The 4 Main Refrigeration Cycle Components

The 4 Main Refrigeration Cycle Components

We’ve all been there. You step inside on a hot day and are mercifully greeted with a wall of cool air. Well, you have the refrigeration cycle to thank for that relief. While there are dozens of methods of heating and cooling, the basic function is still the same and is used in some form across countless industries and processes. But how does it work? This post will answer that question by outlining the main components of a standard refrigeration loop and the functions of each.Get more news about high and low pressure components wholesaler,you can vist our website!

In simple terms, a refrigeration cycle's mission is heat absorption and heat rejection. As any HVAC instructor will tell you (emphatically), you can't make cold, you can just remove heat. The refrigeration cycle, sometimes called a heat pump cycle, is a means of routing heat away from the area you want to cool. This is accomplished by manipulating the pressure of the working refrigerant (air, water, synthetic refrigerants, etc.) through a cycle of compression and expansion.

That’s not the full picture, of course, but that’s the basic idea. Now, let’s get into the equipment that helps execute that job. There are certainly other components in most loops, but most would agree the four fundamental elements of a basic cycle are as follows:

The compressor

Compression is the first step in the refrigeration cycle, and a compressor is the piece of equipment that increases the pressure of the working gas. Refrigerant enters the compressor as low-pressure, low-temperature gas, and leaves the compressor as a high-pressure, high-temperature gas.

Types of compressors

Compression can be achieved through a number of different mechanical processes, and because of that, several compressor designs are used in HVAC and refrigeration today. Other examples exist, but some popular choices are:
The condenser

The condenser, or condenser coil, is one of two types of heat exchangers used in a basic refrigeration loop. This component is supplied with high-temperature high-pressure, vaporized refrigerant coming off the compressor. The condenser removes heat from the hot refrigerant vapor gas vapor until it condenses into a saturated liquid state, a.k.a. condensation.
These components come in a few different designs. Popular configurations include fixed orifices, thermostatic expansion valves (TXV) or thermal expansion valves (pictured above), and the more advanced electronic expansion valves (EEVs). But regardless of configuration, the job of a system’s expansion device is the same - create a drop in pressure after the refrigerant leaves the condenser. This pressure drop will cause some of that refrigerant to quickly boil, creating a two-phase mixture.