REFRIGERATION SYSTEM

COMPONENTS
-VISHAKH GANESH
CONDENSERS
 CONDENSER
Condenser is a device in which steam is condensed to water at a pressure less than
atmosphere. Condensation can be done by removing heat from using circulating cooling water.
During condensation, the working substance changes its phase from vapour to liquid and rejects
latent heat.
The functions of the condenser are to de-superheat the high pressure gas, condense it and also
sub- cool the liquid.
 Heat from the hot refrigerant gas is rejected in the condenser to the condensing medium-air or
water.
 Air and water are chosen because they are naturally available. Their normal temperature
range is satisfactory for condensing refrigerants.
 The selection of a condenser depends upon the capacity of the refrigerating system, the type
of refrigerant used and the type of cooling medium available.
 Process (2-3) - First of all the superheated vapor is
cooled to saturation temperature (called de-
superheating) corresponding to the pressure of
the refrigerant. The de-superheating occurs in the
discharge line and in the first few coils of the
condenser.
 Process (3-4) - Now, the saturated vapor
refrigerant gives up its latent heat and is
condensed to a saturated liquid refrigerant.
Process is called condensation
 Process (4-5) - The temperature of the liquid
refrigerant is reduced below its saturation
temperature (sub cooled) in order to increase the
refrigeration effect.
 Types of Condenser
1. Air Cooled Condenser
2. Water Cooled Condenser
3. Evaporative Condenser

This classification is based on the cooling medium , Air cooled condenser uses air as
cooling medium. Water cooled condenser uses water as cooling medium . Evaporator
type is a combination of both .
 Air Cooled Condenser

An air cooled condenser (ACC) is a direct dry cooling system where steam is condensed
inside air-cooled finned tubes. The cool ambient air flow outside the finned tubes is what
removes heat.
It is again classified in to two ;
1.Natural Convection Condenser
2. Forced Air-Circulation Condenser
Natural Convection Condenser
 Air movement over the surface of condenser tubes is by natural convection.
 As air comes in contact with the warm-condenser tubes, it absorbs heat from the
refrigerant and thus the temperature of the air increases. Warm air rise up and in its place,
cooler air from below rises to take away the heat from the condenser . This cycle goes on.
 Not capable of rejecting heat rapidly, Since air moves very slowly by natural convection.
 A relatively large surface area of the condenser is required.
 Use of this type of condenser limited to very small units such as domestic refrigerators,
freezers, water coolers, room air AC.
 In the small units, the condenser is fixed at the rear of the refrigerator cabinets. Generally,
steel tubes are used. To increase the heat-transfer area, wires are welded to the condenser
tubes. In certain designs, widely-spaced fins are used.
 Another design is the plate-type. The condenser coil is fastened to a plate. The plate being
in contact with the condenser tubes, the surface area of the condenser is increased. The
plate-type condenser is mounted on the back of the refrigerator cabinet with a small gap
between the cabinet and the plate.
Forced Air-Circulation Condenser
 This type employs a fan or blower (propeller or centrifugal) to move air over the
condenser coil at a certain velocity.
 The condenser coil is of the finned type. Fins in such coils are closely spaced (ranging
between 8 and 17 fins per inch).
 The space between the fins gets choked with dirt , therefore to obtain optimum capacity,
the fins should be kept clean.
 For circulating air over the condenser, fans are mounted on the shaft/pulley of the
compressor motor.
 For bigger-capacity plants a separate motor is used to drive the fan or blower as also for
hermetic-compressor units.
 Forced convection type condensers are commonly used in window air conditioners,
water coolers and packaged air conditioning plants.
 The Forced Air Circulation Condenser is also classified in to two;
(a) Base mounted air cooled condensers (b) Remote air cooled condensers

 Base mounted air cooled condensers – Propeller fans are mounted on the same base
of compressor, motor, receiver and other controls. The entire arrangement is called a
condensing unit. Used for refrigeration system of 10 tonnes or less.
 Remote air cooled condensers – Used on systems above 10 tonnes and are available
up to 125 tonnes. These condenser may be horizontal or vertical. These condensers
use propeller fans or centrifugal fans depending on the location of condenser.
 Water Cooled Condenser

In water cooled condensers water is the external fluid (condensing medium)

Used in commercial and industrial refrigerating units.

There are three types of condensers which fall under this category:
(a) Tube-in-tube or double pipe,
(b) Shell-and-coil, and
(c) Shell-and-tube
 Tube-in-Tube or Double Pipe Condenser
 In this type, a smaller diameter pipe inserted inside a bigger
diameter pipe and is bent to the desired form. Water flows
through the inner tube and the refrigerant through the
annular space between the two tubes
 The flow of refrigerant and water being arranged in opposite
direction (Counter) to get the maximum benefit of heat
transfer
 Due to the impurities present in water, scales can form on the
water-side of the tube which can impede the heat transfer .
There fore it becomes necessary to periodically clean the
water tube. But in the tube-in-tube system, cleaning is not
easy , unless a removable header is provided to connect all the
tubes.
 Headers are used at both the ends to make the length of the
condenser small and reduce pressure drop. Double pipe
condensers are normally used up to 10 TR capacity.
Shell-and-Coil Condenser
 These condensers are used in systems up to 50 TR capacity.
 It consists of a welded-steel shell containing a coil of finned tubing to increase the heat transfer
coefficient.
 Water flows in the coil, the refrigerant being in the shell.
 Coiled tubing is free to expand and contract with temperature changes because of its spring action
and can withstand any strain caused by temperature changes.
 When water flows through the coils, cleaning is done by circulating suitable chemicals through the
coils.
 Shell-and-Tube Condenser

 Used in systems from 2 TR up to 1000 TR capacity. The most common type is horizontal
shell type.
 The refrigerant flows through the cylindrical shell while water flows through the
straight tubes in single to four passes.
 The condensed refrigerant collects at the bottom of the shell. The liquid refrigerant is
drained to the receiver through a vent connecting the receiver to the condenser.
 Vertical shell-and-tube type condensers are usually used with ammonia in large
capacity systems so that cleaning of the tubes is possible from top while the plant is
running.
 A fusible plug or safety pressure relief valve is fixed on the shell of the condenser to
protect the high side of the refrigeration system against excessive pressures.
Air cooled Condenser Water Cooled Condenser
Simple construction , less initial and maintenance Complicated construction , more initial and
cost maintenance cost
No handling problems Difficult to handle

Doesn’t require piping arrangement for carrying air Pipes are required to take water to and from the
condenser
No problem in disposing of used air Problem in disposing used air unless a recirculation
system is provided
No corrosion – Low fouling effect Corrosion occurs – Fouling effects are high

Used for low capacity plants (< 5 TR) Used for large plants

There is fan noise There is no fan noise

Non uniform distribution of air on condenser Even distribution of water on the condenser surface

High flexibility Low flexibility

 Evaporative Condenser
 Use both air and water as a condensing medium.
 Water is pumped from the sump of the evaporative
condenser to a spray header and sprayed through
the nozzle over the condenser coil through which
the hot vapor refrigerant from the compressor is
passing.
 Heat transfers from the refrigerant through the
condensing tube walls and into the water that is
wetting the outside surface of the tubes.
 A fan draws air from the bottom-side of the
condenser and discharges it out at the top of the
condenser. The spray water coming in contact with
the condenser tube surface evaporates into the air
stream.
 The heat for vaporizing the water is taken from the
refrigerant , thereby condensing the refrigerant in
tube.
 The evaporative condenser combines the functions of the water-cooled condenser and the
cooling tower.
 The cold water that drops down into a sump is recirculated. In order to make up the
deficiency caused by the evaporated water, additional water is supplied to the sump. A float
valve in the sump controls the make up supply.
 An eliminator is provided above the spray header to stop particles of water from escaping
along with the discharge air.
 It occupies less space and moreover, it needs less power than a water-cooled condenser . The
heat transfer coefficient for evaporative cooling is very large.
 The required air flow rates are in the range of 350 to 500 m/h per TR of refrigeration
capacity.
 Most troublesome point about the evaporative condenser is the difficulty in keeping the
surface of the condenser coil clean.
 The condenser coil being both hot and wet in operation, the dirt carried along with the air
stream forms a hard layer on the condenser.
 So the capacity of the condenser gets substantially affected, because of this maintenance
problem.
 Evaporative condensers are not much in favour .
Other Classifications of condenser
According to the type of flow;
1.Parallel flow , 2.Counter flow , 3.Cross flow
According to Cooling Action;
Jet condensers(Mixing type)
-Low level parallel flow jet condenser
-Low level counter flow jet condenser
-High Level jet condenser
-Ejector jet condenser
Surface Condensers(Non-Mixing type)
1.Down flow
2.Central flow
3.Inverted flow
4.Evaporative type
5.Regenerative type
 Factors Affecting the Condenser Capacity
The condenser capacity is the ability of the condenser to transfer heat from the hot vapor
refrigerant to the condensing medium. The heat transfer capacity of a condenser depends upon
the following factor.
Material
Different materials have different abilities of heat transfer, therefore the size of a condenser of a
given capacity can be varied by selecting the right material. It may be noted that higher the
ability of a material to transfer heat, the smaller will be the size of condenser.
Amount of Contact
The condenser capacity may be varied by controlling the amount of contact between the
condenser surface and the condensing medium, this can be done by varying the surface area of
the condenser and the rate of flow of the condensing medium over the condenser surface. The
amount of liquid refrigerant level in the condenser also affects the amount of contact between the
vapor refrigerant and the condensing medium.
Temperature Difference
The heat transfer capacity of a condenser greatly depends upon the temperature difference
between the condensing medium and the vapor refrigerant. As the temperature difference
increases, the heat transfer rate increases and therefore the condenser capacity increases.
EVAPORATORS
 EVAPORATORS

An evaporator is a device in a process used to turn the liquid form of a chemical

substance such as water into its gaseous-form/vapour . The liquid is evaporated, or
vaporized, into a gas form of the targeted substance in that process.

 In an evaporator, the refrigerant boils or evaporates and in doing so absorbs heat from
the surrounding location or medium which is to be cooled.
 The temperature of the boiling refrigerant in the evaporator must always be less than
that of surround medium.
 It is also called a cooling coil, chilling coil, freezing coil.
 Point 5 – Entry of liquid refrigerant into expansion valve.
Liquid refrigerant is sub-cooled ensuring that expansion
valve receives pure liquid refrigerant with no vapors.
 Point 6 – Low pressure liquid refrigerant passes through the
evaporator coil, and continually absorbs heat through the
coil walls, from the medium being cooled.
 Point 1’ – All liquid refrigerant has evaporated and only
vapor refrigerant remains in the evaporator coil.
 Since at point 1’ vapor refrigerant is still colder than the
medium being cooled, therefore the vapor refrigerant
continues to absorb heat. This heat absorption causes an
increase in the sensible heat(or temperature) of the vapor
refrigerant.
 The vapor temperature continues to rise until the vapor
leaves the evaporator to the suction line at point 1.
 At this point, the temperature of the vapor is above the
saturation temperature and the vapor refrigeration is
superheated.
The effect of heat transfer depends on;

 Material
 Controlling quantity of heat
 Temperature difference
 Air circulation
 Velocity of refrigerants
 Air velocity
 Thickness of evaporator coil
 Air distribution
 Contact surface area
 Classification of evaporators
1. According to the type of construction
 Bare tube coil evaporator
 Finned tube evaporator
 Plate evaporator
 Shell and tube evaporator
 Shell and coil evaporator
 Tube in tube evaporator
2. According to the manner in which liquid refrigerant is fed
 Flooded type evaporator
 Dry expansion evaporator
3. According to the mode of heat transfer
 Natural convection evaporator
 Forced convection evaporator
4. According to the operating conditions
 Frosting, Non frosting, Defrosting evaporator
 The process of heat removal from the
substance to be cooled or refrigerated is
done in the evaporator. The liquid
refrigerant is vaporized inside the
evaporator (coil or shell) in order to
remove heat from a fluid such as air, water
etc.
 Evaporators are manufactured in different
shapes, types and designs to suit a diverse
nature of cooling requirements.
Heat Transfer in Evaporators
The three heat-transfer resistances in evaporators are:
(a) Refrigerant side for the transfer of heat from solid surface to the liquid refrigerant.
(b) Metal wall.
(c) Cooled-medium side which could be due to air, water, brine or any other fluid or a
wetted surface on a cooling and dehumidifying coil.
 The heat transfer from solid surface to the evaporating refrigerant is of primary interest
here. However, the mechanism of boiling is so complex because of the influence of such
factors as surface tension, saturation temperature, latent heat and nature of the solid
surface, in addition to the usual transport properties, that it is very difficult to predict the
heat-transfer coefficient analytically.
 In commercial equipment, the boiling process occurs in two types of situations: one, of
pool boiling as in flooded evaporators with refrigerant boiling the shell- side and the other,
of flow or forced convection boiling as in direct- expansion evaporators with refrigerant on
the tube-side.
 Natural convection Evaporators
 Natural convection coils are very useful when low air velocities and minimum
dehydration of the product is required.
 Mainly used in domestic refrigerators, cold storages, small freezers and water coolers.
 The liquid refrigerant evaporates inside the cooling coil and cools the air whose density
increases. The high-density air flows downwards through the product in the cold storage
and cools down.(evaporator should be placed as high as possible)
 The circulation of air over the cooling coil by natural convection is a function of the
temperature difference between evaporator (greater the difference greater the rate of air
circulation) and the space and location.
 Sufficient space should be provided between evaporator and ceiling to permit the air
circulation over the top of the coil.
 Baffles are also provided to separate the warm air and cold air plumes to ensure good air
circulation.
 For rooms with larger width more evaporator coils are used.
 The refrigerant tubes are made of steel or copper. Steel tubes are used for ammonia and
in large capacity systems.
 The advantages are that the coil takes no floor space and it also requires low
maintenance cost.
 It can operate for long periods without defrosting the ice formed on it and it does not
require special skills to fabricate it.
 Defrosting can be done easily (e.g. by scraping) even when the plant is running.
 Disadvantage is that natural convection heat transfer coefficient is very small hence very
long length are required, which in turn requires larger quantity of refrigerants.
 Flooded Evaporators
 Used in the chemical and food processing industries.
 Used in comfort and process air cooling installations.
 Used in cold storage boxes and freezers
 In a flooded-type evaporator a constant refrigerant liquid level is maintained.
 A float valve is used as the expansion device which maintains a constant liquid level in the
evaporator.
 The liquid refrigerant from the receiver passes through a low side float control valve and
accumulator before entering the evaporator coil.
 The accumulator (surge drum or surge tank) serves as a storage tank for the liquid refrigerant
and It maintains a constant liquid level in the evaporator and helps to separate the liquid
refrigerant from the vapor returning to the compressor.
 Due to the heat supplied by the substance to be cooled, the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator
coil vaporizes and thus the liquid level falls down.
 The accumulator supplies more liquid to the evaporator in order to keep the liquid refrigerant
in the evaporator at proper level.
 In this way, the level of liquid refrigerant in the accumulator also falls down. Since the float
within float chamber rests on liquid refrigerant at the same level as that in the accumulator,
therefore the float also floats down and open the float control valve.
 Now the liquid refrigerant from the receiver is admitted into the accumulator. As the liquid
level in the accumulator rises and reaches to the constant level , the float also rises with it until
the float control valve closes.
Since the evaporator is almost completely filled with the liquid refrigerant, therefore the
vapor refrigerant from the evaporator is not superheated but it is in a saturated
condition.
In order to prevent liquid refrigerant to enter into the compressor, an accumulator is
generally used with the flooded evaporator.
The liquid refrigerant trapped in the accumulator is recirculated through the evaporator.
The evaporator coil is connected to the accumulator and the liquid flow from the
accumulator to the evaporator coils is by gravity.
The vapor formed by vaporizing the liquid in the coil been lighter, rises up and passes
on to the top of the accumulator from where it is supplied to the suction side of the
compressor.
The baffle plate arrests any liquid present in the vapor.
Advantage is that the whole surface of the evaporator coil is in contact with the liquid
refrigerant under all load conditions.
High heat transfer rates.
Disadvantages are more expensive and more refrigerant charge is required.
 Dry Expansion Evaporators
 In these evaporators the amount of refrigerant fed by the flow control device is just
enough so that all evaporates before it leaves the evaporator. Also known as Direct
expansion coils.
 At the inlet of the evaporator, the refrigerant is predominantly in the liquid form with a
small amount of vapor formed (flash gas is formed which causes bubbles in evaporator)
at the expansion valve. The vapour leaving the evaporator is usually slightly
superheated to ensure that there is no risk of any refrigerant liquid reaching the
compressor.
 The refrigerant, by the time it reaches the end of the evaporator, is purely in the vapor
state and that too superheated. It may be noted that in this type, the refrigerant doesn't
recirculate within the evaporator as in flooded evaporator.
 Thus the evaporator in its length is filled with a varying proportion of liquid and vapor.
 The inside of the evaporator is far from ‘dry’ but wetted with liquid.
 Refrigerant supply to the evaporator is through a thermostatic expansion valve, which
maintain automatically a moderate level of superheating of the vapour drawn off.
 Mostly used in producing refrigeration and having capacity below 150 tonnes of
refrigeration.
 The direct expansion coil is preferred for air conditioning purposes
 They are simpler in design, more compact and require less refrigerant and have less
problems with oil return, and are cheaper than flooded or refrigerant circulates
evaporators.