[pt] O presente trabalho trata da simulação de um compressor hermético alternativo operando em regime transiente. O modelo desenvolvido expande, para a simulação do regime transiente, de modelos de regime permanente existentes na literatura. No presente modelo o sistema é dividido em volumes de controle (motor, compressor, muflas, câmaras de sucção e de descarga, reservatório de óleo, linha de descarga, entre outros). Adota-se o modelo de parâmetros concentrados e aplicam-se as equações fundamentais de conservação, resultando em um sistema de equações diferenciais ordinárias. Especial atenção é dedicada à formação de espuma durante a partida. Sob tais condições, pode-se chegar à sucção de óleo por parte do compressor, com conseqüentes danos às partes móveis do conjunto mecânico. Em função da ausência de informação na literatura sobre formação de espumas em compressores herméticos, construiu-se um aparato experimental para reproduzir tais condições em laboratório. Utilizou-se uma combinação de refrigerante R134a e óleo poliol-ester, que foi submetida a condições controladas de despressurização, a partir de uma pressão inicial prescrita. O processo de formação de espuma (taxa, espessura e diâmetro de bolha) foi monitorado com o auxílio de uma câmara de vídeo digital. Uma série de corridas foi efetuada para diferentes concentrações de óleo e taxas de despressurização. Os dados experimentais permitiram estabelecer um modelo semiempírico de formação de espuma no interior de um compressor hermético. Simulou- se, também, o escoamento turbulento tridimensional de refrigerante no interior da carcaça. / [en] The present work is related to the simulation of a reciprocating hermetic compressor operating in transient regime. Hermetic compressors consist of a motor-compressor assembly hermetically sealed in a welded steel shell. Main components are: electric motor, suction and discharge mufflers, discharge line and the compressor itself, formed by the suction and discharge chambers, the pistondriving mechanism assembly and the cylinder body. The model here presented extends existing thermodynamic steady-state models for the transient operational condition. The system is divided into a number of control volumes, for which homogeneously distributed properties is assumed and fundamental conservation equations are applied. Special attention is given for foam formation, during startup. In such conditions, liquid oil can be drawn into the cylinder, causing a deterioration in the performance. Information on the phenomenon is scarce, which led to an effort of reproducing it at laboratory conditions. A saturated mixture of R134a and polyolester oil, at a given pressure, was submitted to controlled depressurization. The foam formation process (rate, height and bubble size) was measured with the help of a digital video camera. A number of runs were carried out, for different pressure drop rates and initial refrigerant concentrations. The experimental data was employed to adapt an existing model of foam formation. A new function for the volume rate of coalescence of gas bubbles was empirically determined. Computational Fluid Dynamics techniques were also used to predict the turbulent three-dimensional flow of refrigerant in the shell side.

Orientador: José Luiz Gasche / Banca: André Luiz Seixlack / Banca: Paulo Eduardo Lopes Barbieri / Resumo: Devido à solubilidade mútua entre o fluido refrigerante e o fluido lubrificante usados em sistemas de refrigeração por compressão de vapor, eles formam uma mistura homogênea que influencia tanto os processos de transferência de calor no evaporador e no condensador, como os processos de lubrificação e de selagem de vazamentos no interior do compressor. O vazamento de refrigerante através da folga radial de compressores rotativos de pistão rolante é de particular importância para o bom desempenho do compressor, uma vez que ele influencia significativamente a eficiência volumétrica do compressor, chegando a somar cerca de 30% das perdas totais de refrigerante. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos modelos de escoamento de misturas óleo-refrigerante através desta folga, incluindo a mudança de fase do refrigerante devida à variação da sua solubilidade no lubrificante. A solução da equação da energia constitui uma evolução do processo de modelagem deste escoamento em relação aos modelos até então desenvolvidos. Quatro modelos diferentes foram usados para simular o escoamento: modelo de escoamento bifásico homogêneo isotérmico, modelo de escoamento bifásico isotérmico com formação de espuma, modelo de escoamento bifásico homogêneo não-isotérmico e modelo de escoamento bifásico homogêneo não-isotérmico com termo de força inercial. O estudo foi realizado para três misturas óleo-refrigerante: óleo éster Freol a10 e refrigerante R134a, óleo éster EMKARATE RL10H e refrigerante R134a e óleo mineral SUNISO 1 GS e refrigerante R12. Para todos os modelos e misturas, realizou-se um estudo paramétrico envolvendo as principais variáveis do problema: pressão de entrada, temperatura de entrada, vazão de mistura e valor da folga mínima... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Due to the mutual solubility between the refrigerant and lubricant of refrigeration systems using mechanical compression of vapor, they form a homogeneous mixture which influences the heat transfer processes in the evaporator and condenser as well as the compressor lubrication and refrigerant leakage. The refrigerant leakage through the radial clearance of rolling piston compressors plays an important role to the volumetric efficiency in this type of compressor, in which it represents about 30% of the total refrigerant loss. In the present work several models to predict the lubricant-refrigerant mixture flow through this clearance, including the refrigerant phase change due to the reduction of the refrigerant solubility in the lubricant, are developed. Four different models were developed to simulate the flow: isothermal homogeneous two-phase flow, isothermal two-phase flow with foam formation, non-isothermal homogeneous two-phase flow and non-isothermal homogeneous two-phase flow containing inertial force. The simulations were performed for three mixtures: ester oil Freol a10-refrigerant R134a, ester oil EMKARATE RL10H-refrigerant R134a, and mineral oil SUNISO 1 GS-refrigerant R12. The influences of the inlet pressure, inlet temperature, mixture mass flow rate, and minimal clearance were analyzed for all mixtures. The results showed that it is important to consider the foam formation, the inertial force, and the solution of the energy equation in the flow modeling. Concerning the volumetric efficiency of the compressor the ester oil Freol a10-R134a was the best mixture because it produced the lowest refrigerant leakage. / Mestre

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a tecnologia do ciclo refrigerante misto para obtenção de gás natural liquefeito (GNL). Nessa tecnologia, o GNL é obtido por meio do seu resfriamento através de um ciclo de refrigeração, cujo fluido refrigerante é formado por uma mistura de diversos componentes. O ciclo de refrigeração é usado para resfriar a corrente de gás natural até as condições criogênicas por meio de um trocador de calor. A determinação da composição ótima dessa mistura de refrigerantes é de suma importância para a correta e eficiente operação da planta. O modelo termodinâmico para o cálculo de equilíbrio de fases dos componentes da mistura refrigerante é o baseado na Lei de Raoult, válido para misturas e soluções ideais. Inicialmente, revisam-se os conceitos de refrigerantes mistos, curvas compostas e o ponto de pinça (pinch point), utilizados na implementação da solução computacional. A aplicação dos modelos de gás e solução ideal influencia nos resultados, mas, não obstante, produz bons resultados como os obtidos no presente trabalho. A operação eficiente do ciclo depende, sobretudo, de três parâmetros principais, quais sejam: vazão da mistura refrigerante, razão de pressões alta e baixa do ciclo de refrigeração e composição da mistura refrigerante. Da análise dos resultados obtidos conclui-se que a alteração nas proporções da composição do refrigerante muda significativamente a forma das curvas composta quente e composta fria, quando comparados à alteração dos níveis de pressão e da vazão do ciclo refrigerante. Entretanto, a operacionalização do ciclo somente ocorre se um dado conjunto de valores daqueles parâmetros satisfaça uma determinada diferença mínima de temperatura, ou ponto de pinça, entre as curvas composta quente e composta fria dentro do trocador de calor. Assim, a operação eficiente do ciclo de refrigeração requer a otimização daqueles três parâmetros operacionais. / This work has the objective of analyzing the technology of mixed refrigerant cycle for obtaining liquefied natural gas (LNG). In that technology, the liquefied natural gas is obtained by means of cooling through a refrigeration cycle, whose fluid refrigerant is formed by a mixture of various components. The refrigeration cycle is used to cool the natural gas stream to cryogenic condition with the use of a heat exchanger. The determination of the optimal composition of this refrigerant mixture is very important for the correct and efficient operation of the plant. The thermodynamic model for the equilibrium phase calculation of the refrigerant mixture is based on the Law of Raoult, which is valid for ideal mixtures and solutions. Initially, the concepts of refrigerant mixture, composite curves and pinch point used in the implementation of the numerical solution were reviewed. The application of ideal-gas and ideal-solution models has influence on the results. Nevertheless, it produces good results as those obtained in the present work. The efficient operation of the cycle depends essentially of three key parameters, which are: refrigerant flow rate, the ratio of high to low pressures of the refrigerant cycle and the mixed refrigerant composition. The results indicated that the composition variation of the refrigerant changes significantly the shape of hot and cold composite curves in comparison to the modification in the pressure levels and the refrigerant flow rate of the refrigerant cycle. However, the process will operate only if a given set of values of those parameters satisfies a minimum temperature difference, or pinch point, between the hot and cold composite curves within the heat exchanger. Thus, the efficient operation of the refrigerant cycle requires the optimization of those three operational parameters.

Apresenta um estudo teórico-experimental da ebulição convectiva do fluido refrigerante R-134a no interior de tubos lisos. Os parâmetros físicos disponíveis para medida foram: pressão, temperatura, vazão de refrigerante e potência de aquecimento, os quais, juntamente com o registro fotográfico, foram utilizados para caracterizar os padrões de escoamento e as transições, investigando-se os efeitos do diâmetro do tubo, da velocidade mássica e do fluxo de calor sobre a perda de pressão e a transferência de calor. Os principais padrões de escoamento visualizados foram: o intermitente, o anular e o estratificado, nos quais constatou-se que, as transições são governadas, principalmente, pelos efeitos da velocidade mássica e do diâmetro do tubo. Dentre estes padrões de escoamento, o anular e o estratificado foram modelados analiticamente. O modelo para o escoamento anular foi utilizado na obtenção de correlações para o fator de atrito interfacial e para espessura do filme de líquido. O modelo para o escoamento estratificado foi dividido em duas partes, uma destinada a obter a configuração da interface, a qual se mostrou côncava e a outra destinada à determinação dos fatores de atrito líquido-parede e interfacial os quais foram correlacionados / The research reports a theoretical and experimental study of convective boiling of refrigerant R-134a in smooth tubes. Tests have been carried out to measure the following physical parameters at the test section: mass flow rate, pressure and pressure drop, refrigerant and surface temperatures and the electrical power. In addition to these parameters, a photographic study has been carried out from pictures taken at the test section exit in order to determine the flow regimes that intervene under the imposed operating conditions. Effects over the pressure drop and heat transfer of the mass flow rate, heat flux, quality, and tube diameter have been investigated. Three flow regimes have been found: the intermitent, the stratified and the annular. Flow regime transitions are apparently governed by the mass velocity and tube diameter. The annular and the stratified flow regimes have been semi-empirically modeled using a mechanistic approach. The annular flow model has been applied to develop correlations for two important physical parameters: the interfacial friction factor and the film thickness. Through the stratified model, the shape of the interface has been evaluated along with correlations for the liquid to wall and interface friction factors

Dans le contexte des recherches de réductions de l’impact environnemental des machines frigorifiques, l’utilisation du gaz carbonique comme fluide frigorigène est aujourd’hui une réalité. Toutefois, les propriétés thermodynamiques du CO2 impliquent un cycle frigorifique transcritique à basses performances énergétiques pour une température de source chaude proche de l’ambiante. Pour étendre le champ d’application de ce fluide, il est nécessaire d’augmenter l’efficacité des machines transcritiques. L’analyse exergétique du cycle montre que les principales pertes de performances proviennent essentiellement de la détente isenthalpique et de la compression. Afin de réduire ces pertes, l’utilisation d’un éjecteur comme organe principale de détente se présente comme une solution prometteuse. Ce travail apporte une contribution à l’étude des machines frigorifiques aux CO2 transcritique équipées d’éjecteur à la fois expérimentale et numérique pour développer la compréhension des phénomènes qui se produisent à l’intérieure de l’éjecteur afin d’améliorer les outils de dimensionnement de cet organe. L’étude numérique comporte un modèle unidimensionnel de l’écoulement du dioxyde de carbone à travers l’éjecteur. Ce modèle constitue un bon outil de prédiction des points de fonctionnement de l’éjecteur et des caractéristiques globales de l’écoulement : débit, vitesse, enthalpie... Le modèle reste une approche perfectible d'un milieu complexe. Il constitue néanmoins un bon outil pour l'optimisation de la géométrie de l’éjecteur. Après le dimensionnement et la fabrication de l’éjecteur, des essais comparatifs ont été menés sur la machine frigorifique au CO2 en fonctionnement avec et sans éjecteur. L’étude expérimentale a montré que l’éjecteur améliore jusqu’à 12,5 % la puissance frigorifique produite et 17 % le coefficient de performance de la machine. Les résultats expérimentaux réalisés ont été utilisés pour valider le modèle unidimensionnel développé, un accord satisfaisant a été trouvé entre les résultats issus du modèle et ceux expérimentaux, particulièrement en terme de débits avec un écart de l’ordre de 9 %. / Carbon dioxide is being advocated to reduce the environmental impact of the refrigeration systems. However, the thermodynamic properties of CO2 imply supercritical refrigerating cycle with low energy performance when the hot source temperature is near that of the environment. The expansion losses of an isenthalpic throttling process have been identified as one of the largest irreversibilities of transcritical refrigeration cycles, which contribute to the low efficiency of such cycles. In order to recover the expansion losses and increase the cycle efficiency, it has been proposed to replace the expansion valve with an ejector expansion device. This work is devoted to the numerical and experimental study of the ejector expansion devices used in a transcritical vapor compression system using carbon dioxide as the refrigerant. The numerical study includes a one-dimensional model of the CO2 two-phase ejector. The developed model is a good tool for predicting the operation conditions of the ejector and the overall characteristics of the flow (mass flow, velocity, enthalpy.. The model is a good tool to optimizing the geometry of the ejector, although it can be improved. The ejector was manufactured and incorporated into an instrumented test bench. Experimental study showed that the transcritical CO2 refrigeration system using an ejector as the expansion device outperformed a conventional expansion-valve transcritical CO2 system in COP and cooling capacity by approximately 17 % and 12,5 %, respectively. The experimental results were used to validate the one-dimensional model, a satisfactory agreement was found between the numerical and experimental results, especially in terms of mass flow with a difference of 9 %.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a natural, low cost refrigerant with good thermo-physical properties. CO2 is a good alternative for replacing HFC refrigerants that possess high global warming potential and reducing the direct impacts of refrigeration systems on the environment. However, CO2 refrigeration systems operate at relatively high condenser/gas cooler pressures and this imposes special design and control considerations. The gas cooler is a very important part of the system and can have significant influence on its performance. In sub-critical operation, good gas cooler/condenser design can reduce the condenser pressure and delay switching to supercritical operation which increases system efficiency. In supercritical operation optimum design and control can enable the system to operate at pressures that maximise system efficiency. In air cooled systems, gas coolers/condensers are of the finned-tube type. This type of heat exchanger is well established in the HVAC and refrigeration industries. The large changes in the CO2 properties in the gas cooler, however, during supercritical operation impose special design and manufacturing considerations. This research project considered the influence of the unique heat transfer characteristics of CO2 on the design and performance of finned tube air cooled condensers/gas coolers for CO2 refrigeration applications. A combined experimental and modelling approach using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was employed. A CO2 condenser/gas cooler test facility was developed for the experimental investigations. The facility employs a ‘booster’ hot gas bypass CO2 refrigeration system, with associated condenser/gas cooler test rig and evaporator load simulation facility. A series of experimental tests were carried out with two gas coolers which incorporated horizontal and horizontal-vertical slit fins and was obtained adequate experimental data concerning gas cooler performance. CFD modelling was used to study the performance of the gas coolers. The model was validated against test results and was shown to predict the air outlet temperature and heat rejection of the gas cooler with an accuracy of within ±5%. The model was subsequently used to evaluate the effect of a fin slit between the 1st and 2nd row of tubes of the gas cooler as well as a vertical slit on the 1st row before the last tube of the section. The results showed a 6%-8% increase in the heat rejection rate of the gas cooler compared to the performance without the horizontal slit. The vertical slit in the fin of the last tube has resulted in an additional increase in heat rejection over and above that for the horizontal slit of 1%-2%. CFD modelling was also used to investigate the variation of the refrigerant side, air side and overall heat transfer coefficient along the heat exchanger. The results showed that the refrigerant heat transfer coefficient increases with the decreasing of bulk refrigerant temperature and reaches its maximum when the specific heat of the refrigerant is highest. Furthermore, increasing the refrigerant mass flux, increases the refrigerant side heat transfer coefficient and heat rejection. This can reduce the size of the gas cooler for a given capacity at the expense of higher pressure drop and compressor power consumption. Air side and overall heat transfer coefficient correlations were developed for the specific gas cooler designs which were investigated and showed the heat transfer coefficients increase with increasing Reynolds Number.

This study evaluates energy performance and economic analysis of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems in U.S. climate locations using widelyepted whole building energy modeling software, EnergyPlus. VRF systems are known for their high energy performance and thus can improve energy efficiency in buildings. To evaluate the energy performance of a VRF system, energy simulation modeling and calibration of a VRF heat pump (HP) type system is performed using the EnergyPlus program based on measured data collected from an experimental facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In the calibration procedures, the energy simulation model is calibrated, according to the ASHRAE Guideline 14-2014, under cooling and heating seasons. After a proper calibration of the simulation model, the VRF HP system is placed in U.S. climate locations to evaluate the performance variations in different weather conditions. An office prototype building model, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is used with the VRF HP system in this study. This study also considers net-zero energy building (NZEB) design of VRF systems with a distributed photovoltaic (PV) system. The NZEB concept has been considered as one of the remedies to reduce electric energy usages and achieve high energy efficiency in buildings. Both the VRF HP and VRF heat recovery (HR) system types are considered in the NZEB design, and a solar PV system is utilized to enable NZEB balances in U.S. climate locations by assuming that net-metering available within the electrical grid-level. In addition, this study conducts life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of NZEBs with VRF HP and HR systems. LCCA provides present values at a given study period, discounted payback period, and net-savings between VRF HP and HR systems in U.S. climate locations. Preliminary results indicate that the simulated VRF HP system can reasonably predict the energy performance of the actual VRF HP system and reduce between 15-45% for HVAC site energy uses when compared to a VAV system in U.S. climate locations. The VRF HR system can be used to lower building energy demand and thus achieve NZEB performance effectively in some hot and mild U.S. climate locations.

No description available.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Steven J. Eckels / The current research presents the experimental investigation of the effect of tube pitch on enhanced tube bundles’ performance. The typical application of this research is flooded refrigerant evaporators. Boosting evaporator’s performance through optimizing tube spacing reduces cost and energy consumption. R-134a with the enhanced tube Turbo BII-HP and R-123 with Turbo BII-LP were used in this study. Three tube pitches were tested P/D 1.167, P/D 1.33, and P/D 1.5. Each tube bundle includes 20 tubes (19.05 mm outer diameter and 1 m long each) constructed in four passes. The test facility’s design allows controlling three variables, heat flux, mass flux, and inlet quality. The type of analysis used is local to one location in the bundle. This was accomplished by measuring the water temperature drop in the four passes. The water-side pressure drop is included in the data analysis. A new method called the EBHT (Enthalpy Based Heat Transfer) was introduced, which uses the water-side pressure drop in performing the heat transfer analysis. The input variables ranges are: 15-55 kg/m².s for mass flux, 5-60 kW/m² for heat flux, and 10-70% for inlet quality. The effect of local heat flux, local quality, and mass flux on the local heat transfer coefficient was investigated. The comparison between the bundle performance and single tube performance was included in the results of each tube bundle. The smallest tube pitch has the lowest performance in both refrigerants, with a significantly lower performance in the case of R-134a. However, the two bigger tube pitches have very similar performance at low heat flux. Moreover, the largest tube pitch performance approaches that of the single tube at medium and high heat fluxes. For the R-123 study, the smallest tube bundle experienced quick decease in performance at high qualities, exhibiting tube enhancement dry-out at certain flow rates and high qualities. The flow pattern effect was demonstrated by the dry-out phenomena. At medium and high heat fluxes, as the tube pitch increases, the performance approaches that of the single tube. All tube bundles experience quick decrease in performance at high qualities. Evidently, P/D 1.33 is the optimum tube pitch for the studied refrigerants and enhanced tubes combinations.