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1.

Variable restriction type

2. Constant restriction type

In the variable-restriction type, the extent of opening or area flow keeps on changing depending
on the type of control. There are two common types of such control devices: the automatic
expansion valve and the thermostatic expansion valve.

There are float valves which are also variable restriction type devices. The float type again is two
types: high side float and low side float.
High side float maintains the liquid at a constant level in the condenser and the low side float
maintains the liquid at a constant level in the evaporator.
The constant restriction type device is the capillary tube which is merely a long tube with a
narrow diameter bore.

1. Capillary tube: The capillary tube is a fixed type device. It is a long and narrow tube
connecting the condenser directly to the evaporator. Instead of the orifice, the capillary is small
diameter tubing that offers the restricted flow of the refrigerant. Its internal diameter ranges from
0.070 to 0.090 inches depending upon the capacity of the refrigerating or air conditioning
system. The pressure drop attained through the capillary depends upon its diameter and length.
Capillary tubing made of copper is most commonly used.

Capillary tubing is used for small refrigerating and air-conditioning systems like household
refrigerators, water-coolers, deep freezers, window air-conditioners, split-air conditioners, small
packaged air conditioners etc. for systems in which capillary tubing is fitted, technicians have to
be very careful of refrigerant charging as the overcharging can lead excessive high discharge
pressures from the compressors which leads to over loading of the compressor and changes of
refrigerant leakages from the system.

It is a self controlling device i.e. controls mass flow rate of refrigerant according to load
requirement of the system. It is used for those system which having capacity of 2-3TR.

The pressure drop through the capillary tube is due to the following two factors:

1. Friction due to fluid viscosity, resulting in frictional pressure drop.


2. Acceleration, due to flashing of the liquid refrigerant into vapor, resulting in momentum
pressure drop.

Figure 1.8 Capillary Tube

2. Thermostatic expansion valves:- The thermostatic expansion valve is not controlled by


the temperature. It works automatically maintaining proper flow of the refrigerant depending
upon the heat load in the evaporator. Apart from reducing the pressure of the refrigerant, the
thermostatic expansion valve also keeps the evaporator active. These days the thermostatic
expansion valves used with solenoid valves are more common.

A thermostatic expansion valve maintains a constant degree of superheat in the evaporator.

Thermostatic expansion valves are used extensively in medium and large sized refrigerating and
air-conditioning systems. They can be used for large water chilling plants, brine chilling plants,
air-conditioners, central air-conditioning plants etc. These are used in those plants whose having
capacity up to 4-5TR.

1.6 EVAPORATOR
The evaporator is usually a closed insulated space where the refrigerant absorbs heat from the
substance or food to be cooled. The space comprising the evaporator is an enclosed space. For
instance, in the case of a household refrigerator, the small enclosed freezer section has an
evaporator embedded into it. In the case of the freezer the evaporator is enclosed in the space
where ice or ice cream is to be made. The evaporator section of refrigerators is usually insulated
by using insulating materials. The polyurethane foam (PUF), the low temperature refrigerant
flowing through the evaporator absorbs heat from the food, substance or any other enclosed
space and gets converted into a gaseous state as its temperature rises. This is then sucked by the
compressor, which compress it, keeping the cycle of refrigerant continuous. In the case of air-
conditioners the evaporator is also called as cooling coil Usually the fan should pass the hot
room air over the evaporator coil, which is chilled, hence the air gets cooled. The air is then
supplied into the room, where it creates the cooling effect by absorbing.
Evaporators are various types. Evaporators used for industrial refrigeration and air-conditioning
purposes are very large and also called chillers. They are usually made in the form of shell and
tube types with two possible arrangements: namely dry expansion evaporators and flooded
evaporators. In dry expansion evaporators the refrigerant usually flows through the tube side
while the liquid to be chilled flows through the shell side. The flooded system is used where
large quantities of fluids have to be cooled to extremely low temperature. Since the load in such
cases is very high a large amount of refrigerant flows through these evaporators. In flooded
evaporators the refrigerant will usually pass through the shell side while the liquid to be chilled
will pass through the tube side

1.6.1 Types of Evaporator

For smaller and home purposes there are three types of evaporators:

Bare-tube type

Plate-surface type

Finned evaporators.

In bare-tube evaporators the refrigerant flows through the bare-tube and the fluid to be chilled
flows directly over it.

Figure 1.10 Bare Tube Evaporator

Plate-surface evaporators are used in household refrigerators. These evaporators are formed by
welding together two plates that have grooves on their surface. When they are welded, the closed
grooves form a sort of tubing through which refrigerant flows
Figure 1.11 Plate Surface Evaporator

Finned evaporators are commonly used in windows. They are in the form of copper coil over
which several fins are welded to increase the cooling area of the evaporator. Hot air passes over
this evaporator and gets chilled as it enters the room.

Figure 1.12 Finned Tube Evaporator


1.7 HEAT EXCHANGER
A heat exchanger is a piece of equipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to
another medium. The media may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be
in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power
plants, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural gas processing, and
sewage treatment. The classic example of a heat exchanger is found in an internal combustion
engine in which a circulating fluid known as engine coolant flow through radiator coils and air
flows past the coils, which cools the coolant and heats the incoming air.

1.7.1 TYPES OF HEAT EXCHANGERS


Heat exchangers can be grouped in three broad classes:

I. Transfer type heat exchangers or recuperates II. Storage


II. type heat exchangers or regenerators III. Direct contact
III. type heat exchangers or mixers

1.7.2 DOUBLE PIPE HEAT EXCHNGER:

It is a transfer type heat exchanger or a recuperate, the two fluids are kept separate and they do
not mix as they flow through it. Heat is transferring through separating walls.

Double pipe heat exchangers are the simplest heat exchangers and used in industries. On one
hand these heat exchangers are cheap for both design and maintenance, making them a good
choice for small industries. But on the other hand, low efficiency of them beside high space
occupied for such exchangers in large scales, has led modern industries to use more efficient heat
exchanger like shell and tube heat exchanger or other ones. But yet, since double pipe heat
exchangers are simple, they are used to teach heat exchanger design basic to students and as the
basic rules for modern and normal heat exchangers are the same, students can understand the
design techniques much easier. To design of a double pipe heat exchanger, the first step is to
calculate the heat duty of the heat exchanger. It must be noted that for easier design, it’s better to
ignore heat loss in heat exchanger for primary design. The heat duty can be defined as the heat
gained by cold

Figure 1.13 Double Pipe Type Heat Exchanger


Heat exchangers are off-the-shelf equipment targeted to the efficient transfer of heat from a hot fluid
flow.
To a cold fluid flow, in most cases through an intermediate metallic wall and without moving
parts. We here focus on the thermal analysis of heat exchangers, but proper design and use
requires additional fluid dynamic
Analysis (for each fluid flow), mechanical analysis (for closure and resistance), materials
Compatibility and so on/
Heat losses or gains of a whole heat exchanger with the environment can be neglected in
comparison with the heat flow between both fluid flows; i.e. a heat exchanger can be assumed
globally adiabatic.
Thermal Inertia of a heat exchanger is often negligible too (except in special cases when
a massive porous solid is used as intermediate medium), and steady state can be assumed,
reducing the generic energy balance to:

ΔΕ =W +Q + Σ ∫ h dm → 0 = m h + m h

Where the total enthalpy ht has been approximated by enthalpy (i.e. negligible mechanical
energy against thermal energy), and means output minus input.
Although heat flows from hot fluid to cold fluid by thermal conduction through the separating
wall (except in direct-contact types), heat exchangers are basically heat convection equipment,
since it is the convective transfer what governs its performance.
Convection within a heat exchanger is always forced, and may be with or without phase change
of one or both fluids.
When one just relies in natural convection to the environment, like in the space-heating hot-
water home radiator, or the domestic fridge back-radiator, they are termed 'radiators' (in spite of
convection being dominant), and not heat exchangers. When a fan is used to force the flow of
ambient air (or when natural).
There are three type of heat exchanger on the basis of flow of fluids:

If both the fluids move in the same direction, it is a parallel flow heat exchanger. If the fluids
move in opposite direction, it is a counter flow heat exchanger. If they flow normal to each other,
it is a cross flow heat exchanger.
A heat exchanger having a large area per unit volume is called a compact heat exchanger. The
ratio of the heat transfer surface area to the volume is called the area density β. The large surface
area is obtained by attaching closely spaced thin plates or corrugated fins to the walls separating
the two fluids. Compact heat exchangers are mainly used in gas-to-gas or gas-to-liquid heat
transfer, with limitations of their volume, weight, with fins.
In compact heat exchangers, the two fluids usually move perpendicular to each other and such
flow configuration is called cross flow. When plate fins force the fluid to flow through a
particular inter fin spacing and it prevent from moving in the transverse direction.

Figure 1.14 Parallel Flow Heat Exchanger

Figure 1.15 Counter Flow Heat Exchanger


Figure 1.16 Cross Flow Heat Exchanger

1.7.3 SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER:

Shell and tube heat exchangers consist of a series of tubes. These tubes are packed inside a shell
with their axes parallel to that of the shell. Heat takes place as one fluid flows inside the tubes
while the other fluids flow outside the tubes through the shell. Baffles are commonly placed in
the shell to force the shell-side fluid to flow across the shell to enhance the heat transfer( by
increasing the residence time) and to maintain uniform spacing between the tubes. Because of
their relatively large size and weight, shell and tube heat exchangers are not suitable for use in
automotive, aircraft and marine applications. At both ends of the shell there are headers where
the fluid accumulates before entering the tubes and leaving them.

Figure 1.17 One Pass Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger


Figure 1.18 Two Pass Shell and Tube Heat Exchange

In storage type heat exchanger the hot and cold flow alternatively through a solid matrix of the
high heat capacity. When the hot fluid flows through the matrix in an interval of time heat is
transferred from the hot fluid to the matrix which store in the form of an increase in its internal
energy. This stored energy is then transferred to the cold fluid as it flows through the matrix in
the next interval of time.

Figure 1.19 Single Matrix Storage Type Heat Exchanger


Heat losses or gains of a whole heat exchanger with the environment can be neglected in
comparison with the heat flow between both fluid flows; i.e. a heat exchanger can be assumed
globally adiabatic.

Figure 1.20 Rotary Storage Type Heat Exchanger

Figure 1.21 Direct Contact Type Heat Exchanger

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