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UNIT-V

REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING

Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle:

Process 2-3: Constant pressure condensation of the refrigerant in the condenser till it
becomes a saturated liquid.

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Process 3-4: Throttling expansion of the refrigerant from condenser pressure to the
evaporator pressure.

Process 4-1: Constant pressure vapourisation of the refrigerant in the evaporator till it
becomes a dry saturated vapour. During this process heat is absorbed by the refrigerant
from the place to be refrigerated.

Applying steady flow steady state energy equation to the evaporator and neglecting the
changes in kinetic and potential energies we have
Refrigeration effect = QR = m (h1 – h4)
Since process 3-4 is a throttling process, h4 = h3.
Hence QR = m (h1 – h3)
Similarly, by applying steady flow, steady state energy equation to compressor we get
Compressor work input = Wc = m (h2 – h1)

Sub cooling or Under cooling:

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Super Heating:

Advantages of Vapour compression refrigeration system over air refrigeration system:

• Since the working cycle approaches closer to carnot cycle, the C.O.P is quite high.
• Operational cost of vapour compression system is just above 1/4th of air refrigeration
system.
• Since the heat removed consists of the latent heat of vapour, the amount of liquid
circulated is less and as a result the size of the evaporator is smaller.
• Any desired temperature of the evaporator can be achieved just by adjusting the throttle
valve.
Disadvantages of Vapour compression refrigeration system over air refrigeration system

• Initial investment is high

• Prevention of leakage of refrigerant is a major problem

Refrigerant

A refrigerant is a fluid in a refrigerating system that by its evaporating takes the heat of
the cooling coils and gives up heat by condensing the condenser.

Identifying refrigerants by numbers

The present practice in the refrigeration industry is to identify refrigerants by numbers.

The identification system of numbering has been standardized by the American society of
heating, refrigerating and air conditioning engineers (ASHRAE), some refrigerants in common
use are

Refrigeration Name and Chemical Formula

R-11 Trichloromonofluoromethane CCl3F

R-12 Dichlorodifluoromethane CCl2F2

R-22 Monochlorodifluoromethane CHClF2

R-717 Ammonia NH3

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R114(R40) Azeotropic mixture of 73.8%

R-500 (R-22) and 26.2% R-152a

R502 Azeotropic mixture of 48.8%

(R-22) and 51.2% R-115

R-764 Sulphur Dioxide SO2

Properties of Refrigerants

• Toxicity:
It obviously desirable that the refrigerant have little effect on people

• Inflammability:
Although refrigerants are entirely sealed from the atmosphere, leaks are bound to
develop. If the refrigerant is inflammable and the system is located where ignition of the
refrigerant may occur, a great hazard is involved.

• Boiling Point.
An ideal refrigerant must have low boiling temperature at atmospheric pressure

• Freezing Point
An ideal refrigerant must have a very low freezing point because the refrigerant should
not freeze at low evaporator temperatures.

• Evaporator and condenser pressure.

In order to avoid the leakage of the atmosphere air and also to enable the detection of the
leakage of the refrigerant, both the Evaporator and condenser pressure should be slightly above
the atmosphere pressure.

• Chemical Stability
An ideal refrigerant must not decompose under operating conditions..

• Latent heat of Evaporation.

The Latent heat of Evaporation must be very high so that a minimum amount of
refrigerant will accomplish the desired result; in other words, it increases the refrigeration effect

• Specific Volume
The Specific Volume of the refrigerant must be low. The lower specific volume of the
refrigerant at the compressor reduces the size of the compressor.

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• Specific heat of liquid vapour.

A good refrigerant must have low specific heat when it is in liquid state and high specific
heat when it is vaporized

• Viscosity
The viscosity of the refrigerant t both the liquid and vapour state must be very low as
improved the heat transfer and reduces the pumping pressure.

• Corrosiveness.
A good refrigerant should be non-corrosive to prevent the corrosion of the metallic parts
of the refrigerator.

• Odour.
A good refrigerant must be odourless, otherwise some foodstuff such as meat, butter, etc.
loses their taste

• Oil solvent properties.

A good refrigerant must be not react with the lubricating oil used in the refrigerator for
lubricating the parts of the compressor.

Ton of refrigeration:

Amount of heat required to Melt a Ton of Ice in a 24/h Period

One ton of refrigeration is the heat required to melt 1 ton of ice in 24 hrs. That is, a refrigeration
machine rated at 1 ton cools as much in 24 hrs. as 1 ton of ice would by melting in the same
period.

The heat required is the product of the latent heat of fusion and the mass in kg.

Q = mH,

1 ton = 907 kg

latent heat of fusion: H = 340 kJ/kg

Q = 907*340 = 308380 kJ

The power required is then:

P = E/t = Q/t = 308380 kJ/24 hr = 308380/(24*3600) = 3.57 kw

Note: 1 watt = 1 J/s

so that 1 kw = 1 kJ/s

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Ammonia Water vapour absorption refrigeration system:

1) Evaporator: It is in the evaporator where the refrigerant pure ammonia (NH3) in liquid state
produces the cooling effect. It absorbs the heat from the substance to be cooled and gets
evaporated. From here, the ammonia passes to the absorber in the gaseous state.

2) Absorber: In the absorber the weak solution of ammonia-water is already present. The water,
used as the absorbent in the solution, is unsaturated and it has the capacity to absorb more
ammonia gas. As the ammonia from evaporator enters the absorber, it is readily absorbed by
water and the strong solution of ammonia-water is formed. During the process of absorption heat
is liberated which can reduce the ammonia absorption capacity of water; hence the absorber is
cooled by the cooling water. Due to absorption of ammonia, strong solution of ammonia-water is
formed in the absorber.

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3) Pump: The strong solution of ammonia and water is pumped by the pump at high pressure to
the generator.

4) Generator: The strong solution of ammonia refrigerant and water absorbent are heated by the
external source of heat such as steam or hot water. It can also be heated by other sources like
natural gas, electric heater, waste exhaust heat etc. Due to heating the refrigerant ammonia gets
vaporized and it leaves the generator. However, since water has strong affinity for ammonia and
its vaporization point is quite low some water particles also get carried away with ammonia
refrigerant, so it is important to pass this refrigerant through analyzer.

5) Analyzer: One of the major disadvantages of the ammonia-water vapor absorption

refrigeration system is that the water in the solution has quite low vaporizing temperature, hence
when ammonia refrigerant gets vaporized in the generator some water also gets vaporized. Thus
the ammonia refrigerant leaving the generator carries appreciable amount of water vapor. If this
water vapor is allowed to be carried to the evaporator, the capacity of the refrigeration system
would reduce. The water vapor from ammonia refrigerant is removed by analyzer and the
rectifier.

The analyzer is a sort of the distillation column that is located at the top of the generator.
The analyzer consists of number of plates positioned horizontally. When the ammonia refrigerant
along with the water vapor particles enters the analyzer, the solution is cooled. Since water has
higher saturation temperature, water vapor gets condensed into the water particles that drip down
into the generator. The ammonia refrigerant in the gaseous state continues to rise up and it moves
to the rectifier.

6) Rectifier or the reflex condenser: The rectifier is a sort of the heat exchanger cooled by the
water, which is also used for cooling the condenser. Due to cooling the remaining water vapor
mixed with the ammonia refrigerant also gets condensed along with some particles of ammonia.
This weak solution of water and ammonia drains down to the analyzer and then to the generator.

7) Condenser and expansion valve: The pure ammonia refrigerant in the vapor state and at high
pressure then enters the condenser where it is cooled by water. The refrigerant ammonia gets
converted into the liquid state and it then passes through the expansion valve where its
temperature and pressure falls down suddenly. Ammonia refrigerant finally enters the
evaporator, where it produces the cooling effect. This cycle keeps on repeating continuously.

Meanwhile, when ammonia gets vaporized in the generator, weak solution of ammonia
and water is left in it. This solution is expanded in the expansion valve and passed back to the
absorber and its cycle repeats.

Lithium Bromide-Water vapour absorption refrigeration system:

This refrigeration system is used for large tonnage capacity. In this system, lithium-
bromide is acting as the absorbent and water is acting as refrigerant. Thus in the absorber the
lithium bromide absorbent absorbs the water refrigerant and solution of water and lithium
bromide is formed. This solution is pumped by the pump to the generator where the solution is
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heated. The water refrigerant gets vaporized and moves to the condenser where it is heated while
lithium bromide flows back to the absorber where it further absorbs water coming from the
evaporator.

The water-lithium bromide vapor absorption system is used in a number of air

conditioning applications. This system is useful for the applications where the temperature
required is more than 32 degree F.

Special Features of Water-Lithium Bromide Solution

Here are some special features of the water and lithium bromide in absorption refrigeration
system:

1) As such lithium bromide has great affinity for water vapor, however, when the water-lithium
bromide solution is formed, they are not completely soluble with each other under all the
operating conditions of the absorption refrigeration system. Hence, when the water-lithium
bromide absorption refrigeration system is being designed, the designer must take care that such
conditions would not be created where the crystallization and precipitation of lithium bromide
would occur.

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2) The water used as the refrigerant in the absorption refrigeration system means the operating
pressures in the condenser and the evaporator would be very low. Even the difference of pressure
between the condenser and the evaporator are very low, and this can be achieved even without
installing the expansion valve in the system, since the drop in pressure occurs due to friction in
the refrigeration piping and also in the spray nozzles.

3) The capacity of any absorption refrigeration system depends on the ability of the absorbent to
absorb the refrigerant, which in turn depends on the concentration of the absorbent. To increase
the capacity of the system, the concentration of absorbent should be increased, which would
enable absorption of more refrigerant. Some of the most common methods used to change the
concentration of the absorbent are: controlling the flow of the steam or hot water to the
generator, controlling the flow of water used for condensing in the condenser, and re-
concentrating the absorbent leaving the generator and entering the absorber.

Parts of the Water-Lithium Bromide Absorption Refrigeration and their Working

Let us see various parts of the water-lithium bromide absorption refrigeration and their working
(please refer the figure above):

1) Evaporator: Water as the refrigerant enters the evaporator at very low pressure and
temperature. Since very low pressure is maintained inside the evaporator the water exists in the
partial liquid state and partial vapor state. This water refrigerant absorbs the heat from the
substance to be chilled and gets fully evaporated. It then enters the absorber.

2) Absorber: In the absorber concentrated solution of lithium bromide is already available. Since
water is highly soluble in lithium bromide, solution of water-lithium bromide is formed. This
solution is pumped by the pump to the generator.

3) Generator: The heat is supplied to the refrigerant water and absorbent lithium bromide
solution in the generator from the steam or hot water. Due to heating water gets vaporized and it
moves to the condenser, where it gets cooled. As water refrigerant moves further in the
refrigeration piping and though nozzles, it pressure reduces and so also the temperature. This
water refrigerant then enters the evaporator where it produces the cooling effect. This cycle is
repeated continuously. Lithium bromide on the other hand, leaves the generator and reenters the
absorber for absorbing water refrigerant.

As seen in the image above, the condenser water is used to cool the water refrigerant
in the condenser and the water-Li Br solution in the absorber. Steam is used for heating
water-Li Br solution in the generator. To change the capacity of this water-Li Br absorption
refrigeration system the concentration of Li Br can be changed.

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Comparison between vapour compression and vapour absorption systems:

Psychrometry:

Psychrometry is the science of studying thermodynamic properties of moist air and the
use of these to analyze conditions and processes involving moist air.

Terminologies used in Psychrometry:

Dry-Bulb Temperature - Tdb

Dry-Bulb Temperature, usually referred to as the air temperature, is the air property that is most
commonly used. People referring to air temperature normally referring to Dry Bulb Temperature.

Dry-Bulb Temperature - Tdb - can be measured by using a normal thermometer. With Dry-
Bulb Temperature the sensible heat content in the air can be determined along the bottom axis of
the psychrometric chart. The vertical lines extending upward from this axis are constant-
temperature lines.

Wet-Bulb Temperature - Twb

Wet-Bulb Temperature is associated with the moisture content of the air.

Wet Bulb Temperature can be measured with a thermometer that has the bulb covered
with a water-moistened bandage with air flowing over the thermometer.

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Wet-Bulb Temperatures are always lower than dry bulb temperatures with less than 100%
relative humidity in the air. The Wet-Bulb Temperature and the Dry-Bulb Temperature will be
identical with 100% relative humidity in the air (the air is at the saturation line).

On the chart, the Wet-Bulb Temperature lines slopes a little upward to the left, and the
temperature is read at the saturation line.

Relative Humidity - RH

Relative Humidity is the ratio of water vapor pressure - pw, to the water vapor pressure of
saturated air at the same temperature - pws, expressed as a percentage. Relative humidity is a
relative measure.

The moisture-holding capacity of air increases with air temperature. In practice the
relative humidity will indicate the moisture level of the air compared to the maximum
moisture-holding capacity of air at saturation.

Dew Point Temperature - Tdp

Dew Point is the temperature at which water vapor starts to condense in the air - the
temperature at which air becomes completely saturated. Above this temperature the moisture
stays in the air.

The Dew Point Temperature can be read in the psychrometric charts by following the
horizontal line from the state-point to the saturation line. The Dew Point Temperature is
represented along the 100% relative humidity line.

Specific Volume of Humid Air - v

Specific Volume represents the space occupied by a unit weight of dry air (ft3/lb, m3/kg).
Specific volume is indicated along the bottom axis of the psychrometric chart with the constant-
volume lines slanting upward to the left.

Moisture Content and Humidity Ratio - x

Moisture Content and Humidity Ratio is the amount of water vapor by weight in dry air.

The moisture content of air is expressed as the weight of water vapor per unit weight of dry air
(lbH2O/lbair, kgH2O/kgair).

Humidity ratio is indicated along the right-hand axis in psychrometric charts.

Enthalpy - h

Enthalpy is the measure of the total thermal energy in air.

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Energy content is expressed as energy per unit weight of air (Btu/lbair, J/kgair).

Enthalpy in the psychrometric chart can read from where the appropriate wet-bulb line
crosses the diagonal scale above the saturation curve.

Air with the same amount of energy may either be drier hotter air (higher sensible heat) or
cooler moister air (higher latent heat).

Psychrometric Chart:

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Psychrometric Processes:

Sensible Cooling:

The sensible cooling of air is the process in which only the sensible heat of the air is
removed so as to reduce its temperature, and there is no change in the moisture content (kg/kg of
dry air) of the air. During sensible cooling process the dry bulb (DB) temperature and wet bulb
(WB) temperature of the air reduces, while the latent heat of the air, and the dew point (DP)
temperature of the air remains constant. There is overall reduction in the enthalpy of the air.

The sensible cooling process is represented by a straight horizontal line on the

psychrometric chart. The line starts from the initial DB temperature of the air and ends at the
final DB temperature of the air extending towards the left side from high temperature to the low
temperature (see the figure below). The sensible cooling line is also the constant DP temperature
line since the moisture content of the air remains constant. The initial and final points on the
psychrometric chart give all the properties of the air.

Sensible Heating:
Sensible heating process is opposite to sensible cooling process. In sensible heating
process the temperature of air is increased without changing its moisture content. During this
process the sensible heat, DB and WB temperature of the air increases while latent of air, and the
DP point temperature of the air remains constant.
Like the sensible cooling, the sensible heating process is also represented by a straight horizontal
line on the psychrometric chart. The line starts from the initial DB temperature of air and ends at
the final temperature extending towards the right (see the figure). The sensible heating line is
also the constant DP temperature line.

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Cooling and Humidification:

During the cooling and humidification process the dry bulb of the air reduces, its wet bulb
and the dew point temperature increases, while its moisture content and thus the relative
humidity also increases. Also, the sensible heat of the air reduces, while the latent heat of the air
increases resulting in the overall increase in the enthalpy of the air.

Cooling and humidification process is represented by an angular line on the psychrometric

chart starting from the given value of the dry bulb temperature and the relative humidity and
extending upwards toward left.

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Heating and Humidification:

During heating and humidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb, and dew point
temperature of the air increases along with its relative humidity. The heating and humidification
process is represented on the psychrometric chart by an angular line that starts from the given
value of the dry bulb temperature and extends upwards towards right (see the figure below).

Cooling and Dehumidification:

During the cooling and dehumidification process the dry bulb, wet bulb and the dew point
temperature of air reduces. Similarly, the sensible heat and the latent heat of the air also reduce
leading to overall reduction in the enthalpy of the air. The cooling and dehumidification process
is represented by a straight angular line on the psychrometric chart. The line starts from the given
value of the DB temperature and extends downwards towards left.

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Heating and Dehumidification:

During the heating and dehumidification process dry bulb temperature of the air increases
while its dew point and wet bulb temperature reduces. On the psychrometric chart, this process is
represented by a straight angular line starting from the given DB temperature conditions and
extending downwards towards right to the final DB temperature conditions.

Adiabatic Mixing:

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Saturated air leaving the cooling section of an air conditioning system at T 1°C at a rate of
3
V1 (m /min) is mixed adiabatically with outside air at T2°C and RH2 percent relative humidity at
a rate of V2 (m3/min). Assuming that the mixing process occurs at a pressure of P(atm),
determine the specific humidity, the relative humidity, the dry-bulb temperature, and the volume
flow rate of the mixture.

Adiabatic Humidification:

Adiabatic humidification occurs when water vapour is added to the atmosphere.

Specific humidity will increase, along the wet bulb temperature line. Reduction in dry
bulb temperature will happen as, the evaporated water will absorb heat.

A humidifier will perform this function.

Cooling Load Calculation:

Load due to heat transfer:

1.Cooling Load Temperature Difference

The space sensible cooling load Qrs is calculated as:

where A = area of external wall or roof

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U = overall heat transfer coefficient of the external wall or roof. CLTD values are found from tables.
Cooling Load Factor:

The cooling load factor is defined as:

Conduction Heat Gain through Roofs (Qrs) and External Walls (Qws)

The space cooling load due to the conduction heat gain through roofs or external walls is calculated as:

where A = area for external walls or roofs

U = overall heat transfer coefficient for external walls or roof

Electric Lighting

Space cooling load due to the heat gain from electric lights is often the major component for
commercial buildings having a larger ratio of interior zone. Electric lights contribute to sensible load
only. Sensible heat released from electric lights is in two forms:

convective heat from the lamp, tube and fixtures.

radiation absorbed by walls, floors, and furniture and convected by the ambient air after a
time lag.

The sensible heat released (Qles) from electric lights is calculated as:

where Input = total light wattage obtained from the ratings of all fixtures installed

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Load due to heat generation:

Classification of heat loads:

Sensible Heat
Sensible heat is the heat absorbed or given off by a substance that is NOT in the process
of changing its physical state. Sensible heat can be sensed, or measured, with a thermometer, and
the addition or removal of sensible heat will always cause a change in the temperature of the
substance.

Latent Heat
Latent heat is the heat absorbed or given off by a substance while it is changing its
physical state. The heat absorbed or given off does NOT cause a temperature change in the
substance- the heat is latent or hidden. In other words, sensible heat is the heat that affects the
temperature of things; latent heat is the heat that affects the physical state of things.

Concepts of GSHF, RSHF, ESHF:

Gross Sensible Heat Factor:

It is defined as the ratio of gross sensible heat to the gross total heat.

GSHF= GSH/GTH

Effective Sensible Heat Factor:

It is the ratio of effective room sensible heat to the effective room total heat.

ESHF= ERSH/ERTH.

Room Sensible Heat Factor:

It is the ratio of room sensible heat to the room total heat.

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Types of Air- Conditioning System:

Central Systems:

The central air conditioning system is used for cooling big buildings, houses, offices,
entire hotels, gyms, movie theaters, factories etc. If the whole building is to be air conditioned,
HVAC engineers find that putting individual units in each of the rooms is very expensive
initially as well in the long run. The central air conditioning system is comprised of a huge
compressor that has the capacity to produce hundreds of tons of air conditioning. Cooling big
halls, malls, huge spaces, galleries etc is usually only feasible with central conditioning units.

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Zoned Systems:

A zoned air conditioning system using a room air terminal which has the same horizontal
dimensions as a floor tile of a raised tile floor such that the terminal may replace one tile in such
a floor. The terminal includes a cool air inlet below the floor for drawing in cooling air circulated
in the under floor space and a return air inlet in the top surface of the terminal. The cool air and
return air is mixed in a mixing chamber and drawn from the mixing chamber by a fan and
returned to the room through an outlet vent. The ratio of cool air to return air mixed in the
mixing chamber is controlled by a modulating damper which is controlled in response to the
temperature of the return air in order to control the room temperature in the region of the
terminal in accordance with an adjustable set point. A heater is also provided in the terminal for
those occasions where the return air is cooler than the set point.

Unitary Systems:

A unitary air conditioning system comprises an outdoor unit including a compressor for
compressing a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger for heat exchange of the refrigerant and an
expander connected to the outdoor heat exchanger, for expanding the refrigerant; a duct installed
inside a zone of a building; a central blower unit having a heat exchanger connected to the
outdoor unit through a first refrigerant pipe and a blower for supplying the air heat-exchanged by

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the heat exchanger to the duct; and an individual blower unit including a heat exchanger
connected to the outdoor unit through a second refrigerant pipe and a fan for sending the air heat-
exchanged by the heat exchanger and disposed in a zone in the building, for individually cooling
or heating the zone. Accordingly, cooling or heating operation is performed on each zone of the
building, and simultaneously, additional individual heating or cooling operation can be
performed on a specific space, so that a cost can be reduced, and cooling or heating in the
building can be efficiently performed.

Window Air-conditioning System:

It is the most commonly used air conditioner for single rooms. In this air conditioner all
the components, namely the compressor, condenser, expansion valve or coil, evaporator and
cooling coil are enclosed in a single box. This unit is fitted in a slot made in the wall of the room,
or often a window sill.

Windows air conditioners are one of the most widely used types of air conditioners
because they are the simplest form of the air conditioning systems. Window air conditioner
comprises of the rigid base on which all the parts of the window air conditioner are assembled.
The base is assembled inside the casing which is fitted into the wall or the window of the room
in which the air conditioner is fitted.

The whole assembly of the window air conditioner can be divided into two compartments:
the room side, which is also the cooling side and the outdoor side from where the heat absorbed
by the room air is liberated to the atmosphere. The room side and outdoor side are separated
from each other by an insulated partition enclosed inside the window air conditioner assembly
(refer fig 1 below).

In the front of the window air conditioner on the room side there is beautifully decorated
front panel on which the supply and return air grills are fitted (the whole front panel itself is
commonly called as front grill). The louvers fitted in the supply air grills are adjustable so as to

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supply the air in desired direction. There is also one opening in the grill that allows access to the
control panel or operating panel in front of the window air conditioner.

1) Blower: This is the small blower that is fitted behind the evaporator or cooling coil inside the
assembly of the window air conditioner system. The blower sucks the air from the room which
first passes over the air filter and gets filtered. The air then passes over the cooling coil and gets
chilled. The blower then blows this filtered and chilled air, which passes through the supply air
compartment inside the window air conditioner assembly. This air is then delivered into the
room from the supply air grill of the front panel.

2) Propeller fan or the condenser fan: The condenser fan is the forced draft type of propeller
fan that sucks the atmospheric air and blows it over the condenser. The hot refrigerant inside the
condenser gives up the heat to the atmospheric air and its temperature reduces.

3) Fan motor: The motor inside the window air conditioner assembly is located between the
condenser and the evaporator coil. It has double shaft on one side of which the blower is fitted
and on the other side the condenser fan is fitted. This makes the whole assembly of the blower,
the condenser fan and the motor highly compact.

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Split Air- Conditioning System:

The split air conditioner comprises of two parts: the outdoor unit and the indoor unit. The
outdoor unit, fitted outside the room, houses components like the compressor, condenser and
expansion valve. The indoor unit comprises the evaporator or cooling coil and the cooling fan. For this
unit you don’t have to make any slot in the wall of the room. Further, the present day split units have
aesthetic looks and add to the beauty of the room. The split air conditioner can be used to cool one or
two rooms.

1) Evaporator Coil or the Cooling Coil:

The cooling coil is a copper coil made of number turns of the copper tubing with one or
more rows depending on the capacity of the air conditioning system. The cooling coil is covered
with the aluminum fins so that the maximum amount of heat can be transferred from the coil to
the air inside the room.

The refrigerant from the tubing at very low temperature and very low pressure enters the
cooling coil. The blower absorbs the hot room air or the atmospheric air and in doing so the air
passes over the cooling coil which leads to the cooling of the air. This air is then blown to the
room where the cooling effect has to be produced. The air, after producing the cooling effect is
again sucked by the blower and the process of cooling the room continues.

After absorbing the heat from the room air, the temperature of the refrigerant inside the
cooling coil becomes high and it flows back through the return copper tubing to the compressor
inside the outdoor unit. The refrigerant tubing supplying the refrigerant from the outdoor unit to
the indoor unit and that supplying the refrigerant from indoor unit to the outdoor unit are both
covered with the insulation tape.
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2) Air Filter:

The air filter is very important part of the indoor unit. It removes all the dirt particles from the
room air and helps supplying clean air to the room. The air filter in the wall mounted type of the
indoor unit is placed just before the cooling coil. When the blower sucks the hot room air, it is
first passed through the air filter and then though the cooling coil. Thus the clean air at low
temperature is supplied into the room by the blower.

3) Cooling Fan or Blower:

Inside the indoor unit there is also a long blower that sucks the room air or the atmospheric air.
It is an induced type of blower and while is sucks the room air it is passed over the cooling coil
and the filter due to which the temperature of the air reduces and all the dirt from it is removed.
The blower sucks the hot and unclean air from the room and supplies cool and clean air back.
The shaft of the blower rotates inside the bushes and it is connected to a small multiple speed
motor, thus the speed of the blower can be changed. When the fan speed is changed with the
remote it is the speed of the blower that changes.

4) Drain Pipe:

Due to the low temperature refrigerant inside the cooling coil, its temperature is very low,
usually much below the dew point temperature of the room air. When the room air is passed over
the cooling due the suction force of the blower, the temperature of the air becomes very low and
reaches levels below its dew point temperature. Due to this the water vapor present in the air gets
condensed and dew or water drops are formed on the surface of the cooling coil. These water
drops fall off the cooling coil and are collected in a small space inside the indoor unit. To remove
the water from this space the drain pipe is connected from this space extending to the some
external place outside the room where water can be disposed off. Thus the drain pipe helps
removing dew water collected inside the indoor unit.

To remove the water efficiently the indoor unit has to be a tilted by a very small angle of
about 2 to 3 degrees so that the water can be collected in the space easily and drained out. If this
angle is in opposite direction, all the water will get drained inside the room. Also, the if the tilt
angle is too high, the indoor unit will shabby inside the room.

5) Louvers or Fins:

The cool air supplied by the blower is passed into the room through louvers. The louvers help
changing the angle or direction in which the air needs to be supplied into the room as per the
requirements. With louvers one easily change the direction in which the maximum amount of the
cooled air has to be passed.
There are two types of louvers: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal louvers are connected
to a small motor and there position can set by the remote control. Once can set a fixed position
for the horizontal louvers so that chilled air is passed in a particular direction only or one can
keep it in rotation mode so that the fresh air is supplied throughout the room. The vertical
louvers are
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GCET, GYDERABAD
N SURESSH THERMAL ENGINEERING-1

operated manually and one can easily change their position as per the requirements. The
horizontal louvers control flow of air in upper and downward directions of the room, while
vertical louvers control movement of air in left and right directions.

Sample Problems:

1. A sling psychrometer in a lab test recorded the following readings DBT=35°C, WBT=25°C
Calculate the following

Specific humidity
Relative humidity
Vapor density in air

Dew point temperature.

Enthalpy of mixing per kg of air take atmospheric pressure=1.0132 bar.

23

2. A food storage locker requires a refrigeration system of 12 tons capacity at an evaporator

temperature of -8ºC and a condenser temperature of 30ºC. The refrigerant freon-12 is sub cooled
to 25ºC before entering the expansion valve and the vapour is superheated to -2ºC before
entering the compressor. The compression of the refrigerant is reversible adiabatic. A double
action compressor with stroke equal to 1.5 times the bore is to be used operating at 900 rpm,
Determine,

• COP
• Theoretical piston displacement/min
• Mass of refrigerant to be circulated/min
• Theoretical bore and stroke of the compressor.
Take liquid specific heat of refrigerant as 1.23 kJ/kg K and the specific heat of vapour refrigerant
is 0.732 kJ/kg K.

3. A vapour compression refrigerator working with Freon-12 has its temperature range -10ºC
and 30ºC. The Vapour enters the compressor dry and under cooled by 5ºC in the condenser. For
a capacity of 15 TOR, find: (a)C.O.P (b) mass of freon (c) Power required.

Cp for vapour = 0.56kJ/kgK Cp for liquid = 1.003kJ/kgK

Refer tables for properties of Freon 12 .

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GCET, GYDERABAD