Compression refrigeration system

Components:
1. Hermetic reciprocating piston compressor
ET 411C is fitted with a hermetic reciprocating piston compressor. In this design the motor and
compressor are enclosed in a sealed, gas-tight welded metal housing. The electric motor is cooled by
the sucked in refrigerant vapour.

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Fig. 3.3 Hermetic reciprocating piston compressor
2. Variable area flowmeter:
ET 411C uses a variable area flowmeter to determine the volume flow.
A variable area flowmeter consists of a conical tube through which liquid refrigerant flows, from the bottom
up (i.e. against gravity). The tube contains a float, which has a certain flow resistance.
3. Collector:
In ET 411C the collector (cf. Fig. 3.9) is used to collect all of the system's refrigerant. This is
necessary in a so-called "pump down" system. Then the system's piping can be opened without
noticeable loss of refrigerant, for example to replace a faulty component. It can also be used to
simulate a lack of refrigerant in the system. To do so requires a portion of the refrigerant to be
pumped into the collector and trapped there. Then an experiment is carried out with the rest of the
refrigerant, in which the collector is bypassed.

Process diagram

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Experiment 1: Steady state operation under load with thermostatic
Expansion valve.

Learning objectives
• Familiarization with the system.

• To be able to enter the thermodynamic cycle in a log p-h diagram, by using the measured values that are
recorded.

• To be able to take specific enthalpy values from the log p-h diagram.
• To be able to calculate the refrigeration capacity in steady
Preparation for the experiment:
 Before starting the experiment, open the shutoff valves (11), (12) and (18). All other shut-off
valves remain closed (cf. Fig. 6.6).
 Turn the system's main switch on.
 Turn the condenser and evaporator fans on.
 Turn the compressor on.
Exercises
• Record all relevant temperatures and pressures required to create the log p-h diagram. Also record the
refrigerant volume flow.
• Plot the cycle into a log p-h diagram. State operation.

• Take the specific enthalpy values of the measurement results from the diagram and complete the table of
measured values.
• Answer the questions about the experiment.
• Use the enthalpy and the volume flow to calculate the system's refrigeration capacity, compression work,
and COP.
• Calculate the thermal capacity that is dissipated through the condenser using density of refrigerant=1.25
Kg/L.

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Evaluating the experiment:

Experiment 2: Behavior of the capillary tube and thermostatic expansion valve under load.
The following section will examine how different expansion elements behave when a cooling load is
introduced. To do so, the 3m long capillary tube is compared with the thermostatic expansion valve. The
main focus here is on the different behaviour of regulating and non-regulating expansion elements when
introducing a cooling load.
First of all, the experiment is conducted with thermostatic expansion valve without load. The evaporator
fan stays turned off for the time being. After a steady state has been reached, the fan is switched on and we
wait until the system is operating at a steady state again.
This experiment is then repeated with the 3m long capillary tube.

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Exercises:
• Draw the cycles of the four steady states in a log p-h diagram.
• Describe the main difference between thermostatic expansion valve and capillary tube using the recorded
measured values.
• Compare the refrigeration capacity of the four steady states.

Preparation for the experiment

 Before starting the experiment, open the shutoff valves (11), (12) and (18). All other shut-off
valves remain closed.
 Turn the system's main switch on.
 Turn the condenser fan on.
 Turn the compressor on.
 Turn the evaporator fan on once a steady state has been reached.
 Repeat the experiment with the 3m long capillary tube. To do so, the shut-off valves (16) and (13)
must be open. All other shut-off valves are closed.

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 TEV without load TEV with load Capillary tube Capillary tube
without load with load
T1 in °C
T2 in °C

T3 in °C
T4 in °C
T5 in °C
p1 in bar
p2 in bar

h1 in kJ/kg
h2 in kJ/kg
h3 in kJ/kg
h4 in kJ/kg
h5 in kJ/kg

Experiment 3: Influence of the capillary tube length on the system process

This experiment investigates what effect the length of a capillary tube has on the system's thermodynamic
cycle.

Learning objectives:

• To be able to describe the influence of the capillary tube length on the system process
• To be able to select the best capillary tube for the operating point.
Exercises:
• Draw the cycles of the three steady states in a log p-h diagram.
• Describe what effect the length of the capillary tube has on the system process.
Preparation for the experiment
• Before starting the experiment, open the shutoff valves (15) and (13). All other shut-off valves remain
closed.
• Turn the system's main switch on.
• Turn the condenser fan on.

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• Turn the compressor on.
• Turn the evaporator fan on once a steady state has been reached.
• Repeat the experiment with the 3m and 6m long capillary tube. To do so, the shut-off valves (16) and
(13) or (17) and (13) must be open. All other shut-off valves are closed.

Capillary tube Capillary tube Capillary tube

With length 6m With length 3m With length 1.5m
T1 in °C
T2 in °C

T3 in °C
T4 in °C
T5 in °C
p1 in bar
p2 in bar

h1 in kJ/kg
h2 in kJ/kg
h3 in kJ/kg
h4 in kJ/kg
h5 in kJ/kg

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