Energy 31 (2006) 21082128

Thermoeconomic optimization of subcooled and superheated

vapor compression refrigeration cycle
Res-at Selbas-, O

nder Kzlkan

, Arzu S- encan
Technical Education Faculty, Department of Mechanical Education, Su leyman Demirel University, Isparta 32260, Turkey
Received 20 July 2004
Abstract
An exergy-based thermoeconomic optimization application is applied to a subcooled and superheated vapor
compression refrigeration system. The advantage of using the exergy method of thermoeconomic optimization is that
various elements of the systemi.e., condenser, evaporator, subcooling and superheating heat exchangerscan be
optimized on their own. The application consists of determining the optimum heat exchanger areas with the corresponding
optimum subcooling and superheating temperatures. A cost function is specied for the optimum conditions. All
calculations are made for three refrigerants: R22, R134a, and R407c. Thermodynamic properties of refrigerants are
formulated using the Articial Neural Network methodology.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Thermoeconomic optimization; Subcooling; Superheating; Heat exchangers; Refrigeration
1. Introduction
Refrigeration systems transfer heat from a low-temperature medium to a high-temperature medium.
Refrigeration systems are cyclic processes that employ refrigerants to absorb heat from one place and move it
to another. Mainly, a refrigeration system consists of a condenser, an evaporator, a compressor, and an
expansion valve. In a refrigeration system, the refrigerant vapor leaves the evaporator and enters the
compressor as a saturated vapor at the vaporizing temperature and pressure and the liquid leaves the
condenser and enters the expansion valve as a saturated liquid at the condensing temperature and pressure [1].
The design of a vapor compression refrigeration system is often done by a conventional method, based on
experimental work and experience. Therefore, most refrigeration systems operate over capacity, which means
a loss of money both for the producer and the customer. To prevent this, a thermoeconomic optimization
approach was developed as an advanced tool for such energy systems. This approach combines
thermodynamic analysis by the rst and second laws with principles of economics [2].
Several studies of exergy-based thermoeconomic optimization are available. For example, Wall [3] and
DAccadia and Rossi [4] used the exergetic-costing method for thermoeconomic optimization. Usta and I

leri [5]
ARTICLE IN PRESS
www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
0360-5442/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2005.10.015

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 246 2111428; fax: +90 246 2371283.
E-mail address: kizilkan@tef.sdu.edu.tr (O. Kzlkan).
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Nomenclature
A area (m
2
)
a
C
capital recovery factor
b
C
the part of the annual cost which is not affected by the optimization
C
e
IN
unit cost of input exergy
C
C
l
capital cost of the lth element of the system
C
I
k,I
local unit cost of irreversibility
c
p
specic heat capacity (J/kgK)
E exergy (kW)
g gravitational acceleration (m/s
2
)
h specic enthalpy (kj/kg)
I rate of irreversibility (W)
I
n
normalized input value
K overall heat transfer coefcient (kW/m
2
K)
LMTD logarithmic mean temperature difference (1C)
_ m mass ow rate (kg/s)
NET sum of net collected data
Q heat transfer rate (kJ)
S
gen
rate of entropy generation (kW/K)
s specic entropy (kj/kgK)
T temperature (1C)
t
OP
period of operation per year
W work (kJ)
W
n
weights
V bulk velocity of the stream (m/s)
x
n
inputs
y output
Z altitude of the stream from sea level (m)
Greek letters
s
k,i
coefcient of structural bonds
z
k,I
capital cost coefcient
e specic exergy (kJ/kg)
S summation function
F(S) activation function
Subscripts
C condenser
CI condenser rst region
CII condenser second region
COM compressor
E evaporator
EV expansion valve
IN inlet
OUT exit
R refrigerant
SH superheating
SC subcooling
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2109
have determined the economic optimum values of the design parameters of refrigeration systems without
subcooled and superheated effects. Evaporator and condenser temperature, water inlet and outlet temperature
of the cooling tower, interstage pressure and insulation thickness were chosen as the optimization variables. The
effects of yearly operating hours, real interest rate, cooling capacity, outside design dry and wet bulb
temperatures, system life and price of electricity on the optimization variables were examined. Dingec- and I

leri
[2] have carried out the optimization of a domestic R-12 refrigerator without subcooled and superheated effects.
The structural coefcient method was used in this optimization procedure. Their objective was to minimize
the total life cycle cost, which includes both the electricity and capital costs, for a given cooling demand and
system life.
In literature, available studies on thermoeconomic optimization of subcooling and superheating effects of
vapor compression refrigeration cycles are very limited. In this paper, thermoeconomic optimization was
applied to subcooled and superheated vapor compression refrigeration system as different from literature. The
structural coefcient method was used in this optimization procedure. Optimum heat exchanger areas and
optimum subcooling and superheating temperatures under various operating conditions of system were
obtained. In addition, the variation of cost function and irreversibility according to condenser, evaporator,
subcooling and superheating temperatures was investigated. All calculations were made for alternative
refrigerants R-22, R-134a and R407c, which do not damage to ozone layer. In order to calculate
thermodynamic properties of refrigerants, the new formulations were derived with Articial Neural Networks
(ANNs) because algorithms available in the literature are very complex. All analyses are performed using
MATLAB computer program.
2. Articial neural networks
Although the concept of ANN analysis has been discovered nearly 50 years ago, it is only in the last two
decades that application software has been developed to handle practical problems. ANNs are good for some
tasks while lacking in some others. Specically, they are good for tasks involving incomplete data sets, fuzzy or
incomplete information, and for highly complex and ill-dened problems, where humans usually decide on an
intuitional basis.
ANNs differ from the traditional modeling approaches in that they are trained to learn solutions rather
than being programmed to model a specic problem in the normal way. They are usually used to address
problems that are intractable or cumbersome to solve with traditional methods. They can learn from
examples, are fault tolerant in the sense that they are able to handle noisy and incomplete data, are able to deal
with non-linear problems, and once trained can perform predictions at very high speed. ANNs have been used
in many engineering applications such as in control systems, in classication, and in modeling complex process
transformations [6].
The advantages of ANN compared to classical methods are speed, simplicity and capacity to learn from
examples. In the last decade, a number of papers have been published dealing with the use of ANN in energy
systems [79]. This technique can be used in the modeling of complex physical phenomena. So, engineering
effort can be reduced.
ANNs consist of a large number of computational units connected in a massively parallel structure and
work as a human brain [10]. Because of their simple and unlimited structure, they have a wide range of
applications in articial intelligence area. They have numerous advantages such as eliminating, estimating and
learning [11]. ANN is an alternative method that is used in solution of complex non-linear problems. As
shown in Fig. 1, an ANN basically consists of three layers: input layer, one or more hidden layers and output
layer [10].
ARTICLE IN PRESS
T total
0 environmental conditions
1, 2, reference conditions
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2110
An articial neural unit is shown in Fig. 2. Each articial neural unit consists of inputs (x
n
), weights (W
n
),
summation function (S), activation function (F(S)) and output (y).
Input layer feeds data to the network; therefore, it is not a computing layer since it has no weights and
activation function. Output layer represents the output response to a given input. Here, X is input vector
which can be expressed as X
T
X
1
; X
2
; . . . ; X
n
. A vector which includes weights can be presented as
W
T
W
1
; W
2
; . . . ; W
n
. The node receives weighted activation of other nodes through its incoming
connections. First, these are added (summation function). The result is then passed through an activation
function, the outcome of which is the activation of the node. For each of the outgoing connections, this
activation value is multiplied with the specic weight and transferred to the next node.
Each data that transferred to a unit is obtained from the product of the input and connected weight data.
The sum of net collected data in the unit is
NET

n
i1
x
i
W
i
x
1
W
1
x
2
W
2
x
n
W
n
b, (1)
where b is the bias term. Output data y, for a tansig activation function is
y
2
1 e
2

NET
1. (2)
3. Modeling of the thermodynamic properties using ANN
In order to carry out thermodynamic analyses of subcooling and superheating effects of refrigerants,
thermodynamic property equations are needed. There are a number of thermodynamic property equations of
some refrigerants in the literature. In this study, thermodynamic data used to train network were obtained
from Dupont [13].
Saturated liquid and saturated vapor properties of refrigerants used in vapor compression refrigeration
systems are formulated using ANN method. Furthermore, properties such as superheated vapor enthalpy and
superheated vapor temperature are also formulated using ANN. For the training of the ANN,
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Input Layer Hidden Layers Output Layer
Bias Bias
Fig. 1. Basic ANN architecture.
x
1
x
2
x
n
W
1
W
2
W
n
y
F()
Fig. 2. Articial neural unit [12].
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2111
LevenbergMarquardt feed forward back-propagation algorithm and sigmoid activation functions were used.
In feed forward algorithm, the units are arranged as layers and the output data of a unit are transported to the
next layer as inputs over the weights. The input layer transports the data with no change to units of hidden
layers. Data processing is performed in hidden and output layer forming the network output. With this
structure feed forward networks carry out a non-linear static function. Feed forward ANNs are trained with
back-propagation algorithm [14].
For the thermodynamic properties of refrigerants, data from Dupont [13] were used. The number of data
patterns available are given in Table 1.
For each refrigerant, 80% of data were used for training and 20% of data were used for testing the neural
network. Tansig activation function was used and for this reason all data were normalized between 1 and 1.
The input and output parameters of each neural network are given in Table 2.
Different network structures, sizes and learning parameters have been tried. The best network that was
ultimately selected has one hidden layer and eight neurons. After training with the best network architecture,
thermodynamic property equations were derived using weights and biases of network for each property. The
average percentage deviation between the ANN predicted and actual values is given in Table 3.
In order to determine thermodynamic properties of refrigerations, the following equations are used derived
from the ANN methodology:
E
n
I
n
w
n
b
n
, (3)
F
n

2
1 exp2E
n

1. (4)
In the above equations for E
n
the rst two values are the multiplication of the input parameters with their
weights at location n and the last constant value (b
n
) represents the bias term. In the case of eight neurons used
in this study, above equations are E
1
E
8
and F
1
F
8
and represent summation and activation functions of each
neuron of the hidden layer, respectively. The coefcients of Eqs. (3) and (5) were given by Kzlkan [11] and
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 1
Number of data patterns available
Type of refrigerant properties Data patterns available
R22 R134a R407c
Saturated region properties 245 203 181
Superheated region properties 2728 2479 2477
Table 2
Input and output parameters
Neural network number Input parameters Output parameters
Neural network #1 Saturation temperature Saturation pressure
Neural network #2 Saturated liquid temperature Saturated liquid enthalpy
Saturated liquid pressure
Neural network #3 Saturated vapor temperature Saturated vapor enthalpy
Saturated vapor pressure
Neural network #4 Saturated vapor temperature Saturated vapor entropy
Saturated vapor pressure
Neural network #5 Superheated vapor pressure Superheated vapor enthalpy
Superheated vapor entropy
Neural network #6 Superheated vapor pressure Superheated vapor temperature
Superheated vapor enthalpy
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2112
S- encan et al. [6].
Additionally, the actual input data of the various parameters need to be normalized in the range [1 to 1].
For this purpose, the actual values of each parameter are divided with the coefcients given by Kzlkan [11]
and S- encan et al. [6]. Finally, the output values of refrigerants depending on input values given in Table 2 can
be computed from
E
9
F
1
W
1
F
2
W
2
F
3
W
3
F
4
W
4
F
5
W
5
F
6
W
6
F
7
W
7
F
8
W
8
b
2
, (5)
F
9
2=1 exp2E
9
1. (6)
4. Subcooled and superheated vapor compression refrigeration system
In the simple saturated refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant vapor is assumed to reach the inlet (suction) of the
compressor as a saturated vapor and refrigerant liquid is assumed to be a saturated liquid before the inlet of
the expansion valve. If evaporator dimensions are enlarged a little, saturated vapor usually will continue to
absorb heat and thereby become superheated before it reaches the compressor. In practice, this is controlled
by the expansion valve. In the same manner, if condenser dimensions are enlarged a little, saturated liquid will
continue to remove heat and so become subcooled before the expansion valve inlet as shown in Fig. 3 [1518].
4.1. Effects of superheating
In most cases, superheating and subcooling procedures are applied for improving the system efciency. If
the simple refrigeration system is compared to subcooled and superheated refrigeration system, as shown in
Fig. 4, then the refrigerating effect per unit mass is greater by an amount equal to the amount of superheat [1].
ARTICLE IN PRESS
6
2
1
5
Evaporator
Condenser
Compressor
Expansion
Valve
Superheating
Region
Subcooling
Region
W
C
Heating
fluid in
Heating
fluid out
Cooling
fluid in
Cooling
fluid out
7
3
4
Fig. 3. Subcooled and superheated refrigeration cycle.
Table 3
Average percentage deviation of ANN predicted values from real values
Output values Average % deviation
R22 R134a R407c
Saturation pressure 1.05658 1.649458 1.149994
Saturated liquid enthalpy 0.02935 0.017341 0.028242
Saturated vapor enthalpy 0.006785 0.006884 0.005745
Saturated vapor entropy 0.000451 0.000949 0.003902
Superheated vapor enthalpy 0.053451 0.066446 0.051517
Superheated vapor temperature 0.091252 0.07106 0.106338
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2113
Since the refrigerating effect per unit mass is greater for the superheated cycle than for the saturated cycle,
the mass ow rate of refrigerant per unit capacity is less for the superheated cycle than for the saturated cycle.
Even though the specic volume of the suction vapor and the heat of compression per unit mass are both
greater for the superheated cycle than for the saturated cycle, the volume of vapor compressed per unit
capacity and the power required per unit capacity are both lower for the superheated cycle than for the
saturated cycle. This is because of the reduction in the mass ow rate.
For the superheated cycle, both the refrigerating effect per unit mass of refrigerant and the heat of
compression per unit mass of refrigerant are greater than for the saturated cycle. However, since the increase
in the refrigerating effect is proportionally greater than the increase in the heat of compression, the COP for
the superheated cycle is higher than that of the saturated cycle.
The superheating of the suction vapor in an actual cycle usually occurs in such a way that part of the heat
taken by the vapor in becoming superheated is absorbed from the refrigerated space and produces useful
cooling. The portion of the superheat that produces useful cooling will depend on the individual application,
and the effect of the superheating on the cycle will vary approximately in proportion to the useful cooling
accomplished.
Regardless of the effect on capacity, except in some special cases, a certain amount of superheating is
usually unavoidable and, in most cases desirable. When the suction vapor is drawn directly from the
evaporator into the suction inlet of the compressor without at least a small amount of superheating, there is a
good possibility that small particles of unvaporized liquid will be entrained in the vapor. Such a vapor is called
a wet vapor. Wet suction vapor drawn into the cylinder of the compressor adversely affects the capacity of the
compressor. Furthermore, since refrigeration compressors are designed as vapor pumps, if any appreciable
amount of unvaporized liquid is allowed to enter the compressor from the suction line, serious mechanical
damage to the compressor may result. Since superheating the suction vapor eliminates the possibility of wet
suction vapor reaching the compressor inlet, a certain amount of superheating is usually desirable. Again, the
extent to which the suction vapor should be allowed to become superheated in any particular instance depends
on where and how the superheating occurs and on the refrigerant used.
Superheating of the suction vapor may take place in any one or in any combination of the following places:
1. at the end of the evaporator,
2. at the suction piping installed inside the refrigerated space (usually referred to as a drier loop),
3. at the suction piping located outside the refrigerated space,
4. at the liquid-suction heat exchanger.
4.2. Effects of subcooling
On the P2h diagram in Fig. 4, a simple saturated cycle is compared with one in which the liquid is
subcooled. When the liquid is subcooled before it reaches the expansion valve, the refrigerating effect per unit
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h
1
2
3 4
5
6
7
PP
h
1
2
3
4
5
Actual
Ideal
(a) (b)
Fig. 4. P h diagrams of (a) typical refrigeration cycle, (b) subcooled and superheated refrigeration cycle.
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2114
mass is increased. Because of the greater refrigerating effect per unit mass, the mass ow rate of refrigerant per
unit capacity is less for the subcooled cycle than for the saturated cycle.
It should be noted that the refrigerant vapor entering the suction inlet of the compressor is the same for both
cycles. For this reason, the specic volume of the vapor entering the compressor will be the same for both the
saturated and subcooled cycles and, since the mass ow rate per unit capacity is less for the subcooled cycle
than for the saturated cycle, it follows that the volume of vapor that the compressor must handle per unit
capacity will also be less for the subcooled cycle than for the saturated cycle.
Because the volume of vapor compressed per unit capacity is less for the subcooled cycle, the
compressor displacement required for the subcooled cycle is smaller than that required for the saturated
cycle.
It should also be noted that the heat of compression per unit mass is the same for both the saturated and
subcooled cycles. This means that the increase in refrigerating effect per unit mass resulting from the
subcooling is accomplished without increasing the energy input to the compressor. Any change in the
refrigerating cycle that increases the quantity of heat absorbed in the refrigerated space without causing an
increase in the energy input to the compressor will increase the COP of the cycle and reduce the power
required per unit capacity.
Subcooling of the liquid refrigerant can and does occur in several places and in several ways. Very often the
liquid refrigerant becomes subcooled while stored in the liquid receiver tank or while passing through the
liquid line by giving off heat to the surrounding air. The gain in system capacity and efciency resulting from
the liquid subcooling is very often more than sufcient to offset the additional cost of the subcooler,
particularly for low-temperature applications [1].
5. Exergy analysis
Exergy is that part of energy which can be transformed completely into other kinds of energy, especially into
work under thermodynamic conditions. The standard conditions of the earth atmosphere are considered as
the thermodynamic state of the environment [19].
Exergy is dened as maximum amount of work which can be produced by a system when it comes to
equilibrium with a reference environment. Exergy analysis is a method that uses the conservation of mass and
conservation of energy together with the second law of thermodynamics for the design and analysis of energy
systems [20].
An exergy analysis usually aims to determine the maximum performance of the system and identify the
equipment in which exergy destruction occurs. Exergy analysis of a complex system can be performed by
analyzing each component of the system separately. Identifying the equipment in which the main exergy
destruction occurs, shows the direction for potential improvements [18].
The amount of work that can be extracted from heat is
E
Q
Q
T T
0
T
_ _
. (7)
Work is equal to exergy:
E
W
W, (8)
where T is the temperature of the system and T
0
is the temperature of the environment. Specic exergy can be
dened as [21]
e h T
0
s
1
2
V
2
gZ h
0
T
0
s
0
. (9)
Ignoring kinetic and potential terms in Eq. (9):
e h T
0
s h
0
T
0
s
0
. (10)
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R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2115
For determining the irrversibilities of each component of vapor compression refrigeration system, the amount
of entering and exiting exergies of each component must be estimated. Therefore [21]:
W

E
Q

in
me

out
me I, (11)
where I is the total irreversibility, i.e., the loss of work.
The design parameters of the vapor compression refrigeration system considered in the present analysis are
given in Table 4. The ranges were selected according to working range of the various parameters of vapor
compression cycles. Also, condenser cooling uid entering temperature and evaporator heating uid entering
temperature are assumed to be 20 1C. Heat exchanger type is considered as pipe-in-pipe, counter-ow heat
exchanger and pipe diameter is assumed to be 13.5 mm [6,11].
After calculation of irreversibilities of each component of the refrigeration system, the total irreversibility
can be written as
I
T

I
system components
. (12)
If the calculated irreversibilities of each component are entered into Eq. (12), then
I
T
T
0
m
C
s
C2
s
C1
m
C
s
C3
s
C2
m
C
s
C4
s
C3
m
E
s
E2
s
E1
m
E
s
E3
s
E2
. (13)
By rearranging Eq. (13):
I
T
T
0
m
C
s
C4
s
C1
m
E
s
E3
s
E1
. (14)
In Eq. (14), the term s
2
s
1
for liquids can be approximated as [22]
s
2
s
1
c
p
ln
T
2
T
1
(15)
as the effect of the pressure is small compared to the temperature.
6. Thermoeconomic optimization
Thermoeconomy is a discipline which combines concept of exergy method with those belonging to economic
analysis. The purpose of thermoeconomic optimization is to achieve, within a given system structure, a
balance between expenditure on capital costs and exergy costs which will give a minimum cost of the plant
product. The advantage of using the exergy method of thermoeconomic optimization is that various elements
of the system can be optimized on their own; the effect of the interaction between the given element and the
whole system being taken into account by local unit costs of exergy ows or those of exergy loses.
There are basically two different methods which make use of exergy concept. The method developed by
Tribus and Evans uses local unitary cost of exergy entering or leaving and is called autonomous method. The
other method developed by Beyer, uses the unitary costs of exergy loses and is called structural method [23].
The advantage of Beyers methods is that, all systems elements and parts can be optimized individually in
terms of economics and exergy loses. Thus the whole system can be optimized in their elements. But in the
other method, the whole system can be optimized, not separately. In this article the Beyers method is used in
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 4
Design parameters and assumptions
Cooling capacity (Q
E
) 2 kW
Condenser temperature (T
C
) 3560 1C
Evaporator temperature (T
E
) 1012 1C
Subcooling temperature (DT
SC
) 112 1C
Superheating temperature (DT
SH
) 115 1C
Compressor efciency (Z
C
) 0.780.92
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2116
order to optimize the system components. Optimization procedure applied each element of the system to nd
optimum system structure.
Beyer originally put the concept of structural coefcients forward. Structural coefcients are used in the
study of system structure, optimization of plant components and product pricing in multi-product plants. The
coefcient of structural bonds (CSB) is dened by [23]
s
k;i

qI
T
qx
i
_ __
qI
k
qx
i
_ _
, (16)
where I
k
is the irreversibility rate of the kth component of the system under consideration and x
i
the parameter
of the system which produces the changes.
The effect of a change in x
i
on the system would be to alter the rate of exergy input while leaving the output
constant. This acceptation conforms with the usual practice of specifying a plant in terms of its output rather
than its input. From the exergy balance of the system:
_
E
IN

_
E
OUT

_
I
T
;
_
E
OUT
constant; (17)
D
_
E
IN
D
_
I
T
. (18)
As seen in Eq. (18), changes in the irreversibility of the system are equivalent to changes in the input.
6.1. Coefcient of structural bonds method for thermoeconomic optimization
The purpose of the optimization of a selected component is to determine the capital cost corresponding to
the minimum annual operating cost of the system for a given system output with minimum unit cost of the
product.
The exergy balance of the system can be written as [23]
_
I
T
x
i

_
E
IN
x
i

_
E
OUT
. (19)
As can be seen from Eq. (19) both
_
E
IN
E
IN
and
_
I
T
are functions of parameter x
i
. For the optimization, the
objective function is taken as the annual cost of system operation, given by
C
T
x
i
t
OP
C
e
IN
E
IN
x
i
a
C

n
l1
C
C
l
x
i
b
C
. (20)
When the exergy balance equation and objective function are differentiated with respect to x
i
:
qE
IN
qx
i

qI
T
qx
i
(21)
and
qC
T
qx
i
t
OP
C
e
IN
qE
IN
qx
i
a
C

n
l1
qC
C
1
qx
i
. (22)
Rearranging Eqs. (21) and (22):
qC
T
qx
i
t
OP
C
e
IN
qI
T
qx
i
a
C

n
l1
qC
C
l
qx
i
. (23)
The second term on the right-hand side of Eq. (23) may be rearranged conveniently as
a
C

n
m1
qC
C
1
qx
i
a
C

n
m1
qC
C
m
qx
i
a
C
qC
C
k
qx
i
, (24)
where mak, i.e., m subscript denotes any element of the system except the element that was applied to
optimization. It is also convenient to make the following rearrangement for the rst term on the right-hand
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R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2117
side of Eq. (24):

n
m1
qC
C
m
qx
i

qI
k
qx
i

n
m1
qC
C
m
qI
k
. (25)
The term on the right-hand side of Eq. (25) is called the capital cost coefcient and can be denoted as
z
k;i

n
m1
qC
C
m
qI
k
. (26)
When Eqs. (24)(26) are put into Eq. (23):
qC
T
qx
i
t
op
C
e
IN
qI
T
qx
i
a
C
qI
k
qx
i
z
k;i
a
C
qC
C
k
qx
i
. (27)
Then, from Eq. (16):
qI
T
qx
i
s
k;i
qI
k
qx
i
. (28)
Putting Eq (28) into Eq. (27):
qC
T
qx
i
t
op
C
e
IN
s
k;i
qI
k
qx
i
a
C
qI
k
qx
i
z
k;i
a
C
qC
C
k
qx
i
. (29)
Rearranging Eq. (29) will result in the following form:
qC
T
qx
i
t
op
C
e
IN
s
k;i

a
C
t
op
z
k;i
_ _
qI
k
qx
i
a
C
qC
C
k
qx
i
. (30)
From which the following equation is obtained:
qC
T
qx
i
t
op
C
I
k;i
qI
k
qx
i
a
C
qC
C
k
qx
i
, (31)
where the C
I
k;i
term is dened as
C
I
k;i
C
e
IN
s
k;i

a
C
t
op
z
k;i
. (32)
The term C
I
k,i
is local unit cost of irreversibility.
For the thermoeconomic optimization, Eq. (31) is set equal to zero. Thus
qI
k
qx
i
_ _
opt

a
C
t
op
C
I
k;i
qC
C
k
qx
i
. (33)
This equation is the general optimization equation.
6.2. Thermoeconomic optimization of subcooled and superheated vapor compression refrigeration cycle
To obtain the general optimization equations of the refrigeration system components, the structural method
will be applied to each component. Components to be optimized are condenser, evaporator, subcooling and
superheating heat exchangers. For the optimization procedure the equations developed in the previous section
are used. For the optimization of the condenser rst region, Eq. (33) can be written as
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
Opt

a
C
t
op
C
I
CI
@C
C
CI
@A
CI
. (34)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2118
The terms in Eq. (34) can be written as
From Eq. (32):
C
I
CI
C
e
IN
s
CI

a
C
t
op
z
CI
. (35)
From Eq. (16):
s
CI

qI
T
=qA
CI

qI
CI
=qA
CI

(36)
and, from Eq. (26):
z
CI

qC
C
CII
qI
CI

qC
C
SC
qI
CI

qC
C
E
qI
CI

qC
C
SH
qI
CI
. (37)
The terms at the right-hand side of Eq. (37) can be separately written as
qC
C
CII
qI
CI

qC
C
CII
qI
T
_ _
qI
T
qI
CI
_ _

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
_ _
qI
T
qA
CII
_ _
qI
T
qA
CI
_ _
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
qC
C
CII
qA
CII
_ _
qI
T
qA
CII
_ _ s
CI
, (38)
qC
C
SC
qI
CI

qC
C
SC
qI
T
_ _
qI
T
qI
CI
_ _

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
_ _
qI
T
qA
SC
_ _
qI
T
qA
CI
_ _
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
qC
C
SC
qA
SC
_ _
qI
T
qA
SC
_ _ s
CI
, (39)
qC
C
E
qI
CI

qC
C
E
qI
T
_ _
qI
T
qI
CI
_ _

qC
C
E
qA
E
_ _
qI
T
qA
E
_ _
qI
T
qA
CI
_ _
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
qC
C
E
qA
E
_ _
qI
T
qA
E
_ _ s
CI
, (40)
qC
C
SH
qI
CI

qC
C
SH
qI
T
_ _
qI
T
qI
CI
_ _

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
_ _
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _
qI
T
qA
CI
_ _
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
qC
C
SH
qA
SH
_ _
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _ s
CI
. (41)
Therefore, Eq. (37) becomes
z
CI

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
qI
T
qA
CII

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
qI
T
qA
SC

qC
C
E
qA
E
qI
T
qA
E

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
qI
T
qA
SH
_
_
_
_
s
CI
. (42)
When Eqs. (35)(42) are put in Eq. (34), the optimization equation for the condenser rst region can be
obtained as
qI
CI
qA
CI
_ _
Opt

1
t
OP
a
C
C
e
IN
s
SH

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
qI
T
qA
CII

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
qI
T
qA
SC

qC
C
E
qA
E
qI
T
qA
E

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _
s
CI
qC
C
CI
qA
CI
. (43)
By following a similar procedure, the following formulations of optimization equations for the other heat
exchangers of the refrigeration system can be obtained:
For the condenser second region:
qI
CII
qA
CII
_ _
Opt

1
t
OP
a
C
C
e
IN
s
CII

qC
C
CI
qA
CI
qI
T
qA
CI

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
qI
T
qA
SC

qC
C
E
qA
E
qI
T
qA
E

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _
s
CII
qC
C
CII
qA
CII
. (44)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2119
For the subcooling heat exchanger:
qI
SC
qA
SC
_ _
Opt

1
t
OP
a
C
C
e
IN
s
SC

qC
C
CI
qA
CI
qI
T
qA
CI

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
qI
T
qA
CII

qC
C
E
qA
E
qI
T
qA
E

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _
s
SC
qC
C
SC
qA
SC
. (45)
For the evaporator:
qI
E
qA
E
_ _
Opt

1
t
OP
a
C
C
e
IN
s
A

qC
C
CI
qA
CI
qI
T
qA
CI

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
qI
T
qA
CII

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
qI
T
qA
SC

qC
C
SH
qA
SH
qI
T
qA
SH
_ _
s
E
qC
C
E
qA
E
. (46)
For the superheating heat exchanger:
qI
SH
qA
SH
_ _
Opt

1
t
OP
a
C
C
e
IN
s
SH

qC
C
CI
qA
CI
qI
T
qA
CI

qC
C
CII
qA
CII
qI
T
qA
CII

qC
C
SC
qA
SC
qI
T
qA
SC

qC
C
E
qA
E
qI
T
qA
E
_ _
s
SH
qC
C
SH
qA
SH
. (47)
Finally, the capital recovery factor can be calculated from [23]
a
C

i
R
1 i
R

N
1 i
R

N
1
, (48)
where N is the period of repayment and i
R
is the interest rate.
7. Results and discussion
Thermoeconomic optimization procedure was applied to subcooled and superheated vapor compression
refrigeration system.
For the optimization, overall heat transfer coefcients of each heat exchanger for three refrigerants were
calculated given in Table 5 [11,2426].
The condenser and evaporator prices are obtained from 2004 Unit Costs of Turkish Ministry of Public
Works and exchanger costs were formulated as functions of exchanger areas.
C
C
CI
$ C
C
CII
$ C
C
SC
$ 516:621A
C
268:45, (49)
C
C
E
$ C
C
AK
$ 309:143A
E
231:915. (50)
These equations and assumptions were put in the general optimization equation, and thermoeconomic
optimization procedure performed for the refrigeration system. Optimization procedure was carried out for
different system parameters with MATLAB computer program. For three different refrigerants, optimum
subcooling and superheating temperatures were determined with the optimum heat exchanger areas. In the
analysis, rstly, condenser temperature was kept constant and other parameters were varied, secondly,
evaporator temperature was kept constant.
As seen from the tables, for example, in Table 6 analysis made for R22, when condenser and evaporator
temperatures were taken 35 and 11 1C, respectively, optimum condenser area was found to be 0.235 m
2
,
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 5
Mean Average overall heat transfer coefcients (kW/m
2
K)
K
CI
K
CII
K
SC
K
E
K
SH
R22 0.1123 0.9121 0.2236 0.6749 0.2486
R134a 0.1425 0.9642 0.2321 0.6749 0.3146
R407c 0.1668 0.9938 0.2507 0.6749 0.3787
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2120
subcooling heat exchanger area was found to be 0.027 m
2
, evaporator area was found to be 0.411 m
2
and
superheating heat exchanger area was found to be 0.048 m
2
. Optimum subcooling and superheating
temperatures were found to be 4.2 and 5.63 1C, respectively.
In thermoeconomic optimization part of the work, optimization equations of each heat exchanger of
theoretical refrigeration system were derived subject to Kotas [23] optimization procedure. Analyses were
carried out for different condenser, evaporator, subcooling and superheating temperatures iteratively.
Optimum heat exchanger areas with corresponding subcoolingsuperheating temperatures were determined
and given in tables. As an example, for R22, condenser and evaporator temperatures of the system were taken
at 45 and 11 1C, respectively, and analysis was carried out iteratively. As a result, optimum subcooling and
superheating temperatures were found to be 4.2 and 5.6335 1C, respectively. This means, a refrigeration system
with the determined optimum values, will have optimum investment and operation costs (Table 12). At the
same time, optimum COP and irreversibility were found to be 4.7503 and 0.38796 kW, respectively.
As seen in Table 12, optimum heat exchanger area was found to be 0.634726 m
2
at the end of the
thermoeconomic analysis carried out for R22 with condenser temperature of 45 1C and evaporator
temperature of 11 1C. Fig. 5 shows the result of the iteration made for determining optimum values in case
study. The intersection of two lines is optimum point and corresponding area is the optimum area subject to
constrains.
Thermoeconomic optimization results were compared with manufacturers values and it was seen that
results were parallel with them. Refrigerator, deep freezer and climate system manufacturer producer
Saginomiya, a Japan rm, prepares its expansion valves with superheating temperature of 17 1C adjustable
and advises as to take 56 1C of superheating temperature [27]. An another rm, Danfoss, recommends that it
is appropriate to take superheating temperature as 45 1C in its technical notes [28]. Hansen Technologies
rm, produces expansion valves in which superheating temperature can be adjusted between 1 and 11 1C and
xes factory settings as 6 1C [29].
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 5. Optimum thermoeconomic area.
Table 6
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various condenser temperatures (R22)
T
C
35 1C T
C
45 1C T
C
55 1C
T
E
(1C) 7 9 11 7 9 11 7 9 11
DT
SC
(1C) 5.4 5.2 4.2 4.8 5 5.6 6.65 5.4 5.8
DT
SH
(1C) 9.64 7.651 5.633 9.651 7.639 5.594 9.648 7.628 5.561
A
C
(m
2
) 0.245 0.239 0.235 0.169 0.164 0.159 0.142 0.14 0.136
A
SC
(m
2
) 0.038 0.036 0.027 0.018 0.019 0.021 0.021 0.017 0.018
A
E
(m
2
) 0.263 0.321 0.411 0.263 0.321 0.411 0.263 0.321 0.411
A
SH
(m
2
) 0.056 0.066 0.048 0.074 0.0578 0.041 0.073 0.057 0.041
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2121
A refrigerant manufacturer Dupont rm takes subcooling temperature as 5.6 1C for R407c [13]. A climate
systems and heat pumps manufacturer Carrier rm takes subcooling temperature as 5 1C in its condensing
units [30]. A compressor manufacturer Bitzer rm, takes 58 K of subcooling temperature and 10 K of
superheating temperature in its compressors working with R22, R134a and R407c [31]. It can be seen that
optimization results are parallel with manufacturers values.
Figs. 68 show the variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with condenser temperature for
R22, R134a and R407c, respectively. As can be seen from the gures, the heat exchanger cost decrease and the
irreversibility rate increases by the increase of the condenser temperature. This is because, by increasing the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
35 40 45 50 55 60
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390
400
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
C
, C
Fig. 6. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with condenser temperature for R22.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
35 40 45 50 55 60
340
350
360
370
380
390
400
410
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
C
, C
1
Fig. 7. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with condenser temperature for R134a.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
35 40 45 50 55 60
410
420
340
350
360
370
380
390
400
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
C
, C
1.2
Fig. 8. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with condenser temperature for R407c.
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2122
condenser temperature, total heat exchanger area decreases and as a result, the heat exchanger cost decreases
(Tables 6, 8 and 10). But at the same time the irreversibility rate increases.
Figs. 911 show the variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with evaporator temperature
for R22, R134a and R407c refrigerants, respectively. As can be seen from Tables 7, 9 and 11, total heat
exchanger area increases by increase of the evaporator temperature. Therefore, it can be seen from gures that
the heat exchanger area curve shows a little increase till 5 1C, and then the increase of the curve is more
inclined. The irreversibility rate decreases with the increase of the evaporator temperature (see Tables 712).
ARTICLE IN PRESS
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
E
, C
Fig. 10. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with evaporator temperature for R134a.
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
E
, C
Fig. 9. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with evaporator temperature for R22.
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
T
E
, C
Fig. 11. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with evaporator temperature for R407c.
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2123
Figs. 1214 show the variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with subcooling temperature
for R22, R134a and R407c refrigerants, respectively. The heat exchanger cost increases and the irreversibility
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 9
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various evaporator temperatures (R134a)
T
E
11 1C T
E
13 1C T
E
14 1C
T
C
(1C) 35 45 55 35 45 55 35 45 55
DT
SC
(1C) 4.9 4 3.5 5 5.3 4.5 5 5 3.5
DT
SH
(1C) 5.649 5.634 5.622 3.610 3.542 3.495 2.526 2.387 2.297
A
C
(m
2
) 0.186 0.123 0.103 0.183 0.117 0.100 0.181 0.117 0.100
A
SC
(m
2
) 0.090 0.036 0.017 0.092 0.048 0.022 0.091 0.045 0.017
A
E
(m
2
) 0.411 0.411 0.411 0.575 0.575 0.575 0.722 0.722 0.722
A
SH
(m
2
) 0.037 0.033 0.035 0.011 0.009 0.010 0.001 0.001 0.001
Table 10
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various condenser temperatures (R407c)
T
C
35 1C T
C
45 1C T
C
55 1C
T
E
(1C) 8 10 12 8 10 12 8 10 12
DTs (1C) 5.2 5 5 5.5 5 3.5 5 4.9 5.5
DTk (1C) 8.654 6.653 4.647 8.654 6.651 4.630 8.653 6.649 4.619
A
K
(m
2
) 0.211 0.206 0.200 0.142 0.139 0.136 0.121 0.118 0.113
A
AS
(m
2
) 0.051 0.048 0.047 0.025 0.022 0.015 0.012 0.012 0.013
A
E
(m
2
) 0.289 0.360 0.479 0.289 0.360 0.479 0.289 0.360 0.479
A
AK
(m
2
) 0.080 0.060 0.040 0.074 0.055 0.037 0.079 0.059 0.039
Table 8
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various condenser temperatures (R134a)
T
C
35 1C T
C
45 1C T
C
55 1C
T
E
(1C) 8 10 12 8 10 12 8 10 12
DT
SC
(1C) 5.2 5 6.2 5 5 5.5 3.7 5 5.5
DT
SH
(1C) 8.654 6.652 4.641 8.653 6.646 4.608 8.651 6.640 4.583
A
C
(m
2
) 0.189 0.187 0.180 0.123 0.121 0.118 0.105 0.101 0.099
A
SC
(m
2
) 0.098 0.093 0.120 0.046 0.046 0.050 0.018 0.025 0.027
A
E
(m
2
) 0.289 0.360 0.479 0.289 0.360 0.479 0.289 0.360 0.479
A
SH
(m
2
) 0.088 0.053 0.023 0.079 0.047 0.020 0.085 0.050 0.021
Table 7
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various evaporator temperatures (R22)
T
E
8 1C T
E
10 1C T
E
12:5 1C
T
C
(1C) 35 45 55 35 45 55 35 45 55
DT
SC
(1C) 4 6.5 4.4 5.7 5 5 5.3 4.5 5
DT
SH
(1C) 8.653 8.647 8.641 6.647 6.624 6.605 4.084 3.98 3.91
A
C
(m
2
) 0.244 0.164 0.143 0.235 0.162 0.139 0.228 0.157 0.134
A
SC
(m
2
) 0.026 0.025 0.013 0.040 0.019 0.015 0.036 0.017 0.015
A
E
(m
2
) 0.289 0.289 0.289 0.360 0.360 0.360 0.523 0.523 0.523
A
SH
(m
2
) 0.075 0.065 0.066 0.057 0.049 0.049 0.034 0.029 0.028
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2124
rate decreases by increasing the subcooling temperature.
Figs. 1517 show the variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with superheating
temperature, respectively, for R22, R134a and R407c refrigerants. It is shown that the heat exchanger cost
increases and the irreversibility rate decreases by increasing the superheating temperature for R22, R134a and
R07c refrigerants in gures.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 12
Determined optimum COP and irreversibility values of refrigeration system for the case study working with R22 with condenser
temperature of 45 1C
T
C
(1C) 45
T
E
(1C) 11
DT
SC
(1C) 4.2
DT
SH
(1C) 5.6335
A
C
(m
2
) 0.159483
A
SC
(m
2
) 0.021768
A
E
(m
2
) 0.41169
A
SH
(m
2
) 0.041785
COP 4.7503
I
T
(kW) 0.38796
Table 11
Thermoeconomic optimization results for various evaporator temperatures (R407c)
T
E
9 1C T
E
11 1C T
E
13 1C
T
C
(1C)
35 45 55 35 45 55 35 45 55
DT
SC
(1C)
6.1 4 3.1 5 5.6 5 5.7 5.6 5.4
DT
SH
(1C)
7.654 7.653 7.652 5.652 5.646 5.641 3.631 3.591 3.565
A
C
(m
2
)
0.206 0.142 0.122 0.204 0.135 0.116 0.195 0.130 0.111
A
SC
(m
2
)
0.063 0.017 0.007 0.047 0.025 0.012 0.056 0.024 0.013
A
E
(m
2
)
0.321 0.321 0.321 0.411 0.411 0.411 0.575 0.575 0.575
A
SH
(m
2
)
0.071 0.065 0.070 0.050 0.046 0.049 0.031 0.028 0.029
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
395
400
405
410
415
420
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
0.302
0.3
0.298
0.296
0.294
0.292
0.29
0.288
0.286
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
T
SC
, C
Fig. 12. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with subcooling temperature for R22.
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2125
8. Conclusions
Vapor compression refrigeration systems are used widely in refrigeration applications. In refrigeration
systems, system performance increases with subcooling and superheating operations. However, applying
subcooling and superheating operations different from desired values, system performance affects
unfavorably. In this work, thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analysis of a subcooledsuperheated
refrigeration system was carried out. The results of the analysis were given in tables and gures. Kotas [23]
ARTICLE IN PRESS
408
410
412
414
416
418
420
422
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
0.336
0.335
0.334
0.333
0.332
0.331
0.33
0.329
0.328
0.327
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
T
SC
, C
Fig. 13. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with subcooling temperature for R134a.
0.342
0.344
0.346
0.348
0.35
0.352
0.354
0.356
0.358
0.36
405
410
415
420
425
430
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
T
SC
, C
Fig. 14. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with subcooling temperature for R407c.
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
I
,

k
W
H
e
a
t

e
x
c
h
a
n
g
e
r

c
o
s
t
,

$
Irreversibility
Heat exchanger cost
1 3 5 7 9 11
T
SH
, C
Fig. 15. The variation of heat exchanger costs and irreversibility rates with superheating temperature for R22.
R. Selbas - et al. / Energy 31 (2006) 21082128 2126
optimization procedure was used as thermoeconomic optimization method. For a system with capacity of
2 kW, optimum heat exchanger areas with corresponding subcoolingsuperheating temperatures were
determined. With the increase of the energy prices and investment costs, thermoeconomic analysis facilitates
determination of a thermal systems optimum design parameters for given conditions.
In addition, in this study, thermodynamic property equations are achieved for R22, R134a and R407c with
ANN method. With the derived equations, saturation pressure, saturated liquid enthalpy, saturated vapor
enthalpy, saturated vapor entropy, superheated vapor enthalpy and superheated vapor temperature values can
be calculated easily. Thermodynamic properties of the refrigerants were then compared with the calculated
values and the results showed that the deviation ratio was within the acceptable limits.
As a result, it is important to determine optimum operating temperatures and parameters in a refrigeration
system design. This study will provide facilities in determining optimum working criteria of vapor compression
refrigeration systems for further applications. Furthermore, it is necessary to investigate effects of subcooling
and superheating applications in systems that use new refrigerants which are not harmful for ozone layer and
environmentally friendly. Analysis in this work can provide advantage for new thermoeconomic optimization
applications of systems that use new refrigerants.
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