Abstract
Thermodynamics is an important aspect of mechanical engineering, and the fundamental part of it is refrigeration. It is often beneficial for students of mechanical engineering to observe practically at the working principle of a refrigeration system. Thus, this paper presents the development of a vapour compression refrigeration system test rig to be used for student’s practical work in the mechanical engineering laboratory at engineering campus, University of Namibia. The refrigeration system was designed to have a refrigeration capacity of 25 kW and to provide cooling at a desired temperature of 16 °C. The calculations for the refrigeration system were based on a thermodynamic analysis of the components, which makes use of the principles of conservation of energy. The system’s theoretical Coefficient of Performance (COP) was found to be 9.19. A 3D CAD model of the test rig was developed and the layout of the test rig was kept simple with all components clearly identified.
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Abbreviations
- \(\dot{Q}\) :
-
Refrigeration or condenser capacity [W]
- \(\dot{m}\) :
-
Mass flow rate [kg/s]
- h :
-
Enthalpy [kJ/kg]
- W :
-
Compressor power [kW]
- e :
-
Evaporator
- c :
-
Condenser
- 1, 2, 4, a :
-
Locations
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© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Angula, E., Nangolo, F., Erinosho, M., Shaanika, S. (2021). Development of a Refrigeration System Test Rig. In: Awang, M., Emamian, S.S. (eds) Advances in Material Science and Engineering. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3641-7_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3641-7_6
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