RAC Lecture 10
RAC Lecture 10
RAC Lecture 10
10
Vapour Compression
Refrigeration Systems
1 Version 1 ME, IIT Kharagpur
The specific objectives of the lesson:
This lesson discusses the most commonly used refrigeration system, i.e. Vapour
compression refrigeration system. The following things are emphasized in detail:
1. The Carnot refrigeration cycle & its practical limitations (Section 10.3)
2. The Standard Vapour compression Refrigeration System (Section 10.4)
3. Analysis of Standard Vapour compression Refrigeration System (Section 10.5)
At the end of the lesson the student should be able to:
1. Analyze and perform cyclic calculations for Carnot refrigeration cycle (Section
10.3)
2. State the difficulties with Carnot refrigeration cycle (Section 10.3)
3. Analyze and perform cyclic calculations for standard vapour compression
refrigeration systems (Section 10.4)
4. Perform various cycle calculations for different types of refrigerants (Section
10.4)
∫ δq = ∫ δw
∫ δq = q 4 −1 − q 2 −3 = q e − q c
∫ δw = w 3− 4 − w 1− 2 = w T − w C = − w net (10.1)
Heat sink
qc
C
3 2
T C
wnet
4 1
E
qe
Heat source
Pc
Pe
T
qc
Tc 3
2
w3-4
w1-2
Te
4 1
qQ
ee
3
q c = − q 2 −3 = − ∫ T.ds = Tc (s 2 − s 3 ) (10.2)
2
1
q e = q 4−1 = ∫ T.ds = Te (s 1 − s 4 ) (10.3)
4
where Te and Tc are the evaporator and condenser temperatures, respectively, and,
s 1 = s 2 and s 3 = s 4 (10.4)
thus the COP of Carnot refrigeration cycle is a function of evaporator and condenser
temperatures only and is independent of the nature of the working substance. This is the
reason why exactly the same expression was obtained for air cycle refrigeration systems
operating on Carnot cycle (Lesson 9). The Carnot COP sets an upper limit for
refrigeration systems operating between two constant temperature thermal reservoirs
(heat source and sink). From Carnot’s theorems, for the same heat source and sink
temperatures, no irreversible cycle can have COP higher than that of Carnot COP.
Tc
3 2
wnet
Te
4 1
qe
b a s
Fig.10.2. Carnot refrigeration cycle represented in T-s plane
It is difficult to build and operate a Carnot refrigeration system due to the following
practical difficulties:
i. During process 1-2, a mixture consisting of liquid and vapour have to be compressed
isentropically in the compressor. Such a compression is known as wet compression due to
the presence of liquid. In practice, wet compression is very difficult especially with
reciprocating compressors. This problem is particularly severe in case of high speed
reciprocating compressors, which get damaged due to the presence of liquid droplets in
the vapour. Even though some types of compressors can tolerate the presence of liquid in
ii. The second practical difficulty with Carnot cycle is that using a turbine and extracting
work from the system during the isentropic expansion of liquid refrigerant is not
economically feasible, particularly in case of small capacity systems. This is due to the
fact that the specific work output (per kilogram of refrigerant) from the turbine is given
by:
Pc
w 3− 4 = ∫ v.dP (10.6)
Pe
since the specific volume of liquid is much smaller compared to the specific volume of a
vapour/gas, the work output from the turbine in case of the liquid will be small. In
addition, if one considers the inefficiencies of the turbine, then the net output will be
further reduced. As a result using a turbine for extracting the work from the high pressure
liquid is not economically justified in most of the cases1 .
One way of achieving dry compression in Carnot refrigeration cycle is to have two
compressors – one isentropic and one isothermal as shown in Fig.10.4.
qc
qc
Pc
Condenser 3 Pi
Pc > Pi > Pe Pe
4 q2-3 C
w2-3
2 4 3
2
T C
w1-2
5 1
Evaporator 5 1
qe
qe
Fig.10.4. Carnot refrigeration system with dry compression
As shown in Fig.10.4, the Carnot refrigeration system with dry compression consists of
one isentropic compression process (1-2) from evaporator pressure Pe to an intermediate
pressure Pi and temperature Tc, followed by an isothermal compression process (2-3)
from the intermediate pressure Pi to the condenser pressure Pc. Though with this
modification the problem of wet compression can be avoided, still this modified system is
not practical due to the difficulty in achieving true isothermal compression using high-
speed compressors. In addition, use of two compressors in place of one is not
economically justified.
1
However, currently efforts are being made to recover this work of expansion in some refrigeration
systems to improve the system efficiency.
qc
3
Condenser
Exp. C wc
Device
4
Evaporator
1
qe
T Pc
2 Pe
3 2'
Tc
Te
4 1
By comparing with Carnot cycle, it can be seen that the standard vapour compression
refrigeration cycle introduces two irreversibilities: 1) Irreversibility due to non-isothermal
heat rejection (process 2-3) and 2) Irreversibility due to isenthalpic throttling (process 3-
4). As a result, one would expect the theoretical COP of standard cycle to be smaller than
that of a Carnot system for the same heat source and sink temperatures. Due to these
irreversibilities, the cooling effect reduces and work input increases, thus reducing the
system COP. This can be explained easily with the help of the cycle diagrams on T s
charts. Figure 10.6(a) shows comparison between Carnot and standard VCRS in terms of
refrigeration effect.
2
3 2'
Tc 2’’
Te 4'
4 1
A2
c d e S
The heat extraction (evaporation) process is reversible for both the Carnot cycle and
VCRS cycle. Hence the refrigeration effect is given by:
thus there is a reduction in refrigeration effect when the isentropic expansion process of
Carnot cycle is replaced by isenthalpic throttling process of VCRS cycle, this reduction is
equal to the area d-4-4’-c-d (area A2) and is known as throttling loss. The throttling loss
is equal to the enthalpy difference between state points 3 and 4’, i.e,
It is easy to show that the loss in refrigeration effect increases as the evaporator
temperature decreases and/or condenser temperature increases. A practical consequence
of this is a requirement of higher refrigerant mass flow rate.
The heat rejection in case of VCRS cycle also increases when compared to Carnot cycle.
T A1
2
3 2'
2''
4'
4 1
c d e
S
Fig.10.6(b). Comparative evaluation of heat rejection rate of VCRS and Carnot cycle
As shown in Fig.10.6(b), the heat rejection in case of Carnot cycle (1-2’’-3-4’) is given
by:
3
q c,Carnot = − q 2''−3 = − ∫ T.ds = Tc (s 2'' − s 3 ) = area e − 2' '−3 − c − e (10.10)
2 ''
In case of VCRS cycle, the heat rejection rate is given by:
3
q c,VCRS = − q 2−3 = − ∫ T.ds = area e − 2 − 3 − c − e (10.11)
2
Hence the increase in heat rejection rate of VCRS compared to Carnot cycle is equal to
the area 2’’-2-2’ (area A1). This region is known as superheat horn, and is due to the
Since the heat rejection increases and refrigeration effect reduces when the Carnot cycle
is modified to standard VCRS cycle, the net work input to the VCRS increases compared
to Carnot cycle. The net work input in case of Carnot and VCRS cycles are given by:
As shown in Fig.10.6(c), the increase in net work input in VCRS cycle is given by:
w net , VCRS − w net ,Carnot = area 2' '−2 − 2' + area c − 4'−4 − d − c = area A 1 + area A 2 (10.14)
T
A1
2
3 2' 2’’
4'
4 1
A2
c d e S
Fig.10.6(c). Figure illustrating the increase in net work input in VCRS cycle
To summarize the refrigeration effect and net work input of VCRS cycle are given by:
The cycle efficiency (also called as second law efficiency) is a good indication of the
deviation of the standard VCRS cycle from Carnot cycle. Unlike Carnot COP, the cycle
efficiency depends very much on the shape of T s diagram, which in turn depends on the
nature of the working fluid.
If we assume that the potential and kinetic energy changes during isentropic compression
process 1-2 are negligible, then the work input w1-2 is given by:
w 1− 2, VCRS = ( h 2 − h 1 ) = ( h 2 − h f ) − ( h 1 − h f ) (10.19)
Fig.10.7. Figure showing saturated liquid line 3-f coinciding with the constant pressure
line
Now as shown in Fig.10.7, if we further assume that the saturated liquid line 3-f
coincides with the constant pressure line Pc in the subcooled region (which is a
reasonably good assumption), then from the 2nd Tds relation;
As mentioned before, the losses due to superheat (area A1) and throttling (area A2 ≈ A3)
depend very much on the shape of the vapor dome (saturation liquid and vapour curves)
on T s diagram. The shape of the saturation curves depends on the nature of refrigerant.
Figure 10.8 shows T s diagrams for three different types of refrigerants.
Type 1 Type 2
2
3 2
T 2' T 3 2'
2'' 2''
4' 4'
4 1 4 1
S
S
Type 3
3 2
T
4'
4 1
Refrigerants such as ammonia, carbon di-oxide and water belong to Type 1. These
refrigerants have symmetrical saturation curves (vapour dome), as a result both the
superheat and throttling losses (areas A1 and A3) are significant. That means deviation of
VCRS cycle from Carnot cycle could be significant when these refrigerants are used as
working fluids. Refrigerants such as CFC11, CFC12, HFC134a belong to Type 2, these
refrigerants have small superheat losses (area A1) but large throttling losses (area A3).
High molecular weight refrigerants such as CFC113, CFC114, CFC115, iso-butane
belonging to Type 3, do not have any superheat losses, i.e., when the compression inlet
condition is saturated (point 1), then the exit condition will be in the 2-phase region, as a
result it is not necessary to superheat the refrigerant. However, these refrigerants
where h2 and h1 are the specific enthalpies (kJ/kg) at the exit and inlet to the compressor,
respectively. (h 2 − h 1 ) is known as specific work of compression or simply work of
compression, which is equal to the work input to the compressor per kilogram of
refrigerant.
.
Condenser: Heat transfer rate at condenser, Q c is given by:
Expansion device: For the isenthalpic expansion process, the kinetic energy change
across the expansion device could be considerable, however, if we take the control
volume, well downstream of the expansion device, then the kinetic energy gets dissipated
due to viscous effects, and
h3 = h4 (10.27)
The exit condition of the expansion device lies in the two-phase region, hence applying
the definition of quality (or dryness fraction), we can write:
h 4 = (1 − x 4 ) h f ,e + x 4 h g ,e = h f + x 4 h fg (10.28)
where x4 is the quality of refrigerant at point 4, hf,e, hg,e, hfg are the saturated liquid
enthalpy, saturated vapour enthalpy and latent heat of vaporization at evaporator
pressure, respectively.
⎛ . ⎞ ⎛ . ⎞
⎜ Q ⎟ ⎜ m r (h 1 − h 4 ) ⎟ (h 1 − h 4 )
COP = ⎜ . e ⎟ = ⎜ . ⎟= (10.29)
⎜ W c ⎟ ⎜ m r (h − h ) ⎟ (h 2 − h 1 )
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ 2 1 ⎠
.
At any point in the cycle, the mass flow rate of refrigerant m r can be written in terms of
volumetric flow rate and specific volume at that point, i.e.,
. .
mr = V (10.30)
v
Te Tc
Pc
3 2' 2
P
Pe 4 1
h3 = h4 h1 h2 h
Fig.10.9. Standard vapour compression refrigeration cycle on a P-h chart
In addition to the P-h and T-s charts one can also use thermodynamic property tables
from solving problems related to various refrigeration cycles.
Questions:
1. A Carnot refrigerator using R12 as working fluid operates between 40ºC and -30ºC.
Determine the work of compression and cooling effect produced by the cycle. (Solution)
2. An ideal refrigeration cycle operates with R134a as the working fluid. The
temperature of refrigerant in the condenser and evaporator are 40ºC and -20ºC
respectively. The mass flow rate of refrigerant is 0.1 kg/s. Determine the cooling
capacity and COP of the plant. (Solution)
3. A R-12 plant has to produce 10 tons of refrigeration. The condenser and evaporator
temperatures are 40ºC and -10ºC respectively. Determine
4. A NH3 refrigerator produces 100 tons of ice from water at 0ºC in a day. The cycle
operates between 25ºC and -15ºC . The vapor is dry saturated at the end of compression.
If the COP is 50% of theoretical COP, calculate the power required to drive the
compressor. (Solution)
5. In a refrigerator the power rating impressed on the compressor is 1.2 kW. The
circulating wire in evaporator is 5 kW and the cooling water took away 10 kW from
condenser coil. The operating temperatures range is 18ºC and 0ºC and their
corresponding latent heats are 170 kJ/kg and 230 kJ/kg and the difference between the
6. A water cooler using R12 refrigerant works between 30ºC to 9ºC. Assuming the
volumetric and mechanical efficiency of the compressor to be 80 and 90% respectively,
and the mechanical efficiency of motor to be 90% , and 20% of useful cooling is lost into
water cooler, find: