Expansion Devices

Functions
This is one of the basic components of the refrigeration system.

An expansion Device is essentially a restriction offering resistance to flow so

that the pressure drops, resulting in a throttling process.

Functions:-
1. It reduce the pressure & temperature of the refrigerant coming from the
condenser as per the requirement of the system.
2. It must regulate the flow( Metering ) of refrigerant as per the load on the
Evaporator.
 Types of Expansion Devices
Variable Restriction Type:
In this, the extent of opening area of flow keeps on changing depending on the type of
control.
Three common types are
A. Automatic Expansion Valve (Pressure Control )
B. Thermostatic Expansion Valve
C. Float Valves
i) High side Float valve: In this it maintains the liquid at a constant level in the condenser.
ii) Low side Float valve: In this maintains the liquid at constant level in the Evaporator.
Constant Restriction Type:
Capillary Tube in which it is merely along tube with a narrow diameter bore.
 AUTOMATIC EXPANSION VALVE
• This works in response to the pressure changes in the
evaporator due to increase in load (pressure increase) or
due to decrease in load (pressure decreases).
• This valve maintains a constant pressure throughout the
varying load on the evaporator by controlling the quantity
of refrigerant flowing into Evaporator.
• This consists of a needle valve, a seat, a diaphragm and a
spring as shown in figure.
• The opening of the valve in the seat is controlled by the
two opposing forces.
• A. The tension in the spring
• B. The pressure in the evaporator acting on
diaphragm.
• Once the spring is adjusted for a desired evaporator
pressure and given load, the valve operates automatically
with changing load conditions in the evaporator.
 AUTOMATIC EXPANSION VALVE
• The Automatic Expansion Valve (AEV) is best suited for applications having
moderately constant evaporator loading.
• The AEV regulates refrigerant flow by simply maintaining a constant
evaporator or valve outlet pressure.

• As the heat load on the evaporator rises, the AEV decreases refrigerant flow
to maintain evaporator pressure at the valve’s setting.

• Conversely, the AEV increases refrigerant flow when the evaporator heat
load decreases to maintain evaporator pressure at the valve’s setting.

• As a result, the AEV starves the evaporator at high load conditions, and
overfeeds it at low load conditions.
 AUTOMATIC EXPANSION VALVE
• Assume the spring is adjusted initially to maintain a
pressure of 1.5 bar in the evaporator at a given
load.

• If the pressure falls below 1.5 bar due to decrease

in load, the spring pressure will exceed the
evaporator pressure and causes the valve to open
more and increases the flow of refrigerant.

• If the pressure in the evaporator increases due to

increase in load above 1.5 bar, the evaporator
pressure will exceed the spring tension and valve
move in closing direction. This reduces the quantity
of refrigerant flow in the evaporator.
 THERMOSTATIC EXPANSION VALVE
Thermostatic expansion valve controls the flow of
refrigerant through the evaporator in such a way
that the quality of the vapor leaving the
evaporator will always in superheated condition.

Its operation is used for maintaining a constant

degree of superheat at the evaporator outlet.

If the evaporator superheat is high, the valve will

open.

Superheat ensures that no liquid refrigerant leaves

the evaporator.

Low superheat increases the net refrigerant effect

 THERMOSTATIC EXPANSION VALVE
• The Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TEV) provides an excellent solution to
regulating refrigerant flow into a direct expansion type evaporator.
• The TEV regulates refrigerant flow by maintaining a nearly constant superheat
at the evaporator outlet.
• As superheat at the evaporator outlet rises due to increased heat load on the
evaporator, the TEV increases refrigerant flow until superheat returns to the
valve’s setting.
• Conversely, the TEV will decrease refrigerant flow when superheat lowers as a
result of a decreased heat load on the evaporator.
• The effect of this type of regulation is that it allows the evaporator to remain
as nearly fully active as possible under all load conditions.
• When a TEV is used, the system refrigerant charge is usually not as critical as
with the other expansion devices.
 CAPILARY TUBES
• The capillary tube is a fixed restriction type device.
• It is along and narrow tube connecting the condenser directly to the
evaporator.
• Its resistance to flow permits the capillary to be used as pressure
reducing device to meter the flow of refrigerant given to the Evaporator.
• The Pressure drop through the capillary tube is due to the following two
factors;
i. Friction due to fluid viscosity, resulting in frictional pressure drop.
ii) Acceleration due to the flashing of the liquid refrigerant into vapor
resulting in momentum pressure drop.
• The cumulative pressure drop must be equal to the difference in pressure
at the two ends of the tube.
 CAPILARY TUBES
• For a given state of refrigerant, the pressure drop is directly proportional to the length and
inversely proportional to the bore diameter of the tube.

• Capillary tube is the most commonly used expansion device in small refrigeration units, such
as domestic refrigerators, window type air conditioners, water coolers etc.

• The advantage of a capillary tube are its simplicity , low cost and the absence of any moving
parts.

• The disadvantages associated with this device is that the refrigerant must be free from
moisture and dirt otherwise it will choke the tube and stop the flow of refrigerant.

• It cannot be used with high fluctuating load conditions.

 CAPILLARY TUBES
Sizing of Capillary Tube
• The sizing of a capillary tube implies the selection of bore and length
to provide the desired flow for the design condenser and evaporator
pressures.
• The method employed by manufacturers is usually that of cut and
try.
• A capillary of a particular bore dia D and cross-sectional flow area A
is first selected.
• Step decrements in pressure are then assumed and the
corresponding required increments of length calculated.
• These increments can be totalled to give the complete length of the
tubing for a given pressure drop.
 CAPILLARY TUBES
• Consider that the state of the entering refrigerant is
saturated liquid.
• The mass flow rate m is known.
• The condenser and evaporator temperatures are tk and
t0, and corresponding pressures are pk and p0
respectively.
• Divide this temperature drop into a number of parts. Let
the corresponding pressure drops be Δp1, Δp2 and Δp3,
etc., as shown in Fig.
• Now there are two approaches to design.
(i) Isenthalpic expansion, as shown by line k-a.
(ii) Adiabatic or Fanno-line expansion, as shown by line k-b.

Isenthalpic expansion is the common thermodynamic assumption. In actual practice, however, expansion takes place
adiabatically, viz., according to Fanno-line flow. Thus enthalpy does not remain constant since, with pressure drop, the
volume increases and an increase in kinetic energy is obtained from a decrease in enthalpy.

Nevertheless, it may be noted from Fig. that in the first few steps of pressure drop, there is not much difference between
isenthalpic and Fanno-line flow.
 CAPILLARY TUBES
The steps of calculations to be followed in both cases are the same and are as follows for the first element.
(i) Determine the quality at the end of the decrement assuming isenthalpic flow. Then at point 1 at pressure p 1

(ii) Determine the specific volume

(iii) Calculate the velocities from the continuity equation at both the ends of the element

For Fanno-line flow, an iteration procedure is necessary. This is done by applying the correction to enthalpy since h1 ≠ hk.
Thus

The calculations for quality, specific volume, velocity and enthalpy may be repeated until the final value of h1 is equal to its
value in the preceding iteration.
 CAPILLARY TUBES
(v) Determine the pressure drop due to the acceleration, ΔpA, from the momentum equation
hence

(vi) Determine the pressure drop due to the friction, ΔpF, from

(vii) Equate the required frictional pressure drop to

from which the length ΔL may be calculated. For this purpose, the mean values of u and f for the liquid and vapor phases
present may be taken for the section. The friction factor is a function of Reynolds number which in turn is expressed as

and
the length obtained by using this correlation is about 10% greater than the experimental length. Based on available analytical
and experimental data, the expression for friction factor in terms of a straight capillary given by
where
where subscripts f and g refer to liquid and gas phases respectively. The friction factor for the liquid-vapour mixture flowing in
the capillary is found by taking into account the percentage weightage of each phase. Thus
 CAPILLARY TUBES
Example: Design of 1 TR R 22 Air Conditioner Capillary

A capillary tube in a one-ton R 22 air conditioner has a bore of 2.3 mm. Saturated liquid from
the condenser enters at a temperature of 48°C and flows adiabatically through the tube until
its temperature is 5°C. Determine its length. The friction factor is given by

Assume intermediate sections at 40, 30, 20 and 10°C.

Assignment