Lecture # 5 Refrigeration and air
conditioning
Dr. Najam Ul Hassan Shah
Vapor Compression Systems
Refrigerants
In this lecture…
• Importance of selection of suitable refrigerant.
• Classification of refrigerants into primary and secondary.
• Important differences between primary and secondary
refrigerants.
• Refrigerant selection criteria based on thermodynamic,
thermo-physical, environmental and economic
properties.
• Numbering system used for designating refrigerants.
• Comparison between different refrigerants.
Introduction
• Refrigerant : is the primary working fluid used for absorbing
and transmitting heat in a refrigeration system.
• In principle, any fluid can be used as a refrigerant.
• Refrigerants absorb heat at low temperature and low
pressure and release heat at a higher temperature and
pressure
• Typically, refrigerants undergo phase-changes during heat
absorption (evaporation) and heat releasing (condensation)
• Air used in an air-cycle refrigeration system can also be
considered as a refrigerant (no phase-change).
Introduction
• The thermodynamic efficiency of a refrigeration system depends
mainly on its operating temperatures.
• However, important practical issues such as the system design,
size, initial and operating costs, safety, reliability, and
serviceability etc. depend very much on the type of refrigerant
selected for a given application.
• Due to several environmental issues such as ozone layer
depletion, global warming and their relation to the various
refrigerants used, the selection of suitable refrigerant has
become one of the most important issues in recent times.
• Replacement of an existing refrigerant by a completely new
refrigerant, for whatever reason, is an expensive proposition as it
may call for several changes in the design and manufacturing of
refrigeration systems.
• Hence, it is very important to understand the issues related to
the selection and use of refrigerants.
Primary and secondary refrigerants
• Primary refrigerants are those fluids, which are used directly as
working fluids, for example in VCR and absorption based
systems.
• These fluids provide the necessary refrigeration by undergoing a
phase-change process in the evaporator, absorbing latent heat.
• As the name implies, secondary refrigerants are those liquids,
which are used for transporting thermal energy from one location
to other.
• Secondary refrigerants are also known referred to as brines or
antifreezes. If the operating temperatures are above 0°C, then
pure water can also be used as secondary refrigerant, for
example in large air conditioning systems.
• Antifreezes or brines are used when refrigeration is required at
sub-zero temperatures.
• Unlike primary refrigerants, secondary refrigerants do not
undergo phase change as they transport energy from one
Primary and secondary refrigerants
• Secondary refrigerants are also called as Cooling medium.
• Cooling Medium: is a working fluid cooled by the refrigerant
to transport the cooling effect between a central plant and
remote cooling units and terminals
• Chilled water, brine, and glycol are used as cooling media
in many refrigeration systems.
• It reduces the extensive circulation of the primary
refrigerant.
History of refrigeration
• 1830s - Jacob Perkins - Vapor Compression (ether)
• 1851 - John Gorrie - Patent for Air Cycle
• 1859 - R-717 / R-718 (Ammonia / Water)
• 1866 - CO2 - Marine Applications
• 1873 - R-717 (Ammonia) Commercial Refrigeration
• 1875 - R-764 (Sulfur dioxide)
• 1920s -R-600a (Isobutane) & R-290 (Propane)
• 1922 - Willis Carrier - R-1130 (Dielene)
• 1926 - R-30 (Methylene Chloride)
•Main challenges
• Low Toxicity
• Non-flammable
• Good Stability
• Atmospheric Boiling Point between -40°C and 0°C
• Common refrigerants in 1920-30
• Ammonia (R-717) NH3
• Carbon Dioxide CO2
• Sulfur Dioxide SO2
• Hydrocarbons CnHm
• Methyl Choride CH3Cl
• Water H2O
• Use of Synthetic Refrigerants:
• (Stability, non-toxicity and efficiency)
• 1930: R11, R12
• 1936: R22
• 1961: R507
Classes of refrigerants
• Organic: Some examples
• Hydro-carbons HC (natural starting molecules from which most
refrigerants are synthesized)
• Methane (R-50) and Ethane (R-170)
• Chloro-Flouro Carbons (CFC)
• Hydro Chloro-Flouro Carbons (HCFC)
• Hydro-Fluoro Carbons (HFC)
• In-organic: Some examples
• Water
• Ammonia
• CO2
• Refrigerants can also be mixed with each other
Historical perspective
Hydrocarbon refrigerants
• Many hydrocarbon gases have successfully been used as
refrigerants in industrial, commercial and domestic
applications.
• Examples:
• R170, Ethane, C2H6
• R290 , Propane C3H3
• R600, Butane, C4H10
• R600a, Isobutane, C4H10
• Blends of the above gases
Halocarbons
• Halocarbon refrigerants are all synthetically produced
and were developed as the FREON family of refrigerants.
• Examples :
• CFC’s : R11, R12, R113, R114, R115
• HCFC’s : R22, R123
• HFC’s : R134a, R404a, R407c, R410a
Property trends/ H-Cl-F
Blending of refrigerants
• Two or more refrigerants can be suitably blended to
achieve the required/desired properties
• Flammability
• Volumetric Capacity
• Limit discharge superheating for lower discharge
Temp
• Two Basic Types
• Zeotropes
• Azeotropes
Azeotropic refrigerants
• A stable mixture of two or several refrigerants whose vapor
and liquid phases retain identical compositions over a wide
range of temperatures.
• Examples:
• R-500: 73.8% R12 and 26.2% R152
• R-502: 8.8% R22 and 51.2% R115
• R-503: 40.1% R23 and 59.9% R13
Zeotropic refrigerants
• A zeotropic mixture is one whose composition in liquid phase
differs to that in vapor phase. Zeotropic refrigerants therefore
do not boil at constant temperatures unlike azeotropic
refrigerants.
• Examples:
• R404a : R125/143a/134a (44%,52%,4%)
• R407c : R32/125/134a (23%, 25%, 52%)
• R410a : R32/125 (50%, 50%)
• R413a : R600a/218/134a (3%, 9%, 88%)
Properties of Refrigerants
• Latent heat of vaporization is one of the most important
properties.
• Chemical stability under conditions of use is another
equally important characteristics.
• Safety codes may require a non-flammable refrigerant of
low toxicity for most applications.
• Cost, availability, efficiency, and compatibility with
compressor lubricants and materials with which the
equipment is constructed.
Physical properties
• The refrigerants are arranged in increasing order of atmospheric
boiling point, from air at -194.3°C to water at 100°C
• Normal boiling point is most important because it is a direct
indicator of the temperature level at which a refrigerant can be
used.
Refrigerant selection criteria
• Selection of refrigerant for a particular application
is based on the following requirements:
• Thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties.
• Environmental and safety properties, like:
• Ozone depletion potential (ODP), global warming
potential (GWP), and combustibility
• Economics of production/maintenance/etc.
Thermodynamic and thermo-physical
properties
• Suction pressure: At a given evaporator temperature, the
saturation pressure should be above atmospheric for
prevention of air or moisture and non-condensable gases
ingress into the system and ease of leak detection. Higher
suction pressure is better as it leads to smaller
compressor displacement
• Discharge pressure: At a given condenser temperature,
the discharge pressure should be as small as possible to
allow lightweight construction of compressor, condenser,
pipe, etc.
Thermodynamic and thermo-physical
properties
• Pressure ratio or Compression ratio: Should be as small as
possible for high volumetric efficiency and low power
consumption
• Latent heat of vaporization: Should be as large as possible
so that the required mass flow rate per unit cooling
capacity will be small
• From the above equation, it can be seen that for given
condenser and evaporator temperatures, as the latent heat
of vaporization increases, the pressure ratio also increases.
• Hence a trade-off is required between the latent heat of
vaporization and pressure ratio.
• Isentropic index of compression: Should be as small as
possible so that the temperature rise during compression
will be small.
• Liquid specific heat: Should be small so that degree of
subcooling will be large leading to smaller amount of flash
at evaporator inlet.
• Vapor specific heat: Should be large so that the degree of
superheating will be small.
• Thermal conductivity: Thermal conductivity in both liquid
as well as vapor phase should be high for higher heat
transfer coefficients.
• Viscosity: Viscosity should be small in both liquid and
vapor phases for smaller frictional pressure drops.
Environmental and safety properties
• In contemporary times, environment friendliness of the
refrigerant is a major factor in deciding its usage.
• Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP): According to the
Montreal protocol, the ODP of refrigerants should be zero,
i.e., they should be non-ozone depleting substances.
• Refrigerants having non-zero ODP have either already been
phased-out (e.g. R11, R12) or will be in near-future (e.g.
R22).
• Since ODP depends mainly on the presence of chlorine or
bromine in the molecules, refrigerants having either
chlorine (i.e., CFCs and HCFCs) or bromine cannot be used
under the new regulations.
Ozone depletion potential (ODP)
Environmental and safety properties
• Global Warming Potential (GWP): Refrigerants should have
as low a GWP value as possible to minimize global
warming.
• Refrigerants with zero ODP but a high value of GWP (e.g.
R134a) are likely to be regulated in future.
• Total Equivalent Warming Index (TEWI): The factor TEWI
considers both direct (due to release into atmosphere) and
indirect (through energy consumption) contributions of
refrigerants to global warming.
• Naturally, refrigerants with as a low a value of TEWI are
preferable from global warming point of view.
Environmental and safety properties
• Toxicity: Ideally, refrigerants used in a refrigeration system
should be non-toxic. However, all fluids other than air can
be called as toxic as they will cause suffocation when their
concentration is large enough.
• Hence, toxicity is a relative term, which becomes
meaningful only when the degree of concentration and time
of exposure required to produce harmful effects are
specified.
• Some fluids are toxic even in small concentrations. Some
fluids are mildly toxic, i.e., they are dangerous only when
the concentration is large and duration of exposure is long.
Environmental and safety properties
• Some refrigerants such as CFCs and HCFCs are non-toxic
when mixed with air in normal condition. However, when
they come in contact with an open flame or an electrical
heating element, they decompose forming highly toxic
elements (e.g. phosgene-COCl2).
• In general the degree of hazard depends on:
• Amount of refrigerant used vs total space
• Type of occupancy
• Presence of open flames
• Odor of refrigerant, and
• Maintenance condition
Environmental and safety properties
• Flammability: The refrigerants should preferably be
nonflammable and non-explosive. For flammable
refrigerants special precautions should be taken to avoid
accidents.
• Based on the above criteria, ASHRAE has divided
refrigerants into six safety groups (A1 to A3 and B1 to B3).
• Refrigerants belonging to Group A1 (e.g. R11, R12, R22,
R134a, R744, R718) are least hazardous, while refrigerants
belonging to Group B3 (e.g. R1140) are most hazardous.
• Finally, economic properties: The refrigerant used should
preferably be inexpensive and easily available.
Leakage rate
• Leakage rate is the amount of green house gases
released into the atmosphere by the refrigeration system.
It is given by the mass of refrigerant emissions in
kilograms times the GWP of the refrigerant
• Leakage Rate = Mass of refrigerant leaking from system x
GWP of Refrigerant
• Typical leakage rates:
• Hermetic compressor: 1 - 2%
• Split units: 6 - 8%
• Automotive air conditioning: 10 - 20%
Recuperation rate
• Recuperation rate = GWPref x Chargeref x ( 1 – recuperation factor )
• Recuperation factor is the percentage of refrigerant recovered
when a refrigeration or air conditioning equipment reaches the
end of its useful life.
• Indirect emissions
• Indirect emissions are emissions of CO2 which occur by
generation of electricity needed to run the RAC equipment during
its lifetime.
• CO2contrib = Machine life x Energy cons. PA x Emission factor
• The emission factor is the amount of CO2 released into the
atmosphere when fuel is burned to produce one kWh of
electricity.
Example of TEWI calculation
• Chiller unit running on R407c with a charge of 426 kg.
• Average leakage rate pa: 4 kg
• Lifespan of equipment: 25 years
• GWP of R407c: 1610 kg CO2
• Average power rating of unit: 298.3 kW
• Chiller working on an average of 20 hours per day
• Recuperation factor assumed to be 50 %
Example of TEWI calculation
• Leakage Rate = 4 x 1610 x 25 = 128 800 kg CO2
• Recuperation rate = 1610 x 426 x (1 – 0.5) = 342 930 kg CO2
• Indirect contribution due to energy consumption =
= 25 x (298.3 x 20 x 365) x 0.6 = 32 663 850 kg CO2
• {Emission factor is assumed to be 0.9}
• TEWI factor for the chiller unit calculated over its lifetime of 25
years : 128 800 + 342 930 + 32 663 850 = 33 135 580 kg CO2
• This implies that the chiller will contribute to the equivalent of
33 135 580 kg of CO2 over its useful life of 25 years.
• Direct emissions = 1.4 % of the indirect emissions
Comparison/ Issues
Applications in present world
Refrigerant Application
Air Aircraft refrigeration / air-conditioning
Ammonia Large industrial low-temperature installation
Carbon dioxide Direct contact freezing of food
R 11 Systems with centrifugal Compressors
R 12 Domestic Refrigeration with reciprocating compressors
R 22 Air-conditioning application and is now very popular because of its
lower cost
R 502 Transport / auto application, newer in field
Designation of refrigerants/
Nomenclature
• Since a large number of refrigerants have been developed
over the years for a wide variety of applications, a
numbering system has been adopted to designate various
refrigerants.
• From the number one can get some useful information
about the type of refrigerant, its chemical composition,
molecular weight etc.
• All the refrigerants are designated by R followed by a unique
number. The R-# numbering system was developed by
DuPont and systematically identifies the molecular
structure of refrigerants made with a single halogenated
hydrocarbon.
ASHRAE Standards (Number 34)
• The number assigned to each refrigerant is related to its chemical
composition and the system has been formalized as ASHRAE Standard
34. Broadly, the numbering system is as follows:
• 000 Series Methane Based
• 100 Series Ethane Based
• 200 Series Propane Based
• 300 Series Cyclic Organic Compounds
• 400 Series Zeotropes
• 500 Series Azeotropes
• 600 Series Organic Compounds
• 700 Series Inorganic Compounds
• 1000 Series Unsaturated Organic Compounds
Designation of refrigerants/
Nomenclature
• Fully saturated, halogenated compounds:
• These refrigerants are derivatives of alkanes (CnH2n+2)
such as methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6) and propane
(C2H8).
• These refrigerants are designated by R-XYZ, where:
• X+1 indicates the number of Carbon (C) atoms
• Y-1 indicates number of Hydrogen (H) atoms, and
• Z indicates number of Fluorine (F) atoms
• The balance indicates the number of Chlorine atoms.
• Only 2 digits indicates that the value of X is zero.
Nomenclature: Example
• Example: R 22
• X = 0 ⇒ No. of Carbon atoms = 0 + 1 = 1 ⇒ derivative of methane (CH4)
• Y = 2 ⇒ No. of Hydrogen atoms = 2-1 = 1
• Z = 2 ⇒ No. of Fluorine atoms = 2
• The balance = 4 – no. of (H+F) atoms = 4-1-2 = 1 ⇒ No. of Chlorine
atoms = 1
• ∴ The chemical formula of R 22 = CHClF2
• Similarly it can be shown that the chemical formula of:
• R12 = CCl2F2
• R134a = C2H2F4 (derivative of ethane)
• (letter a stands for isomer, e.g. molecules having same chemical
composition but different atomic arrangement, e.g. R134 and R134a)
Nomenclature
• Inorganic refrigerants:
• These are designated by number 7 followed by the
molecular weight of the refrigerant (rounded-off).
• Ex.: Ammonia: Molecular weight is 17, ∴ the designation
is R-717
• Carbon dioxide: Molecular weight is 44, ∴ the designation
is R-744
• Water: Molecular weight is 18, ∴ the designation is R-718
Thanks
Any Questions…???