Click to edit Master title style

Refrigeration
Systems
ME 36 – BS in Mechanical Engineering

1
Click to edit Master
Refrigeration Systemtitle style

• Refrigeration itself is defined as the process of extracting heat

from a lower-temperature heat source, substance, or cooling
medium and transferring it to a higher-temperature heat sink.
• Refrigeration maintains the temperature of the heat source
below that of its surroundings while transferring the extracted
heat, and any required energy input, to a heat sink,
atmospheric air, or surface water.
• A refrigeration system is a group of components and
equipment used for cooling and sometimes heating. In most
cases, it involves the use of a thermodynamic cycle in which
there is a flow of heat from one place to another. In simpler
terms, it’s a system that has the ability to cool and maintain
temperatures within a given range.

2 2
Click to edit Master title style
Refrigerants

• A refrigerant is the primary working fluid used for absorbing

and transmitting heat in a refrigeration system. Refrigerants
absorb heat at a low temperature and low pressure and
release heat at a higher temperature and pressure. Most
refrigerants undergo phase changes during heat absorption—
evaporation—and heat releasing—condensation.
• The most commonly used refrigerants in the Philippines are
R-134A, R-22 (phased out in importation, but can be used
until 2040), R-32 and R-410a (on phase-down process until
2045), and R-717 (ammonia).

3 3
Click to
Types ofedit
Refrigerants
Master title style

Halocarbon Compounds Inorganic Compounds Hydrocarbons Azeotropes

Hydrocarbon refrigerants are Azeotropic refrigerant is a

a next-generation refrigerant, mixture of two or more
Refrigerants that contain one Compounds without carbon-
which are primarily being substances that cannot be
or more of the three hydrogen bonds that are
used in commercial and separated by distillation.
halogens (chlorine, fluorine, used primarily for industrial
domestic refrigerators and Usually, the two substances
and bromine). refrigeration.
freezers, as well as air used have the same boiling
conditioning systems. temperature.
Ammonia, water, air, carbon Methane, Isobutane,
R11, R22, R40, R114 R502, R407C
dioxide Propylene, Ethane

4 4
Click toCycle
Carnot edit Master
and Vapor
titleCompression
style Cycle

Carnot Cycle Vapor Compression Cycle

• Most efficient thermodynamic cycle • Most efficient refrigeration cycle

• The ideal cycle, which is reversible • The ideal refrigeration cycle, also called the
reversed Carnot cycle
• Measure of performance is thermal efficiency
• Measure of performance is COP (coefficient of
• 1-2 isentropic compression
performance)
• 2-3 isothermal heat addition
• 1-2 isentropic compression
• 3-4 isentropic expansion
• 2-3 isothermal heat rejection
• 4-1 isothermal heat rejection
• 3-4 isentropic expansion
• 4-1 isothermal heat addition

5 5
Click to edit Master
Components of a Standard
title style
Refrigeration Cycle

Compressor Condenser Expansion Devices Evaporator

6 6
Click to edit Master title style
Compressor

• Compression is the first step in the refrigeration cycle,

and a compressor is the piece of equipment that
increases the pressure of the working gas.
• Refrigerant enters the compressor as low-pressure,
low-temperature gas, and leaves the compressor as a
high-pressure, high-temperature gas.
• The most common types of compressors in a
refrigeration cycle are (a) reciprocating, (b) scroll-types,
and (c) rotary.

7 7
Click to edit Master
Reciprocating Compressors
title style

• Reciprocating compressors have a design similar to a combustion

engine and can contain anywhere from two to six pistons housed in
individual cylinders. Each of these pistons are driven by a central
crankshaft. As the pistons move downward, the refrigerant is sucked
into the cylinder through an inlet valve. When the piston moves back
upwards, the inlet valve closes, and the volume of space in the
cylinder decreases, compressing the refrigerant. Once the
refrigerant is sufficiently compressed, the necessary amount of
force to open a discharge valve is achieved, and the refrigerant is
expelled, allowing the cycle to repeat.
• Reciprocating compressors are highly scalable, allowing them to be
designed to a small capacity or a high capacity of hundreds of tons.
The main detractors to reciprocating compressors are that they are
very loud, have a high amount of vibration, and are inefficient.
8 8
Click to
Scroll Compressors
edit Master title style

• A scroll compressor, also known as a spiral compressor

and a scroll pump, is a type of positive-displacement
compressor. It works through the internal compression
of air or gas. Scroll compressors can be oil-lubricated or
oil-free. The latter is best suited for applications where
there is a need for clean, dry air quality without any oil
contamination in the compression chamber.

9 9
Click toCompressors
Rotary edit Master title style

• Rotary Compressors compress the vapor refrigerant coming from

evaporator with help of rotating screws, vanes or scrolls unlike
reciprocating compressor which compresses vapor refrigerant by
means of reciprocating piston or centrifugal compressor which
compresses vapor by means of centrifugal force.
• Rotary compressors, which grew up in the air conditioning industry,
are primarily smaller and typically applied in higher evaporator
temperatures. They have a limited capacity range, are fairly
lightweight, and relatively inexpensive. On the downside, they are
extremely sensitive to liquid slugging, and their sensitive internal
sealing limits their application envelope range. Rotary compressors
are commonly used on window units, refrigerated appliances,
packaged terminal air conditioners, and ductless split systems.

1010
Click to edit Master title style
Condenser

• The condenser, or condenser coil, is one of two types of

heat exchangers used in a basic refrigeration loop. This
component is supplied with high-temperature high-
pressure, vaporized refrigerant coming off the
compressor. The condenser removes heat from the hot
refrigerant vapor gas vapor until it condenses into a
saturated liquid state, a.k.a. condensation.
• After condensing, the refrigerant is a high-pressure,
low-temperature liquid, at which point it’s routed to the
loop’s expansion device.

1111
Click to edit
Expansion Devices
Master title style

• These components come in a few different designs.

Popular configurations include fixed orifices,
thermostatic expansion valves (TXV) or thermal
expansion valves (pictured above), and the more
advanced electronic expansion valves (EEVs). But
regardless of configuration, the job of a system’s
expansion device is the same - create a drop in
pressure after the refrigerant leaves the condenser. This
pressure drop will cause some of that refrigerant to
quickly boil, creating a two-phase mixture.
• This rapid phase change is called flashing, and it helps
tee up the next piece of equipment in the circuit, the
evaporator, to perform its intended function.

1212
Click to edit Master title style
Evaporator

• The evaporator is the second heat exchanger in a

standard refrigeration circuit, and like the condenser, it’s
named for its basic function. It serves as the “business
end” of a refrigeration cycle, given that it does what we
expect air conditioning to do – absorb heat.
• This happens when refrigerant enters the evaporator as
a low temperature liquid at low pressure, and a fan
forces air across the evaporator’s fins, cooling the air by
absorbing the heat from the space in question into the
refrigerant.
• After doing so, the refrigerant is sent back to the
compressor, where the process restarts.

1313
Click to edit MasterTwo
titlesides
styleof the system

• High Side – where the system pressure

is high
• Compressor
• Condenser

• Low Side – where the system pressure is

low
• Expansion Device
• Evaporator

1414