Objectives

Finish up discussion of cycles

Differentiate refrigerants
Identify qualities of a good refrigerant

Compare compressors
Describe expansion valves

Administrative
Oral presentations will take longer than one class
period
I propose doing the presentations one evening. I will
provide pizza etc. and we can probably finish them in 2.5
3 hours
What evenings dont work for you?

Monday December 5th

Tuesday December 6th
Wednesday December 7th
Thursday December 8th

Should an evening replace one or two classes?

Missing classes
October 18th (AAAR conference)

November 1st (ISEA conference)

Multistage Compression Cycles

Combine multiple cycles to improve efficiency
Prevents excessive compressor discharge
temperature
Allows low evaporating temperatures (cryogenics)

What are desirable properties of refrigerants?

Pressure
Critical temperature
Latent heat of vaporization
Heat transfer properties
Viscosity
Stability

Oh Yeah.

Toxicity
Flammability
Ozone-depletion
Greenhouse potential
Cost
Leak detection
Oil solubility
Water solubility

Refrigerants
What does R-12 mean?
ASHRAE classifications
From right to left

# fluorine atoms
# hydrogen atoms +1
# C atoms 1 (omit if zero)
# C=C double bonds (omit if zero)

B at end means bromine instead of chlorine

a or b at end means different isomer (less symmetric)

Refrigerant Conventions
Mixtures show mass fractions
Zeotropic mixtures
Change composition/saturation temperature as they
change phase at a constant pressure
400 series (if commercialized)

Azeotropic mixtures
Behaves as a monolithic substance
Composition stays same as phase changes
500 series (if commercialized)

More Refrigerant Arcana

Misc organic refrigerants 600 series
Inorganic refrigerants 700 + molecular weight
Composition designation
(H) + (BCF) + C #

Inorganic Refrigerants
Ammonia (R717)

Boiling point?
Critical temp = 271 F
Freezing temp = -108 F
Latent heat of vaporization?
Small compressors and linesets

Excellent heat transfer capabilities

Not particularly flammable

But

Carbon Dioxide (R744)

Recent ASHRAE papers

Evaluation of carbon dioxide as R-22 substitute for residential air-conditioning

Brown, J. Steven (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University of America); Kim, Yongchan;
Domanski, Piotr A. Source: ASHRAE Transactions, v 108 PART 2, 2002, p 954-963
Abstract: This paper compares the performance of CO2 and R-22 in residential air-conditioning applications using
semi-theoretical vapor compression and transcritical cycle models. The simulated R-22 system had a conventional
component configuration, while the CO2 system also included a liquid-line/suction-line heat exchanger. The CO2
evaporator and gas cooler were microchannel heat exchangers originally designed for CO2. The R-22 heat exchangers
employed the same microchannel heat exchangers as CO2 with the difference that we modified the refrigerant
passages to obtain reasonable pressure drops. The study covers several heat exchanger sizes. The R-22 system had a
significantly better coefficient of performance (COP) than the CO2 system when equivalent heat exchangers were used
in the CO2 and R-22 systems, which indicates that the better transport properties and compressor isentropic efficiency
of CO2 did not compensate for the thermodynamic disadvantage of the transcritical cycle in comfort cooling
applications. An entropy generation analysis showed that the CO2 evaporator operated with fewer irreversibilities than
did the R-22 evaporator. However, the CO2 gas cooler and expansion device generated more entropy than their R-22
counterparts and were mainly responsible for the low COP of the CO2 system. (33 refs.)

Cheap, non-toxic, non-flammable

Critical temp?
Huge operating pressures
Often no phase change

Water (R718)
Two main disadvantages

Water in refrigerant
Water + Halocarbon Refrigerant = (strong)
acids or bases
Corrosion

Solubility
Free water freezes on expansion valves

Use a dryer (desiccant)

Keep the system dry during
installation/maintenance

Oil
Miscible refrigerants (11,12, 21,113)
High enough velocity to limit deposition
Especially in evaporator

Immiscible refrigerants (717,744,13,14)

Use a separator to keep oil contained in
compressor

Intermediate (22, 114)

The Moral of the Story

No ideal refrigerants
Always compromising on one or more criteria
Should be able to look up properties and
analyze good candidates for refrigeration
cycles

Compressor
Workhorse of the system
Several types all compress gas with varying
degrees of efficiency
Far from isentropic (our assumption earlier)

CD = mve for ideal conditions

Wshaft = work done by shaft
Welec = electric power requirements

Reciprocating Compressor
Figures 4.4, 4.6

Reciprocating
Piston compressing volume
PVn = constant = C
For all stages, if we assume no heat transfer

Can measure n, but dependent on many factors

Often use isentropic n in absence of better
values
R-12 n =1.07
R-22 n = 1.12
R-717 n = 1.29

Reciprocating Compressor Work

Define compressor volumetric efficiency
V=mv3/CD

Pc

m 1 C C
Pb

Pc
n

w
Pb vb
n 1
Pb

CD

vb

1
n

n 1
n

Rotary Compressors
Higher efficiency, lower
noise and vibration
Cylinder rotating
eccentrically in side
housing
Positive displacement

Rotary Compressor
CD Vscomp

W 2
2
Vs
A B
4
shaft
comp
A A
1
B B

Scroll Compressors
One scroll is fixed
The other scroll
wobbles inside
compressing refrigerant
Often requires heat
transfer from
refrigerant to cool
scrolls

Scroll Compressors

Constant displacement
Higher efficiency, but harder to manufacture
Close tolerance between scrolls
Ugly to analyze see text for details

Screw Compressors
Rotating meshed screws
One or two screws

Summary
Many compressors available
ASHRAE Handbook is good source of more
detailed information
Very large industry

Where are we going

Expansion valves
Coils (evaporators and compressors)

Expansion Valves
Throttles the refrigerant from condenser
temperature to evaporator temperature
Connected to evaporator superheat
Increased compressor power consumption
Decreased pumping capacity
Increased discharge temperature

Can do it with a fixed orifice (pressure

reducing device), but does not guarantee
evaporator pressure

Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TXV)

Variable refrigerant flow to maintain desired
superheat

AEV
Maintains constant
evaporator pressure
by increasing flow as
load decreases

Summary
Expansion valves make a big difference in
refrigeration system performance
Trade-offs
Cost, refrigerant amount

For Thursday, look at Example 4.4 and

practice problem in References Section of
Class Website