H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics

Lecture 12

Spring 2010-2011

ENGINEERING APPLICATION REFRIGERATION

Refrigeration removes heat and maintains temperatures below that of the surroundings. The basic concept of refrigeration is associated with the heat pump, which is the reverse of a heat engine. See diagram below.

Hot Reservoir at 1 Q1 W Heat Engine Q2 Q2 Q1 W Heat Pump

Cold Reservoir at 2 The reversible heat engine shown on the left can be reversed to give the reversible heat pump on the right. For the heat pump work is done on the system, in a cyclic process, in order to move heat from the cold reservoir to the hot reservoir. For the refrigeration/heat pump cycle, the quantities we are interested in are the amount of work supplied and the heat removed from the cold reservoir. The efficiency of the cycle is known as the Coefficient of Performance, COP = Q2/W For the reversible case, as for the heat pump, the net change in entropy of the cycle is zero. Hence, ignoring the sign convention:

Q 2 Q1 = 0, T2 T1

Q 2 T2 = and Q1 = Q 2 + W Q1 T1 Q2 T Q2 1 Q2 T 2

COP =

Q2 Q2 = = W Q1 Q 2

COP =

T2 T1 T2

As in the heat engine case the reversible case represents the upper bound on performance and real systems will have a lower COP due to irreversibility. Using the above data, supposing that the room temperature was 298K and the temperature in a refrigerator was 277K. Then for a fully reversible system. COP = 277/(298-277) = 13.2 However, the refrigeration system will utilise a cyclic process with a working fluid (as steam/water is the working fluid in a power cycle). The working fluid will exchange heat with the inside of the refrigerator and will, therefore, need to be colder than the required refrigerator temperature. Similarly it will need to be hotter than the room temperature in order to exchange heat with the room. Suppose

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Lecture 12 Spring 2010-2011 o a reasonable temperature difference for heat transfer was 10 C, then, for the working fluid, T1= 308K and T2 will be 267K. Hence, COP = 267/(308-267) = 6.5. As might be expected, as the difference between T1 and T2 widens, COP becomes smaller (opposite of heat engine where efficiency increases with increase in temperature difference). Suppose the isentropic efficiency of the process is 80%. COP now reduces to 5.2. Furthermore, the work in the cycle is provided by a compressor which is driven by electricity. The overall efficiency of producing the electricity from the fossil fuel is about 30%. Hence, the overall energy efficiency of the refrigeration is now reduced to 1.56. So, although the fully reversible case gives the impression that large amounts of heat can be moved for relatively low work inputs, actual overall fuel efficiency is very much lower. Types of Refrigeration Systems Essentially there are two important classes: Vapour Compression Absorption Refrigeration

In his module we will look only at Vapour Compression. Reversible Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle The flowsheet for a reversible refrigerator is shown opposite. The heat intake from the cold reservoir is by boiling liquid at low temperature, T1. Heat rejection to the warmer reservoir is by condensing at the higher temperature, T2. Vapour at pressure, P1, is raised to the pressure, P2, by isentropic compression. The condensed liquid follows an isentropic expansion path from P2 to P1 through a turbine. In theory, this work can be used to reduce the net work required for compression. This process is shown on the T-S diagram. Point C is located on the 2-phase envelope and represents saturated vapour, which is easily compressed. Similarly, A is saturated liquid. During the expansion from A-D a vapour-liquid mixture is formed. A real vapour compression system cannot have isentropic compression, ie the compression will be irreversible. Similarly, the expansion through a turbine would be irreversible and the small amount of work recovered does not justify the complexity and cost of using a turbine. In practical refrigeration systems the pressure reduction is carried out across a simple valve, which, as previous results have shown will lead to a lowering of both pressure and temperature.

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Lecture 12 Real Vapour Compression Refrigeration Cycle

Spring 2010-2011

A simple flowsheet and the cycle representation on a T-s and P-h diagram are shown below. Particular points to note are as follows: A-D represents a constant enthalpy let-down of liquid from P2 to P1. Liquid flashes and D lies in the 2-phase envelope. C-B is now shown as a real, non-isentropic, compression. Vapour desuperheating and condensation appears as B-A, a horizontal line on P-h diagram, since it is at constant pressure.

If m = circulation rate of refrigerant, then Q1 = m(hC hD) and Q2 = m(hB hA) W = Q2 Q1 = m(hB hA) - m(hC hD) Noting that hA = hD, then Q1 = m(hC hA) and W = m(hB hC)

Thus,

COP =

Q1 h C - h A = W hB - hC

Point B is located from C using standard compressor calculation based on availability of thermodynamic tables and an isentropic efficiency.

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Choice of Refrigerant

Lecture 12

Spring 2010-2011

From the Second Law we know that the performance of a reversible cycle is independent of the working fluid. Real cycles can only approach that of a reversible cycle and, for real cycles, the closeness of approach is affected, in part, by the choice of refrigerant. As well as thermodynamic properties there are a number of practical considerations which are also important. 1. Ideally, the refrigerant should be stable, non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-flammable and inexpensive. 2. The refrigerant should have a high latent heat of vaporisation to keep circulation rate low. 3. The lowest pressure in the cycle should be above atmospheric pressure. This avoids pulling air into the system, which would reduce the effectiveness of he condenser and might lead to an explosive mixture. 4. The lowest temperature in the cycle should be well above the refrigerant freezing temperature to avoid any chance of blockages. 5. The refrigerant should be chosen such that the proposed cycle is positioned low-down on the twophase envelope, bearing in mind the restrictions of 3 and 4 above. This requirement helps to maximise the COP.

It should be apparent from the above considerations that any refrigerant has a limited working range. Some examples are given below. Ammonia, at atmospheric pressure, boils at 33oC. So ammonia could be used to cool to about -28oC. Heat from the cycle is rejected to cooling water or air and this implies a condensing temperature of about 40oC. At 40oC, ammonia has a vapour pressure of 15.54 bar, which is well below the critical pressure of 113 bar. Propane allows cooling down to about 40oC and still allows for heat rejection to air or cooling water. Ethylene allows cooling to about 100oC but heat can no longer be rejected to air or cooling water, since, for ethylene the critical temperature is 9oC which is well below most normal air and cooling water temperatures.

Note also that, in practice, sub-cooling, occurs. This is shown on the P-h diagram. So far the assumption has been that the condenser produces saturated liquid at P2, ie A lies on the two-phase envelope. Often there is some over-design on the condenser and the liquid is sub-cooled to A as shown on the diagram. This results in point D being closer to the saturated liquid curve with the production of less vapour after the flash.

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Development of the Refrigeration Cycle

Lecture 12

Spring 2010-2011

There are a number of important innovations that can be applied to the refrigeration cycle. As the spread between condenser and evaporator temperatures widens, an increasing percentage of the letdown liquid will be vaporised in the isenthalpic flash. Most of the innovations set out to reduce the impact of the flash. Refrigerant Recovery

An extra heat exchanger is introduced which further sub-cools the condenser refrigerant. This is achieved by recovering cold from the saturated vapour leaving the evaporator. First Law balance around the exchanger gives: hA hX = hY - hC Y is now a superheated vapour and his will lead to a requirement for extra compression power per kg of refrigerant. However, this is compensated for by savings on the circulation rate because of a reduced flash over the let-down valve.

Economiser Flash Use of an economiser flash is shown below. Compression power associated with flash vapour is reduced by returning a portion of the vapour at an intermediate pressure. The intermediate pressure is the same as the pressure from the first stage of compression.

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Pre-saturator

Lecture 12

Spring 2010-2011

Closely related to the economiser flash. This arrangement mixes the 2-phase let-down from the condenser with the first-stage discharge.

Multi-level Systems Sometimes a process stream has to be cooled through a wide temperature range. In this case it is more efficient to cool the stream over a series of steps as shown below. Referring to the figure on the left, if the process stream is cooled using one refrigerant temperature at T1, then the heat transfer at the hot end is highly irreversible because of the large temperature difference. Referring to the right-hand figure, if the process stream is cooled in a series of steps then the irreversibilities are reduced. Temperatures T1 and T2 are achieved by appropriate selection of pressures. A diagram of a typical cycle is shown below.

H81 ETD Engineering Thermodynamics Cascaded Cycles

Lecture 12

Spring 2010-2011

As noted previously, deep refrigeration over a wide temperature difference can cause problems. One solution is to use cascaded cycles as shown below.

The heat rejected from the "cold cycle" becomes the heat input to the "warm cycle". As an example, ethylene could be used as the working fluid for the "cold cycle" and condensed against propane used as the working fluid for the "warm cycle". Note that cascading of cycles tends to compound the inefficiencies.