STEP 1: EVAPORATOR

The vapor compression cycle is the primary cycle used in commercial refrigeration systems.

 Refrigerants

 Understanding Boiling Points

 Step 1: Evaporator

 Step 2: Compressor

 Step 3: Condenser

 Step 4: Expansion Device

The vapor compression cycle starts at (Step 1) the evaporator, with cold, low-pressure, liquid
refrigerant. It absorbs heat and evaporates to a low-pressure gas. Then the gas is (Step 2)
Compressed to a high-pressure, high-temperature gas and (Step 3) condensed to a high pressure
gas. Finally, the gas is condensed at the (Step 4) expansion device to a cold, low-pressure liquid
refrigerant.

Evaporator
Step 1: Evaporator. The first step in the vapor compression cycle is the evaporator, which can also be
called a liquid cooler. The evaporator is simply a heat exchanger. Heat is exchanged from the warm
medium (air or water) to the cold, liquid refrigerant. The heat gained by the liquid refrigerant causes
it to change phases to a refrigerant gas. The refrigerant liquid gains the heat necessary to overcome
the latent heat of evaporation, in order to change to a gas. There are two types of evaporators, (1)
an air cooled evaporator and (2) a water cooled evaporator. Figure below shows the (1) air cooled
evaporator which is most commonly referred to as a direct expansion system. In this evaporator,
warm air from an air conditioned space is cooled and redistributed to the space. Also shown in the
figure below is the water cooled system, where chilled water return is cooled and supplied to the
chilled water distribution system.

The most common system is the direct expansion system. This system is prevalent throughout
smaller systems, like those serving residential systems. In this system, the hot air from the space is
used to directly evaporate the refrigerant to a hot gas. Note that the hot air from the space is
roughly ~75 °F and the refrigerant liquid is typically 40 °F. The 75 °F room air is cooled down to ~55
°F and then distributed back to the space. In a water-cooled system, which is more common for
larger commercial systems, chilled water typically at 55 °F is cooled by the evaporator down to ~45
°F. The colder chilled water is then supplied to another heat exchanger, where air is cooled and then
distributed to the space.

Besides the two different types of evaporator systems, there are also different types of heat
exchangers used in refrigeration. The most common heat exchangers include: (1) Shell and Tube, (2)
Tube in Tube and (3) Brazed Plate.

(1) Shell and Tube: This heat exchanger is the most common and consists of copper pipes arranged
in a coil that is constructed in a cylindrical shell. One fluid is provided in the shell and contacts the
outer surface of the inner tubes. Another fluid is contained inside of the tubes. Heat exchange
occurs in the shell at the outer surface of the tubes. Often times aluminum fins are provided on the
copper pipes. These fins provide more surface area for heat exchange to occur.

(2) Tube in Tube: A tube is constructed in a tube, sealed separately to keep the fluids in one tube
from contaminating the other. Heat exchange is conducted at the outer surface of the inner tube
and the inner surface of the outer tube.

(3) Brazed Plate: This type of heat exchanger consists of multiple thin plates separated by a small
distance. Each plate either carries the hot or cold fluid. Heat exchange occurs between the surface
areas of each plate.

As previously mentioned the evaporator acts as a heat exchanger with a cold side and a hot side. The
cold side consists of a mixture of refrigerant gas and liquid. At this point, the partial liquid-gas
refrigerant mixture moves through the evaporator, picking up heat from the hot side. But instead of
heating the gas, the heat is used to boil the remaining liquid. It is important for the evaporator to
boil all of the liquid, prior to the refrigerant entering the compressor in the following step. Once all
the liquid has boiled, the liquid-gas mixture turns into a refrigerant gas (vapor), called a saturated
vapor. Any additional heat will now increase the temperature of the refrigerant vapor, into a region
called super heat. Any release in heat will cause some of the gas to condense back to a liquid.

It is important for the engineer to understand that the amount of cooling provided through the
evaporation of the refrigerant liquid is much more than simply increasing the temperature of the
refrigerant liquid. For example, R-134a takes 92.82 Btu of heat to change 1 lb of refrigerant from
liquid to gas. While it takes 0.204 Btu of heat to increase 1 lb of refrigerant gas by 1°F.

 Refrigerants

 Understanding Boiling Points

 Step 1: Evaporator

 Step 2: Compressor

 Step 3: Condenser

 Step 4: Expansion Device

STEP2: COMPRESSOR

The vapor compression cycle is the primary cycle used in commercial refrigeration systems.

 Refrigerants

 Understanding Boiling Points

 Step 1: Evaporator

 Step 2: Compressor

 Step 3: Condenser

 Step 4: Expansion Device

Step 2: Compressor: The next step is where the refrigerant gas is compressed by the compressor,
which raises the temperature and pressure of the gas. The compressor is where the work takes
place. The compressor is also the driving force that moves the refrigerant through the vapor
compression cycle and prepares the refrigerant before it enters the condenser. It is important that
the refrigerant gas is raised to a temperature that is above the temperature of the fluid in the
condenser. This will allow heat to be transferred from the refrigerant to the condenser fluid. The
compression of the refrigerant gas occurs isentropically, meaning that there is no change in entropy.
Since the compressor is not completely efficient there will be an increase in enthalpy as the heat
generated by the compressor is transferred to the refrigerant gas.

Entropy - a measure of the amount of disorder in a thermodynamic system.

Enthalpy - a measure of the total energy in a thermodynamic system (sensible and latent energy).

The engineer should be knowledgeable of the 5 different types of compressors and their advantages
and disadvantages, in order to determine when they should be used. The five types of compressors
are centrifugal, scroll, reciprocating, screw and rotary. A brief overview of the different types of
compressors is shown below.

 Rotary: The rotary type compressor compresses refrigerant gas through positive
displacement. Positive displacement simply means that the pressure of the gas is increased
by reducing the volume.

 Scroll: Similar to the rotary type compressor, the scroll compressor uses positive
displacement to increase the pressure of the gas.

 Screw: Similar to the rotary type compressor, the scroll compressor uses positive
displacement to increase the pressure of the gas. The screw compressor consists of two
interlocking screws. The gas moves through the screw from the beginning thread to the end
thread, increasing the pressure as it moves to the discharge side.

 Reciprocating: A reciprocating compressor compresses gas through positive displacement. A

piston type movement compresses gas as it enters the cylinder.

 Centrifugal Centrifugal compressors are not like positive displacement compressors, these
compressors rely on a rotating impeller to use its centrifugal force to move the gas to the
outside diameter of the rotating impeller, which increases the velocity of the gas. The
increased velocity is then translated into increased pressure.

Another distinction between compressors is made between hermetic, semi-hermetic and open drive
compressors.

Hermetic is most often recognized when used in the phrase “hermetic seal”, which means airtight.

Hermetic: A hermetic compressor is airtight. The compressor and motor are located in a welded
container, so no refrigerant can escape. Since the motor is located in the same enclosure as the
compressor, the compressor needs to account for the motor heat.

Open Drive: An open drive compressor indicates that the compressor and refrigerant are located in
an enclosure and out of the enclosure is a shaft connecting it to a motor. The motor is outside of the
enclosure and the heat is lost to the space and not to compressor.
Semi-Hermetic: A semi-hermetic is similar to a hermetic compressor, except the motor and
compressor are located in a mechanically sealed container, which can be opened without cutting
into the enclosure unlike the hermetic compressor.

STEP 3: CONDENSER

The vapor compression cycle is the primary cycle used in commercial refrigeration systems.

 Refrigerants

 Understanding Boiling Points

 Step 1: Evaporator

 Step 2: Compressor

 Step 3: Condenser

 Step 4: Expansion Device

Step 3: Condenser: The third step in the vapor compression cycle is the condenser. The condenser is
the counterpart of the evaporator. Similar to the evaporator, the condenser is simply a heat
exchanger. Except in this case, heat is exchanged from the warm refrigerant gas to the cold medium.
The heat released by the warm refrigerant gas causes it to change phases. The refrigerant gas
condenses to refrigerant liquid.

There are two types of condensers, similar to the two types of evaporators. Figure 5 shows a sample
water cooled condenser, where cool condenser water at ~85 °F is used to remove heat from the
refrigerant, causing it to increase in temperature to approximately ~95 °F. Figure 6 shows the air
cooled system, where heat is removed from the refrigerant by blowing outside air over the coil. The
location will determine the condenser water and outside air temperatures.
The methods of heat exchange are similar to that of the evaporator. Refer to the evaporator section
for the different types of heat exchangers.
STEP 4: EXPANSION DEVICE

The vapor compression cycle is the primary cycle used in commercial refrigeration systems.

 Refrigerants

 Understanding Boiling Points

 Step 1: Evaporator

 Step 2: Compressor

 Step 3: Condenser

 Step 4: Expansion Device

Step 4: Expansion Device: The final step is the expansion device, which is the counterpart of the
compressor. The expansion device reduces the pressure of the liquid, which causes not only the
pressure to decrease but also the temperature to decrease. During this process, some of the liquid
refrigerant is turned into a gas, this is called flash gas. The resultant of the expansion device is a cold
partial liquid-vapor refrigerant mix. The cold refrigerant liquid-vapor mix then repeats the process at
the evaporator.

The expansion device that is primarily used in air conditioning systems is called a thermostatic
expansion valve (TXV. The TXV as its name describes, opens and closes, based on a thermal device.
The adjustment of the opening/closing determines the amount of refrigerant that is passed through
and evaporated. The TXV uses the temperature of the evaporator output as a basis for determining
the amount of refrigerant.

For example, if the TXV senses that the evaporator is producing an output refrigerant temperature
that is too cold, then there is too much refrigerant for the heat load (hot side of the evaporator) and
the refrigerant sent to the evaporator needs to be throttled down (decrease cold side of the
evaporator). If the TXV senses that the output of the evaporator is too high, then the amount of
refrigerant cannot keep up with the heat load (hot side) then the TXV should allow more refrigerant
to the evaporator (increase cold side).