Chapter 10

Refrigeration & Heat Pump

Cycles (Systems)

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 Refrigeration & Heat Pump Systems
• To maintain a region of space at a temperature blow that of
the environment
• The working fluid may be (1) single phase (=> Gas
Refrigeration Cycles) or (2) two phases (=> Vapor-
compression-Refrigeration Cycles)
• Refrigerator - preservation of food
A/C - the air conditioning of buildings (space)
H.P. - capable of providing both a cooling and a heating effect
with the same equipment
Liquefaction of gas (air) - liquid O2 (e.g., for steel making),
N2 (e.g., low temperature (cryogenic)), natural gas (for
shipment), liquid fuel for rocket propulsion, etc.
Solidification of gas - e.g., dry ice

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 The Reversed Carnot Cycle
Reservoir, TH

QH

Boiler
(Heat Exchanger)

>
???
Pump < Turbine
>
Wout
Condenser
(Heat Exchanger)

QL
Reservoir, TL

• 1st Law: Qnet = Wnet and 2nd Law: QH/QL = TH/TL

• For refrigerator (or A/C):
QL QL
COP refrig = β = --------- = --------------------- > 0
W in QH – QL
β max ≥ β
TL
COP refrig, Carnot = β max = -------------------- > 0
TH – TL

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• Discussions:
(1) TH can not be less than the temperature of the
environment to which heat is rejected.
(2) TL can not be greater than the temperature of the cold
region from which heat is removed.
(3) The reversed Carnot Cycle is not
practical due to
(a) processes 2->3 (condenser, TH)
& 4->1 (evaporator, TL): must
have ∆T ≈ 100C for proper heat
transfer
(b) process 1->2 (compressor): 2-phase region
(c) processes 2->3 & 4->1: if T = constant => must be in
2-phase region => hard to keep constant T process in
reality => P = C.
(d) process 3->4 (turbine? or else?) => 2-phase region, if
turbine => corrosion and efficiency issues => throttling
devices, e.g., expansion valve, capillary tube, etc.

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(Ideal) Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Cycle
VCR System Ideal VCR Cycle

Superheated Vapor

Saturated Liquid

Saturated Vapor
Low Quality (x)
Wet Mixture

4s

• IDEAL VCR Cycle: 1->2s s = C Compression

2s->3 P = C Heat Removal
3->4 h = C Expansion
4->1 P = C Heat Addition
NOTE: All processes are reversible expect 3->4, which is
adiabatic but irreversible => h3 = h4

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• Discussions:
(1) System Analysis:
q 41 = h 1 – h 4 ( ⇒ q in ) q 23 = h 3 – h 2 ( ⇒ – q out )
w 12 = h 2 – h 1 ( ⇒ w in ) h3 = h4
q in h1 – h4
β = -------- = -----------------
w in h2 – h1
(2) For Ideal Cycle:
h 1 = h g ( at P = P L ) h 2 = h ( at P = P H & s 2 = s 1 )
h 3 = h f ( at P = P H ) h3 = h4
(3) The rate of refrigeration systems is frequently given on
the basis of the tons of refrigeration provided by the unit
operating at design conditions
1 ton => heat-removal rate from the cold region (or the
heat-absorption rate by the fluid passing
through the evaporator) of 211 kJ/min or 200
Btu/min.

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(4) Deviation of the actual VCR Cycle This diagram dose not show
P drop effect.
from the ideal cycle: Primarily due
to (a) pressure drops associated with
fluid flow and (b) heat transfer to or
from the surroundings
(5) The actual cycle might approach the
one shown:
(a) State 1 might be in SH region:
This represents an overdesign To have sufficient heat transfer rate => ∆T ≈ 100C
to ensure that the compressor is
always handling the vapor
phase (it’s difficult to design state 1 = saturated vapor). This will
increase the size of evaporator. This represents a loss because the
compressor needs more work due to v is larger in SH than x=1
( w = v dP ). ∫
(b) 1->2 (not 2s): due to irreversibility
(c) Heat transfer from compressor to/from surrounding (TH) will also
affect the compressor performance.
(d) State 3, in general, is in the subcooled region. This is a beneficial
effect, since low h3 => low h4 => larger energy can be removed by the
evaporator. However, this will also increase the size of the condenser.
(w ) h –h
c s 2s 1
(e) η = -------------- = ---------------------
c w h –h
c 2 1

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 Design Considerations
• The two desired saturation temperatures (Tcondenser and Tevaporator)
determine the operating pressures (Pcondenser and Pevaporator)
• Pevap should be > 1 atm. to avoid leakage into the equipment.

• Pcond should not be over 10 to 15 bars (TR-134a, sat: 39.39 to 55.180C)

• The refrigerant needs to be nontoxic, non-corrosiveness, chemically stable,
low-cost, have a relatively high enthalpy of vaporization, environmentally
friendly, etc.
• Due to the range of applicability of VCR systems, no one fluid is suitable for
all cases.
(a) Early days - Ammonia, Sulfur Dioxide, ethyl.
(b) 1930s to mid-80s - CFCs (ChloroFluoroCarbons), e.g., R-11, R-12,
R-22, and R-502 (a blend of R-22 and R-115).
(c) Late-80s to present - HFCs (HydroFluoroCarbons), such as R-134a.
• Two important considerations in selecting a refrigerant:
(a) Temperature at which refrigeration is desired (or heating in the case
of heat pump).

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 (b) the type of equipment to be used.
• Since the refrigerant undergoes a phase change during the heat transfer
process (condenser and evaporator), the pressure of the refrigerant will be
the saturation pressure during these process. Accordingly,
(a) Low pressure => large specific volume refrigerant => large equipment
(b) High pressure => smaller equipment, but must be designed to
withstand higher pressure.
• The type of compressor used has a particular bearing on the refrigerant:
(a) Reciprocating compressors are best adapted to low specific volume
refrigerant, i.e., high pressure.
(b) Centrifugal compressors are best adapted to high specific volume
refrigerant, i.e., low pressure.
• For extremely low temperature applications:
(a) a binary fluid system may be used by cascading two separating
systems, or
(b) a single fluid system may be operated using a two-stage compressor,
in which only part of the working fluid is expanded to the
lowest-temperation portion of the refrigeration cycle.
• Text book example

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 Heat Pump (Heating & Cooling) Systems

QL h1 – h4
β = COP H P, cool = --------- = -----------------
W in h2 – h1
QH h2 – h3
γ = COP H P, heat = --------- = -----------------
W in h2 – h1
TH
γ max = COP H P, Carnot = --------------------
TH – TL

• Text book example - 10 -

 Gas (Air-Standard) Refrigeration Systems
• A Reversed Brayton Cycle
• No phase change, only gas
phase.
• Its main use in practice is in
the liquefaction of air and
other gases and in certain
special situations that
require refrigerations, such
as aircraft cabin cooling
(open cycle).
• Cycle Analysis:
wc = h1 – h2 wt = h3 – h4 q 41 = h 1 – h 4
q L ( = q 41 ) h1 – h4
β = ----------------------------------------------------- = --------------------------------------------------
w cycle ( = – ( w c + w t ) ) ( h2 – h1 ) – ( h3 – h4 )

• NOTE: T3 > TH> T1==> Gas-Refrigeration Cycle with Internal Regenerator

• Text book example - 11 -

 Gas Refrigeration Cycle with Regenerator

• Aircraft cabin cooling application

• If T3 can be reduced => T4 can be reduced too
=> extremely low temperature can be achieved
=> such use of heat exchangers internal to the
cycle is important in process for liquefaction of
gases.

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 Cascade VCR System
• For large ∆T = Tconsenser - Tevaporator, i.e., to
achieve extremely low temperature application
=> liquefaction and solidification.
• Cascade => VCR systems in SERIES such that
the condenser of a low-temperature cycle
provides the heat input to the evaporator of a Counterflow
high-temperature cycle, e.g., 2 units in series Heat Exchanger

• Normally a different refrigerant would be used in

each separate cycle, in order to match the
desired ranges of T & P.
• The Ts diagram shows an ideal double-cascade
system using the same refrigerant in each loop.
• If two different refrigerants => two separate Ts
diagrams must be used.

• Note: Normally ṁ B ≠ ṁ A , they are fixed by

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 ṁ A ( h 2 – h 3 ) = ṁ B ( h 5 – h 8 )

if the overall heat exchange is well insulated.

• If a single refrigeration cycle could be used for the overall temperature
range, this would be represented by the cycle 1->a->7->b->1.
• Two significant effects are apparent from the Ts diagram:
(1) for the single cycle - the compressor work is increase by
area 2->a->6->5->2.
(2) there is a decrease in the refrigeration capacity when a single unit is
used => 4->b->d->c->4.
• For the double-cascade system shown, it is important that the triple-state
temperature of the fluid in cycle B be lower than the critical temperature of
the fluid in cycle A.
• Can have more than 2 units, if needed.

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 Multistage Compression with Intercooling VCR System
• To reduce the
required compressor
work input.
• Idea:
For gas power
cycles, the heat
removed from the also called
intercooler is usually Mixing
Chamber
transfer to the also called 1
L-V Separator 1
environment. 1-x
1
x
For refrigeration 1-x
1-x
cycle, the sink for the 1-x
energy can be the
circulating refrigerant
itself, because in
many sections of the
cycle, the temperature of the refrigerant is below the environmental temp.

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• How to fix state 3 (already know p3 = p2, need one more):

if ṁ through states 3->4->5->6 is “1” and the fraction of vapor formed in

the flash chamber has the quality “x” at state 6, then for the mixing
chamber:
3 h3
insulated
.
m3 = 1
9
h9 h 3 = ( 1 – x )h 2 + xh 9
.
m9 = x
x9 = 1 (Sat. V) 2 .mh2= 1 - x
2
S.H.
• COP:

Q̇ refrig = ( 1 – x ) ( h 1 – h 8 )
Ẇ C = ( 1 – x ) ( h 2 – h 1 ) + ( h 4 – h 3 )

Q̇ refrig
COP = ----------------
Ẇ C

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 Absorption Refrigeration System
• Recall
Wpump, liquid << Wcompressor,vapor
• ARS => use pump not
compressor
=> need absorber to Same as
absorb the refrigerant VCR

vapor to form a liquid

solution before going
through the pump.
=> to retrieve the
refrigerant vapor from
the liquid solution
before entering the
condenser => need generator, i.e., high temperature source
Generator sources: solar, geothermal, fuel, etc.

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