Table of Content 1. Specify conditions...........................................................................................................2 2. Evaporator duty..............................................................................................................2 3. Select evaporator.............................................................................................................3 4. Determine refrigerant flow.............................................................................................4 5. Determine AC compressor requirements.......................................................................4 6.

Select condenser.............................................................................................................4 7. Size capillary tube...........................................................................................................5 8. Closing remarks..............................................................................................................5 Nomenclature......................................................................................................................6

Sealed System Sizing Procedure

This procedure is to provide the roadmap to size a sealed system manually. The performance curves of the following components, which can be obtained from the supplier and/or through some experimentation, are required to perform this task: Compressor Condenser Evaporator Fans curve Fan drives (viscous or electric motor) curve Air resistance curves (static pressure drop) This is an iterative process that will provide a good estimate on the component sizes. These are then adjusted to account for parasitic heat transfer throughout the system. 1. Specify conditions The product energy rating is the ultimate gage of our products performance and it has a direct impact to our customers. Therefore, the sealed system should be designed at such ambient conditions. The ambient temperature is 90F and 80% Relative Humidity. The interior temperature is assumed to be at 37F and 100% relative humidity for the refrigerator compartment and 0F and 100% relative humidity for the freezer compartment. Applying a control surface around the sealed system yields the following energy conservation equation,

Q Condenser = Q Evaporator +W Compressor

Equation 1

Note that it is assumed that there is no parasitic heat transfer through other components of the sealed system, for example, piping (heat loop), compressor, accumulator, etc. 2. Evaporator duty Starting from the evaporator, its heat transfer process is composed of Qsensible and Qlatent. The sensible heat is related to the temperature difference and the latent heat is related to the humidity being removed from the air. Therefore, the evaporator duty is defined as:

Q evaporator = Q sensible + Q latent

Equation 2

The sensible heat portion of the evaporator duty is due to the airside temperature difference between the evaporator outlet and its inlet. Therefore, the energy equation reduces to:

Q sensible = m air c p _ air (Tout Tin ) air

Equation 3

The airflow rate is determined through fan curves and the evaporator compartment resistance curves. Please refer to test procedures in order to determine the resistance curves of the evaporator compartment. However, for the initial iteration, an airflow rate of 65 SCFM is a good assumption. The latent heat portion is due to the moisture that is extracted from the air across the evaporator. This is possible by using the psychrometric chart.

Q latent = m air (in out )( hvapor hliquid )

Equation 4

A different way of obtaining the heat transfer rate across the evaporator is to determine the enthalpy change of the air. As shown in equation 5, by way of the psychrometric chart, the enthalpy can be determined if the air temperature and moisture content (expressed in %RH, dew point, or wet bulb) is known.

Q evaporator = m air ( hout hin )

Equation 5

So far, we have used the first law of thermodynamics. In order to ensure that our results do not violate the second law of thermodynamics, the effectiveness of the evaporator should be calculated as follows;

Q evaporator . m c p (Tin ,air Tin ,refrigeran min

t

Equation 6

. where m c p is the smallest product of mass flow rate and the corresponding specific heat of either min the refrigerant or the air. If the effectiveness is greater than one, it is simply not possible. Therefore, some of the assumptions must be reconsidered. It is also a good practice to compare the effectiveness obtained from equation 6 with the definition of the effectiveness given by equation 7.

UA m c p min
.

Equation 7

The total heat transfer coefficient, U, is calculated at same condition used for equation 6. The surface area, A, is the surface area of the evaporator. 3. Select evaporator At this stage, it is necessary to have Fan curve: provided by fan supplier or in our labs; Air side resistance curves: this can be obtained through airflow testing done by fan supplier or in our labs. A break down of the air side pressure drop at different stages will allow the determination on where to make airflow improvements; Packaging constraints: The size and frontal area of evaporators are determined. One thing that needs to be considered is condensate drainage. This is important because once the heater is turned on, all of the liquid water must be drained out of the evaporator fins and drain pan; Evaporator circuitry: the best evaporator performance comes with the lowest pressure drop and uniform temperature distribution on the evaporators. Hot spots on the evaporator indicate bad refrigerant distribution. When comparing different evaporators, it is important to normalize their performance to either: BTU/hr/frontal area; BTU/hr/F of inlet temperature difference; if the dry bulb and the suction temperature are not at the desired conditions. This inlet temperature difference is defined as: F of inlet temperature difference = T dry bulb T suction, saturation Equation 8 Equal superheat: if the superheat temperatures are between 1F to 4F, the comparison could be done as is. However, if the superheat is higher than that, use only the area where there is still phase change within the evaporator; Airflow: must be converted into ft/min when comparing evaporators of different frontal areas.

Comparing different suppliers with similar evaporators can lead to a 20% difference. Therefore, it is prudent to prove its performance in a system stand or product.

4. Determine refrigerant flow The refrigerant flow is determined with

Q evaporator = m( hin hout ) refrigeran t

Equation 9

The change in enthalpy is simply obtained by measuring the capillary tube inlet temperature and pressure and the evaporator outlet temperature and pressure of the refrigerant. This is only possible if the refrigerant at each mentioned stage is single phase (e.g. vapor or liquid). A two-phase condition (e.g. vapor and gas mixture) will not allow the determination of the enthalpy of the refrigerant and therefore, it will not allow the calculation of the mass flow rate. Often, the conditions are determined for the design point. For instance, 5F subcooling after condenser, 10F superheat after evaporator, 250 psig compressor discharge pressure and 0 psig compressor suction pressure. The heat transfer rate of the evaporator has been determined in the previous step. Therefore, the mass flow rate can be computed. 5. Determine AC compressor requirements The compressor performance as a function of RPM, discharge and suction temperature and pressures can be obtained from supplier or from calorimeter data. These performance data are: Volumetric efficiency, %; Energy consumption, kWh; Refrigerant capacity, BTU/hr. Volumetric efficiency is defined as:

vol =

Vrefrigeran V piston

t volumetric

flow

stroke volume

Equation 10 In order to determine the size of the compressor, the refrigerant flow rate obtained from equation 9 and manipulating equation 10, the compressor volumetric requirements can be determined as shown in the following equation:

V piston stroke volume =

where,

suction vol

Equation 11

is the compressor RPM expressed in rev/sec.

IV

The energy consumption is defined as:

P=

isentropic

Equation 12

where the isentropic efficiency is given by:

isentropic =

( hout hin ) ideal ( hout hin ) actual

Equation 13

6. Select condenser The condenser has to reject the heat that has been added to the refrigerant at the evaporator and the compressor. Therefore, the condenser duty is define by equation 1 as:

Q condenser = Q evaoprator +W compressor

After determining the condenser duty, the following information is needed:

Packaging constraints; Supplier cooling fan performance curves; Supplier condenser performance curves.

Currently, packaging constraints are minimal in the base plate. The only constraint is that the condenser cannot be bigger than the surface area of the base plate. By finding the intersection between fan performance curve and high side resistance curves, the airflow rate can be determined. However, this must be done with the knowledge of the airflow rate and air temperatures must yield the calculated condenser duty. This is achieved with energy balance between the refrigerant side with the airside, as shown below

Q refrigeran t = Q air
thus, algebraically for the airflow rate can be determined,
.

Equation 14

m air =

c p ,air ( Tout Tin ) air

Q refrigeran t

Equation 15

For initial guess value of the airflow rate, assume a condenser airflow rate of 70 SCFM. 7. Size capillary tube Whirlpool uses capillary tubes as the throttling device. The procedure to size the component can be found in ASHRAE Handbook 1989. Therefore, we will not develop any further. 8. Closing remarks This procedure will provide an approximate solution after several iterations. The accuracy of the results also depends on the quality of input it is provided.

Nomenclature

Q : Heat transfer rate

W : Power
c p : Specific heat

m : Mass flow rate T : Temperature

: Moisture content (unit mass of water/unit mass of dry air)

h : Enthalpy