Session – 3

Working Principle of
Vapour compression refrigeration
system

Alfred Franklin V
Cell Number: 9965370082

Course: B.E/B.Tech (First Year)-common to all Branches.

Subject: Basic Civil and Mechanical Engineering.
University: Anna University Tirunelveli.
Session Objectives
At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:

• Define refrigeration.
• Classify refrigeration systems.
• Explain the working principle.
• List the Applications.

Teaching Learning Material

• Black Board and Chalk

• PPT
• Animation

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 2

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
Session Plan
Skill and
Time Learning Aid and Faculty Typical Student
Content Competency
(in min) Methodology Approach Activity
Developed

Remembering/
Question and
10 Recap : Refrigeration Facilitates Participates Knowledge
Answer
Intrapersonal

Remembering/
Knowledge
Classification & Understanding/
10 PPT Explains Listens
Components Comprehension

Remembering/
Knowledge
15 Working Principle PPT/Animation Explains Listens Understanding/
Comprehension

Remembering/
Knowledge
5 Merits& Demerits PPT Explains Listens Understanding/
Comprehension

Comprehension
Question and
5 Applications Conducts Participates Interpersonal/
Answer
intrapersonal

Comprehension
Conducts &
5 Conclusion Pick & speak Participates Interpersonal/
Facilitates
intrapersonal

Session Inputs

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 3

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
Recap: Refrigeration

The learners are already familiar with refrigerators. The same

can be recapped through a question and answer round before
introducing the new topic.

Suggested Activity: Question &

answer

The following questions can serve as sample questions for the

activity:
1. What is refrigeration?
2. What is a refrigerator?
3. What is a refrigerant?
4. Name some refrigerants.

What is refrigeration?
The process of cooling or freezing
(e.g., food) for preservative purposes

What is a refrigerator?
A refrigerator is a machine that
removes heat from a low temperature
region to higher temperature region.

What is a refrigerant?
Working substance of a refrigerator.

Type of refrigerant
• Refrigerant determined by the required cooling
temperature
• Chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs) or freons: R-11, R-
12, R-21, R-22 and R-502

Types of refrigeration:
1. Vapour compression refrigeration system.
(uses mechanical energy)

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 4

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
 2. Vapour absorption refrigeration system. (uses
thermal energy)
3. Air refrigeration system.
4. Thermoelectric refrigeration.
5. Magnetic refrigeration.

Unit of refrigeration

Commercial refrigerators in the US are mostly rated in tons of

refrigeration (TR), but elsewhere in kW.

1 tonne of refrigeration is the rate of heat removal required to

freeze a metric ton (i.e., 1000 kg) of water at 0 °C in 24 hours.

1 TR = 3.5 kW.

Components of Compression refrigeration system:

Before explaining the working principle of vapour compression

refrigeration system we have to explain the components and
their functions so that the students can understand the
refrigeration system easily and quickly.

The four basic components of the vapour compression

refrigeration system are
 Compressor
 Condenser
 Throttle valve
 Evaporator.

1. Compressor - The compressor does work on the

system increasing the pressure from that existing in
the evaporator (drawing in low- pressure, low-

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 5

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
 temperature saturated vapour) and to that existing in
the condenser (i.e., delivering high pressure and high
temperature vapour to the condenser.

2. Condenser - The high pressure, high temperature

(superheated
or saturated) vapour that enters the condenser has
heat removed from it and as a results it is condensed
back into a liquid phase.

3. Evaporator - Heat is absorbed to boil the liquid at

a low temperature, therefore a low pressure must be
maintained in this section.

4. Throttle valve - The high pressure liquid from the

condenser is expanded through this valve, allowing its
pressure to drop to that existing in the evaporator. As
already mentioned, Vapor-compression refrigeration
systems are the most common type of refrigerator in
use today.

Working Principle of Vapour compression Refrigeration

system
After explaining the components of vapour
compression refrigeration system, the students can
understand the working principle easily. The following
figures and P-H and T-S diagrams are used for
explaining the working principle.

Vapor-Compression Cycle
The Vapor Compression Cycle uses energy input
to drive a compressor that increases the pressure and

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Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
 pressure of the refrigerant which is in the vapor state.
The refrigerant is then exposed to the hot section
(termed the condenser) of the system, its
temperature being higher than the temperature of
this section. As a result, heat is transferred from the
refrigerant to the hot section (i.e. heat is removed
from the refrigerant) causing it to condense i.e. for its
state to change from the vapor phase to the liquid
phase (hence the term condenser). The refrigerant
then passes through the expansion valve across which
its pressure and temperature drop considerably.
The refrigerant temperature is now below that
existing in the cold or refrigerated section (termed the
evaporator) of the system, its temperature being
lower than the temperature in this section. As a result,
heat is transferred from the refrigerated section to the
refrigerant (i.e. heat is absorbed by the refrigerant)
causing it to pass from the liquid or near-liquid state
to the vapor state again (hence the term evaporator).
The refrigerant then again passes to the compressor
in which its pressure is again increased and the whole
cycle is repeated.

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Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
Processes

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 8

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
 • Process 4 – 1(Evaporation/Vaporization). Low-
pressure liquid refrigerant in the evaporator absorbs heat
from its surroundings, usually air, water or some other
process liquid. During this process it changes its state
from a liquid to a gas, and at the evaporator exit is
slightly superheated.

• Process 1 – 2 (Compression). The superheated vapour

enters the compressor where its pressure is raised. The
temperature will also increase, because a proportion of
the energy put into the compression process is transferred
to the refrigerant.

• Process 2 – 3 (Condensation). The high pressure

superheated gas passes from the compressor into the
condenser, where it condensed into high pressure liquid.

• Process 3 – 4 (Expansion/Throttling). The refrigerant

liquid is further throttled in the expansion device, to lower
the pressure and temperature. In this process the
enthalpy is constant.

Coefficient of Performance
-It is a measure of the efficiency of the device.

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Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
Merits & Demerits

The advantages and disadvantages of Vapour

compression Refrigeration system is to be listed
compared to other systems.

Merits
1. High COP.
2. Running cost is 20% of air refrigeration.
3. Compact.

Demerits
1. High initial cost.
2. Inflammability & toxity of refrigerants.

Applications

Finally the applications of Vapour compression

Refrigeration system are to be explained.

1. The refrigeration of foodstuffs in homes,

restaurants and large storage warehouses. The use of
refrigerators in our kitchens for the storage of fruits
and vegetables has allowed us to add fresh salads to
our diets year round, and to store fish and meats
safely for long periods.

2. Refrigeration is used to liquify gases like oxygen,

nitrogen, propane and methane for example. In
compressed air purification, it is used to condense
water vapor from compressed air to reduce its
moisture content.

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 10

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
 3.In oil refineries, chemical plants, and petrochemical
plants, refrigeration is used to maintain certain
processes at their required low temperatures (for
example, in the alkylation of butanes and butane to
produce a high octane gasoline component). Metal
workers use refrigeration to temper steel and cutlery.

4. In transporting temperature-sensitive materials by

trucks, trains, airplanes and sea-going vessels,
refrigeration is a necessity.

5. Dairy products are constantly in need of

refrigeration, and it was only discovered in the past
few decades that eggs needed to be refrigerated
during shipment rather than waiting to be refrigerated
after arrival at the grocery store.

Conclusion:

To conclude this session, we can do a pick and speak

activity
Suggested Activity: Pick &
Speak
The keywords from this topic are written on some chit and put it on a
bowl. Then the learners are asked to take it one by one and they have to
talk about the key word that they took.

The key words are:

1.Compressor
2. Condensation
3. Throttling
4.COP
5. Evaporation
6. P-h diagram

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Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
Summary
In this session, we learnt to:

• Define refrigeration.
• Classify refrigeration systems.
• Explain the working principle.
• List the merits, demerits & Applications.

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 12

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering
References
Book
1. Thermal engineering by R.K.Rajput.

Websites

www.energyefficiencyasia.org
www.images.google.com

Topic Name: Working Principle of vapour compression refrigeration system. Page 13

Author Name: Alfred Franklin.V College Name: St. Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering