Mechanical refrigeration uses a sealed circuit of tubes to circulate fluid, absorbing heat and releasing it elsewhere. The cycle relies on a compressor, condenser, metering device, and evaporator to reduce temperature. While not the most efficient or eco-friendly method, it remains the standard for cooling.
Mechanical refrigeration is a method of removing heat from where it is not wanted and releasing it elsewhere. The vast majority of home refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners use the mechanical refrigeration cycle to produce a cooling effect. There are other non-mechanical methods used to produce cooling, but their use is mostly limited to specialized or industrial applications.
A mechanical refrigeration system cools itself by circulating a fluid through a sealed circuit of tubes or pipes. The fluid absorbs the heat in the space to be cooled and transports it to where it is least objectionable. The whole cycle relies on a few components and physical laws to reduce the temperature of an area.
The mechanical aspect of the cycle begins with a compressor, combined electric motor and pump. In the compressor, a gaseous refrigerant under low pressure is compressed to a significantly reduced volume. This compression raises the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant and pushes it into the next component, the condenser. The condenser is simply a coil of tubing that air can flow over. In the condenser, the high pressure/high temperature gas releases its heat and becomes liquid.
You will often feel the heat emitted from a condenser in the back of a home refrigerator or the outside coil component of a central air conditioner. The discharged heat was originally absorbed by the refrigerant in the air-conditioned space. The now liquefied refrigerant flows through the condenser because the compressor maintains pressure behind it.
The next stop is a metering device, which can be a mechanical valve or just a small diameter tube, which is restricting the flow of refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant passes through the metering device into another coil called an evaporator. Here, its pressure drops rapidly and the refrigerant begins to boil at a temperature not usually associated with boiling: about zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus -18 degrees Celsius) in a typical household freezer. This low-temperature boiling is actually the absorption of heat by the coolant. The heat laden gaseous refrigerant flows back into the compressor and the cycle repeats until the thermostat is satisfied.
The mechanical refrigeration cycle is divided into four phases: compression, condensation, dosing and evaporation. Heat flows into the evaporator and out of the condenser, making both types of heat exchanger coils. Mechanical refrigeration is not necessarily the most efficient or environmentally friendly means of cooling, but its simplicity virtually guarantees that it will be the standard for the foreseeable future.
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