HVAC Clinic

Refrigeration
Cycle
Table Of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Fundamentals of Refrigeration ............................................................................................................. 3
Refrigerants ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Refrigeration Cycle ................................................................................................................................ 9
Pressure Enthalpy Chart ..................................................................................................................... 16
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Introduction
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to remove heat from one location to another. In this clinic, we will
discuss the principle of refrigeration as it applies to air conditioning. In commercial air conditioning, refrigeration is
typically accomplished with the vapor refrigeration cycle or the absorption refrigeration cycle. For the purposes of this
discussion, we will only focus on the vapor refrigeration cycle.

Fundamentals of Refrigeration
Refrigeration is generally associated with keeping something cold. A refrigerator, for example, keeps its contents cold
(figure 1). It achieves this task by removing heat from the food. Therefore, refrigeration involves the removal of heat
from a substance.

Figure 1. Refrigeration

To understand the process of refrigeration, we first need to understand what heat is and how it is removed from a
substance.

The three primary rules of heat transfer are:

1. Heat energy cannot be destroyed

2. Heat always flows from a higher temperature source to a lower temperature source
3. Heat can be transferred from one substance to another substance

The first rule states that heat energy cannot be destroyed. Energy can be transferred from one substance to another
substance, but the energy is maintained. This is the first law of thermodynamics and is known as the conservation of
energy.

The second rule is that heat always flows from a higher temperature source to a lower temperature source. Heat is a
measure of the motion of (i.e. the kinetic energy of) molecules. When an object in motion impacts with an object that is
stationary, it imparts some of its energy to the stationary object (via movement and plastic deformation). The same is
true of heat. Thus heat always flow from a high temperature source to a low temperature source much the same way a
moving object transfers energy to a stationary object.

Finally, heat can be transferred to one substance to another. There are three methods of transferring heat; convection,
conduction and radiation. Convection is the transfer of energy between two fluids. Convection cannot flow between
solids. Conversely, conduction is the transfer of energy between adjacent molecules of a solid. Finally, radiation is the
emission of electromagnetic waves from all matter that has a temperature greater than absolute zero. It represents a
conversion of thermal energy into electromagnetic energy. Radiation does not require the presence of matter to
propagate.

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Refrigerants
Refrigerants can be in the form of natural and chemical substances. An example of a natural refrigerant is ice. Ice is
commonly used to preserve food. Because heat flows from a higher temperature substance to a lower temperature
substance, ice can be used in a bucket to absorb heat from the relatively warm beer, thus cooling our precious beverage
(figure 2). As the ice absorbs heat, it changes states and melts.

Figure 2. Ice

Used in this manner, ice is a refrigerant. It absorbs heat and transports the heat away from the food.

Ice, however, does have a disadvantage. It absorbs heat and melts at 32oF. If are trying to cool something with a
melting point lower than ice, we cannot use ice. Ice cream, for example, melts at a temperature lower than 32oF (figure
3). Thus ice cannot be used to refrigerate ice cream. We must use something with a lower melting point than the
substance we are trying to cool.

Figure 3. Ice Cream

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Another type of natural cooling is dry ice, which is solid carbon dioxide (CO2). It evaporates directly from a solid phase
to a vapor phase at -109.4°F. Dry ice would keep the ice cream frozen because it evaporates at a lower temperature
than the temperature at which ice cream melts (figure 4).

Figure 4. Dry Ice

Refrigerant R-410a is a chemical used in many small refrigeration systems. If an open container of liquid R-410a were
placed in our beer cooler, when exposed to atmospheric pressure, it would absorb heat and boil violently at -55.3oF
(figure 5).

Figure 5. R-410a

At atmospheric pressure, each of these three substances (common ice, dry ice, and R-410a) absorb heat and change
phase at a fixed temperature. Common ice melts at 32oF, dry ice evaporates at -109.4oF, and R-410a boils at -55.3oF.
This then begs the question, why do we want a substance to change phase while producing refrigeration?

The question is best answered by examining the effects of heat transfer on water. Consider 1 lb of 100F water. By
adding 1 Btu of heat energy, the water temperature is raised by 1F (figure 6).

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Figure 6. 1 BTU

Therefore, adding 112 Btu to 1 lb of 100F water raises its temperature to 212F (figure 7).

Figure 7. 112 BTU’s

While 212F is the boiling temperature of water at atmospheric pressure, adding 1 more Btu will not cause all of the
water to evaporate. It takes a much larger quantity of heat to completely boil 1 lb of water. In this example, 970 Btu’s
must be added to 1 lb of 212F water to completely convert it to steam at the same temperature (figure 8).

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Figure 8. Water to Steam

Conversely, you must remove 970 Btu’s to condense 1 lb of steam completely to water. That is, it gives off or releases
970 btu’s of heat to convert a pound of steam to water (figure 9).

Figure 9. Steam to Water

Refrigerants can absorb a significant amount of heat when they change phase; far more than if they just change
temperature. Different substances have distinctive specific temperatures at which these phase changes occur and
different quantities of heat are required for this change to take place. This capacity of a substance to absorb or release
heat is a property of the substance called specific heat. The specific heat of a substance is defined as the quantity of
heat (btu’s) required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of that substance 1F.

For example, two differing substances may be exposed to the exact same quantity of heat. However, substance A
experiences an increase in temperature to a greater degree than substance B. Therefore, substance B would have a
great heat capacity and thus a higher specific heat than substance A (figure 10).

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Figure 10. Specific Heat

In order for us to utilize refrigerants for building air conditioning, we must select refrigerants that change state at the
appropriate temperatures and pressures. Generally speaking, the temperatures and pressures required do not lend
themselves to natural refrigerants. It is for this reason we have created chemical refrigerants. These chemical
refrigerants have evolved over the years in order to perform their task while maximizing efficiency and decreasing
environmental impact (figure 11).

Figure 11. Chemical Refrigerants

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Refrigeration Cycle
A very simple but rudimentary refrigeration system could theoretically be constructed using a container holding liquid
refrigerant at atmospheric pressure, a coil, and a valve to regulate the flow of refrigerant into the coil. As you open the
valve, liquid refrigerant would flow into the coil by gravity. As warm air is blown over the surface of the coil, the liquid
refrigerant inside the coil will absorb heat from the air. This will cause the refrigerant to boil, thus cooling the air. By
adjusting the valve, just enough refrigerant is provided to ensure complete evaporation before it exits the coil (figure 12).

Of course, releasing refrigerants into the atmosphere is illegal and wasteful. Additionally, the boiling temperature of
R-410a at atmospheric pressure is -55.3F. The coil surface is going to approach the refrigerant vapor temperature and
will freeze any moisture contained within the airstream. This will eventually turn the surface of the coil into a block of ice.

Figure 12. Open Loop Refrigeration System

If we had an unlimited free source of refrigerant that was completely harmless to the atmosphere, this would make a
very effective cooling system. The power requirements for the refrigeration system would be zero as the potential
energy required to force the refrigerant through the coil is provided by gravity.

Sadly, no such refrigerant is known to exist. To solve the problem, a method must be employed to return the refrigerant
exiting the coil back to the valve in a liquid phase. Then the cycle can repeat and the refrigerant can be re-distributed
back through the coil in a closed loop.

This is precisely what happens in a typical mechanical refrigeration system. Liquid refrigerant absorbs heat and
evaporates within a device called an evaporator. In the example in figure 12, air is cooled when it passes through the
evaporator, while the heat is transferred to the refrigerant, causing it to boil and change into a vapor. As discussed
earlier, a refrigerant can absorb a large amount of heat when it changes phase. Because of the refrigerant changing
phase, the system requires a much lower mass flow rate of refrigerant than if the refrigerant was just increasing in
temperature.

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The refrigerant vapor must then be converted back into a liquid in order to return to the evaporator and repeat the
process (figure 13).

Figure 13. Closed Loop System

As mentioned earlier in this clinic, when water vapor or steam condenses in to liquid water, it releases a large amount of
energy (figure 14).

Figure 14. Condensing Water

The second rule of heat transfer dictated that heat always flow from a higher temperature source to a lower temperature
source. Thus, if we want to remove heat from a vapor, we must expose that vapor to a substance with a lower
temperature. In the case of steam, ambient air can easily be used as it is always less than 212 oF. However, recall that
R-410a, the refrigerant most commonly used in small to moderate sized comfort cooling systems today, boils at -55oF
(figure 15). Clearly, ambient air cannot be used as it will virtually always be at a higher temperature (unless you live in
the South Pole).

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Figure 15. Condensing Atmospheric Pressure R-410a

However, we know that the boiling temperature of different substances is a function of pressure. If we increase the
pressure, we correspondingly increase the boiling temperature. The example in figure 16 depicts the boiling point of
water at various temperatures. At atmospheric pressure or 14.7 psi, water boils at 212 oF. Note that as the pressure
increases, the boiling temperature increases.

Figure 16. Boiling Point of Water

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As mentioned previously, R-410a boils at -55.3oF. However, if we pressurize R-410a to 145 psi, the boiling point
becomes 45oF (figure 17). Refrigeration coil discharge air temperatures are commonly in the neighborhood of 55 oF.
With a 45oF coil entering refrigeration temperature, we should be able to readily maintain a 55 oF coil leaving air
temperature.

Similarly, if we pressurize R-410a to 490 psi, the boiling point becomes 130oF. At 130oF, we should be able to reject the
heat of a refrigeration system back to the atmosphere (assuming the ambient temperature at design is less than 130 oF).

Figure 17. Boiling Point R-410a

In order to achieve these pressures and corresponding temperatures, a compressor, condenser, and expansion device
form the rest of the system. The compressor boosts the pressure, while the condenser reduces the temperature at a
relatively constant pressure and finally the expansion device returns the refrigerant vapor to a low-temperature liquid,
which can again be used to produce useful cooling. This cycle is called the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle
(figure 18).

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Figure 18. Refrigeration Cycle

The purpose of the evaporator is to absorb heat from the conditioned media to a low pressure, low temperature
refrigerant (figure 19). The low pressure, low temperature liquid refrigerant (A) absorbs heat from the conditioned media
(air in this case) and boils, exiting the evaporator as a vapor (B).

Figure 19. Evaporaor

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Next, the compressor increases the pressure of the refrigerant to a temperature that will be above temperature of the
substance that we are going to utilize as a source of heat rejection. In the case of an air cooled condenser, we will need
to pressurize the refrigerant to a temperature above the design ambient air condition (figure 20). In the example, we
take a low pressure, low temperature vapor (B) and pressurize it to a high pressure, high temperature vapor (C).

Figure 20. Compressor

The condenser rejects the heat from the high pressure, high temperature refrigerant to the heat rejection media. In this
example, we are rejecting the heat to the ambient air. The temperature of the refrigerant must be higher than that of the
ambient air (figure 21). As the heat content of the refrigerant vapor is reduced, it condenses into liquid (D).

Figure 21. Condenser

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Finally, the expansion device completes the cycle. Several types of expansion devices are available. The
high-pressure liquid refrigerant (D) flows through the expansion device, causing a pressure drop (figure 22). This
pressure drop reduces the refrigerant pressure and its temperature to that of the evaporator. At the lower pressure, the
temperature of the refrigerant is higher than its boiling point. This causes a small portion of the liquid to boil, or flash.
Because heat is required to boil this small portion of refrigerant, the boiling refrigerant absorbs heat from the remaining
liquid refrigerant, cooling it to the required evaporator temperature.

Figure 22. Expansion Device

Placing each component in its proper sequence within the system, we complete the cycle (figure 23). The compressor
and expansion device maintain a pressure difference between the high-pressure side of the system (condenser) and the
low-pressure side of the system (evaporator).

Figure 23. Refrigeration Cycle Components

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Pressure Enthalpy Chart
The pressure enthalpy chart graphically depicts the refrigeration cycle on a chart (figure 24). The horizontal axis
represents enthalpy, or energy state of the media. The vertical axis represents pressure. The left hand side of the chart
represents the condition at which the refrigerant is in the liquid phase. The right hand side of the chart represents the
condition at which the refrigerant exists as a pure gas or is in a vapor phase. The center of the chart represents a
mixture of liquid plus vapor. This area is depicted by a curve shaped like a dome, called an envelope. Any state point
that exists within this envelope is a mixture of liquid plus vapor. The left portion of the curve represents a saturated liquid
condition. The right hand portion of the curve represents a saturated vapor condition. If the state condition lies to the left
of the curve, the refrigerant is subcooled. If the state condition lies to the right of the curve, the refrigerant vapor is
superheated. Lines of constant temperature are as shown on figure 24.

Figure 24. Pressure Enthalpy Chart

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We begin our analysis of a PE chart by examining the evaporator. In this example, we will assume refrigerant R-410a.
At the inlet to the evaporator, the refrigerant is at a pressure of 145 psia and a temperature of 45.0F and is a mixture of
liquid and vapor. This cool, low-pressure refrigerant enters the evaporator (A) where it absorbs heat from the relatively
warm air that is being cooled. This transfer of heat boils the liquid refrigerant inside the evaporator and superheated
refrigerant vapor is drawn to the compressor (B).

As discussed earlier in this clinic, a greater amount of heat energy can absorbed when a refrigerant changes state as
compared to remaining in the same state (heating a superheated vapor in this case). However, we must ensure that no
liquid enters the compressor. This requires a margin of safety. This safety margin is called superheat and represents
the energy added from points B’ to B. Superheat is generally ranges between 8oF and 12oF. The total amount of energy
absorbed from points A to B is called the refrigeration effect (figure 25).

Figure 25. Evaporator

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The compressor draws in the superheated refrigerant vapor (B) and compresses it to a pressure and temperature (C)
high enough that it can reject heat to another media. Compression may occur via either positive displacement or
dynamic compressors. The mechanical energy used by the compressor to compress the refrigerant is converted to heat
energy. This causes the temperature of the refrigerant to rise as its pressure is increased (figure 26).

When the refrigerant vapor is discharged from the compressor, its temperature is considerably higher than the
temperature at which it would condense. The increase in enthalpy from C to D is due to heat added by the compressor,
known as the heat of compression.

In this example, the refrigerant leaves the compressor at 490 psia and 190F. At this higher pressure, the corresponding
saturation temperature (the temperature at which the refrigerant condenses) is 130F. The refrigerant vapor leaving the
compressor is, therefore, 60F above its saturation temperature.

Figure 26. Compressor

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The condenser transfers energy from hot, high pressure refrigerant (C) to the cooler ambient air. The energy released
from the condensing gas causes it to desuperheat. The refrigerant becomes a saturated vapor and eventually
condenses into a saturated liquid. The liquid then further cools (called subcooling) before it finally leaves the condenser
(D) to return to be delivered to the expansion device.

The refrigerant vapor is cooled (the line from C to C’) to its saturation temperature of 130F. As additional heat is
removed by the condenser, the refrigerant vapor condenses to its saturated liquid condition (line from C’ to D’). This
saturated liquid refrigerant now passes through the area of the condenser called the subcooler. Here, the liquid
refrigerant is further cooled (the line from D’ to D), In this example, the refrigerant is subcooled to 115oF. Because the
saturation temperature at the condensing pressure is 130F, the refrigerant has been subcooled 15F.

Subcooling is required to ensure that only liquid refrigerant returns to the expansion device. Much like superheat,
subcooling provides a margin of safety. Because of the shape of the envelope, if the refrigerant was not subcooled,
some of the refrigerant would flash to vapor before entering the expansion device. Expansion devices do not meter
reliably when subjected to vapor. Thus, some degree of subcooling will be required (figure 27).

Figure 27. Condenser

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The function of the expansion device is the drop the pressure of the liquid refrigerant to that of the evaporator pressure.
At this pressure, the refrigerant is now lies within the saturation envelope and is a mixture of liquid and vapor (primarily
liquid).

The high-pressure liquid refrigerant (D) flows through the expansion device, causing a large pressure drop. This
pressure drop reduces the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant to that of the evaporator (A). Even at this lower
pressure, the temperature of the refrigerant is higher than its boiling point causing some liquid to boil, or flash. The drop
in pressure occurs with no change in heat or enthalpy.

The temperature of the refrigerant entering the expansion device (D) is 115F and its pressure is 490 psia . The
refrigerant leaves the expansion device (A) at evaporator conditions, 145 psia and 45.0F. The refrigeration cycle is
complete (figure 28).

Figure 28. Expansion Device

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The refrigeration cycle is complete (figure 29). The example show was assuming refrigerant R-410a. The pressures
and associated enthalpy will depend on the actual refrigerant used. Each of the devices involved (evaporator,
compressor, condenser and expansion device) will be discussed in greater detail in future clinics.

Figure 29. Completed Refrigeration Cycle

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