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Fathy El-Wahsh 1
INTRODUCTION
Refrigeration is defined as “the process of cooling of bodies or
fluids to temperatures lower than those available in the
surroundings at a particular time and place”.
Cooling ,In general, is a heat transfer process down a
temperature gradient, it can be a natural, spontaneous process
or an artificial process.
However, refrigeration is not a spontaneous process, as it
requires expenditure of exergy (or availability).
“All refrigeration processes involve cooling, but all cooling
processes need not involve refrigeration”.
The oldest and most well-known among refrigerants are ice,
water, and air. In the beginning, the sole purpose was to
conserve food.
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Methods of Producing Low Temperatures
4. Expansion of Liquids
5. Expansion of gases
6. Thermoelectric Refrigeration
7. Adiabatic demagnetization
Where:
α is the thermoelectric power or Seebeck coefficient.
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Adiabatic Demagnetization Magnetic refrigeration is
based on the magneto
caloric effect.
Now if the magnetic field is suddenly removed, the atoms will come
back to the original random orientation. This requires work to be
done by the atoms.
SYSTEMS
Process 4-1
• For low speed aircraft flying at low altitudes, cooling system may not
be required, however, for high speed aircraft flying at high altitudes, a
cooling system is a must.
The ambient air at state 1 is pressurized to state 2 due to the ram effect,
this air is further compressed to state 3 in the main compressor.
The air is then cooled to state 4 in the air cooler, the heat rejected in the
air cooler is absorbed by the ram air at state 2.
The air from the air cooler is further compressed from state 4 to state 5 in
the secondary compressor. It is then cooled to state 6 in the after cooler,
expanded to cabin pressure in the cooling turbine and is supplied to the
cabin at a low temperature T7.
REFRIGERATION CYCLE
5.An expansion valve for throttling the refrigerant liquid from the
condenser pressure to the evaporator pressure; also controls refrigerant
flow
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CARNOT REFRIGERATION CYCLE
• Flow Processes
• Figures shows the refrigeration cycle on p-h and T-s diagrams.
• The refrigerant evaporates entirely in the evaporator and produces the
refrigerating effect.
• It is then extracted by the compressor at state point 1, compressor suction,
and is compressed isentropically from state point 1 to 2.
• It is next condensed to liquid in the condenser, and the latent heat of
condensation is rejected to the heat sink.
• The liquid refrigerant, at state point 3, flows through an expansion valve,
which reduces it to the evaporating pressure.
• In the ideal vapor compression cycle, the throttling process at the
expansion valve is the only irreversible process, usually indicated by a
dotted line.
• Some of the liquid flashes into vapor and enters the evaporator at state
point 4.
• The remaining liquid portion evaporates at the evaporating temperature,
thus completing the cycle.
(b) The mass flow rate of the refrigerant may be determined from an
energy balance on the condenser
(d) The reversible COP of the refrigerator for the same temperature limits
is
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.
where Plow and Phigh are the inlet pressure to the low-stage compressor and exit pressure
from the high-stage compressor, respectively
where Pe and Pc are the evaporator and condenser pressures, and Tc and Te are condenser
and evaporator temperatures (in K).
In these systems, in stead of passing the refrigerant vapor from the low-
stage compressor through the flash tank, vapor from the flash tank is
mixed with the vapor coming from the low-stage compressor.
However, this system is still preferred to the earlier system due to proper
operation of high temperature evaporator.
It can be seen from the P-h diagram-Fig.6.3- 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.
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.
b) The operating pressures with a single refrigerant may become too high
or too low. Generally only R12, R22 and NH3 systems have been used in
multi-stage systems, as other conventional working fluids may operate in
vacuum at very low evaporator temperatures. Operation in vacuum leads to
leakages into the system and large compressor displacement due to high
specific volume.
where Te and Tc are the evaporator temperature of low temperature cascade and
condenser temperature of high temperature cascade, respectively.
Next this high temperature, high pressure liquid is expanded through the
expansion valve into the condenser operating at a pressure Psuction and its
temperature drops to a sufficiently low value (Te,h), then it can condense at
a temperature Tc,l in the condenser and then its throttled to the suction
pressure and is then made to flow through the evaporator, where it can
provide the required refrigeration effect at a very low temperature Te.
In practice, more than two stages with more than two refrigerants can be
used to achieve very high temperature lifts. However, in actual systems,
it is not possible to separate pure refrigerants in the partial condenser.
Three-stage compound system with a two-stage flash cooler: (a) schematic diagram; (b)
refrigeration cycle
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• Multipurpose Refrigeration Systems with a Single Compressor
• Some applications require refrigeration at more than one temperature. This
could be accomplished by using a separate throttling valve and a separate
compressor for each evaporator operating at different temperatures. However,
such a system is bulky and probably uneconomical. A more practical and
economical approach would be to route all the exit streams from the
evaporators to a single compressor and let it handle the compression process
for the entire system.
Schematic and T-s diagram for a refrigerator–freezer unit with one compressor.
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• EXAMPLE 11-4: A Two-Stage Refrigeration Cycle with a Flash Chamber
Consider a two-stage compression refrigeration system operating between the
pressure limits of 0.8 and 0.14 MPa. The working fluid is refrigerant-134a.
The refrigerant leaves the condenser as a saturated liquid and is throttled to a
flash chamber operating at 0.32 MPa. Part of the refrigerant evaporates during
this flashing process, and this vapor is mixed with the refrigerant leaving the
low-pressure compressor.
The mixture is then compressed to the condenser pressure by the high-pressure
compressor. The liquid in the flash chamber is throttled to the evaporator
pressure and cools the refrigerated space as it vaporizes in the evaporator.
Assuming the refrigerant leaves the evaporator as a saturated vapor and both
compressors are isentropic, determine
(a) the fraction of the refrigerant that evaporates as it is throttled to the flash
chamber.
(b) the amount of heat removed from the refrigerated space and the compressor
work per unit mass of refrigerant flowing through the condenser.
(c) the coefficient of performance.
• Solution A two-stage compression refrigeration system operating between
specified pressure limits is considered.
The fraction of the refrigerant that evaporates in the flash chamber, the
refrigeration and work input per unit mass, and the COP are to be determined.
(c) The COP of this refrigeration system is determined from its definition,
(b) The enthalpy at state 9 is determined from an energy balance on the mixing chamber:
From a heat balance of the refrigerants entering and leaving the mixing point before the
inlet of the second-stage impeller, as shown in Fig. c, the enthalpy of the mixture at point 3,
Two-stage compound system with a vertical coil intercooler:(a) schematic diagram; (b)
refrigeration cycle
The liquid refrigerant flowing inside the coils of a vertical coil can be
maintained at a slightly lower pressure than condensing pressure, whereas
the pressure of liquid refrigerant in the flash cooler is decreased to the
interstage pressure. Some refrigerant may be pre-flashed before the
throttling device, causing a waste of refrigerating capacity. For a flash
cooler, the available pressure drop in the throttling device is lower.
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Med Term Exam
2. What are the functions of the rectifier, the absorber, the generator and
the regenerator in an absorption refrigeration system?