Estimation of Pressure Drop in the Refrigeration System of a Commercial Potato Cold Storage

Abstract

This study is aimed at the estimation of pressure drop in the vapor compression refrigeration system of a commercial cold storage having a storage capacity of 6000 metric tons of potato. A generalized methodology is adopted for calculating the pressure drop by using the Darcy-Weibach and Chawla's correlations for single- and two-phase flows, respectively. The pressure drop was estimated between the two consecutive components for each section of the refrigeration system. The total estimated pressure drop was found to be equivalent to a temperature change of 2.7°C at −10°C evaporation temperature and 3.3°C at 35°C condensation temperature for the low-pressure and high-pressure sides, respectively. The pressure drop only in the suction line was calculated as 143 Pa per meter length, which was well below the recommended maximum limit of 678 Pa per meter of length. The estimated pressure drops were compared with the measured values by using the pressure gauge readings mounted at various sections and found to be in good agreement with a maximum deviation of 13.1% and 7.4% for higher and lower pressure sides, respectively.