Basic Refrigeration

Star Refrigeration

Wednesday 12 September
2007
 Agenda
AM
Refrigeration basics
Simple systems
The refrigerant
The evaporator
The condenser
Agenda - continued
 PM
 The compressor
 The expansion device
 Star designs
 - LPR
 - RCD
 - Indigochiller
 - CO2 sytems
Simple Refrigeration System

Heat Out

High Pressure Condenser High Pressure

Liquid Vapour

Expansion Work In Compressor

Device

Low Pressure Evaporator Low Pressure

Liquid & Vapour Vapour

Heat In
 Basic Physics
WATER (or Refrigerant)
Fundamental “STATES”

Solid Liquid Vapour

(ICE) (Apply heat) (WATER) (Apply heat) (STEAM)

Solid Liquid Vapour

(ICE) (Remove heat) (WATER) (Remove heat) (STEAM)
 Basic Refrigeration
Vapour Compression Cycle
In the Evaporator (Evaporation)
Liquid Vapour
(Apply heat)

In the Condenser (Condensation)

Liquid Vapour
(Remove heat)
Heat Transfer
Hot Always Goes To Cold

Heat from the product will migrate to the

colder refrigerant
THE REFRIGERANT WILL BOIL -
EVAPORATION
THE REFRIGERANT WILL LIQUEFY -
CONDENSATION
Heat Transfer :
Examples of Evaporation
 At 100oC Water will boil.
 The energy the water uses to boil
in the kettle is heat from the electric
element.
 The energy a refrigerant uses to
boil in the evaporator is heat
from the product.
Heat Transfer:
Examples of Condensation
• Steam will condense on kitchen
tiles – heat transfer from hot steam to
colder tile.
• A refrigerant will condense when it
is exposed to a medium at a lower
temperature, such as water
or air.
Second Law of
Thermodynamics
• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics States:

“Heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body”

• Need to do work to compress this refrigerant gas
• RRefrigeration cycle needs

A Compressor
A Condenser
An Expansion Device
An Evaporator
A Refrigerant
A pressure – enthalpy (P-H) diagram is a useful device to understand
what is happening in the cycle
The Refrigerant

In a refrigeration system, the

working fluid is the Refrigerant.

 Different refrigerants have different

boiling temperatures – well below
that of water! For example
Ammonia will boil at –33oC (at
atmospheric pressure).
Saturation Temperature

Saturation Temperature (C)

24
19
Pressure

14
9
4
-1
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
R717 Ammonia
Examples of Refrigerants
R22: Currently being phased out because of its
Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP).
Ammonia: Star’s preferred refrigerant. Good
refrigerating properties. Zero ODP
and Zero Global Warming Potential (GWP)
CO2: “Back to the Future”. Excellent refrigerating
properties, where appropriate. Zero ODP.
GWP = 1.
Also:
New HFC synthetic Refrigerants – R134a, R404A, R407C
Zero ODP but High GWP R410A, etc.
Typical Star Refrigeration
System
Evaporator(s)

Expansion Device Condenser

Compressor(s)
Heat Transfer

The units for heat energy transferred in

the refrigeration system for each kg
of refrigerant flowing in the circuit is
referred to as the refrigerating effect
and has units in kiloJoule/kg (kJ/kg).

One kJ/s is equal to one kiloWatt (kW)

 Summary

• Star design and build very efficient

customised refrigeration plant going into
several industrial sectors
Star Refrigeration design systems that
give maximum refrigeration energy for
minimum electrical energy input
required to run the plant.

Star plant is :

ENERGY EFFICIENT