Lab.

session # 1

Introduction to refrigeration cycle main components

A. Objectives
To recognize and inspect each part of the refrigeration system physically and differentiate between basic refrigeration system components To be familiar with the operation if the refrigeration system by feeling hot and cold, high and low pressure lines in the refrigeration cycle.

B. Introduction
Refrigeration is to produce a medium at lower temperature than ambient To decrease temperature below ambient, we should have another cold substance to decrease temperature (like ice). But if we dont have this cold substance; how could we produce refrigeration? We can lower a temperature of a gas by expanding it (as we know compressing a gas increases its temperature while expansion decreases temperature) From our daily life, we have expert the effect of expansion. When we expose our hand to air blown of a car tire we feel a little cold, this cold felling have been produced due to expansion of air trapped inside the tire. So, to make a refrigeration system, we should have a compressed gas, So we need to use a compressor which is our first part of the refrigeration cycle. But unfortunately, gas after compressor is hot even hotter than ambient temperature, so if we expanded it in this case we will not gain low enough temperature. So to gain low temperature after expansion, we should cool the hot refrigerant. this is done by a heat exchanger called (condenser) which is the second part of the refrigeration cycle. After being cold in a condenser, the refrigerant is ready now for expansion and production of cold using expansion devise which is the third part of the refrigeration cycle. At the end, we cool the refrigerant to use its coldness to absorb heat from another object or fluid, so transfer of heat from this object to the refrigeratnt should occur via a heat exchanger, which is called evaporator which is the fourth and final component of the refrigeration cycle. After each refrigeration component is introduced with a brief description.

Refrigeration cycle components

1. Compressor
It is used to increase refrigerant pressure. It is the only component which consumes mechanical energy. It may be one of the following types Reciprocating Scroll Centrifugal Screw rotary It is usually driven by electric motor There are 3 arrangements of compressor with the electric motor Hermatic Motor and compressor are in one closed enclosure and they cant be separated from each other. It doesnt need maintenance Semi-hermatic Motor and compressor have one common case but we can differentiate between compressor and motor. Compressor can be maintained Open Motor and compressor are not in a single case, but each has its own case. There is a coupling or a belt connecting them. This arrangement is used for large capacity units where compressor size is large so it cant be integrated with a motor in one shell

2. Condenser
It is used to cool compressed gas refrigerant after expansion and to convert it to liquid (or to condense the gas). It uses ambient air or water to cool refrigerant. Also is rejects heat to the high temperature sink. It may be Water cooled: The condenser is shell and tube heat exchanger It uses water to cool and condense refrigerant Water is cooled mainly in a cooling tower to use it again Air cooled: The condenser is finned tube heat exchanger (it is composed of multiple tubes in most cases made of copper, tubes have fins made of aluminum) It uses ambient air to cool and condense refrigerant Air is drawn by a fan

3. Expansion
It is the most important part of refrigeration cycle as it is the component which produce cold refrigerant by expansion. Expansion means decrease in pressure; expansion is accomplished by pressure drop or pressure loss by (friction) in a certain passage. There are two types of expansion devices Capillary tube It is a very long and very small cross section tube through which refrigerant passes. Due to small cross section and long path of this tube refrigerant will be exposed to pressure loss due to this high friction Valve It is a valve with small orifice area which is used to make a large pressure drop due to flow of refrigerant is a very small passage. Valve may be Manually operated Thermostatic expansion valve (it has a certain type of automatic control)

4. Evaporator
It uses the cold refrigerant which has been produced from expansion to cool another object (such as air in an air conditioner or water in a water cooler) according to application by heat transfer, so it is a heat exchanger. As liquid produced form condenser is expanded in expansion, it will partially vaporized. So it will enter the evaporator as a liquid with small amount of vapor. As evaporator is transfer heat from application to the refrigerant, the refrigerant evaporates. so this device is called (evaporator) It has a similar design to condenser as it may be Used to cool water In this case it is mainly shell and tube heat exchanger Used to cool air In this case it is mainly finned tube heat exchanger

C. Report requirement
Take photos for 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Hermatic, Semi-hermatic and open type compressor and differentiate between them Water cooled and air cooled condenser Cooling tower showing its main components Manual expansion valve, thermostatic expansion valve and capillary tube air cooled evaporator

For each photo just state the name of the component.