Chapter Three

Vapour Compression Refrigeration Systems

3.1 Introduction
Vapour compression refrigeration systems are the most commonly used among all refrigeration
systems. As the name implies, these systems belong to the general class of vapour cycles,
wherein the working fluid (refrigerant) undergoes phase change at least during one process. In a
vapour compression refrigeration system, refrigeration is obtained as the refrigerant evaporates at
low temperatures. The input to the system is in the form of mechanical energy required to run the
compressor. Hence these systems are also called as mechanical refrigeration systems. Vapour
compression refrigeration systems are available to suit almost all applications with the
refrigeration capacities ranging from few Watts to few megawatts. A wide variety of refrigerants
can be used in these systems to suit different applications, capacities etc. The actual vapour
compression cycle is based on Evans-Perkins cycle, which is also called as reverse Rankine
cycle. Before the actual cycle is discussed and analyzed, it is essential to find the upper limit of
performance of vapour compression cycles. This limit is set by a completely reversible cycle.
3.2 The Carnot refrigeration cycle
Carnot refrigeration cycle is a completely reversible cycle, hence is used as a model of perfection
for a refrigeration cycle operating between a constant temperature heat source and sink. It is used
as reference against which the real cycles are compared. Figures 3.1 (a) and (b) show the
schematic of a Carnot vapour compression refrigeration system and the operating cycle on T-s
diagram.
As shown in Fig.3.1(a), the basic Carnot refrigeration system for pure vapour consists of four
components: compressor, condenser, turbine and evaporator.

Refrigeration effect (q4-1= qe) is obtained at the evaporator as the refrigerant undergoes the
process of vaporization (process 4-1) and extracts the latent heat from the low temperature heat
source. The low temperature, low pressure vapour is then compressed isentropically in the
compressor to the heat sink temperature Tc. The refrigerant pressure increases from P e to Pc
during the compression process (process 1-2) and the exit vapour is saturated. Next the high
pressure, high temperature saturated refrigerant undergoes the process of condensation in the

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condenser (process 2-3) as it rejects the heat of condensation (q2-3= qc) to an external heat sink at
Tc. The high pressure saturated liquid then flows through the turbine and undergoes isentropic
expansion (process 3-4). During this process, the pressure and temperature fall from P c,Tc to Pe,
Te. Since a saturated liquid is expanded in the turbine, some amount of liquid flashes into vapour
and the exit condition lies in the two-phase region. This low temperature and low pressure liquid-
vapour mixture then enters the evaporator completing the cycle. Thus as shown in Fig.3.1(b), the
cycle involves two isothermal heat transfer processes (processes 4-1 and 2-3) and two isentropic
work transfer processes (processes 1-2 and 3-4). Heat is extracted isothermally at evaporator
temperature Te during process 4-1, heat is rejected isothermally at condenser temperature Tc
during process 2-3. Work is supplied to the compressor during the isentropic compression (1-2)
of refrigerant vapour from evaporator pressure Pe to condenser pressure Pc, and work is
produced by the system as refrigerant liquid expands isentropically in the turbine from
condenser pressure P c to evaporator pressure Pc. All the processes are both internally as well as
externally reversible, i.e., net entropy generation for the system and environment is zero.

Applying first and second laws of thermodynamics to the Carnot refrigeration cycle,

Now for the reversible, isothermal heat transfer processes 2-3 and 4-1, we can write:

Where Te and Tc are the evaporator and condenser temperatures, respectively, and,

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The Coefficient of Performance (COP) is given by:

Fig. 3.1 T-S diagram of reverse carnot’s cycle

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Thus the COP of Carnot refrigeration cycle is a function of evaporator and condenser
temperatures only and is independent of the nature of the working substance. The Carnot COP
sets an upper limit for refrigeration systems operating between two constant temperature thermal
reservoirs (heat source and sink). From Carnot’s theorems, for the same heat source and sink
temperatures, no irreversible cycle can have COP higher than that of Carnot COP.

It can be seen from the above expression that the COP of a Carnot refrigeration system increases
as the evaporator temperature increases and condenser temperature decreases.

As shown in the figure, COP is the ratio of area a-1-4-b to the area 1-2-3-4. For a fixed
condenser temperature Tc, as the evaporator temperature Te increases, area a-1-4-b (qe) increases
and area 1-2-3-4 (wnet) decreases as a result, COP increases rapidly. Similarly for a fixed
evaporator temperature Te, as the condensing temperature Tc increases, the net work input (area
1-2-3-4) increases, even though cooling output remains constant, as a result the COP falls.

Practical difficulties with Carnot refrigeration system:

It is difficult to build and operate a Carnot refrigeration system due to the following practical
difficulties:
i. During process 1-2, a mixture consisting of liquid and vapour have to be compressed
isentropically in the compressor. Such a compression is known as wet compression
due to the presence of liquid.

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 In practice, wet compression is very difficult, which the compressor get damaged due
to the presence of liquid droplets in the vapour. To prevent this dry compression
(compression of vapour only) is preferred to wet compression.
ii. The second practical difficulty with Carnot cycle is that using a turbine and extracting
work from the system during the isentropic expansion of liquid refrigerant is not
economically feasible.
One way of achieving dry compression in Carnot refrigeration cycle is to have two
compressors – one isentropic and one isothermal as shown in Fig.3.4.

As shown in Fig.10.4, the Carnot refrigeration system with dry compression consists of one
isentropic compression process (1-2) from evaporator pressure Pe to an intermediate pressure
Pi and temperature Tc, followed by an isothermal compression process (2-3) from the
intermediate pressure Pi to the condenser pressure Pc. Though with this modification the
problem of wet compression can be avoided, still this modified system is not practical due to
the difficulty in achieving true isothermal compression using high- speed compressors. In
addition, use of two compressors in place of one is not economically justified.

From the above discussion, it is clear that from practical considerations, the Carnot
refrigeration system need to be modified. Dry compression with a single compressor is
possible if the isothermal heat rejection process is replaced by isobaric heat rejection process.
Similarly, the isentropic expansion process can be replaced by an isenthalpic throttling

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process. A refrigeration system, which incorporates these two changes is known as Evans-
Perkins or reverse Rankine cycle. This is the theoretical cycle on which the actual vapour
compression refrigeration systems are based.

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3.3. Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration System (VCRS)
Figure 3.5 shows the schematic of a standard, saturated, single stage (SSS) vapour
compression refrigeration system and the operating cycle on a T s diagram. As shown in the
figure 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: 1) Irreversibility due to non-isothermal
heat rejection (process 2-3) and 2) 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. This can
be explained easily with the help of the cycle diagrams on T s charts. Figure 3.6(a) shows
comparison between Carnot and standard VCRS in terms of refrigeration effect .

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The heat extraction (evaporation) process is reversible for both the Carnot cycle and VCRS
cycle. Hence the refrigeration effect is given by:
For Carnot refrigeration cycle (1-2’’-3-4’):

For VCRS cycle (1-2-3-4):

Thus there is a reduction in refrigeration effect when the isentropic expansion process of Carnot
cycle is replaced by isenthalpic throttling process of VCRS cycle, this reduction is equal to the
area d-4-4’-c-d (area A2) and is known as throttling loss. The throttling loss is equal to the
enthalpy difference between state points 3 and 4’, i.e,

It is easy to show that the loss in refrigeration effect increases as the evaporator temperature
decreases and/or condenser temperature increases. A practical consequence of this is a
requirement of higher refrigerant mass flow rate.
The heat rejection in case of VCRS cycle also increases when compared to Carnot cycle.

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As shown in Fig.3.6 (b), the heat rejection in case of Carnot cycle (1-2’’-3-4’) is given by:

In case of VCRS cycle, the heat rejection rate is given by:

Hence the increase in heat rejection rate of VCRS compared to Carnot cycle is equal to the area
2’’-2-2’ (area A). This region is known as superheat horn, and is due to the replacement of
isothermal heat rejection process of Carnot cycle by isobaric heat rejection in case of VCRS.

Since the heat rejection increases and refrigeration effect reduces when the Carnot cycle is
modified to standard VCRS cycle, the net work input to the VCRS increases compared to Carnot
cycle. The net work input in case of Carnot and VCRS cycles are given by:

As shown in Fig.3.6(c), the increase in net work input in VCRS cycle is given by:

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10
Substituting these expressions in the expression for net work input, we obtain the compressor
work input to be equal to area 1-2-3-f-1. Now comparing this with the earlier expression for
work input (area 1-2-3-4’-c-d-4-1), we conclude that area A2 is equal to area A3 .

As mentioned before, the losses due to superheat (area A1) and throttling (area A 2≈ A3) depend
very much on the shape of the vapor dome (saturation liquid and vapour curves) on T s diagram.
The shape of the saturation curves depends on the nature of refrigerant. Figure 3.8 shows T s
diagrams for three different types of refrigerants.

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refrigerants have symmetrical saturation curves (vapour dome), as a result both the superheat and
throttling losses (areas A1and A3) are significant. That means deviation of VCRS cycle from
Carnot cycle could be significant when these refrigerants are used as working fluids. Refrigerants
such as CFC11, CFC12, HFC134a belong to Type 2, these refrigerants have small superheat
losses (area A1) but large throttling losses (area A3). High molecular weight refrigerants such as
CFC113, CFC114, CFC115, iso-butane belonging to Type 3, do not have any superheat losses,
i.e., when the compression inlet condition is saturated (point 1), then the exit condition will be in
the 2-phase region, as a result it is not necessary to superheat the refrigerant. However, these
refrigerants experience significant throttling losses. Since the compressor exit condition of Type
3 refrigerants may fall in the two-phase region, there is a danger of wet compression leading to
compressor damage. Hence for these refrigerants, the compressor inlet condition is chosen such
that the exit condition does not fall in the two-phase region. This implies that the refrigerant at
the inlet to the compressor should be superheated, the extent of which depends on the refrigerant.

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10.4 Analysis of Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration System

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3.5. Modifications to SSS cycle
3.5.1. Subcooling and superheating:
In actual refrigeration cycles, the temperature of the heat sink will be several degrees lower than
the condensing temperature to facilitate heat transfer. Hence it is possible to cool the refrigerant
liquid in the condenser to a few degrees lower than the condensing temperature by adding extra
area for heat transfer. In such a case, the exit condition of the condenser will be in the subcooled
liquid region. Hence this process is known as subcooling. Similarly, the temperature of heat
source will be a few degrees higher than the evaporator temperature; hence the vapour at the exit
of the evaporator can be superheated by a few degrees. If the superheating of refrigerant takes
place due to heat transfer with the refrigerated space (low temperature heat source) then it is
called as useful superheating as it increases the refrigeration effect. On the other hand, it is
possible for the refrigerant vapour to become superheated by exchanging heat with the
surroundings as it flows through the connecting pipelines. Such a superheating is called as
useless superheating as it does not increase refrigeration effect.

Subcooling is beneficial as it increases the refrigeration effect by reducing the throttling loss at
no additional specific work input. Also subcooling ensures that only liquid enters into the
throttling device leading to its efficient operation. Figure 3.9 shows the VCRS cycle without and
with subcooling on P-h and T-s coordinates. It can be seen from the T-s diagram that without
subcooling the throttling loss is equal to the hatched area b-4’-4-c, whereas with subcooling the
throttling loss is given by the area a-4”-4’-b. Thus the refrigeration effect increases by an amount
equal to (h4-h4’) = (h3-h3’). Another practical advantage of subcooling is that there is less vapour at
the inlet to the evaporator which leads to lower pressure drop in the evaporator.

Useful superheating increases both the refrigeration effect as well as the work of compression.
Hence the COP (ratio of refrigeration effect and work of compression) may or may not increase
with superheat, depending mainly upon the nature of the working fluid. Even though useful
superheating may or may not increase the COP of the system, a minimum amount of superheat is
desirable as it prevents the entry of liquid droplets into the compressor. Figure 3.10 shows the
VCRS cycle with superheating on P-h and T-s coordinates.

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As shown in the figure, with useful superheating, the refrigeration effect, specific volume at the
inlet to the compressor and work of compression increase. Whether the volumic refrigeration
effect (ratio of refrigeration effect by specific volume at compressor inlet) and COP increase or
not depends upon the relative increase in refrigeration effect and work of compression, which in
turn depends upon the nature of the refrigerant used. The temperature of refrigerant at the exit of
the compressor increases with superheat as the isentropes in the vapour region gradually diverge.

Fig.3.10: Effect of superheat on specific refrigeration effect and work of compression

(a) on P-h diagram (b) on T-s diagram

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3.5.2. Use of liquid-suction heat exchanger:
Required degree of subcooling and superheating may not be possible, if one were to rely only on
heat transfer between the refrigerant and external heat source and sink. Also, if the temperature
of refrigerant at the exit of the evaporator is not sufficiently superheated, then it may get
superheated by exchanging heat with the surroundings as it flows through the connecting
pipelines (useless superheating), which is detrimental to system performance. One way of
achieving the required amount of subcooling and superheating is by the use of a liquid-suction
heat exchanger (LSHX). A LSHX is a counterflow heat exchanger in which the warm refrigerant
liquid from the condenser exchanges heat with the cool refrigerant vapour from the evaporator.
Figure 3.11 shows the schematic of a single stage VCRS with a liquid-suction heat exchanger.
Figure 3.12 shows the modified cycle on T-s and P-h diagrams. As shown in the T-s diagram,
since the temperature of the refrigerant liquid at the exit of condenser is considerably higher than
the temperature of refrigerant vapour at the exit of the evaporator, it is possible to subcool the
refrigerant liquid and superheat the refrigerant vapour by exchanging heat between them.

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If we assume that there is no heat exchange between the surroundings and the LSHX and negligible
kinetic and potential energy changes across the LSHX, then, the heat transferred between the
Refrigerant liquid and vapour in the LSHX, QLSHX is given by:

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The maximum possible heat transfer rate is equal to, Qmax=mrCpv(T3-T6), because the vapour has a lower
thermal capacity, hence only it can attain the maximum possible temperature difference, which is equal to
(T3-T6). If we have a perfect LSHX with 100 percent effectiveness (εLSHX = 1.0), then from the above
discussion it is clear that the temperature of the refrigerant vapour at the exit of LSHX will be equal to the
condensing temperature, Tc, i.e., (T 1=T2=Tc). This gives rise to the possibility of an interesting cycle
called as Grindley cycle, wherein the isentropic compression process can be replaced by an isothermal
compression leading to improved COP. The Grindley cycle on T-s diagram is shown in Fig.3.13. Though
theoretically the Grindley cycle offers higher COP, achieving isothermal compression with modern high-
speed reciprocating and centrifugal compressors is difficult in practice. However, this may be possible
with screw compressor where the lubricating oil provides large heat transfer rates.

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3.6 Effect of superheat on system COP
As mentioned before, when the refrigerant is superheated usefully (either in the LSHX or the
evaporator itself), the refrigeration effect increases. However, at the same time the work of
compression also increases, primarily due to increase in specific volume of the refrigerant due to
superheat. As a result, the volumic refrigeration effect and COP may increase or decrease with
superheating depending on the relative increase in refrigeration effect and specific volume. It is
observed that for some refrigerants the COP is maximum when the inlet to the compressor is
inside the two-phase region and decreases as the suction condition moves into the superheated
region. For other refrigerants the COP does not reach a maximum and increases monotonically
with superheat. It was shown by Ewing and Gosney that a maximum COP occurs inside the two-
phase region if the following criterion is satisfied:

where COPsat is the COP of the system with saturated suction condition, Te is the evaporator
temperature and T2,sat is the compressor discharge temperature when the vapour at suction condition
is saturated (see Fig.3.14). For example, at an evaporator temperature of .15OC (258 K) and a condenser
temperature of 30OC (303 K), the Table 3.1 shows that for refrigerants such as R11, R22, ammonia the
maximum COP occurs inside the two-phase region and superheating reduces the COP and also volumic
refrigeration effect, whereas for refrigerants such as R12, carbon dioxide and R502, no maxima exists
and the COP and volumic refrigeration effect increase with superheat.

It should be noted that the above discussion holds under the assumption that the superheat is a
useful superheat. Even though superheat appears to be not desirable for refrigerants such as
ammonia, still a minimum amount of superheat is provided even for these refrigerants to prevent
the entry of refrigerant liquid into the compressor. Also it is observed experimentally that some
amount of superheat is good for the volumetric efficiency of the compressor, hence in practice
almost all the systems operate with some superheat.

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3.7 Multi- Stage Vapour Compression Refrigeration System
A single stage vapour compression refrigeration system has one low side pressure (evaporator
pressure) and one high side pressure (condenser pressure). The performance of single stage
systems shows that these systems are adequate as long as the temperature difference between
evaporator and condenser (temperature lift) is small. However, there are many applications
where the temperature lift can be quite high. The temperature lift can become large either due to
the requirement of very low evaporator temperatures and/or due to the requirement of very high
condensing temperatures. For example, in frozen food industries the required evaporator can be
as low as –40OC, while in chemical industries temperatures as low as –150OC may be required
for liquefaction of gases. On the high temperature side the required condensing temperatures can
be very high if the refrigeration system is used as a heat pump for heating applications such as
process heating, drying etc. However, as the temperature lift increases the single stage systems
become inefficient and impractical. For example, Fig. 3.14 shows the effect of decreasing
evaporator temperatures on T s and P h diagrams. It can be seen from the T s diagrams that for a
given condenser temperature, as evaporator temperature decreases:
i. Throttling losses increase
ii. Superheat losses increase
iii. Compressor discharge temperature increases
iv. Quality of the vapour at the inlet to the evaporator increases
v. Specific volume at the inlet to the compressor increases
As a result of this, the refrigeration effect decreases and work of compression increases as shown
in the P h diagram. The volumic refrigeration effect also decreases rapidly as the specific volume
increases with decreasing evaporator temperature. Similar effects will occur, though not in the
same proportion when the condenser temperature increases for a given evaporator temperature.
Due to these drawbacks, single stage systems are not recommended when the evaporator
temperature becomes very low and/or when the condenser temperature becomes high. In such
cases multi-stage systems are used in practice. Generally, for fluorocarbon and ammonia based
refrigeration systems a single stage system is used upto an evaporator temperature of –30OC. A
two-stage system is used upto –60OC and a three-stage system is used for temperatures below –
60OC.

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Apart from high temperature lift applications, multi-stage systems are also used in applications
requiring refrigeration at different temperatures. For example, in a dairy plant refrigeration may
be required at –30OC for making ice cream and at 2OC for chilling milk. In such cases it may be
advantageous to use a multi-evaporator system with the low temperature evaporator operating at
–30OC and the high temperature evaporator operating at 2OC.

A multi-stage system is a refrigeration system with two or more low-side pressures. Multi-stage
systems can be classified into:
a) Multi-compression systems
b) Multi-evaporator systems
c) Cascade systems, etc.

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Two concepts which are normally integral to multi-pressure systems are, i) flash gas removal,
and ii) intercooling. Hence these concepts will be discussed first.
3.7.1. Flash gas removal using flash tank
It is mentioned above that one of the problems with high temperature lift applications is the high
quality of vapour at the inlet to the evaporator. This vapour called as flash gas develops during
the throttling process. The flash gas has to be compressed to condenser pressure, it does not
contribute to the refrigeration effect as it is already in the form of vapour, and it increases the
pressure drop in the evaporator. It is possible to improve the COP of the system if the flash gas is
removed as soon as it is formed and recompressed to condenser pressure. However, continuous
removal of flash gas as soon as it is formed and recompressing it immediately is difficult in
practice. One way of improving the performance of the system is to remove the flash gas at an
intermediate pressure using a flash tank. Figure3.15 shows the schematic of a flash tank and
Fig.3.16 shows the expansion process employing flash tank. A flash tank is a pressure vessel,
wherein the refrigerant liquid and vapour are separated at an intermediate pressure. The
refrigerant from condenser is first expanded to an intermediate pressure corresponding to the
pressure of flash tank, Pi using a low side float valve (process 6-7). The float valve also
maintains a constant liquid level in the flash tank. In the flash tank, the refrigerant liquid and
vapour are separated. The saturated liquid at point 8 is fed to the evaporator after throttling it to
the required evaporator pressure, Pe (point 9) using an expansion valve. Depending upon the
type of the system, the saturated vapour in the flash tank (point 3) is either compressed to the
condenser pressure or throttled to the evaporator pressure. In the absence of flash tank, the
refrigerant condition at the inlet to the evaporator would have been point 9’, which has a
considerably high vapour quality compared to point 9. As mentioned, the refrigerant liquid and
vapour must get separated in the flash tank. This is possible when the upward velocity of the
refrigerant vapour in the flash tank is low enough ( < 1 m/s) for the refrigerant liquid droplets to
fall back into the flash tank due to gravity.

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3.8. Intercooling in multi-stage compression
The specific work input, w in reversible, polytropic compression of refrigerant vapour is given
by:

From the above expression, it can be seen that specific work input reduces as specific volume, v1
is reduced. At a given pressure, the specific volume can be reduced by reducing the temperature.
This is the principle behind intercooling in multi-stage compression. Figures 3.17 (a) and (b)
show the process of intercooling in two-stage compression on Pressure-specific volume (P-v)
and P-h diagrams.

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Intercooling in two-stage compression
As shown in the figures, instead of compressing the vapour in a single stage from state 1 to state
2’, if the refrigerant is compressed from state 1 to an intermediate pressure, state 2, intercooled
from 2 to 3 and then compressed to the required pressure (state 4), reduction in work input
results. If the processes are reversible, then the savings in specific work is given by the shaded
area 2-3-4-2’ on P-v diagram. The savings in work input can also be verified from the P-h
diagram. On P-h diagram, lines 1-2-2’ and 3-4 represent isentropes. Since the slope of isentropes
on P-h diagram reduces (lines become flatter) as they move away from the saturated vapour line,
(h4-h3) < (h2’-h2) ⇒ (h2-h1)+(h4-h3) < (h2’-h1)
Intercooling of the vapour may be achieved by using either a water-cooled heat exchanger or by
the refrigerant in the flash tank. Figures 3.18(a) and (b) show these two systems.
Intercooling using liquid refrigerant from condenser in the flash tank may or may not reduce the
power input to the system, as it depends upon the nature of the refrigerant. This is due to the fact
that the heat rejected by the refrigerant during intercooling generates additional vapour in the
flash tank, which has to be compressed by the high stage compressor. Thus the mass flow rate of
refrigerant through the high stage compressor will be more than that of the low stage compressor.
Whether total power input to the system decreases or not depends on whether the increased
power consumption due to higher mass flow rate is compensated by reduction in specific work of
compression or not. For ammonia, the power input usually decreases with intercooling by liquid
refrigerant, however, for refrigerants such as R12, R22, the power input marginally increases. Thus
intercooling using liquid refrigerant is not effective for R12 and R22.

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It is also possible to intercool the refrigerant vapour by a combination of water-cooled heat exchanger and
the refrigerant liquid in the flash tank.
One of the design issues in multi-stage compression is the selection of suitable intermediate pressure. For
a two-stage compressor with intercooling, the optimum intermediate pressure is given by:

where Pe and Pc are the evaporator and condenser pressures, and Tc and Te are condenser and evaporator
temperatures (in K).

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Several combinations of multi-stage systems are used in practice. Some of them are discussed
below.
3.9. Multi-stage system with flash gas removal and intercooling
Figures 3.19 (a) and (b) show a two-stage vapour compression refrigeration system with flash
gas removal using a flash tank, and intercooling of refrigerant vapour by a water-cooled heat
exchanger and flash tank. The superheated vapour from the water cooled heat exchanger bubbles
through the refrigerant liquid in the flash tank. It is assumed that in this process the superheated
refrigerant vapour gets completely de-superheated and emerges out as a saturated vapour at state
4. However, in practice complete de-superheating may not be possible. As mentioned the use of
combination of water cooling with flash tank for intercooling reduces the vapour generated in the
flash tank. The performance of this system can be obtained easily by applying mass and energy
balance equations to the individual components. It is assumed that the flash tank is perfectly
insulated and the potential and kinetic energy changes of refrigerant across each component are
negligible.
From mass and energy balance of the flash tank:

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Where QI is the heat transferred by the refrigerant to the cooling water in the intercooler.
From mass and energy balance across high-stage compressor, Compressor-II:

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It can be seen from the above expression that the refrigerant flow through the high-stage
compression mII can be reduced by reducing the enthalpy of refrigerant vapour entering into the
flash tank, h3 from the water-cooled intercooler.
The amount of additional vapour generated due to de-superheating of the refrigerant vapour from
the water-cooled intercooler is given by:

Thus the vapour generated will be zero, if the refrigerant vapour is completely de-superheated in
the water-cooled intercooler itself. However, this may not be possible in practice.

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The above system offers several advantages,
a) Quality of refrigerant entering the evaporator reduces thus giving rise to higher refrigerating
effect, lower pressure drop and better heat transfer in the evaporator
b) Throttling losses are reduced as vapour generated during throttling from Pc to Pi is separated
in the flash tank and recompressed by Compressor-II.
c) Volumetric efficiency of compressors will be high due to reduced pressure ratios
d) Compressor discharge temperature is reduced considerably.

3.10. Use of flash tank for flash gas removal

Intercooling of refrigerant vapour using water-cooled heat exchangers is possible in ammonia
systems due to high discharge temperature of ammonia. However, this is generally not possible
in systems using refrigerants such as R 12 or R 134a due to their low discharge temperatures. In
these systems, instead of passing the refrigerant vapour from the low-stage compressor through
the flash tank, vapour from the flash tank is mixed with the vapour coming from the low-stage
compressor. As a result, the inlet condition to the high-stage compressor will be slightly
superheated. A two-stage compression system with flash tank for flash gas removal for
refrigerants such as R 134a is shown in Fig. 3.20 (a). Figure 3.20 (b) shows the corresponding P-
h diagram.

Fig.3.20 A two-stage compression system with flash tank for flash gas removal only
(a) System schematic; (b) Cycle on P-h diagram

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3.11 Use of flash tank for intercooling only
Sometimes the flash tank is used for intercooling of the refrigerant vapour between the low and
high-stage compressors. It is not used for flash gas removal. Figures 3.21 (a) and (b) show the
system schematic and P-h diagram of a two-stage compression system where the flash tank is
used for intercooling only.

Fig.3.21 A two-stage compression system with the flash tank used for intercooling only

(a) System schematic (b) Cycle on P-h diagram

13.11. Multi Evaporative System

As mentioned earlier, there are many applications where refrigeration is required at different
temperatures. For example, in a typical food processing plant, cold air may be required at –30OC
for freezing and at +7OC for cooling of food products or space cooling. One simple alternative is
to use different refrigeration systems to cater to these different loads. However, this may not be
economically viable due to the high total initial cost. Another alternative is to use a single
refrigeration system with one compressor and two evaporators both operating at −30OC. The
schematic of such a system and corresponding operating cycle on P-h diagram are shown in Figs.
3.22(a) and (b). As shown in the figure the system consists of a single compressor and a single
condenser but two evaporators. Both evaporators-I and II operate at same evaporator temperature
(-30OC) one evaporator (say Evaporator-I) caters to freezing while the other (Evaporator-II)
caters to product cooling/space conditioning at 7OC. It can be seen that operating the evaporator
at –30 OC when refrigeration is required at +7OC is thermodynamically inefficient as the system
irreversibilities increase with increasing temperature difference for heat transfer.

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 Fig.3.22(a) & (b): A single stage system with two evaporators
The COP of this simple system is given by:

In addition to this there will also be other difficulties such as: evaporator catering to space
cooling (7OC) may collect frost leading to blockage of air-flow passages, if a liquid is to chilled
then it may freeze on the evaporator and the moisture content of air may become too low leading
to water losses in the food products. In such cases multi-stage systems with multiple evaporators
can be used. Several multi-evaporator combinations are possible in practice. Some of the most
common ones are discussed below.
13.11.1 Individual evaporators and a single compressor with a pressure-reducing valve
a) Individual expansion valves:
Figures 3.23 (a) and (b) show system schematic and P-h diagram of a multi-evaporator system
that uses two evaporators at two different temperatures and a single compressor. This system
also uses individual expansion valves and a pressure regulating valve (PRV) for reducing the
pressure from that corresponding to the high temperature evaporator to the compressor suction
pressure. The PRV also maintains the required pressure in high temperature evaporator
(Evaporator-II). Compared to the earlier system, this system offers the advantage of higher

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refrigeration effect at the high temperature evaporator [(h6-h4) against (h7-h5)]. However, this
advantage is counterbalanced by higher specific work input due to the operation of compressor in
superheated region.

Fig.3.23 (a) & (b): Multi-evaporator system with single compressor and individual expansion valves

Thus ultimately there may not be any improvement in system COP due to this arrangement. It is
easy to see that this modification does not result in significant improvement in performance due
to the fact that the refrigerant vapour at the intermediate pressure is reduced first using the PRV
and again increased using compressor. Obviously this is inefficient. However, this system is still
preferred to the earlier system due to proper operation of high temperature evaporator.

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b) Multiple expansion valves:
Figures 3.24 (a) and (b) show system schematic and P-h diagram of a multi-evaporator with a
single compressor and multiple expansion valves. It can be seen from the P-h diagram that the
advantage of this system compared to the system with individual expansion valves is that the
refrigeration effect of the low temperature evaporator increases as saturated liquid enters the low
stage expansion valve. Since the flash gas is removed at state 4, the low temperature evaporator
operates more efficiently.
The COP of this system is given by:

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Fig.3.24 (a) & (b): Multi-evaporator system with single compressor and multiple expansion valves

Enthalpy at point 2 (inlet to compressor) is obtained by applying mass and energy balance to the
mixing of two refrigerant streams, i.e.,

If the expansion across PRV is isenthalpic, then specific enthalpy h7 will be equal to h9.

COP obtained using the above multi-evaporator systems is not much higher compared to single
stage system as refrigerant vapour at intermediate pressure is first throttled then compressed, and
compressor inlet is in superheated region. Performance can be improved significantly if multiple
compressors are used in place of a single compressor.
3.11.2 Multi-evaporator system with multi-compression, intercooling and flash gas removal
Figures 3.25(a) and (b) show the schematic and P-h diagram of a multi-evaporator system which
employs multiple compressors, a flash tank for flash gas removal and intercooling. This system
is good for low temperature lift applications with different refrigeration loads. For example one
evaporator operates at say –40OC for quick freezing of food products and other evaporator
operate at –25OC for storage of frozen food. As shown in the system schematic, the pressure in
the high temperature evaporator (Evaporator-II) is same as that of flash tank. Superheated vapour
from the low-stage compressor is cooled to the saturation temperature in the flash tank. The low
temperature evaporator operates efficiently as flash gas is removed in the flash tank. In addition
the high-stage compressor (Compressor-II) operates efficiently as the suction vapour is saturated.

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Even though the high stage compressor has to handle higher mass flow rate due to de-
superheating of refrigerant in the flash tank, still the total power input to the system can be
reduced substantially, especially with refrigerants such as ammonia.

Fig.3.25 (a) & (b): Multi-evaporator system with multiple compressors and a flash tank for
flash gas removal and intercooling

The COP of this system is given by:

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mII is the mass flow rate of refrigerant through the high-stage compressor which can be obtained by
taking a control volume which includes the flash tank and high temperature evaporator (as shown by
dashed line in the schematic) and applying mass and energy balance:
Mass balance:

Energy balance:

from known operating temperatures and evaporator loads (Q and Q ) one can get the mass flow
e,I e,II
rate through the high stage compressor and system COP from the above equations.

3.12. Multi-evaporator system with individual compressors and multiple expansion valves
Figures 3.26(a) and (b) show the schematic and P-h diagram of a multi-evaporator system which
employs individual compressors and multiple expansion valves.

Fig.13.5(a) & (b): Multi-evaporator system with individual compressors and multiple expansion valves

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The COP of this combined system is given by:

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