Bernard Parker

Mr. Robert Burns

ENT-105
November 17, 2009

Refrigeration

I. Definition

II. History
Time-Line of Low Temperature Technology
a.) 1st Refrigeration System
b.) Wide Spread Commercial Use
c.) Home and Consumer Use

III. 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics

Measure of Heat
a.) Specific Heat
b.) Sensible Heat
c.) Latent Heat
d.) Super Heat

IV. Wet and Dry Bulb Temperature

Measurement
Property of Air
a.) Dry Bulb Temperature
b.) Wet Bulb Temperature

V. Measures of Moisture and Humidity

a.) Relative Humidity
b.) Dew Point

VI. Principle of Heat Transfer

a.) Conduction
b.) Convection
c.) Radiation

VII. Effects of Heat on gases and liquids

a.) Expansion and Contraction
 Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from an enclosed environment,

enclosed space, or from a substance, and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable.

The function of refrigeration is to lower the temperature of an object or enclosed space

and then maintain it through a low range of temperatures. Cold is the “absence of heat”.

Hence, in order to decrease a temperature, one removes heat rather than “adding cold”.

In order to satisfy the second Law of Thermodynamics, some form of mechanical work

must be performed to accomplish this condition.

The use of ice to refrigerate and preserve food goes back to prehistoric times.

Throughout time, the seasonal harvesting of snow and ice was a regular practice of

ancient cultures; Chinese, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians. Ice and snow were stored

in caves or dugouts lined with straw or other insulating material. Retaining of ice

allowed the preservation of foods over warm periods. This practice worked well down

through the centuries, with ice houses remaining in use into the 20th century.i In the 16th

century, the discovery of chemical refrigeration was one of the 1st steps toward artificial

means of refrigeration. Sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate, when added to water

lowered the water temperature and created a sort of refrigeration bath of cooling

substances. In Italy, such a solution was used to chill wine.ii

The 1st known method of artificial refrigeration was demonstrated by William Cullen at

the University of Glasgow in Scotland in the 1756. Cullen demonstrated by using a

pump to create a vacuum over a bottle of diethyl ether, which the boiled absorbing heat

from the surrounding air. This was recorded as creating a small amount of ice. And in

1758, Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley, conducted an experiment to explore the
principle of evaporation as a means to rapidly cool an object. They confirmed that the

evaporation of highly volatile liquids such as alcohol and ether could be used to drive

down the temperature of an object past its freezing point of water, 32 degrees F. They

used a bulb of mercury thermometer as their object and with a billows used to “quicken”

the evaporation process; lowered the temperature of the thermometer bulb down to 7

degrees F while the ambient temperature was 65 degrees F. A film of ice formed on the

surface of the thermometer; bulb and the ice mass was about a quarter inch thick.iii

In 1820, the British scientist, Michael Faraday liquefied ammonia and other gases by

using high pressure and low temperatures. And in 1834, Jacob Perkins living in Great

Britain obtained a patent for a vapor-compression refrigeration system. He built a proto-

type system and it worked, but it never caught on commercially.iv

In 1842, John Gorrie, an American physicist, designed the 1st system for refrigerating

water to produce ice. He also introduced the idea of using this refrigeration system to

cool air for comfort in homes and hospitals, air conditioning. The compressed air system,

partially cooled the hot compressed air with water required to drive the air compression.

This process called “Isentropic Expansion” cooled the air to temperature low enough to

freeze water and produce ice, or to flow through a pipe for effecting refrigeration.v At

that time his work didn’t catch on commercially.

In the 1830’s refrigeration became widespread for commercial use. The breweries had

become the largest users of commercial refrigeration units. By the turn of the 20th
century, pollution and sewage began to creep into the natural ice, making it a problem in

the areas it was used. And breweries complained of tainted ice. This demand for more

modern and consumer ready-made refrigeration and ice making equipment grow larger.

By the 1900’s the meat packing houses of Chicago had adopted ammonia-cycled

commercial refrigeration. By 1914 almost every commercial location had or used

artificial refrigeration. The meat packers, rail cars, and trucks were designed with

refrigeration systems. These modern-day refrigeration systems keep the temperature

between -40 to + 20 degrees C.

And with the invention of synthetic refrigeration based mostly in chlorofluorocarbon

CFC), safer refrigeration were possible for home and consumer use. These refrigerants

were considered at the time to be less harmful than commonly used refrigerants.

However, in the 1970’s these man-made products were considered to be reacting with the

atmospheric ozone in a negative way, consequently, causing ozone depletion, and ultra

violet radiation admission into our atmosphere. These hazards considered to be

contributing to Global Warming

All processes that involve the generation or movement of heat are subject to basic

laws of physics known as the Laws of Thermodynamics. The 1st Law of

Thermodynamics is the conservation of energy. This law states that energy can neither

be created nor destroyed, but changes from one form to another. Within this closed

system, the total amount energy has remained constant. 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
deals with energy quality through the introduction of a term known as Entropy. In its

most basic form, the second law states that heat, when left alone will always flow from

the hotter object to the colder object. To reverse this process, such as in refrigeration,

will require work to be performed. By the performance of work, waste heat will be

rejected, ensuring that the useful energy available at the end of the process is always less

than the potential energy that was available from the fuel source at the beginning of the

process.vi

The movement of heat although it might be ambiguous at first sight it becomes clear that

heat manipulation during climate control requires clear and accurate terminology.

Specific Heat is the number of Btu’s required to raise one pound of a substance 1 degree

F. Water, because it is in huge supply, is standard for Specific Heat calculations. Such

as with specific heat of water at 1.00, 1 Btu is required to raise one pound of water 1

degree F.

Sensible Heat is the amount of heat added to a substance that will raise its temperature

without changing its state. For example, when heating a pot of water from 65 degrees F

to 85 degrees F, it results in an increase of 20 degrees F of sensible heat in the water.

Latent Heat is the energy required to change the state of a substance without changing its

temperature. Such as, when water reaches its boiling point at 212 degrees F, energy in

the form of heat must be added to the water in order to change it from a liquid to a vapor

state, steam. The opposite is true, when steam cools it condenses back to a liquid, energy

is now released. Super Heat is sensible heat that when added to a vapor above its boiling
point, will raise the temperature of the vapor. No change of state is involved in super-

heating. Hence, any heat that is added to steam that will, initially at a temperature of 212

degrees F, super heat the steam, raising its temperature. Note, this process that uses super

heat requires special piping and handling provisions for the super heated vapor. High

operating pressures are usually encountered in super heated system applications.

Properties of air are the qualities of climate controlled air which are important if

the effects of heating or cooling systems are to be maximized for the highest of efficiency

and comfort. Temperature measurements for climate control purposes are made in one of

two ways. Dry bulb temperatures reading is taken with a standard thermometer in a

conventional manner. A wet bulb temperature reading is taken by putting a wet cloth or

wick over a bulb of the thermometer. Usually the thermometer is placed in the middle of

a stream of circulating air; the moisture in the cloth surrounding the thermometer bulb

evaporates in the moving air stream, lowering the temperature reading on the

thermometer. The amount of moisture that evaporates from the bulb wick depends on the

relative humidity in the air stream and will have a direct effect on the temperature

reading. The difference between the wet bulb and dry bulb temperature readings is an

indication of the relative humidity of the surrounding air.

Two classifications of moisture and humidity are of interest in the climate control

technology. One is Relative Humidity which refers to the amount of moisture in the air

relative to the amount of moisture that the air can hold at the particular temperature. The

other is Dew Point Temperature. This is the temperature at which moisture condense on
the surface. Dew-Point Temperature is a function of both air temperature and Relative

Humidity.

The principle of Heat Transfer is easily understood when referring to objects

moving down hill, from high to low which is the normal movement when an object is

unobstructed. The heat movement in reverse is considered work because it goes against

the normal flow, from high to low, such as in an air conditioned system where heat is

extracted from a home with an indoor temperature of 78 degrees F and is moved to the

outdoors where the temperature is 85 degrees F. The movement is “uphill”. Heat is

moved from a warm area to another area in which the temperature is greater.

Conduction refers to the transfer of heat between two objects that are in direct contact

with each other. Conductive transfer involves the movement of heat from the hotter to

the cooler object. In this process, the principle of thermal conductivity, the ability of a

substance to either conduct or retard the flow of heat, is most important. This process

involves several basic factors: The Thermal Conductivity, “K”, of the substance; the

temperature difference between the two objects; the amount of surface area of two

objects in contact; and the length of time that the two objects remain in contact. The “R”

value is referred to as the building material’s resistance to the flow of heat. K & R are

mathematical reciprocals of each other. The greater the R-value the greater will be the

insulating characteristics of the building material. Convection heat transfer involves the

transfer of heat aided by moving fluids. For the purposes of our definition, fluids may be

thought of as either gases or liquids. For example, in a typical hot-water heater, water
that is heated by combustion of a burner mechanism located at the bottom of the heater

rises as it is heated. Cooler water, which is denser than the lighter heated water, drops to

the bottom of the water heater vessel. In this way, a convective flow is established in the

water heater that aids in the heating process. Common in all heating systems, hot air rises

and cooler air drops to take its place, setting up convective air currents within the heated

room. Radiation involves the transfer of heat through air as one might experience heat

when standing in front of a fire place. Heat is radiated from the wood fire as waves of

electromagnetic energy. It’s interesting to note that radiant energy does not require a

medium through which to travel. For example, radiant energy from the sun travels

through the vacuum of space in order to heat the earth’s surface.

The effects of heat on gases and liquids are well known. There are three states of

existence of matter. In a solid state, the substance has a fixed shape and volume. In its

liquid state, a substance will have a fixed volume with no particular shape. In its gaseous

state, the substance has neither a fixed shape nor volume. Gases, liquids, and solids react

in predictable ways to changes in temperature. Solids expand when they are heated and

contract when cooled. The only exception to this rule is water, which contracts as it is

cooled to a temperature of 39 degrees F. As it cool further below this temperature, water

begins to expand. The predictable nature of expansion and contraction is important when

designing heating and air conditioning systems.

i
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/refrigeration
ii
“The Advent of Mechanical Refrigeration Alters Daily Life and National Economies Throughout the World.
http://www.bookrags.com/research/the advent-of-mechanical-refrigerat-scit-05123456/. retrieved 2009-11-03.
iii
Cooling by Evaporation (letter to John Linig). Benjamin Franklin, London, June 17th, 1758
iv
Burstall, Aubrey F (1965). A History of Mechanical Engineering. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-52001-x
v
Improved process for the Artificial Production of Ice, US. Patent Office, Patent 8080, 1851.
vi
Robert F. Donner, and Martin L. Greenwald, Electrical theory and Control System in Heating and Air- conditioning
Technology.