Wachemo University

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Meng 5212

PART - ONE
REFRIGERATION
 Introduction
Definition
 The term ‘refrigeration’ may be defined as the process of removing
heat from substance under controlled conditions.
 It also includes the process of reducing and maintaining the
temperature of a body below the general temperature of its
surroundings.
 In other words, the refrigeration means a continued extraction of heat
from a body whose temperature is already below the temperature of
its surroundings.
 A refrigeration system is a combination of components, equipment
and piping connected in a sequence to produce the refrigeration
effect.
Refrigeration Cycle: when a refrigerant undergoes a series of processes
like evaporation, compression, condensation, throttling and expansion, it
is said to have undergone a refrigeration cycle.
 The aim being to cool some product or space to the required
temperature.
 One of the most important applications of refrigeration has been the
preservation of perishable food products by storing them at low
temperatures.
 Refrigeration systems are also used extensively for providing thermal
comfort to human beings by means of air conditioning.
 Air Conditioning refers to the treatment of air so as to simultaneously control
its:-
• Temperature,
• Moisture content,
• Cleanliness,
• Odour and circulation
as required by occupants, a process, or products in the space.

 The subject of refrigeration and air conditioning has evolved out of human
need for food and comfort, and its history dates back to centuries.

 The history of refrigeration is very interesting since every aspect of it, the
availability of refrigerants, the prime movers and the developments in
compressors and the methods of refrigeration all are a part of it.
 Natural Refrigeration
In olden days refrigeration was achieved by natural means such
as the use of ice or evaporative cooling.
In earlier times, ice was either:
1. Transported from colder regions,
2. Harvested in winter and stored in ice houses for summer
use or,
3. Made during night by cooling of water by radiation to
stratosphere.
Materials like saw, dust or wood shavings were used as insulating
materials in these ice houses. Later on, cork was used as insulating
material.
 Evaporative Cooling:
Evaporative cooling is the process of reducing the temperature of a
system by evaporation of water.
Human beings perspire and dissipate their metabolic heat by
evaporative cooling if the ambient temperature is more than skin
temperature.
Animals such as the hippopotamus and buffalo coat themselves
with mud for evaporative cooling.
Evaporative cooling has been used in India for centuries to obtain
cold water in summer by storing the water in earthen pots.
The water permeates through the pores of earthen vessel to its
outer surface, where it evaporates to the surrounding, absorbing its
latent heat in part from the vessel, which cools the water.
 Cooling by Salt Solutions:
Certain substances such as common salt, when added to
water dissolve in water and absorb its heat of solution from
water (endothermic process).
This reduces the temperature of the solution (water + salt).
Sodium Chloride salt (NaCl) can yield temperatures up to -
20°C and Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) up to - 50°C in properly
insulated containers.
However, as it is this process has limited application, as the
dissolved salt has to be recovered from its solution by heating.
1) The disadvantages of natural refrigeration methods are:
a) They are expensive
b) They are uncertain(unsure)
c) They are not environment friendly
d) They are dependent on local conditions
2) Evaporative cooling systems are ideal for:
a) Hot and dry conditions
b) Hot and humid conditions
c) Cold and humid conditions
d) Moderately hot but humid conditions
 Artificial Refrigeration
 Refrigeration as it is known these days is produced by artificial means.
 Though it is very difficult to make a clear demarcation between natural and
artificial refrigeration,
 It is generally agreed that the history of artificial refrigeration began in the
year 1755, when the Scottish professor William Cullen made the first
refrigerating machine, which could produce a small quantity of ice in the
laboratory.
 Based on the working principle, refrigeration systems can be classified as
vapor compression systems, vapor absorption systems, gas cycle systems
etc.
 Application of refrigeration
Storage of Raw Fruits and Vegetables: It is well-known that some bacteria
are responsible for degradation of food, and enzymatic processing cause
ripening of the fruits and vegetables.
In chemical and process industries, the industries like petroleum
refineries, petrochemical plants and paper pulp industries etc. require very
large cooling capacities
a) Separation of gases:- In petrochemical plant, temperatures as low as –
150 oC with refrigeration capacities as high as 10,000 Tons of
Refrigeration (TR) are used for separation of gases by fractional
distillation
b) Condensation of Gases: some gases that are produced synthetically, are condensed to
liquid state by cooling, so that these can be easily stored and transported in liquid
state.
c) Dehumidification of Air: Low humidity air is required in many pharmaceutical
industries. It is also required for air liquefaction plants.
d) Solidification of Solute: One of the processes of separation of a substance or pollutant
or impurity from liquid mixture is by its solidification at low temperature. Lubricating
oil is dewaxed in petroleum industry by cooling it below –25 oC. Wax solidifies at
about –25 oC
 Special applications of refrigeration
a) Cold Treatment of Metals
b) Medical
c) Ice Skating Rinks
d) Construction
e) Ice Manufacturing
 Air conditioning application is divided in to two categories, namely
industrial and comfort air conditioning.

Industrial air conditioning :-

The main purpose of industrial air conditioning system :
 Is to provide conducive conditions so that the required processes can be
carried out and required products ducts can be produced. These are some
applications named,
Laboratories: This may involve precision measurement to performance
testing of materials, equipment and processes at controlled temperature
and relative humidity.
Printing: Some color printing presses have one press for each color. The
paper passes from one press to another press. The ink of one color must
get dried before it reaches the second press, so that the colours do not
smudge.
Manufacture of Precision Parts: If the metal parts are maintained at
uniform temperature.
During manufacturing process, these will neither expand nor shrink,
maintaining close tolerances. A lower relative humidity will prevent rust
formation also.
Pharmaceutical Industries: In these industries to obtain sterile atmosphere, the
airborne bacteria and dust must be removed in the air-conditioning system by
filters. These industries require clean rooms.
Textile Industry: The yarn in the textile industry is spun and it moves over
spools at very high speeds in modern machines. It is very sensitive to humidity
Vehicular Air-conditioning: Bus, tram, truck, car, recreational vehicle, crane
cabin, aircraft and ships all require air-conditioning.
In bus, tram, aircraft and ship, the occupancy density is very high and the metabolic
heat and water vapour generated by persons has to be rejected.

Comfort Air-Conditioning
 The air temperature, humidity and velocity at which human body does not
have to take any extra action, is called comfort condition.
 Comfort condition is also sometimes called as neutral condition.
 The residences, offices, shopping centers, stores, large buildings, theatres,
auditorium etc. all have slightly different requirements and require different
design. The required cooling capacities also vary widely depending upon
the application
The factory assembled room air conditioners are very widely used for
small residences, offices etc.
 These units are available as window type or split type.
 The capacity of these systems vary from a fraction of a ton (TR)
to about 2 TR.
 These systems use a vapour compression refrigeration system
with a sealed compressor and forced convection type evaporators
and condensers.
 What is a Refrigerant?
• Refrigerants are used as working substances in a Refrigeration
systems.
• Fluids suitable for refrigeration purposes can be classified into
primary and secondary refrigerants.
a) Primary refrigerants are those fluids, which are used directly as working
fluids, for example in vapour compression and vapour absorption
refrigeration systems.

• These fluids provide refrigeration by undergoing a phase change process

in the evaporator
b) Secondary refrigerants are those liquids, which are used for
transporting thermal energy from one location to other.

• Secondary refrigerants are also known under the name brines or

antifreezes.
 Requirements of Refrigerant
 There are certain desirable characteristics which a fluid used as a refrigerant should
posses:
◦ non-poisonous
◦ Non-explosive
◦ Non-corrosive
◦ Non-inflammable
◦ Leaks should be easily detected
◦ Leaks should be easy to locate
◦ Should operate under low pressure
◦ Stable gas
o Parts moving in the fluid should be easy to lubricate
o Non- toxic
o Well balanced enthalpy of evaporation per unit mass
o Small relative displacement to obtain a certain refrigerating effect
o A minimum difference between the vaporizing and condensing pressure is desirable
The standard comparison of refrigerants as used in refrigeration industry is based on an
evaporator temperature of -15 oC and condensing temperature of 30 oC
 Identification Refrigerant by Number
Refrigerant No Name and chemical formula
R-11 Trichloromonofluoromethane (CCl3F)
R-12 Dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl2F2)
R-22 Monochlorodifluoromethane (CHClF2)
R-500 Mixture of 73.8% R-12 and 26.2% R-152a
R-502 mixture of 48.8% R-22 and 51.2% R-115
R-717 Ammonia (NH3)
R-134a Tetrafluoroethene (CH2FCF3)
 Classification of Refrigerants
The National Refrigeration Safety Code, USA (NRSC) catalogues all the
refrigerants into three groups. Some of these are:
1) Group one – ( Safest of the refrigerants)
R-113, R-11, R-21, R-114, R-12, R-30, R-22, R-744,
R-502, R-13, R-14, R-500, R-134a
2) Group two- (Toxic and somewhat Inflammable Refrigerants)
R-1130, R-611, R-160, R-764, R-40, R-717
3) Group Three- (inflammable Refrigerants)
R-600, R-290, R-170, R-1150, R-50
 Methods of producing low temperatures
a) Sensible cooling by cold medium

• If a substance is available at a temperature lower than the required

refrigeration temperature, then it can be used for sensible cooling
by bringing it in thermal contact with the system to be refrigerated.
For example, a building can be cooled to a temperature lower than
the surroundings by introducing cold air into the building.
• Cold water or brine is used for cooling beverages, dairy products
and in other industrial processes by absorbing heat from them.
 The energy absorbed by the substance providing cooling increases its
temperature, and the heat transferred during this process is given by:

 Since the temperature of the cold substance increases during the

process, to provide continuous refrigeration, a continuous supply of the
cold substance should be maintained, which may call for an external
refrigeration cycle
 b) Endothermic mixing of substances
• It is very well-known that low temperatures can be obtained when certain
salts are dissolved in water.
• This is due to the fact that dissolving of these salts in water is an
endothermic process, i.e., heat is absorbed from the solution leading to its
cooling
• For example, when salts such as sodium nitrate, sodium chloride, calcium
chloride added to water, its temperature falls. By dissolving sodium
chloride in water, it is possible to achieve temperatures as low as –21 C,
0

while with calcium chloride a temperature of –51 C could be obtained

0
However, producing low temperature by endothermic mixing has
several practical limitations these are:
• The refrigeration effect obtained is very small (the refrigeration
effect depends on the heat of solution of the dissolved substance,
which is typically small for most of the commonly used salts),
• And recovery of the dissolved salt is often uneconomical as this calls
for evaporation of water from the solution.
 c) Phase change processes

• Refrigeration is produced when substances undergo endothermic phase

change processes such as sublimation, melting and evaporation
• For example, when ice melts it produces a refrigeration effect in the
surroundings by absorbing heat.
• The amount of refrigeration produced and the temperature at which
refrigeration is produced depends on the substance undergoing phase
change.
• It is well-known that pure water ice at 1 atmospheric pressure
melts at a temperature of about 0 C and extracts about 335 kJ/kg of heat
o

from the surroundings.

• At 1 atmospheric pressure, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) undergoes
sublimation at a temperature of –78.5 0C, yielding a refrigeration effect
of 573 kJ/kg.
• Both water ice and dry ice are widely used to provide refrigeration in
several applications.
• Evaporation or vaporization is the most commonly used phase change
process in practical refrigeration systems as it is easier to handle fluids in
cyclic devices.
• In these systems, the working fluid (refrigerant) provides refrigeration
effect as it changes its state from liquid to vapor in the evaporator.
• For all phase change processes, the amount of refrigeration
produced is given by

• where Q is the refrigeration produced (heat transferred), m

is the mass of the phase change substance and Δℎ𝑝ℎ is the
latent heat of phase change
• From the above equation it can be seen that substances having
large latent heats require less amount of substance (m) and vice
versa.
• Apart from the latent heat, the temperature at which the phase
change occurs is also important.
• For liquid-to-vapour phase change, the Normal Boiling Point
(NBP) is a good indication of the usefulness of a particular fluid
for refrigeration applications.
d) Expansion of Liquids

• When a high pressure liquid flows through a turbine delivering a

net work output (from the 1st Fig.), its pressure and enthalpy fall.
 In an ideal case, the expansion process can be isentropic, so that
its entropy remains constant and the drop in enthalpy will be
equal to the specific work output (neglecting kinetic and potential
energy changes).
 When a high pressure liquid is forced to flow through a restriction
such as a porous plug (2nd Fig) its pressure decreases due to
frictional effects.
 No net work output is obtained, and if the process is adiabatic and
Change in potential and kinetic energies are negligible, then from
steady flow energy equation, it can be easily shown that the
enthalpy of the liquid remains constant.
• However, since the process is highly irreversible, entropy of
liquid increases during the process. This process is called as a
throttling process.
• Whether or not the temperature of the liquid drops significantly
during the isentropic and isenthalpic expansion processes
depends on the inlet condition of the liquid.
 Air Cycle Refrigeration System
• Air cycle refrigeration works on the reverse Brayton or Joule cycle.
• Air is compressed and then heat removed, this air is then expanded
to a lower temperature than before it was compressed.
• Work must be taken out of the air during the expansion, otherwise
the entropy would increase.
• Work is taken out of the air by an expansion turbine, which removes
energy as the blades are driven round by the expanding air.
Working principle
• The refrigerant gas, which may be air, enters the compressor at
state 1, where the temperature is somewhat below the
temperature of the cold region, TC, and is compressed to state 2
• The gas is then cooled to state 3, where the gas temperature
approaches the temperature of the warm region, TH. Next, the
gas is expanded to state 4, where the temperature, T4, is well
below that of the cold region.
• Refrigeration is achieved through heat transfer from the cold
region to the gas as it passes from state 4 to state 1, completing
the cycle
The T–s diagram in Fig shows an ideal Brayton refrigeration
cycle, denoted by 1–2s–3–4s–1, in which all processes are
assumed to be internally reversible and the processes in the
turbine and compressor are adiabatic.
• Also shown is the cycle 1–2–3–4–1, which suggests the effects
of irreversibility's during adiabatic compression and expansion.
Frictional pressure drops have been ignored.

• The method of analysis of the Brayton refrigeration cycle is

similar to that of the Brayton power cycle. Thus, at steady state
the work of the compressor and the turbine per unit of mass
flow are, respectively.
• The heat transfer from the cold region to the refrigerant gas
circulating through the low pressure heat exchanger, the refrigeration
effect, is

• The coefficient of performance is the ratio of the refrigeration effect

to the net work input:-