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RefrigerationCycle|ArticleaboutRefrigerationCyclebyTheFreeDictionary

Refrigeration Cycle | Article about Refrigeration

Cycle by The Free Dictionary
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RefrigerationCycle

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refrigerationcycle [rifrijrshnskl]
(thermodynamics)
Asequenceofthermodynamicprocesseswherebyheatiswithdrawnfromacoldbodyandexpelledtoahot
body.
McGrawHillDictionaryofScientific&TechnicalTerms,6E,Copyright2003byTheMcGrawHillCompanies,Inc.

ThefollowingarticleisfromTheGreatSovietEncyclopedia(1979).Itmightbeoutdatedorideologically
biased.

RefrigerationCycle
areversethermodynamiccyclewherebyheatistransferredfromabodywithalowertemperaturetoabodywitha
highertemperatureowingtotheexpenditureofwork.Refrigerationcyclesareusedinrefrigeratingmachinesandin
gasrefrigerators.Themostwidelyusedrefrigerationcyclesarebasedontheevaporationofaliquid,theJoule
Thomsoneffect,ortheexpansionofaworkingfluidinanexpansionvalve.Suchcyclesmakeitpossibletoobtain
temperaturesofaslowasapproximately0.3K.
OneofthemostefficientrefrigerationcyclesisthereverseCarnotcycle,whichisapproximatedbythe
refrigerationcycleofanidealvaporcompressionrefrigeratingmachine,asshowninFigure1.Theidealvapor
compressioncycleconsistsoftwoadiabaticprocesses(12and34)andtwoisothermalprocesses(23and4
1).Inthiscycle,aliquidrefrigerantboilsintheevaporatoroftherefrigeratingmachine(process41)ata
temperatureofT0andapressureofp0owingtotheheatofthemediumtobecooled.Therefrigerantvaporis
drawnintoacompressor,undergoesadiabaticthatis,constantentropycompressiontoapressureofpcanda
temperatureofTc(process12),andentersacondenser,whereitiscondensed(process23)withthepressure
andtemperatureunchanged.Theheatofcondensationisremovedbyaliquidcoolantorbyair.Theliquid
refrigerantobtainedinprocess23returnstotheevaporatorthroughanexpansionvalve,inwhichthepressureand
temperatureareadiabaticallyreduced(process34)totheinitialvaluesofp0andT0.Process34isaccompanied
bypartialevaporationoftherefrigerant.

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Figure 1.Therefrigerationcycleofanidealvaporcompression
machine:(p)pressure,(i)enthalpy,(T)temperature,(S)entropy

Inarealvaporcompressionrefrigeratingmachine,asopposedtoanidealmachine,therefrigerationcycleentails
thesuperheatingofthevaporduringcompression.Inaddition,athrottlingvalvereplacestheexpansionvalve,so
thattheexpansionoftherefrigerantisisenthalpicratherthanadiabatic.Asaresult,thecoefficientofperformance
isreduced.
Complexrefrigerationcyclesareusedinrealrefrigeratingmachinesinordertoimprovetheefficiency.Cyclesthat
entailregenerativeheattransferareemployedtoobtainmildrefrigerationtemperatureswithsinglestage
compressionoftherefrigerant.Inordertoreachtemperaturesbelow30Cinvaporcompressionrefrigerating
machines,multistage,cascaded,orotherrefrigerationcyclesareordinarilyused.Refrigerationmayalsobe
obtainedbymeansofrefrigerationcyclesinwhichnophasetransitionsthatis,noevaporationandcondensation
oftherefrigerantoccur.
Therefrigerationcycleusedindenseairrefrigeratingmachinesconsistsoftwoadiabaticandtwoisobaric
processes.Inthedenseaircycle,therefrigerant(air)isdrawnbyacompressorfromthespacetobecooled.The
airisadiabaticallycompressed,passesthroughacooler,andisadiabaticallyexpandedinanexpansionengine.At
atemperatureof70Corlower,theairentersthespacetobecooled,andthecycleisrepeated.
AmoreefficientcycleisthereverseStirlingcycle,whichconsistsoftwoisothermalandtwoisochoricprocesses.
ThiscycleisusedinthePhilipsgasrefrigeratorsandmakesitpossibletoobtaincryogenictemperatures.

REFERENCE
Spravochnikpofizikotekhnicheskimosnovamkriogeniki,2nded.Moscow,1973.
V.A.GOGOLIN
TheGreatSovietEncyclopedia,3rdEdition(19701979).2010TheGaleGroup,Inc.Allrightsreserved.

Refrigerationcycle
Asequenceofthermodynamicprocesseswherebyheatiswithdrawnfromacoldbodyandexpelledtoahotbody.
Theoreticalthermodynamiccyclesconsistofnondissipativeandfrictionlessprocesses.Forthisreason,a
thermodynamiccyclecanbeoperatedintheforwarddirectiontoproducemechanicalpowerfromheatenergy,orit
canbeoperatedinthereversedirectiontoproduceheatenergyfrommechanicalpower.Thereversedcycleis
usedprimarilyforthecoolingeffectthatitproducesduringaportionofthecycleandsoiscalledarefrigeration
cycle.Itmayalsobeusedfortheheatingeffect,asinthecomfortwarmingofspaceduringthecoldseasonofthe
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year.SeeHeat pump,Thermodynamic processes

Intherefrigerationcycleasubstance,calledtherefrigerant,iscompressed,cooled,andthenexpanded.In
expanding,therefrigerantabsorbsheatfromitssurroundingstoproviderefrigeration.Aftertherefrigerantabsorbs
heatfromsuchasource,thecycleisrepeated.Compressionraisesthetemperatureoftherefrigerantabovethat
ofitsnaturalsurroundingssothatitcangiveupitsheatinaheatexchangertoaheatsinksuchasairorwater.
Expansionlowerstherefrigeranttemperaturebelowthetemperaturethatistobeproducedinsidethecold
compartmentorrefrigerator.Thesequenceofprocessesperformedbytherefrigerantconstitutestherefrigeration
cycle.Whentherefrigerantiscompressedmechanically,therefrigerativeactioniscalledmechanicalrefrigeration.
Therearemanymethodsbywhichcoolingcanbeproduced.Themethodsincludethenoncyclicmeltingofice,or
theevaporationofvolatileliquids,asinlocalanestheticstheJouleThomsoneffect,whichisusedtoliquefy
gasesthereversePeltiereffect,whichproducesheatflowfromthecoldtothehotjunctionofabimetallic
thermocouplewhenanexternalemfisimposedandtheparamagneticeffect,whichisusedtoreachextremelylow
temperatures.However,largescalerefrigerationorcooling,ingeneral,callsformechanicalrefrigerationactingina
closedsystem.SeeRefrigeration
Thepurposeofarefrigeratoristoextractasmuchheatfromthecoldbodyaspossiblewiththeexpenditureofas
littleworkaspossible.Theyardstickinmeasuringtheperformanceofarefrigerationcycleisthecoefficientof
performance,definedastheratiooftheheatremovedtotheworkexpended.Thecoefficientofperformanceofthe
reverseCarnotcycleisthemaximumobtainableforstatedtemperaturesofsourceandsink.SeeCarnot cycle
ThereverseBraytoncycleitwasoneofthefirstcyclesusedformechanicalrefrigeration.BeforeFreonandother
condensablefluidsweredevelopedforthevaporcompressioncycle,refrigeratorsoperatedontheBraytoncycle,
usingairastheirworkingsubstance.Airundergoesisentropiccompression,followedbyreversibleconstant
pressurecooling.Thehighpressureairnextexpandsreversiblyintheengineandexhaustsatlowtemperature.
Thecooledairpassesthroughthecoldstoragechamber,picksupheatatconstantpressure,andfinallyreturnsto
thesuctionsideofthecompressor.SeeBrayton cycle
McGrawHillConciseEncyclopediaofEngineering.2002byTheMcGrawHillCompanies,Inc.

refrigerationcycle
Arepetitivesequenceofthermodynamicprocessesinwhicharefrigerantabsorbsheatfromacontrolled
spaceatrelativelylowtemperaturethentheheatisrejectedelsewhereatahighertemperature,andthe
processisrepeated.
McGrawHillDictionaryofArchitectureandConstruction.Copyright2003byMcGrawHillCompanies,Inc.

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