MM 321 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

The University of the South Pacific

Lab 4: Performance Study on a Vapor Compression Refrigeration System

Lab Group: data set 1

AIM
The aim of this experiment is to find the compressor power, rate of cooling and the COP for both the ideal
and superheated case for the system unit by studying the performance of a vapor system of a refrigeration
system unit

INTRODUCTION
This paper presents practical study using a vapor compression refrigeration system basically focusses on
refrigeration circuits under the unit of refrigeration and air conditioning. Vapor-compression uses a
circulating liquid refrigerant as the medium which absorbs and removes heat from the space to be
cooled and subsequently rejects that heat elsewhere. This paper presents the performance testing of the
refrigeration circuit system for use as experimental apparatus udder air condition and refrigeration unit by
demonstrating vapour compression refrigeration cycle.
A vapor-compression refrigeration system plays an important role in the chemical process industry due to its
capacity to cover an adequate range of heating and cooling targeted temperature by varying pressure as well
as bringing process temperature to far below ambience. Vapor compression refrigeration systems are
commonly used in industrial facilities to create environments conducive to the perseveration and safe
storage of products. In this guide, we will go over how a compression refrigeration system works, and the
four main components used to create the refrigeration, Slagle, R., (2017).
 Illustrates schematically the parts which make up the vapor compression refrigeration system focus on
refrigeration circuit.

Lab Report Page 1

As mentioned, 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 Brand t (1992). 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’s
cycle, which is also called as reverse Rankine cycle. Before the actual cycle is discussed and analysed, it is
essential to find the upper limit of performance of vapour compression cycles. This limit is set by a
completely reversible cycle.
Historically vapor compression refrigeration system was develop its first ever working system, was built in
1834 by another American who was living in the UK, Jacob Jenkins. However, it may be accomplished in a
variety of ways over the course of history, but (VCRS) have become the preferred option thanks to their
efficiency and reliability and now days used for all-purpose refrigeration.

EQUIPMENT
 Refrigeration and air conditioning unit.

METHODOLOGY
A Refrigeration and air conditioning unit was used to do the experiment. Just like the previous two labs this
unit also allows to do multiple experiments hence for this lab the refrigeration circuit was looked into in
specific. First the refrigerant enters the compressor causing its pressure and temperature to increase and then
moves to the condenser. Here the heat is being then rejected to the condenser cooling medium of either air or
water, in this lab the condenser cooling medium was water. After rejecting heat to water it then moves to the
expansion valve where the pressure and temperature decreases and then moves to the evaporator where it
absorbs heat from the air and then cools the air. Using the thermocouple selector, the temperatures at
different places within the unit is shown on the display unit. Using the given data, the results were then
calculated.

RESULTS
Given data from the experiment for set 1:
P1-P4= 0.75bar
P2-P3= 8bar
T1= 28°C
Mass flow rate= 46g/s
Solution reading form the R-12 P-h for h1, h1’, h2, h2’,h3=h4,
h 1=3 36 kJ /kg
h 1 '=3 71 kJ /kg
h 2=3 76 kJ / kg
h 2 '=422 kJ / kg
h 3=h 4=2 32 kJ /kg

Sample Calculation :
Ideal Case:
Q L=ṁ (h1−h4 )
Q L=0.046(3 36−232)=4 . 784 kW

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W C =ṁ (h 2−h1 )
W C =0.046(376−3 36)=1 . 84 W

Q L 4.784 kW
Cop= = =2. 6
wc 1.84 W

Superheating:
Q L=ṁ (h1 '−h4 )
Q L=0.046 (3 71−232 )=6.394 kW

W C =ṁ (h 2 '−h1 ' )

Q L 6.394 kW
Cop= = =2.72
w c 2.346 W

Table of calculated results:

Ideal Case: Superheating:

DISCUSSION

The selection of components for a refrigeration system is a critical process. Compressor, condenser,
expansion or throttling valve, and evaporator are the four essential components of a vapor-compression
refrigeration system (VCRS). There are a variety of compressor, condenser, and evaporator types to choose
from, as mentioned in prior labs. However, a reciprocating compressor with a water-cooled condenser and
evaporator is used in this experiment. A compressor is a mechanical device that reduces the volume of a gas
to increase its pressure. A reciprocating compressor belongs to the category of positive displacement
compressors. A reciprocating compressor, also known as a piston compressor, is used in situations where
large compression ratios per stage are required without high flow rates, and the process fluid is relatively
dry. The advantages of reciprocating compressors include a small volume, low noise level, and low energy
consumption, as well as the lack of leakage, which has a lower impact on global warming. In a nutshell, the
use of a reciprocating piston is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Certain adjustments were
done for the performance analysis in a study undertaken by students from India using a reciprocating
compressor simulation on Mat lab. When the compressor speed was altered, it was seen that the Coefficient
of Performance (COP) remained constant at a particular temperature range but increased as the evaporator
temperature was raised. Thus, a higher COP will be achieved. This is a clear indication that the reciprocating
compressor depends on the evaporator temperature [ CITATION Sha13 \l 3081 ]. The performance of a standard
or an ideal VCRS can be analyzed by variation of the condenser and evaporator temperatures over a certain
range. For a given condenser temperature as evaporator temperature increases, so does the specific
refrigeration effect and when the condenser temperature is increased, the refrigeration effect decreases.
Furthermore, due to an increase in specific refrigeration effect and a decrease in specific volume of
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MM 321 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

refrigerant vapor at the compressor's inlet, the volumetric refrigeration effect increases fast with evaporator
temperature. As a result, the heat source temperature will be a few degrees higher than the evaporator
temperature, causing superheating of the vapor at the evaporator exit. Useful superheating and useless
superheating are the two types of superheating. Useful superheating happens when the refrigerant becomes
superheated due to heat transfer with a low-temperature heat source, resulting in an increase in refrigeration
effect, whereas useless superheating occurs when heat transfer occurs between the vapor and the
surroundings. Superheating for the sake of superheating has no influence on the refrigeration effect. It is
preferable to have less superheat because it prevents liquid droplets from entering the compressor.t, at low
evaporator temperatures, the coefficient of performance (COP) is very low, and the compressor grows
(becomes huge) due to the limited volume refrigeration effect [2]. To account for heat transfer, the heat sink
temperature in actual refrigeration cycles will be several degrees lower than the condensing temperature.
TC
COP sat >
T 2 ,sat −T C
This experiment is about superheating that is useful. Table 3 demonstrates this clearly. The composition of
the refrigerant will influence the rise in the coefficient of performance (COP), which is a ratio of
refrigeration effect to compressor work. Because the specific volume of the refrigerant increases, the
compressor's effort increases. As a result, the volumetric refrigeration effect and COP fluctuations will be
influenced by the refrigeration effect's relative increase and specific volume. According to a study, the COP
of certain refrigerants is highest while the compressor's input is in the two-phase zone, and it drops when the
suction situation advances towards superheated region. Some refrigerants are free from this and do not reach
a maximum, implying that their superheat grows monotonically. Whether or not a maximum COP occurs
inside the two-phase zone is determined by the Ewing and Gosney criterion.

CONCLUSION
After completion of this experiment, it can be said that this experiment was successfully completed. Reading
of the mass airflow and temperatures and the pressures from the digital display and these were used to find
the enthalpy values from the P-h chart. Those values obtained from the chart were than used to calculate the
COP of the ideal and superheated cases. The cop that was obtained for both the states are almost similar
where thee ideal was 2.6 and superheated was 2.72. There was observed to be a slight fluctuation in the
thermocouple reading whereby the best reading was considered to in order to calculate the COP for both the
cases

REFERENCE

  Slagle, R., 2021. How Vapor-Compression Cooling Works | Electronics Cooling. [online] Electronics Cooling.
Available at: <https://www.electronics-cooling.com/2017/07/vapor-compression-cooling-works/>
[Accessed 14 September 2021].
 Berg Chilling Systems Inc. 2021. Refrigeration Principles and how a Refrigeration System Works | Berg
Chilling Systems. [online] Available at: <https://berg-group.com/engineered-solutions/the-science-behind-
refrigeration/> [Accessed 21 September 2021].

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