A Study on Anasysis and Fabrication of an Ice Plant Model

Abstract

Refrigeration may be defined as the process of achieving and maintaining a temperature below that of the surroundings, the aim being to freeze ice, cool some product, or space to the required temperature. The basis of modern refrigeration is the ability of liquids to absorb enormous quantities of heat as they boil and evaporate. One of the important applications of refrigeration is in ice plant. Ice plant is used for producing refrigeration effect to freeze potable water in standard cans placed in rectangular tank which is filled by brine. Our project based on simple refrigeration system which uses the vapour compression cycle. The vapour compression cycle comprises four process compression, condensing, and expansion and evaporation process. Our ice plant model contains various parts such as- Compressor, condenser, filter drier, Expansion valve, Evaporator coil, chilling tank and various measuring equipments like digital temperature indicator, pressure gauges, energy meter etc. The conventional ice plant has been studied and a prototype model of an ice plant has been fabricated with above said accessories. The model is analyzed for its cooling capacity assumed per unit mass flow rate of refrigerant. Its COP is also calculated. The model is compared for its coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity by using R-134 a refrigerant with a theoretical COP and cooling capacity obtained using refrigerant R-22. The variations found in COP and cooling capacity are 0.12 and 0.042 TR respectively for unit mass flow rate of the refrigerant.