Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

Mark Broomfield (PhD) Dean of Engineering

Definition: Refrigeration and Air conditioning

Refrigeration :
is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space, (substance), and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable. - primary purpose: lowering the temperature of the enclosed space and maintaining that lower temperature.

Cooling: cooling generally refers to any natural or artificial process by

which heat is dissipated. The process of artificially producing extreme cold temperatures is referred to as cryogenics.

Air conditioning:
simultaneous control of temperature, humidity, composition, motion, and distribution of air for the purpose of human comfort or for industrial utilization.

Applications: Refrigeration and Air conditioning

Air conditioning Refrigeration

Heating, humidity, and control of air quality

Industrial refrigeration including food preservation, chemical and process industries

Cooling and dehumidifying operations in air conditioning

Assignment # 1
List the factors involved in providing comfort for zone space. State the need for air conditioning such as: - comfort zone and its parameters - humidity control. Specify the temperature ranges for different applications. Explain the need or importance of control of temperatures within the comfort zones. Due Date : Today

Basic Psychrometry
Definition: is the study (science and practice) of the properties of
mixtures of air and water vapor. or Psychrometry is the study of moist air and of the changes in its conditions.

Importance in air conditioning:

Atmospheric air is not completely dry (mixture of air and water). Water is added and removed depending on process. Application: - load calculations - air conditioning systems - cooling and dehumidifying coils - cooling towers and evaporative condensers

Basic Psychrometry : psychrometer

Operation :
When the web bulb is taken out of the water, it cools by evaporation of the water. If the bulb is whirled around to hasten evaporation, it is called a sling psychrometer. If air is forced past the bulb, it is referred to as an aspirated or ventilated psychrometer.
Note :
The amount of evaporation, and consequent cooling of the thermometer, depends on the humidity of the atmospherethe drier the atmosphere, the faster the water evaporates. Using this data and humidity tables or calculations, the dew point (the temperature to which air would have to be cooled for saturation to occur) can be determined, and from it, the relative humidity.

Dry bulb: bulb exposed to the air.

Wet bulb : wrapped in an absorbent material such as muslin, which is immersed in water and serves as a wick.
A psychrometer is an instrument (commonly used in laboratories )to measure relative humidity. Also referred to as a wet- and dry-bulb thermometer.

Basic Psychrometry : Important terms

Absolute humidity : (AH) is the vapor content of air, given in grammes or kg of water vapor per kg of air, i.e. g/kg or kg/kg. It is also known as moisture content or humidity ratio. Air at a given temperature can support only a certain amount of moisture and no more. This is referred to as the saturation humidity. Relative humidity :( RH) is an expression of the moisture content of a given atmosphere as a percentage of the saturation humidity at the same temperature. Wet-bulb temperature : (WBT) is measured by a hygrometer or a sling psychrometer and is shown as sloping lines on the psychrometric chart. A status point on the psychrometric chart can be indicated by a pair of dry-bulb temperature (DBT) and WBT. Specific volume : (Spv) , in m3/kg, is the reciprocal of density and is indicated by a set of slightly sloping lines on the psychrometric chart. Enthalpy : (H) is the heat content of unit mass of the atmosphere, in kJ/kg, relative to the heat content of 0 deg ?C dry air. It is indicated on the psychrometric chart by a third set of sloping lines, near to, but not quite the same as the web-bulb lines. In order to avoid confusion, there are no lines shown, but external scales are given on two sides. Sensible heat : (Qsen) is the heat content causing an increase in dry-bulb temperature. Latent heat (Qlat) is the heat content due to the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere. It is the heat required to evaporate a given amount of moisture. Saturated vapor : Vapor which is in equilibrium with its liquid phase at the specified temperature and pressure. Dew Point : Temperature below which water vapor in the air will start to condense.

Basic Psychrometry : psychrometric chart

Locating air properties on a psychrometric chart.

Basic Psychrometry : psychrometric chart

Wet bulb temperature

Basic Psychrometry :

psychrometric chart Development

REVISION : psychrometric chart

saturated air (or 100 percent moisture holding capacity) humidity ratio (moisture content)

Wet bulb temperature scale

dry-bulb temperature scale

DIAGRAMMED CHART
Chart is standard for atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi) and temperatures of 30o to 120 oF. Adequate for most greenhouse or livestock housing applications.

Chart presents physical and thermal properties of moist air in a graphical form.

Psychrometric Chart Use

Presents physical and thermal properties of moist air in a graphical form. helpful in troubleshooting greenhouse or livestock building environmental problems and in determining solutions.

diagnosing air temperature and humidity problems.

Importance of understanding psychrometric charts helps visualization of environmental control concepts such as: why heated air can hold more moisture, and conversely, how allowing moist air to cool will result in condensation.

Psychrometric Chart Use

Note:
Properties of moist air on a psychrometric chart. Wetbulb temperature and enthalpy use the same chart line but values are read off separate scales. Note: cooler air (located along lower, left region of chart) will not hold as much moisture (as seen on the y-axis' humidity ratio) as warm air (located along right side of chart).

As rule of thumb
Inside typical greenhouses or animal buildings during winter conditions, a 10oF rise in air temperature can decrease relative humidity 20 percent. What would you do to decrease relative humidity in a winter greenhouse during a critical time period??????????

Psychrometric Chart Use

Example1:Find air properties
A sling psychrometer gives a dry-bulb temperature of 78oF and a wet-bulb temperature of 65oF. Determine other moist air properties from this information. NOTE Two useful air properties for environmental analysis in agricultural buildings would be relative humidity and dew point temperature.

REMINDER
Relative humidity is an indicator of how much moisture is in the air compared to desirable moisture conditions, and dew point temperature indicates when condensation problems would occur should the (drybulb) temperature drop.

CALCULATIONS
Find the intersection of the two known properties, dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures, on the psychrometric chart, The dry-bulb temperature is located along the bottom horizontal axis. Find the line for 78oF, which runs vertically through the chart. Wet-bulb temperature is located along diagonal dotted lines leading to scale readings at the upper, curved boundary marked "saturation temperature". The intersection of the vertical 78oF dry-bulb line and the diagonal 65oF wet-bulb line has now established a "state point" for the measured air. Read relative humidity as 50 percent (curving line running from left to right up through the chart) and dew point temperature as 58oF (follow horizontal line, moving left, toward the curved upper boundary of saturation temperatures).

Example 2 Winter ventilation

Often air is heated before it is introduced into greenhouse or young-livestock building environments. Consider an application where outdoor air at 40oF (dry-bulb) temperature and 80 percent relative humidity is heated to 65oF (dry-bulb) before it is distributed throughout the building. Find the state point for the incoming cool air on the lower left portion of the psychrometric chart .

BASIC REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

Properties of heat :
Unit : Btu, amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb. of water 1oF. ( SI;
unit is J or kJ) heat required to raise the temp. of 1kg of water 1oC. Example 1 : Cal. the quantity of heat required to raise the temp. of 62.4 lb. (1 cu. Ft.) of water from 40oF to 80oF. Solution: Btu = wt. in lb. x temp. change in oF Btu = 62.4 x 40 = 2496 Btu. Example 2 : Determine the amount of heat removed to cool 50 lb. of water from 80oF to 35oF.
content.

Sensible heat : is dry heat causing change in temperature but not in the moisture

latent heat : is the amount of energy released or absorbed by a chemical

substance during a change of state (changing from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas), or a phase transition. Specific heat capacity : measure of the heat energy required to increase the temp. of a unit quantity(1kg) of a substance by a certain temperature interval(K)./ heat capacity per unit mass, C/ c. Unit Btu.(R/AC), J/kg. K (SI unit).

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM COMPONENTS/ Basic

Evaporator : remove unwanted heat from the product, via the liquid refrigerant
(boiling at a low-pressure). Level of pressure is determined by two factors: - rate at which the heat is absorbed from the product to the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator. - rate at which the low-pressure vapor is removed from the evaporator by the compressor.

Compressor: draw the low-temperature, low-pressure vapor from the evaporator

via the suction line.

Condenser: extract heat from the refrigerant to the outside air. Expansion Valve/capillary tube:
-located at the end of the liquid line, before the evaporator. -high-pressure liquid reaches the expansion valve ( coming from the condenser). -valve reduces the pressure of the refrigerant as it passes through the orifice -reducing the pressure, also decreases the temperature of the refrigerant to a level below the surrounding air. This low-pressure, low-temperature liquid is then pumped in to the evaporator.

Refrigerant; to conduct the heat from the product

Basic Refrigeration Cycle

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM COMPONENTS/ Safety devices

Accumulator: designed to protect the compressor by preventing liquid refrigerant
(knocking and damage) from flowing into the compressor. An accumulator should be included on all systems subjected to varying load conditions or frequent compressor cycling.

Liquid line strainer/drier: prevents plugging of the valve or tube by retaining

scale, dirt, and moisture. Moisture can freeze in the refrigerant control flow or mix with oil to form slug and acids.

Oil separator : Placed between the compressor exhaust and the condenser, separates the oil
from the compressed vapor. Too much oil entering the condenser, refrigerant controls, evaporator, and filters interferes with operation.

Liquid receiver: storage tank for liquid refrigerant (especially during servicing). Usually on
systems which use low-side float control. Capillary systems do not use liquid receivers.

Other devices : evaporator pressure regulators, hot gas bypass regulators,

electric solenoid valves, suction pressure regulators, condenser pressure regulators, low-side or high-side float refrigerant controllers, service valves, etc.

Quick quiz
Reminders
To melt 1 ib. of ice 144 Btu are required (to melt 1 ton of ice 288,000
Btu are required).

To melt 1 kg of ice 335 kJ are required. Questions 1. How many Btu will be absorbed in changing 25 lb. of ice at 50 Fto water at 400 F. Givens: specific heat capacity of ice is 0.50btu/lb Latent heat of fusion of ice is 144 Btu/lb. 2. With the aid of a sketch show the relationship between pressure and temperature and explain how it is applicable to the AC & refrigeration system.
Only those who prepare to pass at all times will escape failure.

Basic Refrigeration /Thermodynamic cycle

Definitions:
T: science that deals with the relationship between heat and mechanical action. Refrigeration compression cycle is based on thermodynamics.

Technicians should know:

How to determine what size compressor is needed to produce a certain amount of refrig. How large a motor is needed to drive this compressor. Understanding how these values are determined = understanding the heat behavior of refrig. - T. systems: processes or environments used in the analysis of energy transfer. - T. cycle: a series of thermodynamic processes transferring heat and work, while varying pressure, temperature, and other state variables, eventually returning a system to its initial state.
State Properties depend only on the thermodynamic state and cumulative variation of such properties add up to zero.

Basic Refrigeration /Thermodynamic cycle

Carnot cycle
Efficiency can not be exceeded when operating between too given temperatures. C.H.E. C : receives energy at a high level of temp., converts a portion it into work and discharges the reminder to a heat sink at a low level of temperature. C.R.C : performs the reverse effect of CHEC. Transfers energy from low level of temp. to a high level temp. external work is needed for operation. C.C. when acting as a heat engine consists of the following steps:

Reversible isothermal expansion of the gas at the "hot" temperature, TH (isothermal heat addition). During this step (A to B on Fig.1, 1 to 2 in Figure 2) the expanding gas causes the piston to do work on the surroundings. The gas expansion is propelled by absorption of quantity Q1 of heat from the high temperature reservoir. Isentropic (Reversible adiabatic) expansion of the gas. For this step (B to C on Fig.1, 2 to 3 in Figure 2) we assume the piston and cylinder are thermally insulated, so that no heat is gained or lost. The gas continues to expand, doing work on the surroundings. The gas expansion causes it to cool to the "cold" temperature, TC. Reversible isothermal compression of the gas at the "cold" temperature, TC. (isothermal heat rejection) (C to D on Figure 1, 3 to 4 on Fig.2) Now the surroundings do work on the gas, causing quantity Q2 of heat to flow out of the gas to the low temperature reservoir. Isentropic compression of the gas. (D to A on Fig.1, 4 to 1 in Figure 2) Once again we assume the piston and cylinder are thermally insulated. During this step, the surroundings do work on the gas, compressing it and causing the temperature to rise to TH. At this point the gas is in the same state as at the start of step 1.

Diagram of Carnot Cycle

Fig.1: C.C., illustrated on a temperatureentropy diagram. The cycle takes place between a hot reservoir at temperature TH and a cold reservoir at temperature TC.

Fig.2: C.C., illustrated on a pressurevolume diagram to illustrate the work done.

Diagram of Reversed Carnot Cycle/ Refrig. cycle

Processes of cycle:
1-2. Adiabatic compression 2-3. Isothermal rejection of heat 3-4. Adiabatic expansion 4-1. Isothermal addition of heat
Heat from low temp. source Temperature, K 3 Net work 4 1 2

Entropy, kJ/ . K Carnot refrigeration cycle.

Heat from low temp. source

Temperature-entropy (T-S) diagram of Carnot refrigeration cycle.

Diagram of Vapor compression Cycle

Figure 2: TemperatureEntropy diagram

Reversed Carnot Cycle

Carnot circle consists of reversible processes which makes its efficiency higher than could be achieved with actual systems. Question: Why discuss the Carnot cycle if it is unattainable ideal???? Serves as a standard of comparison Provides a convenient guide to the that should be maintained to achieve maximum effectiveness. Coefficient of performance = magnitude of disired commodity magnitude of expenditure

Rankine cycle
describes a model of the operation of steam heat engines most commonly found in power generation plants. Common heat sources for power plants using the Rankine cycle are coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear. Rankine cycle is sometimes referred to as a practical Carnot cycle as, when an efficient turbine is used, the TS diagram will begin to resemble the Carnot cycle. Main difference is that a pump is used to pressurize liquid instead of Physical layout of the four main devices used in gas. This requires about 100 times the Rankine cycle. less energy than that compressing a gas in a compressor (as in the Carnot cycle).