LECTURE NOTES

REFRIGERATION
AND
AIR CONDITIONING

Mr. Eyosiyas Y.
Wolaita sodo university
Collage of engineering
Department of Mechanical Eng.

12/16/2021 R&AC Lecture notes 1

 PART I REFRIGRATION

1. Basic concepts of refrigeration

Refrigeration
• The process of achieving and maintaining a temperature below that
of the surroundings, the aim being to cool some product or space to
the required temperature.

• The process of removing heat from a substance under controlled

conditions.

• Continued extraction of heat from a body whose temperature already

below the temperature of its surrounding.

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 Cont.…..
• We all know from experience that heat flows in the direction of decreasing
temperature, that is, from high-temperature regions to low-temperature ones.

• This heat-transfer process occurs in nature without requiring any devices.

• The reverse process, however, cannot occur by itself. The transfer of heat
from a low-temperature region to a high-temperature one requires special
devices called refrigerators

• Another device that transfers heat from a low-temperature medium to a high-

temperature one is the heat pump. Refrigerators and heat pumps are
essentially the same devices; they differ in their objectives only

• The objective of a refrigerator is to maintain the refrigerated space at a low

temperature by removing heat from it. The objective of a heat pump,
however, is to maintain a heated space at a high temperature
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Cont.…..

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 Applications of Refrigeration

• Food processing and preservation

• Chemical and process industries

• Comfort and industrial air conditioning (as a component)

• Liquefying gases (oxygen, nitrogen, propane, methane)

• Air craft pressurization and air conditioning

Types of refrigeration system

Vapor compression ,vapor absorption, gas cycle, steam jet,

Thermoelectric, vortex tube , Magnetic refrigeration

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 Second law of thermodynamics

• It is common experience that a cup of hot coffee left in a cooler

room eventually cools off. This process satisfies the first law of
thermodynamics since the amount of energy lost by the coffee is
equal to the amount gained by the surrounding air. Now let us
consider the reverse process—the hot coffee getting even hotter in a
cooler room as a result of heat transfer from the room air.

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• Consider a paddle-wheel mechanism that is operated by the fall of a
mass . The paddle wheel rotates as the mass falls and stirs a fluid
within an insulated container. As a result, the potential energy of the
mass decreases, and the internal energy of the fluid increases in
accordance with the conservation of energy principle. However, the
reverse process, raising the mass by transferring heat from the fluid
to the paddle wheel, does not occur in nature, although doing so
would not violate the first law of thermodynamics.

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• A process cannot occur unless it satisfies both the first and the second
laws of thermodynamics.

• The use of the second law of thermodynamics is not limited to

identifying the direction of processes, however. The second law also
asserts that energy has quality as well as quantity.

• What does it mean energy has quality?

Measure of the ease at which a form of energy can be converted to

useful work or to another form of energy.

Examples of high quality energy electrical energy, mechanical energy,

and some forms of chemical stored energy, for example, the fossil fuels

Low12/16/2021
quality solar and wind energy little
R&AC Lecture notescapacity to do useful work.
11
• What does it mean energy has quantity ?

Refers to the numerical value of something. The extent, size, or sum of

something.

The first law is concerned with the quantity of energy and the
transformations of energy from one form to another with no regard to
its quality.

The second law of thermodynamics is also used in determining the

theoretical limits for the performance of commonly used engineering
systems, such as heat engines and refrigerators, as well as predicting
the degree of completion of chemical reactions.

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 HEAT ENGINES
• Work can easily be converted to other forms of energy, but converting
other forms of energy to work is not that easy. The mechanical work
done by the shaft shown in Fig. next slid for example, is first
converted to the internal energy of the water. This energy may then
leave the water as heat. We know from experience that any attempt to
reverse this process will fail. That is, transferring heat to the water
does not cause the shaft to rotate. From this and other observations,
we conclude that work can be converted to heat directly and
completely, but converting heat to work requires the use of some
special devices. These devices are called heat engines.

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• Steam power plant uses heat engine

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 Reversed Carnot Cycle
• A reversed Carnot cycle is an ideal cycle which contains four
processes: constant temperature heat addition, Compression,
constant temperature heat rejection and Expansion.

• It is the most efficient idealistic vapor based refrigeration cycle

but almost impossible to realize it in practice without some
modifications made on the system.

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 Carnot COP

• Coefficient of performance is a measure of performance in

refrigeration cycles. It is the ratio of the refrigeration effect to the
net work input.

• Since the refrigeration cycle is a cyclic thermodynamic process,

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• Carnot COP is the maximum theoretically achievable value for a
refrigeration cycle operating between two constant temperature
reservoirs

Limitations of Reversed Carnot cycle

When reversed Carnot cycle applied for vapor cycle, it

accompanies wet compression which damages the compressor .

Extraction of work by expanding saturated liquid in a turbine is not

economically justified

Dry compression can be possible by extending point 1 to the

superheated region and using two compressors (isentropic and
isothermal), but in practice isothermal compression is not possible.
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It is difficult to design an expander to handle a mixture of largely
liquid and partly vapour for process 3-4
It is not to devise, in practice, isothermal processes of heat absorption
and rejection ,4-1&2-3 with the gas as the working substance

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 Refrigeration system
• The refrigerant enters the compressor as a vapor and is compressed to the condenser
pressure. It leaves the compressor at a relatively high temperature and cools down
and condenses as it flows through the coils of the condenser by rejecting heat to the
surrounding medium. It then enters a capillary tube where its pressure and
temperature drop drastically due to the throttling effect. The low-temperature
refrigerant then enters the evaporator, where it evaporates by absorbing heat from
the refrigerated space. The cycle is completed as the refrigerant leaves the evaporator
and reenters the compressor.

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• In a household refrigerator, the freezer compartment where heat is absorbed by the
refrigerant serves as the evaporator, and the coils usually behind the refrigerator
where heat is dissipated to the kitchen air serve as the condenser.

• A refrigerator is shown schematically in fig Here QL is the magnitude of the heat

removed from the refrigerated space at temperature TL, Q His the magnitude of the
heat rejected to the warm environment at temperature TH, and Wnet,in is the net
work input to the refrigerator. As discussed before,QL and QH represent magnitudes
and thus are positive quantities

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 Coefficient of Performance

• The efficiency of a refrigerator is expressed in terms of the coefficient

of performance(COP), denoted by COPR The objective of a
refrigerator is to remove heat (QL) from the refrigerated space. To
accomplish this objective, it requires a work input of Wnet,in

• Then the COP of a refrigerator can be expressed as

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Example 1
• The food compartment of a refrigerator, shown in fig is maintained at 4°C by
removing heat from it at a rate of 360 kJ/min. If the required power input to the
refrigerator is 2 kW, determine (a) the coefficient of performance of the
refrigerator and (b) the rate of heat rejection to the room that houses the
refrigerator.

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Example 2
A refrigerator uses refrigerant-134a as the working fluid and operates on
an ideal vapor-compression refrigeration cycle between 0.14 and 0.8
MPa. The mass flow rate of the refrigerant is 0.05 kg/sec. Show the
cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to saturation lines. Determine (a) the
rate of heat removal from the refrigerated space and the power input to
the compressor, (b) the rate of heat rejection to the environment and (c)
the coefficient of performance.

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 The Ideal Vapor-compression Refrigeration Cycle

• Many of the impracticalities associated with the reversed Carnot cycle can be
eliminated by vaporizing the refrigerant completely before it is compressed and by
replacing the turbine with a throttling device, such as an expansion valve or
capillary tube. The cycle that results is called the ideal vapor-compression
refrigeration cycle.

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 Pressure enthalpy chart (P-h)

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 It consists of four processes
1-2 Isentropic compression in a compressor
2-3 Constant-pressure heat rejection in a condenser
3-4 Throttling in an expansion device
4-1 Constant-pressure heat absorption in an evaporator

1) The refrigerant enters the compressor at state 1

as saturated vapor and is compressed isentropically
to the condenser pressure.

2)The refrigerant then enters the 3) The saturated liquid refrigerant at state 3 is by
condenser as superheated vapor at state passing it through an expansion valve or throttled to
the evaporator pressure capillary tube. The
2 and leaves as saturated liquid at state 3 temperature of the refrigerant drops below the
as a result of heat rejection to the temperature of the refrigerated space during this
process
surroundings
4)The refrigerant enters the evaporator at state 4 as a low-quality saturated mixture, and it completely
evaporates by absorbing heat from the refrigerated space. The refrigerant leaves the evaporator as saturated
vapor and reenters the compressor, completing the cycle.
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• Another diagram frequently used in the
analysis of vapor-compression refrigeration
cycles is the P-h diagram, as shown

• On this diagram, three of the four processes

appear as straight lines, and the heat transfer
in the condenser and the evaporator is
proportional to the lengths of the
corresponding process curves.
• Notice that unlike the ideal cycles discussed before, the ideal vapor compression
refrigeration cycle is not an internally reversible cycle since it involves an irreversible
(throttling) process. This process is maintained in the cycle to make it a more realistic
model for the actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle. If the throttling device were
replaced by an isentropic turbine, the refrigerant would enter the evaporator at state 4’nstead
of state 4. As a result, the refrigeration capacity would increase (by the area under process
curve 4’-4 ) and the net work input would decrease (by the amount of work output of the
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turbine).
 All four components associated with the  Then the steady flow energy equation
vapor-compression refrigeration cycle are on a unit–mass basis reduces to
steady-flow devices, and thus all four
processes that make up the cycle can be
analyzed as steady-flow processes.

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Example1.A refrigerator uses refrigerant-134a as the working fluid and operates on an ideal
vapor-compression refrigeration cycle between 0.14 and 0.8 MPa. If the mass flow rate of the
refrigerant is 0.05 kg/s, determine (a) the rate of heat removal from the refrigerated space and
the power input to the compressor, (b) the rate of heat rejection to the environment, and (c) the
COP of the refrigerator.

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 Actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle
• An actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle differs from the ideal one in several
ways, owing mostly to the irreversibilities that occur in various components.
• Two common sources of irreversibilities are fluid friction (causes pressure drops)
and heat transfer to or from the surroundings.
• The T-s diagram of an actual vapor-compression refrigeration cycle is shown in Fig

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• In the ideal cycle, the refrigerant leaves the evaporator and enters the compressor as
saturated vapor. In practice, however, it may not be possible to control the state of
the refrigerant so precisely. Instead, it is easier to design the system so that the
refrigerant is slightly superheated at the compressor inlet.

• This slight overdesign ensures that the refrigerant is completely vaporized when it
enters the compressor.

• Also, the line connecting the evaporator to the compressor is usually very long; thus
the pressure drop caused by fluid friction and heat transfer from the surroundings to
the refrigerant can be very significant. The result of superheating, heat gain in the
connecting line, and pressure drops in the evaporator and the connecting line is an
increase in the specific volume, thus an increase in the power input requirements to
the compressor since steady-flow work is proportional to the specific volume

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• The compression process in the ideal cycle is internally reversible and adiabatic,
and thus isentropic.
• The actual compression process, however, involves frictional effects, which increase
the entropy, and heat transfer, which may increase or decrease the entropy,
depending on the direction.
• Therefore, the entropy of the refrigerant may increase (process 1-2) or decrease
(process 1-2’) during an actual compression process, depending on which effects
dominate.
• The compression process 1-2’may be even more desirable than the isentropic
compression process since the specific volume of the refrigerant and thus the work
input requirement are smaller in this case.
• Therefore, the refrigerant should be cooled during the compression process
whenever it is practical and economical to do so
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• In the ideal case, the refrigerant is assumed to leave the condenser as saturated
liquid at the compressor exit pressure. In reality, however, it is unavoidable to have
some pressure drop in the condenser as well as in the lines connecting the condenser
to the compressor and to the throttling valve.
• Also, it is not easy to execute the condensation process with such precision that the
refrigerant is a saturated liquid at the end, and it is undesirable to route the
refrigerant to the throttling valve before the refrigerant is completely condensed.
• Therefore, the refrigerant is sub cooled somewhat before it enters the throttling
valve.
• We do not mind this at all, however, since the refrigerant in this case enters the
evaporator with a lower enthalpy and thus can absorb more heat from the
refrigerated space.
• The throttling valve and the evaporator are usually located very close to each other,
so the pressure drop in the connecting line is small.
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 EXAMPLE 2
Refrigerant-134a enters the compressor of a refrigerator as superheated vapor at 0.14 MPa and -
10°C at a rate of 0.05 kg/s and leaves at 0.8 MPa and 50°C. The refrigerant is cooled in the
condenser to 26°C and 0.72 MPa and is throttled to 0.15 MPa. Disregarding any heat transfer and
pressure drops in the connecting lines between the components, determine (a) the rate of heat
removal from the refrigerated space and the power input to the compressor, (b) the isentropic
efficiency of the compressor, and (c) the coefficient of performance of the refrigerator

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 Innovative Vapor-compression Refrigeration Systems

• The ordinary vapor-compression refrigeration systems are simple, inexpensive,

reliable, and practically maintenance-free.
• However, for large industrial applications efficiency, not simplicity, is the major
concern. Also, for some applications the simple vapor-compression refrigeration
cycle is inadequate and needs to be modified

Cascade Refrigeration Systems

• Some industrial applications require moderately low temperatures, and the temperature
range they involve may be too large for a single vapor compression refrigeration cycle to be
practical. A large temperature range also means a large pressure range in the cycle and a
poor performance for a reciprocating compressor. One way of dealing with such situations is
to perform the refrigeration process in stages, that is, to have two or more refrigeration
cycles that operate in series. Such refrigeration cycles are called cascade refrigeration
cycles.
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• The two cycles are connected through the heat exchanger in the middle, which
serves as the evaporator for the topping cycle (cycle A) and the condenser for the
bottoming cycle (cycle B). Assuming the heat exchanger is well insulated and the
kinetic and potential energies are negligible, the heat transfer from the fluid in the
bottoming cycle should be equal to the heat transfer to the fluid in the topping cycle.
• Thus, the ratio of mass flow rates through each cycle should be

Note:-The compressor work decreases and the amount of heat absorbed from the
refrigerated space increases as a result of cascading.

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 Example 3
Consider a two-stage cascade refrigeration system operating between the pressure
limits of 0.8 and 0.14 MPa. Each stage operates on an ideal vapor compression
refrigeration cycle with refrigerant-134a as the working fluid. Heat rejection from the
lower cycle to the upper cycle takes place in an adiabatic counterflow heat exchanger
where both streams enter at about 0.32 Mpa

(In practice, the working fluid of the lower cycle is at a higher pressure and
temperature in the heat exchanger for effective heat transfer.) If the mass flow rate of
the refrigerant through the upper cycle is 0.05 kg/s, determine (a) the mass flow rate
of the refrigerant through the lower cycle, (b) the rate of heat removal from the
refrigerated space and the power input to the compressor, and (c) the coefficient of
performance of this cascade refrigerator

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Problem 1

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 VCC Equipment's
1) Evaporator
 The evaporator in a refrigeration system is responsible for absorbing heat into the
system from whatever medium is to be cooled. This heat- absorbing process is
accomplished by maintaining the evaporator coil at a lower temperature than the
medium to be cooled.

 In the evaporator the low pressure, low temperature fluid extracts heat from
the refrigerated space and gets evaporated at constant temperature. The
refrigeration effect is the amount of heat extracted by the refrigerant inside
the evaporator from the refrigerated space

 In the evaporator, the refrigerant absorbs latent heat and gets superheated

 In the evaporator, the refrigerant flow pattern can be of two types.

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1) The refrigerant flows continuously in the heat exchanger and
leaves as a superheated gas. This is the most common type. Also
called direct expansion evaporator .
2) Stays in a low pressure vessel until it evaporates and gets
superheated Evaporators can be air cooling or liquid cooling

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2) Condenser
• The condensers a heat exchange device similar to the evaporator; it rejects from the
system the heat absorbed by the evaporator. In the first passes of the condenser the
heat is rejected from a hot, superheated vapor. The middle of the condenser rejects
latent heat from saturated vapor and liquid, which is in the process of phase
changing to a 100% saturated liquid. The last passes of the condenser reject heat
from sub cooled liquid. This further sub cools the liquid to below its condensing
temperature.

• The condenser reduces the temperature of the refrigerant at

constant pressure and brings it from gas to liquid state before
it. Condenser load is the sum of evaporator load and compressor
power

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In condenser, the refrigerant gives of heat in a form of both sensible heat and
substantially latent heat.

Condensers can be air cooled or water cooled

• Air cooled condensers

– Natural convection condensers can be used in which a plain tube is exposed to

ambient air and heat is transferred by natural convection. E.g.:- Domestic refrigerators

– Forced convection is used for high capacity refrigeration or air conditioning

systems in which fan is used. Air has low heat capacity,

• Water cooled condensers

– For smaller capacity concentric condenser can be used

– For larger capacity, shell and tube condenser in which water flows in the
tubes, is usually used in refrigeration and air conditioning

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3) Compressors
• The compressor is considered the heart of the refrigeration system. The term that best
describes a compressor is vapor pump, because it actually increases suction pressure
level to the discharge pressure level.

• For example, in a low- temperature, R-12 refrigerant system the suction pressure may
be 3 psig and the discharge pressure may be 169 psig. The compressor increases the
pressure 166 psig (169 -3 =66)

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 Types of compressors
Five major types of compressors are used in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry
(a) Reciprocating compressor
(b) Centrifugal compressor
(c) Rotary compressor
(d) Screw compressor
(e) Scroll compressor

• The reciprocating and screw compressors are best suited for use with refrigerants which
require a relatively small displacement and condense at relatively high pressure, such as
R-12, R-22, Ammonia, etc.

• The centrifugal compressors are suitable for handling refrigerants that require large
displacement and operate at low condensing pressure, such as R-11, R-113, etc.

• The rotary compressor is most suited for pumping refrigerants having moderate or low
condensing pressures, such as R-21 and R-114; this is mainly used in domestic
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refrigerators. R&AC Lecture notes 47
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 4) Expansion Devices
• The expansion device, often called the metering device, is the fourth component
necessary for the compression refrigeration cycle to function. The expansion
device is not as visible as the evaporator, the condenser, or the compressor.
• Generally, it is concealed inside the evaporator cabinet and not obvious to the
casual observer. The device can be either a valve or a fixed-bore
• It is responsible for metering the correct amount of refrigerant to the evaporator
• The evaporator performs best when it is as full of liquid refrigerant as possible
with none left in the suction line.
• Reduces pressure of the refrigerant from the evaporator pressure to the
condenser pressure
There are different types of expansion or throttling devices. The most commonly used
are:
a)Capillary tube,
b)Float valves,
c)Thermostatic
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expansion valve R&AC Lecture notes 49
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 Effect of pressure

A) Effect of suction pressure

• Since the C.O.P, of the system is the ratio of refrigerating effect to the work done,
therefore with the decrease in suction pressure, the net effect is to decrease the
C.O.P. of the refrigerating system for the same refrigerant flow. Hence with the
decrease in suction pressure the refrigerating capacity of the system decreases and
the refrigeration cost increases.

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B) Effect of Discharge Pressure
In actual practice, the discharge pressure (or condenser pressure) increases due to
frictional resistance of flow of the refrigerant.

Let us consider a theoretical vapour compression cycle l- 2-3-4 when the discharge
pressure increases from pD to pD‟ as shown on p-h diagram in Figure resulting in
increased compressor work and reduced refrigeration effect.

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 Effect of Liquid Sub cooling

• It will be seen that sub-cooling reduces flashing of the liquid during

expansion and increases the refrigerating effect.

• In some condenser design s it is achieved by installing a sub-cooler between

the condenser and the expansion valve

• Sub – cooling ensures that no vapor is introduced in the expansion valve

which affects the proper operation of the device
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• Increasing the refrigeration effect by decreasing the throttling loss.
• Decreasing the quality of the vapor thereby decreasing pressure
drop inside the evaporator.
Effect Of Supper Heating

Increasing the refrigeration effect

– Increasing the work of compression
– COP depends on the amount of increase
in
refrigeration effect and work of compression

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• Sub – cooling and superheating can be achieved
• In case such heat transfer is
by simply increasing heat transfer area if the
insufficient for the required sub –
temperature difference is large enough b/n
cooling and superheating, Liquid
condenser and heat sink and b/n evaporator
and heat source. suction heat exchanger is used.

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Modification of the SSS (Simple Stage Standard) cycle
• The SSS cycle can be sufficient for small temperature difference between condenser
and evaporator .

• But in some applications the temperature difference becomes too large either due to
very low temperature requirement of the refrigerated space or relatively high
available heat sink.

• When evaporator temperature decreases significantly, the SSS cycle performance

significantly reduces due to

• Increase in throttling loss

• Increase in superheat horn loss

• Increase in compressor discharge temperature

• Quality of vapor increases, thereby increasing pressure drop in the evaporator

• Specific volume at the inlet of the compressor increases, which decreases the
volumetric work of compression requiring larger compressor .
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• The viable modified cycles are multi – stage cycles operating with two or more
low side pressures.
1. Multi – compression
2. Multi – evaporator
3. Cascade system

• Intermediate processes are compulsory in multi – stage systems:

1) Flash removal
2) Intercooling

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 Flash gas removal in a flash tank

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 Example 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, and (c) the coefficient of performance.
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 Intercooling
Intercooling contributes for system performance in
- Decreasing compressor work
- Decreasing the compressor exit temperature

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 Gas Refrigeration Cycles
• The Carnot cycle (the standard of comparison for power cycles) and the reversed
Carnot cycle (the standard of comparison for refrigeration cycles) are identical,
except that the reversed Carnot cycle operates in the reverse direction.
• Power cycles can be used as refrigeration cycles by simply reversing them.
• In fact, the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle is essentially a modified Rankine
cycle operating in reverse
• Reversed Brayton cycle, better known as the gas refrigeration cycle.
• The surroundings are at 𝑇0, and the refrigerated space is to be maintained at 𝑇𝐿
• The gas is compressed during process 1-2.
• The high-pressure, high-temperature gas at state 2 is then cooled at constant
pressure to 𝑇0 by rejecting heat to the surroundings.

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• This is followed by an expansion process in a turbine, during which the gas
temperature drops to T4.
• Finally, the cool gas absorbs heat from the refrigerated space until its temperature
rises to T1

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• All the processes described are internally reversible, and the cycle executed is the
ideal gas refrigeration cycle. In actual gas refrigeration cycles, the compression and
expansion processes deviate from the isentropic ones, and T3 is higher than T0
unless the heat exchanger is infinitely large.

• On a T-s diagram, the area under process curve 4-1 represents the heat removed
from the refrigerated space, and the enclosed area 1-2-3-4-1 represents the net
work input. The ratio of these areas is the COP for the cycle,which may be
expressed as

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• Despite their relatively low COPs, the gas refrigeration cycles have two desirable
characteristics: They involve simple, lighter components, which make them suitable
for aircraft cooling, and they can incorporate regeneration, which makes them
suitable for liquefaction of gases and cryogenic applications

• An open-cycle aircraft cooling system is shown in Fig below. Atmospheric air is

compressed by a compressor, cooled by the surrounding air, and expanded in a
turbine. The cool air leaving the turbine is then directly routed to the cabin

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 Refrigerants
• Refrigerants are the working fluids in a refrigeration cycle having special physical
properties which makes the refrigeration process possible. Normally many standard
refrigerants are those used in vapor refrigeration cycles.

Ideal Properties For A Refrigerant

High latent heat of vaporization
● High suction gas density
● Positive but not excessive pressures at evaporating and condensing conditions
● Critical temperature and triple point well outside the working range
● Chemically stable, compatible with construction materials and miscible with lubricants
● Non-corrosive, non-toxic and non-flammable
● High dielectric strength
● Environmentally friendly
● Low cost

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A summary table gives the key properties of the main refrigerants in use today together with
their typical application ranges; low ( -25 to -40°C), medium ( -5 to -25°C) and high ( +10 to
-5°C) temperature.

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 Vapour Absorption Refrigeration Systems
• Vapour Absorption Refrigeration Systems (VARS) belong to the class of
vapour cycles similar to vapour compression refrigeration systems. However,
unlike vapour compression refrigeration systems, the required input to absorption
systems is in the form of heat.

• The vapor absorption system uses heat energy, instead of mechanical energy as in
vapour compression systems in order to change conditions of the refrigerant
conditions of the refrigerant required for the operation of the refrigeration cycle.

• In the vapor absorption system, the compressor is replaced by an absorber, a pump, a

generator, and a pressure reducing valve. These components in vapor absorption
system perform the same function as that of a compressor in vapor compression
system.

• The most widely used absorption refrigeration system is the ammonia–water system,
where ammonia(NH3) serves as the refrigerant and water (H2O) as the transport
medium.
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 Working principle of VARs

1) Ammonia vapor leaves the evaporator and enters the absorber, where it dissolves
and reacts with water to form NH3 · H2O

2) This is an exothermic reaction; thus heat is released during this process.

3) The amount of NH3 that can be dissolved in H2O is inversely proportional to the
temperature. Therefore, it is necessary to cool the absorber to maintain its
temperature as low as possible, hence to maximize the amount of NH3 dissolved in
water.

4) The liquid NH 3-H2O solution, which is rich in NH3, is then pumped to the
generator.

5) Heat is transferred to the solution from a source to vaporize some of the solution

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7) The vapor, which is rich in NH3, passes through a rectifier, which separates the water
and returns it to the generator.
8) The high-pressure pure NH3 vapor then continues its journey through the rest of the

cycle.

9)The hot NH3 -H2O solution, which is weak in NH3, then passes through a
regenerator, where it transfers some heat to the rich solution leaving the pump, and is
throttled to the absorber pressure
Compared with vapor-compression systems, absorption refrigeration systems have one major
advantage

• A liquid is compressed instead of a vapor

• The operation of these systems is based on heat transfer from an external source

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 AIR CONDITIONING

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 Psychrometry

• The Psychrometry is that branch of engineering science which deals

with the study of moist air (dry air mixed with water vapour or
humidity)

• It also includes the study of behavior of dry air and water vapour
mixture under various sets of condition .

• Though the earth’s atmosphere is a mixture of gases including

nitrogen,oxygen,argon,and carbon dioxide yet for the purpose of
Psychrometry, it is considered to be a mixture of dry air and water
vapour only.

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 Psychrometric terms

1.Dry air;-The pure dry air is a mixture of a number of gases such as

nitrogen,oxygen,carbon dioxide,hydrogen,argon,neon,helium etc.

2) Moist air .It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour. The amount of water present
in the depends upon the absolute pressure and temperature of the mixture.

3) Saturated air .It is a mixture of dry air and water vapour when the air has diffused
the maximum amount of water vapour into it.when the saturated air is cooled the water
vapour in the air starts condensing and the same may be visible in the form of moist,
fog or condensation on cold surface.
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4.Degree of saturation. It is ratio of actual mass of water vapour in a
unit mass of dry air to the mass of water vapour in the same of dry air
when it is saturated at the same temperature.

5.Humidity.It is the mass of water vapour present in 1kg of dry air and
is generally expressed in terms of gram per kg of dry air (g/kg of dry
air)it is also called specific humidity or humidity ration

6.Absolute humidity :It is the mass of water vapour present in 1 m3 of

dry air (g/m3 of dry air )

7.Relat humidity. It is the ratio of actual mass of water vapour in a

given volume of moist air to the mass of water in the same volume of
saturated air at the same temperature and pressure
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8.Dry bulb temperature:-I t is the temperature of air recorded by a thermometer when it
is not affected by the moisture present in the air.

9.Wet bulb temperature. It is the temperature of air recorded by a thermometer. When

its bulb is surrounded by a wet cloth exposed to the air

10.Wet bulb depression It is the difference between dry bulb temperature and wet bulb
temperature at any point.

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12. Dew point depression. It is the difference between the dry bulb temperature and
dew point temperature of air.

13. Psychrometer. There are many types of psychrometer, but the

sling psychrometer, as shown in is widely used. It consists of a dry bulb
thermometer and a wet bulb thermometer mounted side by side in a
protective case that is attached to a handle by a swivel connection so
that the case can be easily rotated. The dry bulb thermometer is directly
exposed to air and measures the actual temperature of the air. The bulb
of the wet bulb thermometer is covered; by a wick thoroughly
wetted by distilled water. The temperature measured by this wick
covered bulb of a thermometer is the temperature of liquid water in
the wick and is called wet bulb temperature
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 DALTON'S LAW OF PARTIAL PRESSURES
It states, The total pressure exerted by the mixture of air and water
vapour is equal to the sum of the pressures, which each constituent
would exert, if it occupied the same space by itself. In other words, the
total pressure exerted by air and water vapour mixture is equal to the
barometric pressure.

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 PSYCHROMETRIC RELATIONS
1. Specific humidity, humidity ratio or moisture content. It is the mass of
water vapour present in 1 kg of dry air (in the air-vapour mixture) and is generally
expressed in g /kg of dry air.

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12/16/2021 R&AC Lecture notes 90