HISTORY OFREFRIGERATION

Thetermrefrigerationreferstocoolinganareaorsubstancebelowtheenvironmental
temperature,theprocessofremovingheat.Mechanicalrefrigerationusesthe
evaporationofaliquidrefrigeranttoabsorbheat.Therefrigerantgoesthrougha
cyclesothatitcanbereused,themaincyclesarevaporcompression,absorption,
steamjetorsteamejector,andair.
Priortomechanicalrefrigerationsystems,peoplefounddifferentwaysofpreserving
theirfood.Somepeoplepreferredtousecoolingsystemsoficeorsnowfoundeither
locallyorbroughtdownfrommountainsandsometimesstoredincellars.Thefirst
formsofcellarsweresimplyholesdugintheground,linedwithstraworwoodand
filledwithsnowandice.Othersusedthemethodsofsalting,pickling,drying,spicing
andsmokingtheirfood.Usingthosetechniquesmeantthatdietswouldhave
consistedofverylittlefreshfoodorfruitsandvegetables,butmostlyofbread,cheese
andsaltedmeats.Milkandcheesesweredifficulttokeepfresh,theywereusually
storedinacellarorwindowbox,butdespitethosemethods,theycouldnotprevent
rapidspoilage.Peopleatthattimedidnotunderstandaboutpasteurizationand
therefore,bacterialinfestationwaswidespread.Duringthewarmweathermonths,it

wasnotuncommonincolonialdaystodieofsummercomplaintduetospoiledfood.
Peopleweremorethanreadyforabettersystemofpreservingfood.
Indiawasthefirstlocationwhereevaporativecoolingwasused.Whenaliquid
vaporizesquickly,itexpandsrapidlyandtherisingvapormoleculesquicklyincrease
theirkineticenergy.Theincreaseinenergyisdrawnfromtheimmediate
surroundingsofthevapor,whichcausesthesurroundingstocool.
Lateron,itwasdiscoveredthataddingchemicalslikesodiumnitrateorpotassium
nitratetowatercausedthetemperaturetofall.Coolingwinewiththistechniquewas
firstrecordedin1550,aswastheterm"torefrigerate.Coolingdrinksbecamevery
popularby1600inEurope,especiallyinSpain,ItalyandFrance.Insteadofcooling
wateratnight,peopleusedanewtechniquerotatinglongneckedbottlesinwater
whichhelddissolvedsaltpeter.Thesolutionwasusedtocreateverylow
temperaturesandeventomakeice.Bytheendofthe17thcentury,iceddrinks
includingfrozenjuicesandliquorswereverypopularinFrenchsociety.

HOW DOES A REFRIGERATOR WORK

Intherefrigerationcycle,therearefivebasiccomponents:fluidrefrigerant;a
compressor,whichcontrolstheflowofrefrigerant;thecondensercoils(onthe
outsideofthefridge);theevaporatorcoils(ontheinsideofthefridge);and
somethingcalledanexpansiondevice.Hereshowtheyinteracttocoolyour
food.

Thecompressorconstrictstherefrigerantvapor,raisingitspressure,and
1.
pushesitintothecoilsontheoutsideoftherefrigerator.
2.

Whenthehotgasinthecoilsmeetsthecoolerairtemperatureof
thekitchen,itbecomesaliquid.
Nowinliquidformathighpressure,therefrigerantcoolsdownas
3.
itflowsintothecoilsinsidethefreezerandthefridge.
Therefrigerantabsorbstheheatinsidethefridge,coolingdown
4.
theair.
Last,therefrigerantevaporatestoagas,andthenflowsbackto
5.
thecompressor,wherethecyclestartsallover.

VAPOUR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION

Vapourcompressionrefrigerationsystemsarethemostcommonly
usedamongallrefrigerationsystems.Asthenameimplies,these
systemsbelongtothegeneralclassofvapourcycles,whereinthe
workingfluid(refrigerant)undergoesphasechangeatleastduringone
process.Inavapourcompressionrefrigerationsystem,refrigerationis
obtainedastherefrigerantevaporatesatlowtemperatures.Theinput
tothesystemisintheformofmechanicalenergyrequiredtorunthe
compressor.Hencethesesystemsarealsocalledasmechanical
refrigerationsystems
Awidevarietyofrefrigerantscanbeusedinthesesystemstosuit
differentapplications,capacitiesetc.Theactualvapourcompression
cycleisbasedonEvansPerkinscycle,whichisalsocalledasreverse

Rankinecycle.Beforetheactualcycleisdiscussedandanalysed,itis
essentialtofindtheupperlimitofperformanceofvapour
compressioncycles.Thislimitissetbyacompletelyreversiblecycle.

Comparison between gas cycles and vapor

cycles
Inatypicalgascycle,theworkingfluid(agas)doesnotundergophase
change;consequentlytheoperatingcyclewillbeawayfromthe
vapourdome.Ingascycles,heatrejectionandrefrigerationtakeplace
asthegasundergoessensiblecoolingandheating.Inavapourcycle
theworkingfluidundergoesphasechangeandrefrigerationeffectis
duetothevaporizationofrefrigerantliquid.Iftherefrigerantisapure
substancethenitstemperatureremainsconstantduringthephase
changeprocesses.However,ifazeotropicmixtureisusedasa

refrigerant,thentherewillbeatemperatureglideduringvaporization
andcondensation.Sincetherefrigerationeffectisproducedduring
phasechange,largeamountofheat(latentheat)canbetransferred
perkilogramofrefrigerantatanearconstanttemperature.Hence,the
requiredmassflowratesforagivenrefrigerationcapacitywillbe
muchsmallercomparedtoagascycle.Vapourcyclescanbe
subdividedintovapourcompressionsystems,vapourabsorption
systems,vapourjetsystemsetc.Amongthesethevapourcompression
refrigerationsystemarepredominant.

Standard Vapour Compression Refrigeration

System (VCRS)
BycomparingwithCarnotcycle,itcanbeseenthatthestandardvapour
compressionrefrigerationcycleintroducestwoirreversibilities:1)
Irreversibilityduetononisothermalheatrejection(process23)and2)
Irreversibilityduetoisenthalpicthrottling(process34).Asaresult,one
wouldexpectthetheoreticalCOPofstandardcycletobesmallerthanthat
ofaCarnotsystemforthesameheatsourceandsinktemperatures.Dueto
theseirreversibilities,thecoolingeffectreducesandworkinputincreases,
thusreducingthesystemCOP.Thiscanbeexplainedeasilywiththehelpof
thecyclediagramsonTscharts.Figure10.6(a)showscomparisonbetween
CarnotandstandardVCRSintermsofrefrigerationeffect.

Process12:Isentropiccompressionofsaturatedvapourincompressor
Process23:Isobaricheatrejectionincondenser
Process34:Isenthalpicexpansionofsaturatedliquidinexpansiondevice
Process41:Isobaricheatextractionintheevaporator.

Temperature Range
Vaporcompressioncoolingtechnologyisemployedtochillcomponentsto
aminimumtemperatureof233K(40oC)fortwogoodreasons.
First,reliable,relativelyinexpensivevaporcompressionsystemscanlift
highheatloadsatthistemperature.Second,233Kpresentslesssignificant
electronicpackagingproblemstobeovercomethandoesoperationat77K.

CURRENT LOCATION WHERE VAPOUR

COMPRESION REFRIGERATION USE
a.

Indus pharmaceutical Karachi

KarachiNorth
NorthNazimabad,FBArea,Maymar,Orangiandnearbyareas.

KarachiSouth
Saddar,Cant,Clifton,DEfenceandnearbyareas.

KarachiEast
PECHS,Gulshan,Johar,Korangi,ShahraheFaisalandnearbyareas.

KarachiWest
Chundrigar,SITE,Kharadar,Lyari,Kemariandnearbyareas.