Mollier Diagram Can Be Improved 1
Mollier Diagram Can Be Improved 1
Mollier Diagram Can Be Improved 1
Compressor
Temperature oC
Temperature oC
Water 12
7
Condenser
Subcooling Evaporator
Chilled Water Chilled Water Low Pressure
OUT IN Superheated
Vapour
Under this method a Flash Tank Economizer is added at the condenser outlet.
The refrigerant expands in two steps, and sub-cooling is achieved by reduction of the
mixture vapour pressure in the Flash Tank Economizer to an intermediate value,
cooling the fluid in the tank by its partial evaporation.
The gaseous phase is sent back to the economizer-port at the top of the compressor
screw suction, at optimum intermediate pressure; the increased cooling output is
shown in the mollier diagram in Fig. 2.
Flash Tank Economizer
DX
Economizer
Performance Assessment
Performance is assessed with the aid of software belonging to the equipment
manufacturer, based on thermodynamic calculations derived from the mollier diagram
(see example of data entry page in Fig. 6). By running the software at multiple
different working points a performance graph may be plotted showing the percentage
improvement in efficiency resulting from introducing an economizer for each
refrigerant, as a function of the evaporation and condensation temperatures of the
refrigerant at the working point.
For example, the curves shown in Fig. 6 indicate that adding an economizer to a chiller
using the refrigerant R134a operating with an evaporation temperature of 3°c and a
condensation temperature of 35°c will lead to an energy saving of about 7% (the
greater the difference between evaporation and condensation temperatures, i.e. the
Lift, the greater the saving when operating with an economizer).
Flash Economizer Savings
To sum up:
The advantages of introducing an economiser in the cooling circuit may be
summarised and depicted by superimposing diagrams of the processes on the mollier
diagram.
Flash
Cooler
De Super
Heater
Super
Heater
Performance comparison- The efficiency improvement drops slightly (by one to two
percent) when using a Direct Expansion (DX) Economizer, compared to a Flash Tank
Economizer, due to the fact that heat exchange is never ideal. However use of a Direct
Expansion (DX) Economizer is preferable to a Flash Tank Economizer in cases where
it is important to maintain high pressure in the fluid line (for example, where the duct
work traverses a long route from the condenser output to the expansion nozzle port
input) to ensure a normal expansion process in the nozzle.