V/C

Does the ideal vapor-compression

refrigeration
cycle involve any internal
irreversibilities?
Yes; the throttling process is an internally
irreversible process.
Why is the throttling valve not
replaced by an isentropic
turbine in the ideal vapor-compression
refrigeration
cycle?
To make the ideal vapor-compression
refrigeration cycle more closely approximate the
actual
cycle.

It is proposed to use water instead of

refrigerant134a as the working fluid in airconditioning applications
where the minimum temperature
never falls below the freezing
point. Would you support this
proposal? Explain.
It is proposed to use water instead of
refrigerant134a as the working fluid in airconditioning applications
where the minimum temperature
never falls below the freezing
point. Would you support this
proposal? Explain.
No. Assuming the water is maintained at 10C
in the evaporator, the evaporator pressure will be
the saturation pressure corresponding to this
pressure, which is 1.2 kPa. It is not practical to

design
refrigeration or air-conditioning devices that
involve such extremely low pressures.
In a refrigeration system, would you
recommend condensing
the refrigerant-134a at a pressure of
0.7 or 1.0 MPa if
heat is to be rejected to a cooling
medium at 15C? Why?
Allowing a temperature difference of 10C for
effective heat transfer, the condensation
temperature
of the refrigerant should be 25C. The saturation
pressure corresponding to 25C is 0.67 MPa.
Therefore,
the recommended pressure would be 0.7 MPa.
119C Consider two vaporcompression refrigeration cycles.

The refrigerant enters the throttling

valve as a saturated liquid
at 30C in one cycle and as subcooled
liquid at 30C in the
other one. The evaporator pressure for
both cycles is the same.
Which cycle do you think will have a
higher COP?
The cycle that involves saturated liquid at 30C
will have a higher COP because, judging from
the
T-s diagram, it will require a smaller work input
for the same refrigeration capacity.
The COP of vapor-compression
refrigeration cycles
improves when the refrigerant is
subcooled before it enters the
throttling valve. Can the refrigerant be
subcooled indefinitely
to maximize this effect, or is there a

lower limit? Explain.

11-10C The minimum temperature that the
refrigerant can be cooled to before throttling is
the temperature
of the sink (the cooling medium) since heat is
transferred from the refrigerant to the cooling
medium.
cascade
What is cascade refrigeration? What
are the advantages
and disadvantages of cascade
refrigeration?
Performing the refrigeration in stages is called
cascade refrigeration. In cascade refrigeration,
two
or more refrigeration cycles operate in series.
Cascade refrigerators are more complex and
expensive, but
they have higher COP's, they can incorporate

two or more different refrigerants, and they can

achieve
much lower temperatures.
How does the COP of a cascade
refrigeration system
compare to the COP of a simple vaporcompression
cycle operating between the same
pressure limits?
Cascade refrigeration systems have higher COPs
than the ordinary refrigeration systems operating
between the same pressure limits.
1138C A certain application requires
maintaining the
refrigerated space at 32C. Would you
recommend a simple
refrigeration cycle with refrigerant134a or a two-stage cascade
refrigeration cycle with a different
refrigerant at the bottoming
cycle? Why?
The saturation pressure of refrigerant-134a at
-32C is 77 kPa, which is below the atmospheric

pressure. In reality a pressure below this value

should be used. Therefore, a cascade
refrigeration system
with a different refrigerant at the bottoming
cycle is recommended in this case.
Consider a two-stage cascade
refrigeration cycle and
a two-stage compression refrigeration
cycle with a flash chamber.
Both cycles operate between the same
pressure limits and
use the same refrigerant. Which
system would you favor?
Why?
11-39C We would favor the two-stage
compression refrigeration system with a flash
chamber since it is
simpler, cheaper, and has better heat transfer
characteristics.
Can a vapor-compression refrigeration
system with
a single compressor handle several
evaporators operating at

different pressures? How?

Yes, by expanding the refrigerant in stages in
several throttling devices.
In the liquefaction process, why are
gases compressed
to very high pressures?
To take advantage of the cooling effect by
throttling from high pressures to low pressures.
Gas Ref
How does the ideal-gas refrigeration
cycle differ
from the Brayton cycle?
The ideal gas refrigeration cycle is identical to
the Brayton cycle, except it operates in the
reversed
direction.
How does the ideal-gas refrigeration
cycle differ
from the Carnot refrigeration cycle?

In the ideal gas refrigeration cycle, the heat

absorption and the heat rejection processes occur
at
constant pressure instead of at constant
temperature.
How is the ideal-gas refrigeration cycle
modified
for aircraft cooling?
In aircraft cooling, the atmospheric air is
compressed by a compressor, cooled by the
surrounding
air, and expanded in a turbine. The cool air
leaving the turbine is then directly routed to the
cabin.
In gas refrigeration cycles, can we
replace the turbine
by an expansion valve as we did in
vapor-compression
refrigeration cycles? Why?
No; because h = h(T) for ideal gases, and the
temperature of air will not drop during a
throttling

(h1 = h2) process.

How do we achieve very low
temperatures with
gas refrigeration cycles?
with regeneration