Evaporator •
Qin (Eq. 1)
•
= h1 - h 4
m

 The term Qin is referred to as the refrigeration capacity,
expressed in kW in the SI unit system or Btu/h in the English
unit system.
 A common alternate unit is the ton of refrigeration which
equals 200 Btu/min or about 211 kJ/min.

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VCRS

 Applying mass and energy rate balances

Compressor •

Assuming adiabatic Wc (Eq. 2)

•
= h 2 - h1
compression m

•
Condenser Qout
= h 2 - h3 (Eq. 3)
•
m
Expansion valve
Assuming a throttling h 4 = h3 (Eq. 4)
process

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VCRS

 Performance parameters

Coefficient of Performance (COP)

• •
h1 - h 4
Qin m
COP = • •
=
Wc m h 2 - h1
Carnot Coefficient of Performance
TC
COP =
TH -TC

This equation represents the maximum theoretical coefficient of

performance of any refrigeration cycle operating between cold
and hot regions at TC and TH, respectively.
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PROBLEM
Refrigerant-134a is the working fluid in an ideal compression refrigeration
cycle. The refrigerant leaves the evaporator at -20oC and has a condenser
pressure of 0.9 MPa. The mass flow rate is 3 kg/min. Find COPR and
COPR, Carnot for the same Tmax and Tmin , and the tons of refrigeration.

Using the Refrigerant-134a Tables, we have

State 2 
State1  kJ 

Compressor inlet   1
h 238.41 Compressor exit kJ
kg  h2 s  278.23
 P2 s  P2  900 kPa  kg
T1  20o C   s  0.9456 kJ kJ  T2 s  43.79 C
o

x1  1.0   1 kg  K s2 s  s1  0.9456 
kg  K 

State 3  kJ State 4 
   x4  0.358
Condenser exit   3
h 101.61
kg Throttle exit 
 o  kJ
P3  900 kPa   kJ T4  T1  20 C   4
s  0.4053
s3  0.3738  kg  K
x3  0.0   kg  K h4  h3 

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 QL m(h1  h4 ) h1  h4
COPR   
Wnet , in m(h2  h1 ) h2  h1
kJ
(238.41  101.61)
kg

kJ
(278.23  238.41)
kg
 3.44

The tons of refrigeration, often called the cooling load or refrigeration effect, are

TL
QL  m(h1  h4 ) COPR , Carnot 
TH  TL
kg kJ 1Ton
3 (238.41  101.61) (20  273) K
min kg 211 kJ 
min (43.79  (20)) K
 1.94 Ton  3.97

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Another measure of the effectiveness of the refrigeration cycle is how much input
power to the compressor, in horsepower, is required for each ton of cooling.

The unit conversion is 4.715 hp per ton of cooling.

Wnet , in 4.715

QL COPR
4.715 hp

3.44 Ton
hp
 1.37
Ton

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Features of Actual VC Cycle

 Heat transfers between refrigerant and cold and warm regions

are not reversible.

 Refrigerant temperature in
evaporator is less than TC.

 Refrigerant temperature in
condenser is greater than TH.

 Irreversible heat transfers

have negative effect on
performance.

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Features of Actual VC Cycle

 The COP decreases – primarily due to increasing compressor

work input – as the
 temperature of the refrigerant
Trefrigerant ↑
passing through the
evaporator is reduced relative
to the temperature of the cold
region, TC.
 temperature of the refrigerant
passing through the
condenser is increased Trefrigerant ↓
relative to the temperature of
the warm region, TH.

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Features of Actual VC Cycle

 Irreversibilities during the compression process are suggested by

dashed line from state 1 to state 2.
 An increase in specific entropy
accompanies an adiabatic
irreversible compression
process. The work input for
compression process 1-2 is
greater than for the counterpart
isentropic compression process
1-2s.
 Since process 4-1, and thus the refrigeration capacity, is the same
for cycles 1-2-3-4-1 and 1-2s-3-4-1, cycle 1-2-3-4-1 has the lower
COP.
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Isentropic Compressor Efficiency

► The isentropic compressor efficiency is the ratio of the minimum

theoretical work input to the actual work input, each per unit of
mass flowing:

work required in an isentropic

compression from compressor inlet
state to the exit pressure

  

  W CV m 
 s h2 s  h1 (Eq. 5)
c = =
  
 h2  h1
  W CV m 
 

work required in an actual

compression from compressor inlet
state to exit pressure
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PROBLEM
The table provides steady-state operating data for a vapor-
compression refrigeration cycle using R-134a as the working fluid.
For a refrigerant mass flow rate of 0.08 kg/s, determine the

(a) compressor power, in kW,

(b) refrigeration capacity, in tons,
(c) coefficient of performance,
(d) isentropic compressor efficiency.

State 1 2s 2 3 4
h (kJ/kg) 241.35 272.39 280.15 91.49 91.49

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State 1 2s 2 3 4
h (kJ/kg) 241.35 272.39 280.15 91.49 91.49

(a) The compressor power is

W c  m (h2  h1 )

  kg  kJ 1 kW
Wc   0.08 (280.15  241.35)  3.1 kW
 s  kg 1 kJ/s

(b) The refrigeration capacity is

Q in  m (h1  h4 )

  kg  kJ 1 ton 60 s
Qin   0.08 (241.35  91.49)  3.41 tons
 s  kg 211 kJ/min min
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State 1 2s 2 3 4
h (kJ/kg) 241.35 272.39 280.15 91.49 91.49

(c) The coefficient of performance is

(h1  h4 )
C.O.P 
(h2  h1 )

(241.35  91.49)kJ/kg
C.O.P   3.86
(280.15  241.35)kJ/kg

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State 1 2s 2 3 4
h (kJ/kg) 241.35 272.39 280.15 91.49 91.49

(d) The isentropic compressor

efficiency is

c 

W c / m s (h2 s  h1 )

W c / m (h2  h1 )

(272.39  241.35)kJ/kg
c   0.8 = 80%
(280.15  241.35)kJ/kg

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Air conditioning
Definition
 Maintaining a living space or an industrial facility at the
desired temperature and humidity requires some processes
called air-conditioning processes.

 These processes include simple heating (raising the

temperature), simple cooling (lowering the temperature),
humidifying (adding moisture), and dehumidifying (removing
moisture).

 Sometimes two or more of these processes are needed to

bring the air to a desired temperature and humidity level

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 REFRIGERANT
 A refrigerant is a substance or mixture, usually a fluid, used in a heat
pump and refrigeration cycle. In most cycles it undergoes phase
transitions from a liquid to a gas and vice-versa.
Ex.- Freon(R-22), Puron (R-410A).

 A refrigerant should be non-flammable, non-toxic ,should have

dense vapour ,lower boiling point.

MAJOR PARTS OF THE AC

 Evaporator
 Compressor
 Condenser
 Expansion Valve

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HOW AIR CONDITIONER WORKS

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Types of AC

 Window AC

 Split AC

 Central AC plant

 Packaged AC

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THANK YOU

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